Aftermarket intake k&n or custom w/ wastegate
v6 fuel injectors
aftermarket fuel pump
Cat upgrade
Straight pipe
Turbo with 10lbs boost. Or manifold upgrade 4-2-1
Dyno tune
suspension upgrade
Thoughts? Suggestions?
had my 09 2.3l running on 5 years now and have played with the cosmetics. Curious to know what I can do to the guts

 

Welcome to the forum

Fuel injection isn't like a carbureted engine, i.e. larger jets to add more fuel
Larger injectors don't add more fuel they just don't open as long, which will set trouble codes, RICH codes
If you can add more air, like super or turbo charger, then you "may" need larger injectors, if you do you would get Lean codes at that time.
Engine is never running Rich or Lean, these codes are based on injectors open time to balance O2 sensor voltage, compared to computers calculated open time
"Larger cams" usually don't need larger injectors
Fuel pump is fine up to 250-300hp

As long as Cat and muffler are in good condition they can't hurt or help performance, you can go with larger pipes to change the sound of the exhaust

Scavenging exhausts leave extra power on the crank.
This is done at the exhaust manifold(header), Rangers come with mid-rpm tuned exhaust headers
The velocity of the exhaust thru smaller pipe at the exhaust valve, creates a pressure drop in the larger Collector pipe, where the 4 smaller pipes meet
Header builders can tune when the largest drop in pressure occurs by the size of the small pipes and length, and size of Collector pipe.
Low-rpm band, mid-rpm band and high-rpm band
When this lower pressure occurs it PULLS some of the exhaust out of the cylinder so piston doesn't have to PUSH it out, this leaves more power on the crank for the rear wheel
And its "free power", Scavenged power

It's also where the Myth of Back Pressure comes from, no 4-stroke engine runs better with back pressure
Car makers have been using scavenging exhaust manifolds since the '60s, some earlier
DIYers would change the manifold to "free flow", larger pipes, they would then go for a drive..................."WTF, I lost power!!!!!!", "This engine must need Back Pressure!!"
The loss of power was because they removed the tuned manifold so lost the lower pressure it created
There conclusion of why they lost power was wrong

You can get low-rpm headers for the 2.3l DOHC I think, but never looked

The 2.3l DOHC Duratec is the Mazda L engine, only Rangers and Mazda B2300 trucks have it in a Rear Wheel Drive configuration
But it was used in many Front Wheel Drive cars
Ford Focus and Fusion
Mazda 3 and 6
You might find alot more performance ideas on forums for these vehicles

The 4cyl Rangers main market were as work trucks with good MPG , delivery companies, gardeners, ect.....
Not that they can't be modified for better horse power, just not the main idea for the people who own them who want MPG
But people who buy cars......................well they seem to always want to "go faster", MPG be damned

 

Thanks for the knowledge.

 

I put a Pro Flo turbo muffler on my 2.3 to get some audible feedback when I'm shifting (esp. parking! The engine/exhaust is so quiet, I would stall the damn thing. . .). I was very surprised that there was a noticable improvement in low-end accelleration. Not neck-snapping, tire smoking accelleration, but noticable none the less.

 

Go ahead and private message i can handle tunes for you but you will need the hardware for it

 

If there was an improvement that would have meant the old muffler was clogged up or in some way restricting flow

 

The OEM muffler is a bottleneck, it Rob's about ,7 HP accross the band until about 4200 , I have taken to a Dyno and put on a factory fresh one and same power then ran a muffler delete gained 7hp up high lost , 2 down low and torque figures are about the same, when I did a full straight pie gained 13 high lost 4 hp low, but when I tuned the motor gained upwards of 42HP with a mild tune and some intake clearing

 

Can't see Ford engineers goofing up that bad?

There is no reason to detune a vehicle in that way

 

I have California made rangers so it could be a Cali/Pennsylvania thing, but I have the Dyno runs that prove it, both a factory and a brand new from Ford replacement muffler and resonator both are actually tuned for the emissions purposes because with an o2 wideband inserted before and after cats, before muffler is removed avg air fuel mix that the pcm tries for is 14.5 then after switching the muffler out with straight pipe or higher flow the computer saw more air flow and 14.6 or leaner afr and so increases fuel flow to compensate witch is why it makes more power, but at the cost of mpg, but when you do what I did and tune the motor to run a straight pipe properly and rid it of all the emissions garbage and slap a 2014+ cat in that is for a 5.0 or something big creates almost no pressure, you can gain up to 40 HP and torque depending on motor quality and a good tune, but I have 8 runs per setup, if you can make it to where I am I can show you everything done in person and ti the fullest detail, I have a small team and we are researching the ranger performance area and plan to actually do the tunes and stuff and create an actual ranger/b2300 market, but there's a lot of untapped potential in the motor but when you start making power the design begins to hate it, the heater hose that connects to the thermostat behind the engine will actually burst because that is the hottest point in the cooling system aside from the exhuast radiator hose, when the cooling system is rebuilt, I'm gonna have proper schematics with the exact pipes needed, you can run the ranger and make a lot of power, currently with some stage 2 cams and valve springs the straight pipe, tuned true cold air intake that goes under the driver side light rather than the hotsided coolant resevior and exhuast system side, pushing about 233HP on stock crank rods and pistons, anything more and you blow up the motor by means of rod or piston, I've done this 7 times now in the last few months and have had to replace the block twice, so 240 is the hard wall 233HP is achievable at 7300 Rpm, you need a larger displacement fuel pump as the stock one is adequate up to about 265hp, I have cosworth forged rods and pistons coming in from Burton power from the UK I'm gonna do the tuning and see how far that will take me, this engine will outrun any other stock ranger even a supercharged 4.0 sohc, my dad got his tuned and it outruns it til about 90 where both trucks start rattling harshly then slow down, I'm gonna write more in the build thread but the duratec 2.3 is a very power little motor, can you spread the word on it and send them to my thread is like to try and see companies make aftermarket parts for the motor, I love the motor and I'm 100% all the guys with the duratec would be dying to get their hands on us. Made performance parts

 

I believe you, just can't wrap my head around why they would do that at the muffler

 

It has to do mainly with emissions as it reduced airflow so the engine could lean out a little more witch is why it gets excellent mileage, that is what the Ford tech I talk with says, the other reason is that it's a standard muffler they've used for a while and haven't changed the design of and is used on 1998 models up for the 4 bangers, in 2004 they use a different design muffler that increases power overall but reduces the fuel econemy just a hair but it was retuned to do so, along with from the electric thermostat witch kept it at 255 when cruising and tried to cool it down when under load to the standard heated thermo, I'm writing up a book I'm gonna post online all about this engine will have guides and everything and the best part is I don't want a single penny for it, but with more stringent emissions they had to stick with what worked til they changed things around a bit, I had my ranger tested with the E stat and the standard 190 and the 190 had worse emissions due to how it was tuned

 

1. The muffler may have been obstructed. I did not examine it. The guys who replaced it didn't say anything.
2. The improvement in low-end acceleration might not be noticeable if you are driving a slush-box. I drive a stick, so it" fer sure" was there, however slight.
3. Again, I was not expecting any change in performance. Just some audible feedback on RPM's. (I almost blew- up my '99 Miata because the exhaust sound gave me no clue how high I was revving.)

 

Yea tuned miatas and I think it was 93 down dont have the rev limiters

 

I've found that sitting the cat about 3 and half feet away from the stock manifold helps a lot in the low end for mileage (about 1.5 mpg to 2.0 gain) assuming you have near to no exhuast restrictions and easy bends