🤔 What's so special about Ford's Barra? | TECHNICALLY SPEAKING |
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ก.ย. 2024
- #barra #haltech #haltechTECH
Commonly known as "Barra" the Australian-made Ford 4L straight six has been growing in popularity and for a good reason. In this episode of Technically Speaking we take a look at this popular engine, its history and just what exactly makes it so special.
Tell us what engine you would like us to do next!
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Our Australian car industry was making truly world class product which was deliberately kept from world markets. The Holden products ( G8, GTO, SS etc )were barely advertised in the States despite rave reviews, and Ford didn't even try. The Yanks were forced by tarrifs to set up factories in the 1950's, and the ink on our free trade agreement with big brother was barely dry before they upped and sailed off.
Honestly man i wish we in Europe got the barra, as a fan of i6 theres no real alternative for a large displacement i6 unless you go to a lorry diesel engine
Agree completely , I’d take a straight 6 over a v8 any day
I'd assume some govt influence there... ie all holdens and fords since the 70s were heavily subsidised by govt to protect local market and employment etc... With nz as the exception in that the govt only subsidises the local market...and also the USA govt, to protect their industry won't allow subsidised competition
Ford is still American not Australian 😅😅
What are you talking about yeah your cars are made in Australia from an American manufacturer so pls stop it ford is founded in Detroit,Michigan nuff sedd
I got this in my recommended after watching Adam LZ new video lmao
Same
Had to see what it was about!
Me too ...ive mever seen it or heard about it before and now 2 videos in a row
Same
Same
Even as a Holden fan and owner, I still think the 4lt Barra is the best Australian production engine made for cost effective boost beasts!
they're not us
Your a fairy barra is 10x better then any ls or 8 ever produced by Aus or us
@they're not us ecotec??? you on drugs
@they're not us LS motors are American. Also, the Ecotec is American too. It's actually a Buick motor.
Greatest 6 ever built!
I used to be a Holden man through and through. Had 2 SS’s, a couple SV6’s and a super 6 ute. But eventually I saw the light and realised the 4.0 Barra was more reliable and had a lot more power from factory than anything of Holden’s so I bought a new FG.
No regrets
Here in the US I want to say thank you 🙏🏾 to you aussies for this sensational engine and master piece.
Easy for you, you didn't have to own one of these buckets of shit. Spent more time at Ford, than in the driveway
@@turbosrshit336 Found On Road Dead hay.
Turbos Rshit dude the guy just said it hold 2,000 whp with stock block and heads yeah sounds like a hunk of dog shit🙄
@@turbosrshit336 lol my FG is sitting on half a million ks let's see any bommadore get that far
@@turbosrshit336 I know what you're saying.. You can have alot of trouble and spend some $$ on these lol but when they're set up right they're good.
To be honest I'm not very sensible when it comes to buying a car. So when I test drove a turbo falcon I almost signed the papers that day. The way the boost pulled me into the seat was something I'd never felt before that moment. I tried to be reasonable but 6 days later I pulled the trigger on my fourth Falcon and my first turbo. I just love the thing.
Love The way you roll Rob LoL
Congratulations mate
Do you enjoy the shit quality of the rest of the car? Haven't noticed any yet? You will. Both Ford and Holden, since 2002, dramatcally dropped the quality of their cars, 'cus you know, profit fetishes and knowing the fanboys will still buy them.
Think back to Monaros,GT’s and Toranas. None of them and I mean none of them have shit on a Turbo Barra.
@@xander1756 thats bullshit. Ive got a 08 fairmont and its the best Ford since the XW and I have one of them 2.
A missed opportunity for us in the States. We have a built-in love for 4.0 straight sixes.
Jeep only used a 4.xL straight 6 for about half a century before they killed it
I have almost a half a million miles on my 4.9 six and still running like it stole something and the I feel the same about the 4.0 for jeep can't by a better more reliable engine than either of those 2
@@bryandouglas739 the last two years of the 4.0 (05-06) it's not great. I've had issues with my 06 constantly. And it's got under 100k km's on it.
I have had absolutely no problems with the Intech 6 in my AU2,yet my brother 06' falcon has had 2 barra engines drop timing chains for no apparent reason for reasons his local Ford dealer can't explain.The car is driven at,as my son says "granddad" speed not "hooned".My previous AU2 (Wagon) clocked up 736,000ks on the same engine and transmission with regular servicing and was still going strong when I traded it for another AU2 with 189,000ks on the clock.I am now hesitant on upgrading to a " Barra" engined falcon,because of issues my brother has had with his falcon.By the way,how come the AU got the "now infamous" comment?Please explain.
but america has the mustang / coyote engine which are the cheap goto counterpart, sure a barra 4LT is nice but id rather the sound of an 8 over the straight 6 anyday
They wont put it in the mustang because it would be faster than the 5.0
8hour That is right. Exactly why Ford killed the SVO trim of the mustang early. Because you can not have a turbo 4 banger being faster than the beafy sales marketing.
Not if we’re talking forced induction to forced induction. The coyote is a beast with boost
@@agaad22 The coyote doesnt come boosted. Look at the f150, the v6 ecoboost is faster and has more torque than the 5.0
The miami is a low comp coyote with a supercharger,so yeah it kinda does
The coyote comes supercharged in Australia however the barra is still quicker
I've been repairing falcon columns for years and I've had tons of these come through with more than 2 million km on the clock. The engines are worth almost nothing in Australia because they just don't die.. My XR6T had 230,000km on it before I put a liquid LPG injection system on it, upped the boost to 16PSI and advanced the timing somewhat and got an easy 520RWHP and started thrashing it. I bought another engine at the time expecting to kill this one but it just won't die.
The Barra Turbo cylinder head is prone to exhaust valve recession when the engine is fitted to burn LPG as an aftermarket unit unlike the factory Green Barra which has been provisioned for LPG fuel, it is equipped with hardened exhaust valve seats, which will prevent exhaust seat recession and the messing up of the exhaust valve protrusion and burnt out valves excetera excetera. I used to recondition a lot of them units where I would place them cylinder heads in the Serdi seat and guide machine to prepare for the replacement "diamond" type hardened exhaust seats to be fitted, cut the angles 30°-45°-70° or whatever else the customer wishes, ready to be assembled with new valves, giving them a new lease in life! Apart from that, it's a great engine to work with, bottom end or top end. World class motor!
Getting difficult to find these unmolested.. Tell tale signs are aftermarket knick knacks
MeZmeriZe_ Hi there MeZmeriZe_ mate I have a 2004 Ba NA XR6 Falcon I bought from a gentleman in my street recently,the engine has 190km on it and is in A1 condition , she purrs like a kitten . I would love to give it a bit more power so it has a just bit more get up and go on the open road for long drives up and down the coast in NSW . My Question is what would be the cheapest and best modification I can do to it to gain say 40 to 70 more ponies ? and what would that cost me ? Looking forward to your reply as you sound like a knowledgeable bloke . Cheers 🍻
npx20 Thanks brother I appreciate it . I certainly look into , a few more horsepower would be awesome for getting up big steep hills and mountains with a fully loaded car and a boot full of stuff with 3 passengers and on the open road for overtaking big B doubles and road trains thanks again. Cheers 🍻
@@npx20 there is the 1fz I hear that you can get out of a 90s landcruiser and it can hold boost pretty well like a 2jz
Very interesting ❣️
I'm German and hear the first time from the Barra engine today.
I didn't know, that u have so special engines in Australia and New Zealand 😅
Lovely greetings from Berlin ❣️
Ramsi
Thanks for the milkshake
Because technically they don't, it's a Ford engine
... wait till I find about about our incredible 3.8 V6 😬
@@akent46 Which engine do you mean ❔
@@Ramsi-Berlin it's a Buick 3.8 which is incredibly common down here, we all pick on them as they sound terrible!
The Barra are magnificent though, such a rush of torque as the turbo builds... still can't beat a B58 though from BMW.
The smoothness and as you said, torque of this engine just astounds me to no end. Every time I take my XR6 for a spin it just effortlessly pulls the huge car along, while running quiet, smooth, and reliably. Love it, and such a shame the Ford factory closed down.
my idea of a dream build would be a Barra mid engined in a sporty body resembling a Porsche 917 - one of the world's horniest looking things. it would sound great - combinations of 6's always do, be reliable and go like buggery
Aha yeah that'd certainly be an interesting combination!
Being the owner of an FG XR6, I have to agree. The Barra is a fantastic engine and a credit to Australian manufacturing.
I have a BA wagon petrol Barra 6 now for several years and it still put's a smile on my face in sports mode, have owned Holden Ford and Valiant for over 50 years now and the Barra 6 is king of the lot.
Thx for converting kW to HP right in the video! Appreciate it!
But no torque in Nm, sadly. Almost there :)
I honestly wish everything was in the metric system. I tend to use it more and more.
It's annoying having to hear HP and ft lb over kW and Nm, especially when the person speaking is Australian.
It was a classy touch for sure. Most NA channels don't even mention kW and Nm, they should.
@@thewakz A naturally aspirated channel? Didn't know that was a thing.
You've just got to say it at least once. "The Mighty Barra"
TRUE THAT, best anchor I've ever used
@@turbosrshit336 you sad you dropped 20k on your v8 and got chopped by a stock f6?
The tuning fork helping out the LZ crew with his morning coffee has to be a pretty cool highlight this week!
My BA Fairlane engine has over 740.000 kms and still going strong 💪
They do over 1 million
There is a taxi here think it’s a 06. Still out doing its job last time I got in it had 1.2 million. That would’ve been 5 years ago!
230 k km on my FG MK2 .. 3 seat column shift EcoLPi ute , Probably see me out this car :)
BA @ 320 000 still runs beautifully and quiet...still got balls
Awesome mate, congrats.
Great review. Whether you are Holden or Ford, you can never deny how bullet proof these motors are. Our 2005 Territory still performs like new and the 4.0 liter idles incredibly quiet and is as smooth as a peach. Like the 3.0 VL (Nissan) RB motor's, the Barra will be truly missed in years to come.
I must salute my cousins down unduh for developing such a great engine! As I have often said, if there could be only one engine configuration, for me it's the venerable Inline Six. I am curious how the Barra compares to GM's 4200 I-6. Thanks for a great video, and I look forward to more great content! 🤓👍🏼
One of the biggest advantages of the Barra motor is the roller cams. Means longer effective duration because the roller cam can open the valves faster than a flat cam in the RB.
The Barra in my territory has done 211,000kms and it still sounds tight n smooth, got another 200k in in no trouble at all.
I absolutely love inline sixes!! Too bad we don't have the Barra here in the USA. 😞
Just Import one :)
Imported ones aren't hard to find in the States now.
The Ford Territory was sold in South Africa also, to fill the gap FordSA had in their SUV range. The engine is hard to come by as a used unit though because most are still running. We also got the Falcon and the Fairmont of Australian origin, but most here had the earlier motor.
Matthew Armstrong AU falcon motor is bulletproof. Barra is great don't get me wrong. But the AU is just as good if not just a tad better😋😋I live in SA and drive the AU Xr6 VCT my red beast. She only drives on the weekend and is in very good condition.
I know of 2 companies importing used Barra engines to South Africa for around R14k.
Carl Cronje PLEASE inform us which companies . Hope we get some tuning options from them as well here in South Africa
I miss joburg...
I’m an American who lived there a couple years in the mid 80’s.
I heard noburg ain’t the same
Mike's Place Engine importers are selling the Barra engines in Cape Town. Should be the new "2jz" with regards to cost. A lot cheaper than the JZ series here.
Damm you Haltec, you have just pushed up the cost of spare engines for my Barra Turbo.... dammm..
Buy 'em flip 'em upgrade :P
Nor Dic Why do you need spare engines?
They are now $150 instead of $120 :)
Cassette because they are Ford engines... never can tell when they are just going to let go although the drive trains have been far more sketchy than the motors the past couple of decades..
lol what? Yeah those tr6060's, t56's and zf's are so sketchy lol. Only thing weak in the turbo drivetrain post t5's is the driveshafts, which can be fixed. You can never tell anything with absolute certainty, but if you have no idea then thats the problem not the engine. Only ones that randomly let go are tuners who cant grasp the whole torque demand ecu and take pot shots then rely on the knock sensors to fix timing issues.
The FG engines are the best version of the Barra, slightly more power but the biggest improvements over the BA/BF was the refinement and willingness to rev
We should've got these in the U.S.
I'm sure the barra would change many Americans hearts and minds about the i6 configuration, especially since its built by am American company
Its built in Australia they said anything to do with the design stopped in 1950s you moron it's a aussie motor sure Ford motor company was American but the Aussies came up with a motor to compete with the rb and jz it rolls over the rb stock and with a couple of upgrades you can easily make a jz kills aswell thanks. Chris
Bro, as an American, you have no idea how much I wanna Barra swap a foxbody
@@pino6247 someone already did it
@@heresjonny7771 a barra powered, j styled, RHD foxbody drift car... someone already did it? I gotta see this to make sure they even attempted to do it right...
@@pino6247 I think it's a drag car I didn't watch the video just searched Ford Barra and there's a video with a fox body in the thumbnail with a Barra chillin in the engine bay my dream is to be a drifter a Barra fox drift car would be lots of fun
Would love to see this engine come to scandinavia in ford models, i can imagine so many old volvo 240s and 740s getting this under their hoods instead of the german engines and japanese ones.
Here state side I've seen Windsor 5.0s, LT1s and LSs shoved inside them like crazy
Yes youre right Scandis like to put om606, m103, m104, 2jz in their volvos, but this Barra would be amazing. Its basically a 4 liter 2jz/m103 who wouldnt want that? :D I have a feeling we will see more and more of thee engines up here soon!
Except for scarcity of parts outside Australia, I would love to swap a built Barra into my F150 (Canada). That thing looks like pure joy.
Why parts talk...... these beast live for ever and will outgo at least two cars...... find it buy it play it enjoy it
I'm thinking about a Barra in my ranger
I've owned my current BA for 6 years, have thrashed it many times and it has never needed any replacement parts engine-wise. Nothing at all. It just keeps going strong, no matter what. 257,000kms.
Protip: a barra turbo is very similar in weight, height, width and length to a 2JZ or RB26DET. If your car can fit either of these engines it'll fit a barra and possibly be lighter.
I just seen one swapped into a toyota celica and I found this video because I had to see more
A 2jz is cast iron that shit is way heavier
@@rosegold-beats way heavier than what?
@@Rollin8.0 The BARRA I think!!
@@rvarsigfusson6163 the weights I've seen, a fully dressed turbo barra it very similar in size and weight in all dimensions to a 2JZ or RB26. Bare long motors might be a bit different, but with all the stuff on them as you'd have it in a car they're pretty comparable.
Have to pick up one or two of these. I'm getting in this time. 30 years ago I messed up and sold my XT GT and 351 XB.
Not missing out this time
At the time this was filmed it was extremely relevant regarding every point. 6 years on & just about everything has changed for the barra. Theyre not that cheap in australia anymore, theyre getting harder to find ( probably due to the rate theyre being shipped to the us now), theres a decent amount of aftermarket parts available to the point of if your pockets are deep enough, you can buy a billet block
Great work as always mate. The barra is 1 of 2 engines I have shortlisted for my ute project as I am restricted to no larger than 4.1L with boost. Would love if you could review the other competitor in my shortlist for budget boost, the much loved but often forgotten 1UZFE. Cheers mate.
You may like to consider the Lexus 2GR-FSE out of the IS 350 for your project instead. It's a 3.5L V6 putting out over 300HP stock, that's a good deal more than a 1UZ-FE and there are HKS supercharger kits available to bolt onto the 2GR-FSE, so it's at least proven the engine can handle boost. It's also lighter than a 1UZ or Barra.
Drove a 2013 Falcon Limo with the standard na Barra - plenty of pull, well on cam by 4K. Moved great for what is probably the heaviest Falcon. Auto box was stupidly long geared though!
This Barra aftermarket revolution seems like a case of you don't know what you have until its gone.
lol pretty sure those in Australia did know, but there just isn't a large enough population to have a falcon or commodore which only sells to a small minority of 'automotive enthusiast'. a rest of the worlds known about and wanted to buy barras (but not really the cars, only falcon/commo utes) but again its not enough to keep ford aus afloat when ford us is cutting all non truck/commercial models except mustang and gt.
Saab went under and was saved by Chevy, Volvo went under and was saved by Ford... so yeah, nice try... gg
it seems the whole point of the conversation went right over your head but, very smart, repeating what i said, genius
also Saab stopped production in 2012
By that same standard, Toyota, Ford, and GM own manufacturing plants in Australia. Toyota alone probably sell more vehicles than Volvo, Saab and Koenigsegg do cumulatively.
I suggest you go do some more reading about Holden before spouting bullshit. Way to go modifying your comment when you realize your fuckup. Funny thing is, you still fucked up. Holden Motor Company was, in fact, not founded by GM.
The company was founded in 1856 as a saddlery manufacturer in South Australia. In 1908 it moved into the automotive field, becoming a subsidiary of the United States-based General Motors (GM) in 1931.
The point of conversation was that you dont know what is good until it is gone (Holden went under, now everyone wants a Barra), you barged in and made it into a dick measuring contest, comparing Sweden to Australia based on vehicle manufacturing.
You are an idiot, back the fuck off.
*livey oone* Yeah population is all that has to do with it lol. Think about it geographically for a second, or go look at a world map if you havent before and think about the difference in the amount neighbouring countries/population and the distances/types of terrain between them. While you're at it think about 22m living people in an area this size and the cost of transport just within the country itself www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/national-location-information/dimensions/australias-size-compared
*This thing is making spaghetti at 2600RPM, That's bad ass! Never heard of this thing until recently! WOW!*
I've owned an FG XR6 turbo for 8 years. Never a problem with that engine!
The barra is so tall it's actually sitting on the floor in front of Scott.
Seriously though, great info, thanks.
the US is lacking so much. over here our only options for RWD sporty cars is pretty much Mustang, Camaro, and vette. They got rid of all the RWD sedans and have made them FWD. This makes it so people that are trying to get into cars can't really pick up a cheaper used RWD car like an Impala would be( Commodore). instead now if you want a RWD car you either spend crazy amounts for the typical sports car or buy a 20 year old car from the 90's. Major props to the Australian car makers for knowing your customer base and giving them what they want, instead of what the company thinks the people need. I would move to Australia just to have a ute.
Not a ford fan but got to give credit where credit is due. Great to see haltech making a stand alone rather than a piggy back unit for the builders. .
I'd really like to Import one of these into the US and put it in a 1960s mustang drag car.
There are already some here in the US that you can buy today, checkout ebay. If you find one cheaper and want to import it send me a message.
Why? For a drag car the V8s are still better and cheaper too. Or do the usual Fox body thing,,, use an LS!
@@ldnwholesale8552 barra turbo kills an LS check out some drag vids of an XR6 turbo
LDN Wholesale why not? 😂 Just something different to what all the others guys in the US have I guess, a barra swap would be fairly uncommon over there, sometimes people do it for the sake of it not just to win or prove who's faster but to prove they can do it 😊
LDN Wholesale the Barra rapes the LS down here in Australia. They make peak torque from as low as 2400rpm and hold it all the way to 5000rpm. It was that much more powerful than the boss 5.4 modular V8s that ford had to detune just to keep XR8 sales up. The LS was the go to motor for quick power and now the Barra has taken its place
The real question is..
Does it fit in my miata?
Marcos Cruz where there's a Will there's a way.
What I'm saying is you need a mate named Will. He can make it work.
With a bit of spit and patience anything'll fit!
Marcos Cruz or a Honda. 😂😂
Astroglide, shoehorn. And slice out the center of the hood. You'll need springs, a trans, and a new diff center with cv's.. Or.. Yikes..
Marcos Cruz depends...how big is your persuader and how committed are you to be persuasive?
Wow !! The Barra with the lid off ,looks amazingly close to the Dual cam straight six's of Mercedes Benz in the 70's ,80's and 90's .
Ford needs to bring this to the States for the next Bronco platform
I would rather see a re-release of the Ford Falcon with the Barra in it.
Just bring it, Ill put it in my dentside
They could even call it an EcoBoost cause we all know they love throwing that name on things.
@@The_JEB Check out this Canadian bloke in Australia with his yellow Barra Ute videos.
Unfortunately Ford Australia stopped manufacturing these engines in 2016.
I'd love to put a Barra Turbo in a Mk3 Supra Chassis. I think it would feel like a 2J swap, but I bet its a fair bit cheaper.
Probably get more power too and for a lot cheaper, only thing is the cunt is really heavy.
I've got a 250 Chev bored, balanced and turboed. Had it in a 77 Nova. And it's a blow though carburetor setup running 8-10 lbs boost
Who cares
It wasn’t just a good performer it was also very efficient on the highway for such a large engine especially if you kept your speed below 110kph.
Yes, easy 30mpg at speed on the motorway with the AC on full blast.
@@bruceparr1678 I sat on 161kmh (100mph) on the Stuart Highway, when it was legal to do so, with the aircon on of course. G6, 120kg mate in the passenger seat. Economy displayed at that speed: 9.8L/100km. And no, NT Labor nanny state government, we didn't crash and burn, we just got where we were going really quickly.
I need one in the future for a mustang! I’ve been looking into it for ages but I don’t have the coin to import one yet 😥 in about a year and a half when I’ve got enough saved up I’m putting a turbo Barra in an a 2003 Mustang with a Saleen front and irs swap. I can’t wait!
Sounds like a cool build!!!
Legend! Have a hunt around for any local Ford boys already importing Barras, I've seen a couple shops buying multiple Barras and throwing them into shipping containers
Ricky King some local guys imported a few n/a barras that they were selling but no turbo motors yet
There are already some here in the US that you can buy today, checkout ebay. If you find one cheaper and want to import it send me a message.
Ive actually never thought of this bro 🤙I have a xr6 turbo falcon. Mustangs have recently made its way to Australia too and id love to be thr firstt to do this swap 😍 mustang body wpuld be so much lighter than the usual xr6's
Thank you,very imfomative without loads of BS...good presentation about a top motor,I have a 2006 Territory and this motor is more than adequate,very pleased,thanks Scott
I've managed to get ahold of an NA Barra and transmission for dirt cheap, and I'm going to build it for boost, and stuff it in my 1970 F-100. I can't wait
good boy- more power than any F-truck had, v8 or not! My '87 f100 will get a Barra when the current AU 4.0 gets too tired, but, at 275k it's not looking like it's going to die anytime soon.
@@arealassassin that is the great thing about the Australian inline 4 litre, is it was almost indestructible. The mileage people were getting on their engines made them a very affordable car long term. And that is a problem in the car industry, they dont like cars that have indestructible parts.
So this is pretty much a Ford 2JZ??
Except quite a bit bigger and heavier and only for aussie/nz lands... Which is pretty much its downfall
I often refer to these as the "Australian 2j" 😁
rb is not only a 2.5, also 2.0L 2.6L 3.0L
Don't forget the RB24S. No idea why it was made, but it has the RB20 stroke with RB25 block, RB30-type SOHC head and a carburettor.
At one stage I had an RB25/30neo, RB30, Barra and RB25neo, the RB30 is a great motor, I prefer the Barra though as parts are just so easy and the more modern engine and systems are easier to work with. No expensive ECU replacements ect.
I feel the same way about my Jeep 4.0 straight 6...a fantastically durable and long lasting motor. 1999 TJ with 300k miles and climbing.
Ken Siefert
If you snap a motor mount, it can crack the block.
Would love to see some motorcycle engines: Suzuki/Yamaha/Honda/Kawasaki 1000cc, Triumph 675 triples, etc.
Now I know why MCM goes to you for everything
Stumbled apon this while making plans to barra swap a Volvo 740 after seeing a 94 5.0 swapped one I’ve been inspired
This motor is also seen in South Africa in the Ford Territory which was imported from Australia up until 2008 I think. I have had mine since 2007 and will never sell it .
If you'd take a look at the Ford/Yamaha V6 SHO that would be great. The original one from the late 80s not the modern one. I'm converting one to RWD and putting it in a Toyota Corona.
Well done Scotty! Some propper respect & admiration for "The Mighty Barra" that Benny & mates drove so well at last year's Drag Week. I'd love to see a series of longer "Tuning Fork" programs on different engines with same format: Rotaries, Boxers, Inline 4's & 6's, V6's & V8's... what makes them special, what are their strengths & weaknesses, power to weight to cost breakdowns, etc. Keep up the great work. Thundah from downundah.
We've got more in the pipeline. Here are the ones we've done so far:
th-cam.com/video/wMZG7nFx-2M/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/TS3fFLg2QfU/w-d-xo.html
Go the mighty Barra! Weak points are, shit valve springs, relatively weak conrods, and sintered oil pump gears. Over time Ford improved these weak points so the later model an engine you can source, the better. However, for those building a high end Barra, these things would likely be upgraded anyway.
The non turbo versions are a tiny fraction of the price of turbo variants, easily picked up for a measly few hundred bucks. The non turbo long blocks are, overall, remarkably similar to their turbo brothers, with one of the main expenses of using an originally N/A block being having to upgrade the N/A exhaust valves to heat/boost friendly sodium filled valves. Other than that, turbo-ing a cheap N/A Barra block is the same as boosting any other N/A motor
Tuning Fork has told us the story of the race car that they thought had the crossover BF engine but it was still a BA engine and it kicked the rods out after the 2nd or 3rd power run.
Yeah that's the one, the earliest of Barra's have tooth picks for conrods if pushing much more power than factory.
All standard Barras have a fairly chunky 3.9 inch stroke; a lot of the high end drag guys actually de-stroke them down to 3.8-3.9L, I think to make them a little more rev happy.
If the Barra wasn't an australasian-only motor, I have no doubt the top dogs with Barras would be shitting all over their JZ/RB powered competitors on the drag strip world wide. I love to think of them as Fords version of an RB40/3JZ :P Imagine if the latest gen Mustangs came with a turbo Barra option instead of their boring v6, US wide!
There's a BA turbo for sale with a rebuilt BTR trans, 3582R turbo and XYZ brakes going for under 6k because the body is rough, and I'm damn tempted to flick my LS430 off and get that, and tidy up the bodywork.
Definitely not super rare in NZ. Going up in value though.
There were bugger all sold NZ-new because they were six figure cars new, but they do exist. The majority of them are Singapore imports and JDM Celsiors. The engine blocks aren't as strong as the 1UZ because they've been bored and resleeved as far as they can go, but they'll still lay a fat skid
Thanks, I had never heard about this engine.
@Sheriff E I had to do a conversion to horsepower (536), wow.
I have a FGXR6 and luv it .. the pulling power reminds me of my old 265 Hemi valiants ... 👍🏻
Wow I remember you coming to computer shop when you were still at school, and then you got a haltech computer for your datto so I guess you must have been happy with that, and here you are working for them. All the best.
Tony
Thanks Tony!
When Ford introduced the Barra in the BA Falcon in 2002, everyone was in awe of the turbo versions 240KW. Little did they know the Barra would go down as the greatest Aussie engine ever, and one of the best mainstream engines in the world.
RIP, FaLcon. You are sorely missed.
@celtic barbarian can't ever discount Aussie engineers ! Not so well known worldwide but easily up there world wide when it comes to engine building!
Thanks for the info, I bought an fg xr6 turbo by default. I always wondered why people pulled me up and asked to buy it?. I now know why. I think I'll keep her now.
best value for money engine in the world
without a doubt.still got my xr6t bought new in 2004 .135k on clock
This motor is available in South Africa in the Ford Territory.
Yes sir and in the ford falcon
Beat me to it.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Falcon we got had the vct intech motor? The motor before the Barra.
@@mitchafrika last models of the falcon had the barra motor
even Mike's are now importing Barra's from Aus
Just got my first Barra. Wow. Magnificent motor for sure.
I was so sure the Barra would live on past the Falcon... its weird its production ended too and it never became available to the international market in other platforms... Mustang or Pickips are the obvious applications...
Its probably the best thing to come out of Ford Australia...
Yep- another nail in the coffin that contains the fetid corpse of our once-proud auto industry. Our fucking govt should be charged with culpable homicide for what it let happen here...
@@arealassassin I mean.. I blame the government too but... Homicide? I don't understand?
Emissions control is the biggest problem for continuing production of this engine unfortunately
We love the Barra and are building lots of Barra swapped cars here in the US
My Fg xr50t converted me to a ford fan. 1000HP, 6speed manual, leather and climate control.
Just an awesome all round car, can sit in traffic on hot days on summer cruises on 20s or occasionally throw some slicks on the rear and have a bit of fun at Calder or Heathcote
I would love to see an aircraft version of one of these. Billet block, 3750 rpm max making 300kw on 1 bar of boost. It would be a nice smooth engine, albeit not the lightest, although lighter than traditional engines around that power. It would be the first Barra to fly, that would be cool.
Wish we had these in the States!
The smoothness of the Barra is amazing. My Falcon is a battered old banger but at idle you cannot feel any vibrations from the engine at all. I could never understand why Ford did not make better use of this engine. For example in 2009 I did a big roadtrip around the USA in a rented Mustang that had the 4L V6. The car would have been a lot better with the more torquey Barra. Also why don't they put it into pick up trucks? The Ranger for example would be so much more reliable if you could choose a Barra over the diabolical Ford diesel crap.
Diesels are better on the lower end for towing, i can take off in 3rd in mine and it doesnt come close to stalling. Which is ideal for pickups. Overall they are nothing to a barra but are better in this particular use
Thanks for the video, I'm a road bike guy and I'm just starting to get into cars. Because where I live now the car culture is quite big. And you explained the history of the Barra great. Cheers bro, left a like for ya.
The Aussie equivalent to the BMW S38B38 :) Good stuff.
How about the 1uzfe? A legendary, tough, cheap and reliable engine, but not too many options for tuning... what CAN be done?
Ahhh... we see what you did there:)
The heads don’t flow to well, very strong and well balanced copy of a Chrysler v8
Benjamin Sword what Chrysler v8 had a dohc set up?
Benjamin Sword comparing it to Chrysler? Smoking crack
That would be a good video, finding out what I can do to my 4Runner would be nice
Who's here mid way thru an engine build etc.
Reminding yourself how good it's going to go when it's done ✅
This and the K20 swap are up there on my bucket list. A late Barra into a nice XJ6 (300 series, the last of the galvanized steel chassis). A K20A into an MR2 Spyder, naturally aspirated, linear power. Haltech management. Life can't get much better than this.
Ford USA needs this in their lineups.
Ford USA can go f/ck itself.
@@trewqpoiutl9774 Yep, they killed off the Falcon so they could sell more of their crappy Mustangs
Just hit 240k on my barra wagon still going strong 💪
While you are doing great six's, why not do a segment on the Hemi 265?. In triple weber form. Another great Aussie six.
@Edward Gross So it should. The only bad thing about the 6cyl Hemi was it never sounded as good as a V8. But geeze they went well...
@Edward Gross You got it in one guess. Mercury Silver is definitely my favorite colour. Buy a long shot!
You should do the 265 hemi, another Aussie designed and made straight 6
Look in the right places and 245/265 hemi's can be had for a few hundred dollars
265, big harsh rattly thing. Went ok. Its smaller brothers served their purpose too I guess.
yeah, my thoughts exactly. Horribly harsh for an I6 with more problems than the middle east. Heap of shit if you ask me. You can get them to go alright I guess but they were definitely had more power than their contemporaries I6s.
Dogstar_DogOfWar the 265 hemi was a American design
Except that our aussie variant isn't a true hemi engine but it is a better design that made them bullet proof. Real hemi's are the v8 variety and huge heads to boot.
Installing a Barra in a 70 Amc Rebel right now for X275 racing here in the states, cant wait!
That sounds like a beastly swap! Send us some pix when it's done: marketing@haltech.com
Great vid mate, you present like a pro..
What does a Holden and a fisherman have in common...... Can't catch a Barra 😂🖕😂🖕😂
made me chuckle
Old, but still good 😂🤣
😂😂😂😂
Says a mark winter bottom fan hey, now frosty is driving a Holden ha ha now that's funny!!!
Shaun Sandman hahahahaha says the one who LOST the championship 🖕😂😂👍👍🖕🖕💪💪
I had a xt 2006 falcon lpg never gave me trouble I had it for 12 years it had over 400k on the clock. Super reliable and cheap to run.
Wish Ford had used that engine in the States
....an American friend of mine loved the BA-BF XR6 and XR8 Falcons while he lived here and wanted to take one back to Stateside....
A few of the Americans working here like the Falcons and the Holden Commodore and particularly the Holden Monaro worked over by HSV
Now we making nothing....almost.
I wanna chuck one of these in my 92' GMC Typhoon
Please do
I drive a BA 2003 Fairmont with the Barra motor. I had the surprise of my life last week. On a long straight stretch of Moonie Hyway coming to st george Qld , (Thats on the way west or 6 hrs west of Brisbane ) I come upon 3 B Tripple stock trucks cruising along at about 97 to 98 K's. Never done this before but had family in car, so i put peddle to the mettle. Well-l-l-l , Boy . did it take off , I mean, it snaped back to 2nd cog and sat us back in our seats, Thumped into 3rd and continued to speed climb . At about 170 thumped into top and continued pulling hard. W T F . this was on 92 octane fuel . In all the cars I have had since I was 18 , this 2003 fairmont 4lt variable cam shaft timing, otherwise stranded fair is all it was. I was suitably impressed and have some how gone off the commod. I wonder why.?
I drive a 2003 BA Fairmont also. Bought it for $1600 in december 2018. Has never let me down and I am not gentle with it.
You'd think the popularity of these would warrant keeping the Geelong engine plant open.
Still, there are great engines. I've got 360,000km on mine and it still pulls like a train.
Still got another 700,000 at least
Their longevity is probably why they stopped making them. Can't sell new ones if the oldies are still tearing arse.
@@crouchingwombathiddenquoll5641. Ok. But not everyone want to or can strip one down and rebuild it. I'd love to be able to buy a 336kw XR6 Turbo Sprint engine out of the box.
@Chris D'oulmeth. They made tens of thousands of them. You can get a second hand one and rebuild it. Also, on these engines anything under 100,000km is low.
@Chris D'oulmeth. There is video on TH-cam comparing a Barra to an older GTR engine. They took that block out and old taxi, it would have had close to 1,000,000km on it. The block was till good abd ready for a rebuild and 1,000hp.
Surprising that Ford has so over engineered this engine. I didn't realise they were that strong in standard form. Your plug in ECU would save a lot of mucking around splicing in one. Time better spent tuning and a lot more reliable. Interested to know if the Ecotec is worth a look. I have seen some strong examples of them out there too but not sure if they need more work for the same output
Understandable given how they usually under engineer everything lol
I love these in LPG form. Had a FG ute that got written off, now drive an FG XT sedan. They're so economical, so cheap to maintain and yeah it might handle like a boat, but for old man driving it's perfect.
i've been wanting to throw a barra in a supra so bad for sooo long just to annoy 2j fan boys. ( i love the 2j to though lol)
love the thought!
I have a certain criteria for swaps: if the engine is of the same kind (so twin cam turbo straight 6) and as good as original, I'm in. If it's some el-cheapo stupid build ~definitely not mentioning which one people love to do~ then no thanks.
Like, if I became rich as fuck I would definitely have a 2JZ GTE running Skyline named Heresy One, and a Mk.4 Supra running the Skyline's RB26DETT called the Heresy Two
Kalvinjj so, you wish to be Smokey Nagata?
What a waste of time and money , I suppose you know stuff all about ADR rules and the legality’s as well, check it out , when putting different engines in cars what little people do not realise is that by law you have to put in all of the suspension from wherever the engine cane from and make sure everything fits properly, sure plenty of dodgy people around certifying everything because this country is corrupt (not a good thing BTW, however doing that is pointless waste of money why don’t you just go and buy a XR6 typhoon and be done with your plastic dreams , what are you trying to dazzle people with an idea ?? Go and take the waste of money and do some real investing
+Michael Wilson what? maybe in Australia but I'm American and it would be relatively easily to do the swap legally
The only other country to get the Barra was South Africa - pretty sure they got the Barra in the territory, as they stopped importing Falcons after the AU (which was built for export to South Africa only until 2003)
Yip I own a AU Xr6 VCT beast absolutely bulletproof. She stands most of the time in the garage take her out on Sunday drives. And the territory was bought in for a short while... Still want to get my hands on one. Absolutely brilliant car!
@@omgwtflmaololrotfl2368 you domt know what your missing out on man, they are quick, very quick all of them, right down to your base model wagon
Good to know more about this engine, I owned a BA XT Falcon which is as basic as a BA Falcon could get, but it had a barra just like all others although stock standard, but this thing pulled, and the torque can definitely be felt, many hills were encountered but I don't remember having to change down to get up them, the barra put its torque to work and got over them with ease, but another downside to this is that once the big drive belt shreds away, everything goes with it and the engine just stops, but that was my only problem with it, other than that, with the usual maintenance, this engine is bulletproof, and far more economical than I could ever imagine, I thought I'd be broke running it, haha nope I found it was cheaper to run than a Honda Civic!!
I'm in Canada I wish i could find one to drop into my 89 fox body mustang that would rip
ebay
Import a crate full from brisbane
Nah, I'm a Ford fan, and have a Barra daily driver, but SBF still is the ultimate, with so many hotup parts available.
If we could only have had the engine in america we wouldn't have the problems with the size. it would fit in every vintage car made in america from the 1920's to 1989 when the auto makers changed to a modern lay out . it would even fit in a mustang because the first cars made came with the grand dad of the Barra the Ford 300 straight six . Ford could have sold this engine in any car they made over here and it would have been very popular and then it would be available in the millions by now and after market parts would be plentiful Oh to dream. If only some engine maker in Australia or New Zealand would cast new blocks and heads or refresh and resell original engines and sell them in other country's it could get the love it deserves and I could build the Henry J I have wanted for years Hint , Hint !
They are that plentiful here, you could spend a week shopping online and ship a 20' container load back for quite reasonable $$. In fact, you could probably fill the container with NA base engines for less than the shipping cost.
The Barra is an evolution in Australia from the original 144-170-188-200-221-250 ci Ford falcon engines, not the truck 300 ci units
The 300 didn't come in the Mustang as far as I know. It was the 300's short stroked little brother, the 260.
A few months ago I watched HubNuts review of an old Falcon with Barra engine and I was fallen with love. This is sth I want to swap/install in some Capri or Taunus and drive it everyday. :) And it does not has to be superpowered. It is torquey enough for classic car even without boost. Cheers from Poland.
It really is a shame that the Australian car industry is no more. A lot of awesome and quirky cars came from Australia.
Very true and very sad indeed.
If I install it in a car here in the states will it need to be installed upside down to work properly?
Almost certainly
No , but you will have to drive on the wrong side of the road.
In my opinion, no car i have ever been in has sounded better then the barra in my mums territory. Absolutely mean sounding,
What's so special about a barra? Its connected to a falcon!! Great car, great engine!!