twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six engine developed by Stellantis that will be going into the Dodge RAM TRX, and most likely replacing the hemi engine in topend models. 510 horse and 500 lb-ft pounds of torque.
Not only did the Barra produce great power … but these engines do huge distances … buying a secondhand Barra powered Ford here in Oz with a 250km’s on clock … is often described as “just run in” … mine as 285km’s … love this engine !!!
The BMW S55 Twin turbo Inline 6 is leagues better over the N54 and N55. With it already being a high performance design already in mind out of the factory. Only major thing you need to upgrade is the crank hub assembly, if you plan on going over 700whp. Because the factory 3 piece crank hub will fail.
Of this list? I'd go with the Barra, followed by JZ, RB and N54, in this order. But DRA, there's one engine I think it would be cool to talk about, the "Ameri-Barra": Chevrolet's Atlas engine, specifically the original one, 4.2L straight-6, with the same characteristics as the Barra, like dual overhead cam and 4v per cylinder. That engine surely deserved more development. Can you make a video about the entire Atlas engine family, which includes an inline-4 AND inline-5's?
Ford falcons and barra engines we're the mainstay of the Australian taxi fleet, quite common for these engines to exceed 1 million kilometres as a taxi.
@bill-fc6hz second hand motors go for $250 to $400 and turbo motors around $2500 to $6500 US dollars here in Oz. Green top LPG fueled barras are pretty popular because of having larger and stronger rods fitted compared to the NA motor so they can take a fair bit of boost.
Plus a lot of the taxis ran on LPG gas only, which is harsher on the engine due to less lubricating properties of the gas, therefore valves and seals ran drier than gasoline. A testament to Australian engineers
That’s exactly why I bought my FG. It tows a loaded car trailer with ease, and in comfort. I’ve probably done 25,000km up & down the east coast lugging cars around since I got it new in 2011. Just about to hit 350k on it. I might be Holden biased, owning 6 of them at present (and dozens in the past) but credit where it’s due, the Falcon platform has always been a great tow vehicle that doubles as a very comfortable daily.
They're definitely an awesome engine, I'm currently pushing about 1100hp at the crank with an engine that cost under $7000 Australian to build, and it's been going since early 2014
We Aussies have always loved our inline sixes, just as an aside Chrysler Australia built the tough (for its day) 245 and 265 Hemi sixes to replace 225 slant sixes in our Valiants, Chargers and other Chrysler products from the early 1970’s (we also had 318’s, 340’s, 360 V8’s) and just to give you an idea of how good these inline sixes were Chrysler Australia produced a hot version of our Valiant Charger 2 door R/T coupe that was unique to Australia and unlike anything the USA had and was different to your Chargers, this car was powered by an inline six that was unique to Australia also and was a 265 Hemi in line six that came from the factory with triple weber twin throat carbs and held the title in the early 1970’s as the Fastest accelerating Six cylinder car in the World! It also did the standing quarter mile in 14 seconds straight off the showroom floor that anyone could buy from their local dealer, it was faster down the quarter mile than our then Ford Falcon GTHO phase three with its hot 351 4BBL Aussie built Clevelands, we always loved our good in line sixes here!
Just to add to your comment the HEMI 6 was the first production engine from the big 3 cars companies (Chrysler, GM and Ford) to make 1 horse power per cubic inch, (production engine) Aussie engineering at its best (not bad from a reworked reject inline 6).
And now there’s Mirabito performance turning a 265 Hemi into a 320 Hemi six pushing over 400hp! Imagine if this was around back in the 70’s. would have beaten everything Fully sik.
GTHO did not have the Aussie built Cleveland it was the import 4v Cleveland from US as we Aussies did not take over building Clevelands untill 1975 when US stopped !
@@JosephCowen-ru7up yes the XW, XY’s had the US Cleveland’s in the GTHO’s I realised that after the post, my mistake, the XA Falcons in the GT’s had a mix of US and Aussie built 351 Clevelands and all unique to Australia Aussie built 302 Clevelands and all Aussie Cleveland’s from XB onwards, Australia even provided most of the 351 Cleveland’s for the De-Tomaso Panteras when the US stopped building them when they stayed with the Windsors
I always liked the 400 Cleveland/Midland which ever way U want to call it. It would have gone hard with 4v US heads in a XY falcon , shame it had a 460 big block bell housing , not Cleveland small block, even stranger still was the 351 M a 400 M /Cleveland with a 351 Windsor crank , seems in the early 1970s ford needed lots of motors of this size so around 1972 ford had 4 motors , all different motors the same size a 351 Cleveland a 351 Windsor a 351 Midland/modified and the 352 big block FE motor all 5.8 litres , what a way to waste money!
Not only they the best inline 6 in the world because they can do amazing things with the power they put out but they can easily do a 1 million km without skipping a beat
Incorrect, great notor and best aussie motor ever. But.. it's heavy and really only good for roll and drag racing. Not circuit or time attack. So its more on par.
I have a Barra from 2006, had it now for seven years, in a Falcon wagon, just gone past 400,000kms (250,000 miles). Great engine! Good horsepower and miles of torque. Love it. :)
Knocked out a lazy 1200rwhp in my F6 Tornado ute (Barra based engine, tuned & refitted with FPV stuff from factpry). They are a good motor, probably the best ever to come from Australia
It's a great engine, I've had one as a daily since 2011 One of the best things about being an Australian is that these things can be found basically anywhere. The cars that contain them are seldom wrecked because of the engine
@@winkerface2332 dunno all the usual websites have them but they start at like 800 bucks for a short motor. not sure where these cheap motors are hiding but i think people are fooling themselves. a set of headers cost 100 bucks
@adambartlett3483 you're talking nonsense mate. why is it all of a sudden everybody has barras for a carton stories even though the reality is that there barely even existed in the first place. let alone in 2023 when americans are paying 2k to have blocks sent over.
The other great thing about the Barra was the way it put down its power & torque. In the early/mid 2000’s only the XR6T’s & the Mercedes 63AMG delivered such brutal acceleration from 50kph up. It was insane you blink and they put 1 street block distance on you!. When you consider the Merc AMG’s were from 250K- 375k. Its incredible nothing else really came close here in Australia. The Fords weren’t great off the line but when they got going very few cars could live with them- even in standard trim let alone modified!.
Agree with this, I loved the way the XR6T's power would surge up! It wasn't instant so it wasn't the best off the line like you mentioned, but it still made me smile as the boost increased exponentially!
Throw a territory rear end in em and it fixes the sluggishness off the line, if you've got a 6 speed or a zf it won't upset the fuel economy too much either, from memory u can get a 3.7 3.9 n 411s in the territory 👍
A place in the US who imports the Australian Ford Barra engines. All aftermarket parts are easy to purchase from down under as they offer shipment to the US. You can purchase second hand engine from Australia Auto wreckers. Rebuilt engines or even brand new as theirs plenty of them made. I have a friend in California who purchased a barra from Australia rebuilt and worked in Australia and pushing over 1500hp along with a falcon 6 speed gear box and LS diff. And delivered to him that he put in his mustang GT. He loves it.
Yeah it’s a pretty nuts engine platform, I’ve had 4 of them over the years, currently daily a ute model, all the bolt ons, 550hp starts everytime even when super cold, can idle it out your driveway without causing a scene, smacks just about anything you come up against, pretty special really was a massive shame to see them discontinued
Its not profitable to build engine that will last a life time.. We know how to build these engines but companies are building engines with 5 year life after witch you have to replace or rebuild it (more repairs, more profit) Unfortunate truth🤷♂️Look at BMW , made to be black hole that will swallow customer whole😂
The barra turbo had dual vct from the start, it wasn't introduced on the bf as stated. The barra will make a reliable 500hp everyday unopened, if you want to make more you need to change the valve springs ( valve float), chants head studs (head bolts stretch to much above 500hp) and change the oil pump gears to steel gears (originals crack and break).
@@kingmarz3635lol it’s 4L very easy to get 350-400kw just with valve springs and bita boost n more fuel I’ve had a heap of falcons also had a 2jz was good but gone back to the older falcon there nice engines Did you know Honda designed the barra cylinder head lol I’m a cylinder head specialist/engine rebuilder…
RBs JZs Barra is definitely a great engines but there is also 1FZ 4.5L in the land cruisers and the TB48 in the patrols google turbo patrols and u will see 4.8L in-line 6 turbo is a weapon
Would like to see what the !FZ could really be worked to. Only video I'm seeing is a destroked racing motor. There is a turbo kit available from Wits End that takes it to around 300 but I'd like to see if this beast could make 500 hp/tq. Not rich enough to experiment with my 97 LC.
Another example if it ain't broke, don't fix it, the Barra reminds me of the 4.9L I6 in a way. Sucks we didn't get the Barra or modern Falcons in North America, I'd own one in a heartbeat. Easily my favourite I6 Turbocharged engine coming from a die hard V8 or nothing guy.
@@ldnwholesale8552the old 300 makes up for its sluggish power by being a absolute tank. It's so over built and due to low compression is so little stressed it will chug along forever. But yeah a good cross flow head and cam with a 4 barrel and some headers will get you a good 260 hp and 320 torque. Ask me how I know lol my 87 f250 is my favorite truck I've ever owned and I'd never swap the 300 I6 for any 302 or 351 Windsor.
The 300-6 will never die. My 90 Bronco has a 300-6 with a manual ZF-5... best engine ford every made. Not fast but great low end grunt. Perfect truck motor especially off road.
I would daily another car with the Barra and use my LS powered car for summer. I've known about the Barra for about 5 years now, but living in the US makes it harder to obtain and I don't have a shell to throw it in, and I already have a daily and a summer car, but I still love them.
Slight correction. The Barra always had Dual VCT however in the BA both intake and exhaust cam timing was mirrored. The BF saw the introduction of independently adjusted cam timing. I was told by a Ford engineer that they wanted it for BA but the ECU was too expensive in 2002 but cost effective by 2005.
that the same thing with lots of other parts of the car, the v8 models they looked into turbo and supercharged options and they cut the intercooler for the miami, I do wish it was sold to Europe and the America's so they had more budget for cool things
Slight correction, The ECU was not the problem, nor was the cost, the software and method of calculation of charge air estimation was not developed in 2002, thus it ran Dual equal (or "mirrored" in your words) where only the intake cam was considered in the air calculation. This was mainly due to there being insufficient time in the development program to get this done (with quality) in time. So it was pushed over to BF....otherwise you are correct.
Little known fact about the Barra is as stated the engine block dates back to 1960 but was never intended to exceed 3.6 litres (225 ci) so the small crankcase does not allow the 4.0L to be perfectly balanced. This results in the Barra not reliably revving over 6,500, there are custom Alloy billet blocks that have fixed this, but if you reduce the stroke with the stock block to allow full balancing it will rev over 8,000 and make more power.
I was going to mention they are quite unbalanced for an inline 6! I've always found them quite 'vibratey' compared to their German and Japanese counterparts, which makes me feel uncomfortable at higher revs like you mentioned...
NO NO NO = the barra is from aston martin ! = when ford owned aston = nothing will swap over = clean sheet engine ! = no 200 or 3.6 is compareable = you made it up = google it !
People destroke them to 3.7 or 3.8 on cast block n rev em to 10k 🤷♂️🤣 Idk where u got your information but it's not right, u don't balance a block u balance the rotating assembly and that's done outside the block, u just machine the block to suit. Factory yeah they're a bit rough but so are a lot of engines, even a factory ecotec will rattle the teeth outa ya head 🤣 Aftermarket wise u can balance them perfectly 👍
@@5lcalais1 The size of the crankcase skirts determine the available space you have to swing the balance weights, there isn't enough room to fit a perfectly balanced 4L crank in the standard iron block even with extra machining. I got my information from the Ford Engine Company where I was the auto transmission design engineer. Ford ran 3.2L, 3.6L and 4L prototypes. the 3.6L was dropped because it made as much power as the 4L but less torque which marketing thought was a selling point over Holden, but the 3.6L was nicer to drive.
No. There is nothing in common between a Barra and a 60s Ford i6. Nothing. The Barra has an 4v dohc vvt alloy head designed with the help of Toyota engineers.
Excellent video bud. I never would have thought this engine would have made the list. But it's an awesome contender. I might have to re think my next build. Thanks for changing my mind!!!
I was just about to say, “ Hey Jeep has two inline-6 engines!” The Hurricane and 4.0 are strong but I want to know do either have aftermarket support yet?
In Australia we also had the RB30E with a single cam head but a longer 85mm stroke. I'd have to say the 153HP/182LbFt NA engine is my favorite, so torquey & silky smooth. The RB30ET turbo version made 200HP with only 6-7 Lb boost & can be boosted to 600HP with all standard internals, up to 1200HP with aftermarket bottom ends. A much more civilized engine than the 3.8 Ecotech V6 in my current VT Commodore
This was valid a couple of years ago, now we know the bmw s58 will take over 1000hp on stock internals on pump gas, while being reliable (as reliable as 1000hp can be)
One thing you didn't mention, all Barra motors came from factory with a one piece steel plate on top of the main caps, tying the bottom end together and reduce the long crank from flexing, which greatly adds to the bottom end rigidity. see 7.25 in the video...
And crossbolting the caps through the alloy sump, but have seen a cap break on a 3.6 destroked engine on my brother's Nissan S15 Barra D1NZ car pushing close to 800hp @wheels. New dry sump engine being built atm 😊
you misquoted the power figures, the most powerful ford production barra was 496hp and 479 lb/ft dion amatos drag barra makes at least 2200hp, maria passos xr6 street car made 2202hp on the dyno at summernats. billet alloy barra blocks are already available so i doubt it's going anywhere anytime soon at this stage you could build one entirely from parts.
So we’re just not gonna talk about the B58??? proven to withstand 800whp stock block out of a 3.0L and many of the gen 1s have touched over 150,000 miles. So bulletproof it made it in a top of the line toyota…
It's about inline with the N54 as far as the engine itself is concerned. I have an awd N54 and the motor is simply awesome it's the other shit like injectors and hpfp that ruin the reliability, although mine has never left me stranded. I would love to get a B58 to screw with.
@@joshuaquilliam2887 been a while since i watched the video lol i could’ve sworn they mentioned all types of i6s except the b58. nonetheless, best of luck with ur n54 man, I’ve heard mixed reviews on it but i’m sure if you treat it right it’ll be solid.
You are dreaming mate. I was a mechanic in Aussie for 30 years. owned several Falcons with that engine and while good and strong, not as silky smooth or trouble free as the Nissan.
I had I 95 F-150 with the 4.9 300. I wanted the 300 over the 302 few guy's wanted to trade me. But my dream inline would be the 2JZ you can get parts little easier.
If you’ve a jdm fanboys and have money to burn get a 2jz or a rb25/26. The Barra is the new ford 300. Incredibly reliable. Bulletproof bottom end. Parts aren’t as expensive. I look at the barra like it’s a 300 but with dohc instead of ohv.
It's. 4 litre engine, it's supposed to out perform a 3.0 litre or a 2.6 litre engine. If it was the same size as the JZ or RB then you'd have a valid point.
So the Barra may be a convenient engine for forced induction but I wonder how all these engines do in stock forms in their respective cars? Pretty sad that Australia is de-industrialised and quickly becoming a third world country.
They do very well in stock form. The US is also becoming de-industrialised, Just look at parts of Detroit, Once affluent suburbs, Now abandoned, boarded up and left to rot. That's what happens when they ship off jobs to Mexico and other 3rd world countries.
The Barra and all falcon sixes, like a 2jzge in a gs300, with frequent oil changes, last 5-600,000km+ in taxis and highway driven cars. Most die because of owners never changing oil, so they a full of sludge in the sump instead of fresh oil. That's when they fail.
At 7.01 the original BA (240kw at Flywheel) and BF turbos had the same sized Garret Turbo (3582 or 84?) be they just XR6 Ts or Typhoons (sedans) or Tornados (utes). In the FG model (2008-2014) the XR6T and G6ET had the smaller, faster spooling Garret turbo (3576) which maxed out at around 320 Rwkw or 430Rwhp on a chassis dyno but the FG F6 310 @ flywheel retained the same larger turbo that had been used on all BA/BF turbos which would go up to 380rwkw or 509Rwhp. The XR6 Sprint, the final Barra Turbo was rated at 325kw going to 370kw on overboost at the flywheel in total stock form.
Bought my XR6 Turbo in 2015. Driven 144,000 Kilometres. No problems with the Barra so far. Only mod I did is Catt Back Exhaust. Will do cold air induction next with K&N Pod Filter.
I had a ba falcon with the standard Barra motor. It was a great torquey engine that felt made to last. Shame the 4 speed auto was not so durable, the 6 speed was a real step up. The ba falcon was a superb vehicle for the way it drove and it was a good looker too. All that money ford invested was worth it.
I disagree, the 4 speed auto IS the most reliable automatic (providing you change the oil every 50k) the 6 speed ZF offers better fuel economy but it is much less durable.
@@americarsqueensland1667 My experience was that I had trouble with the 4 speed along with others. The earlier version in the ea falcon was trouble free because the oil pump was much better or something. I had an ea falcon in Perth and it was excellent, an ex taxi with over 900,000k.
None of the mentioned engines are the best inline-6. That award goes to the Ford 300 straight 6; an engine that will continue to run until the end of time simply because people at the time weren’t idiots by using aluminum in their engines. An aluminum head and cast iron block is a recipe for disaster due to the fact that aluminum and iron expand at different rates when heated. This will eventually lead to a head gasket failure. I used to drive a 1997 GMC Sierra 1500 with the 5.7 Vortec. It blew its head gasket. I also used to drive a 1990 Toyota Pickup (the Hilux for the rest of the world) with the 22r-e. It blew a head gasket. My dad used to drive a 2002 Cadillac STS with a Northstar V8. It blew a head gasket. Why did these 3 vehicles blow a head gasket? Because all three of these engines had a cast iron block and an aluminum head.
Don’t underestimate the Ford Intech- they can hold up to a lot in both stock and fully built versions. They also came out in the AU Falcon, which in Australian translates to “God’s Car”.
Exactly. I've got a mate who has an AU Intech VCT with a small turbo, in his EA Fairmont Ghia. It's still lush inside, and has around 810rwhp. Feels amazing to gently squash the loud pedal, and feel the boost come on! Admittedly, he's building a Barra for it as we speak.
The bottomends are the same but the heads different . 1 r rods though like the stock barras na . Greentops and turbo in bf on got 3r rods . The first ba greentops and turbo had 1r rods until ford put 3r rods in them during ba series after bending rods . The 1r rods can still take a bit until they snap and cut the block in half . Its funny to see . Carnage on yt did it . Chopped the block in half when it broke . The intech was a good engine way better than an ea engine but the twin cam vct is the best one . I have a turbo greentop with a gt 3584r on it . Loves the boost . No more than 18 psi though .
I might prefer the Intech, but it might be harder to produce numbers from given they are SOHC. They are also alarmingly unbalanced at high revs for an inline 6, which is apparently because of the block design and also applies to the Barra.
Let's talk about a great crawler motor for a jeep XJ with 40" tires. I have experience with the mid 2000s 5.3 liter GM and atleast in a Tahoe the mileage was crap. If I could lose some engine weight and improve mileage without losing much torque or horse power with the reliability of the 5.3 that is where i want to be.
The intec and Barra engines are an understressed in factory form and often get more that 1 million km with no more than normal maintenance. I have more than 500,000 km on mine and all i have ever done is chane the oil, filters and spark plugs when needed.
All hail the AU Falcon. Forever may it do circle work and stand stills. May the vice grips on the rear break lines nor the shitty welded diff ever break. Amen
The guy you show Hooning the white AU over a small jump....later he went full send, and hurt his back, trying to prove an AU Falcon is tougher than the Toyota Hi Lux ute. How tough was it....the front of the sump was smashed off, which he video-ed with crank and rods visible turning, then proceeded to hoon it minus oil !!!
Had a xr6 turbo in the mid 2000s . Spent 4K on it with bigger turbo and bigger intercooler. Apart from stronger head bolts and valve springs stock internals .. Result 850+ rear wheel hp… Still running strong when I sold it after 4 years of abuse… wish I still had it.. awesome package.
honestly you are forgetting one other inline 6 and its the ameri barra 4200. the reason is because the fact we dont have a barra in the US but rather its truck engine cousin(the vortec 4200). and its aftermarket isnt as common as the barra either but can make 600 HP on stock bottom end(if you can fix the finnicky ignition issue). being it was an SUV truck engine. it has low compression
I had a 2003 xr6 turbo quite a few years ago, a tune and valve springs ($2000 nzl) 321rwhp and 516.294 pound-force feet. Then intercooler, muffler delete and fuel injectors ($2.5) gave me 400rwhp and 700 pound-force feet, an absolute weapon for bugger all on the oldest model. All up I spent 11k and for the time it was the king of the Street. You could easily spend and 3-4k and get 700rwhp but I was perfectly happy with that
Great engine for sure. But not quite as cheap and easy to find as they used to be. I recall a few years ago, wreckers trying hard to flog off good running Barras for $250, they had a glut of them. Getting a bit thinner on the ground here now, probably because they're getting snapped up for transit to the US 😂
They were sending them for scrap also, as no one needed them.. I've seen skip bins full of them at wreckers, i couldn't believe they were worthless at the time. Such a waste.
In around 2005 there were wreckers in Brisbane doing clearance sales of a Barra and five or six speed auto and all wiring for $150. I wanted to grab one and put it in an XC Fairmont we owned at the time but ended up selling the car. Would have been a fun build.
I have owned every model since 1983 XE 250 crossflow till BF 2006 which i currently have. Some models i have bought multiple times like the EB and EL. They are brilliant engines no matter the year when it comes to torque and reliability. My XR6T BA was quick but they all been great in their own ways. BF Fairlane as my daily and an AU Fairmont garaged at the moment
At 6:00 you say the turbo has the same rods as na. Incorrect. Please fix this. Also until the 2010's people didn't really go mega fast with the barra motors. Sure nizpro did 1000hp in 2004, but it wasn't common.
I think the best Inline 6 engine is the Nissan TB48DE with a Single/Twin Turbo Kit (ofc aftermarket because it never came turbocharged from the factory). And it's more comparable to the Barra, because it's displacement is more than 3 liters.
Cant fail to mention the GM "Atlas" series inline Six found in the Chevy trailblazer, Saab 97x and other cars on the 360 platform. Great, well balanced & quick and dare I say reliable
the n54 platform is better just slept on. the 3.5l stroker kits and the darton wet sleeve block inserts for the n54 , the n53 cylinder head swaps (naturally aspirated n54 head from europe that flows a fuck ton of air) big cams, springs, etc. now the 8hp trans swap kits availible for the n54 cars. i built a 1200whp n54/n53 with a billet 8hp75 trans, identical transmission and rear end gear to the new a90 supra, my car weighs 600 lbs less than the supra, has a trans brake and 5k rpm stall. i built the entire car for about 27k dollars and i just eclipsed the 900whp mark not even pushing the engine. my car ran 8.98 off the trailer first ever pass just breaking the trans in, 100% a 7 second car and the only non bmw part of the drivetrain is my ford 8.8 rear end. the volumetric data for the head flow and my tuning software estimates about 1370whp capable on nitrous with this setup. total cost of the engine alone to replace is under 9k dollars. ive been beating on it for months and months now too.
A few things to keep in mind about the turbo Barra cars Ford deliberately hobbled them so they wouldn't out power the comparable V8 car. The XR6 Turbo had less power than the XR8. And the F6 Had less power than the GT/GT-P. In fact the BA Turbo's power increase was so minimal, they used the same injectors as the NA engine. Keep in mind that these engines came out 10 years after Japanese turbo engines were repeatedly churning out 100hp/litre from the likes of the WRX and 200SX. The Barra had more than enough turbo capacity for the engine to make 400hp straight out of the box, but the big ol' 5.4 litre truck engine V8, would have looked ridiculous. The turbo was originally Garrett GT3582. This is the same for the BA/BF XR6 Turbo and the FPV F6 Typhoon. The FG XR6 Turbo used a smaller 3576 turbo, but the FPV F6 (they dropped the Typhoon name) used the original GT3582 turbo. There is plenty of unused power potential in the OE 3582 turbo, being rated at around 600hp from Garrett. As mentioned, the torque output of the factory engine is very impressive. Th BF F6 churns out 550Nm @ 2000rpm. And the FG F6 engine is better again. It would have been awesome to see Ford Aus put more effort into the engine before it was canned. Oil squirters for the pistons, a new head with direct injection and either smaller twin turbos or a split pulse manifold and turbo combination and maybe a WTA intercooler integrated into the inlet manifold, could have really brought the engine up to date. I think that if Holden had used the turbo variants of the 'Alloytec' engines from the States to have their own Turbo chariots (Commodore), Ford would probably have been forced to put more effort into the Barra.
You got me thinking of sticking one of these 6 cylinders in my 69 mustang. I was thinking on a Toyota V8 but it’s a ways out for now. Waiting on current final assembly, hopefully done by the end of summer.
If ur looking for the best inline 6 you gotta hand it to the TB48 really it share the down sides of the barra "bigger engine and exclusivity to certain markets" with more lights especially in the US it will be great to see what they can do to it! And theres the M104 its an engine ppl sleaping on and its in the 90s mercedes cars with diffrent sizes 2.8L to 3.6 in some AMG models i would love to see you doing an episode on the M104s
Hell yes I appreciate the m104 love! I own a C36 Amg with this engine and it is by far the smoothest and most linear power I’ve ever encountered. I’ve also owned an Aristo 2zjgte, and ls400 1uz, as well as currently owning a turbo Sohc Falcon.
@@nordic5490Plenty of clips of Eastern Europeans taking the m104 well beyond 1000hp on stock internals with some boost. A very underrated engine in the west.. Better than any straight six that has come from Bmw anyway.
GM Vortec 4200. Cheap to find and build. May need a couple custom fabricated parts. But capable of 1000hp as proven by Nivlac57 on youtube. And not even on an ideal setup.
The vortec 4200 never gets enough love, how many trailblazers do you out there, still on the road after 20 years, with a ton of miles. The RB-26 is massively overrated and you have to pour a TON of money to get any real power out of them😂
The Barra is THE BEST inline 6 built, period. RB, JZ yes very very good. As per previous posts, what your story doesn't outline is the original BA Turbo, used near zero boost, had less lag than most internet connections and was good for a million kms if serviced correctly. I owned a later model FG Falcon Turbo, with some reasonable and not overly costly work, was dyno'd at 527 RWW HP and was a perfectly good daily driver. Avg high 8's to low 9's Litre per hundred kms across both city and country driving. That said, swapping from 6th to 4th to overtake on the highway and leaving number 11's at 130kph always reminded me what she could do. Brilliant car! And they handled! Could seat 4 adults in comfort, with an Esky for Refreshments........
Stock 2jz bottom end,oil pump etc. 850hp. Have seen it done many times on standard bearings. Try that hp on a barra it will blow to bits. Even the later turbo models need upgrades to make big power. Oil pumps/gears are rubbish especially if you like limiter bashing. My opinion only but honestly jz is gods engine. Barras a bogans engine
Only GTE comes close to 850 and at this point the pistons are getting raped and won't survive for long. The non GTE versions piss themself at just 400hp max while still costing double or even triple of what barra costs. Plus don't forget that the turbocharged barras straight from the factory are beating turbocharged 2jzs easily ;)
Not really seeing how you came to the conclusion the barra is better. Everything you named aside from displacement the 2JZ has performed better. 2J has gone 5.5X@260, made north of 2500whp, run 8s and stock longblock. Quickest and fastest 6speed inline 6. I agree the barra is a great engine but both engines listed have more accolades to their credit. We may even see a 5sec AWD GTR before we see a 5sec barra powered non chassis car.
I really appreciate when I am humbled by good content. I knew about the existence of this engine, but I didn't know anything about it. Thanks for the lesson. Good vibes, and Cheers from Brazil! 👊
There’s been container loads of Barras going to the states over the last few years. There was a time where you could go to a wrecker and buy a complete barra for $75. That time has long gone.
You can import them from Australia. You can buy them stock or work them yourself or get them worked in Australia with all the running gear including 6 speed gear box and LS diff and have it shipped to you
Amery Barra is cooler in that it is extremely light due to the aluminum block, but at the same time extremely durable, with stock connecting rods (the only improvements are apr bolts in the connecting rods, apr studs for main bearings, other valve springs, and other camshafts) with pistons it withstands mind-blowing 600 horsepower turbocharged, besides, it is at times, MUCH cheaper than barra if you do not live in Australia
*I had a 1968 Ford 300 cu. in. i6. It was awesome. I have always loved Australian cars. Living in Canada, I've only seen a few imported. But the Barra always blew my mind. Simplicity, reliability, power and efficiency. Maybe one day I'll get a TS-50 imported or an XR-6 turbo.*
My 2008 FG Falcon (second last iteration) XR6 is naturally aspirated . She has the gorgeous ZF 6 speed sports shift transmission and is a pure joy to drive every day... Even the N/A has so much torque at any speed and pulls like a train . One little fact too ..Driven quietly its surprisingly economical fro my seven years ownership so far . On long cruises I'll see low 8's for litres per 100 kms ..and mid 9's a lot of the time ...and hardly ever needs a spanner for anything ...Such a great engine /trans and c ar generally ...
I had a 1988 Crown Vic here in New Zealand and I thought more than once about pulling the 302 and seeing if a Barra turbo with the 6 speed auto would go in. Would have been a hell of a thing but the certification process here for mods like that is one very expensive migraine.
i was always fan of 265ci hemi strait six myself would loved to see how one those went with 30 more years of development but they stopped making them in 1980
This is just incorrect, the only advantages to the Barra is an extra liter of displacement and its a modern production engine. The 2jz was ludicrously over engineered and sold in the states, Makin them easier to obtain and they are the gold standard for durability, it's not uncommon to see one making 1,000 plus hp on the factory block and 800ish to the tire on the on the factory crankshaft. Not saying the Barra isn't good, but it's just not worth paying thousands and waiting weeks to have one shipped to the states, unless your Australian.
I mean. The 2J can definitely handle more power stock. But the barra doesn't need an aftermarket crank until over 1000hp. And the block handles plenty more. Rods and pistons are much more hardier in a 2J though.
Had an 86 f150 with a 300 I6. Best motor ever. Stopped clocking at 336,000 on the odometer and ran it for years after that then sold it and for all I know might be still running. Other than the ignition module being placed on the motor where it apparently can get too hot, never a problem with it. Learned to carry another module and the silly wrench needed to change it.
There. Are a lot of great i6's out there including the Barra. But I'll put my $ on the mighty 300 aka 4.9l, nothing is more reliable. It was designed specifically for turning industrial generators, it didn't take Ford very long to realize what they had. This engine ended up in just about everything, tractors, construction equipment, wood chippers, trucks (F100 up to F700)and the list goes on and on. And we've seen recently with a good cross flow head they can make really good power. look up BOSS 300 bored to 308 cid whith custom built head from multiple Cleveland 351 heads which were basically the same as the small block BOSS heads.(620hp from 308 cid naturally aspirated, pretty incredible)we also see a 300 powered front engine dragster with a drag racing only cross flow head (no cooling jacket) turning over 10k. I think its running on alcohol. Mid 5s quarter mile. And Power Nation built a turbocharged 300 with readily available parts with stock head to 500hp. Hope some company comes out with a good cross flow head for the street so we can find out how much power the 300 is capable of. If the was a ecoboost 300 I'd bet it would be close to diesel power numbers.
The Falcon BA also had a mean IRS. I remember reading that a prominent Japanese car company was taken to court by MB for copying their in-line 6 and won.
Which one do you think is better and why? Nissan RB, Toyota JZ, Ford Barra, BMW N54.
Let me know down below. 👀
Volvo T6
twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six engine developed by Stellantis that will be going into the Dodge RAM TRX, and most likely replacing the hemi engine in topend models. 510 horse and 500 lb-ft pounds of torque.
Not only did the Barra produce great power … but these engines do huge distances … buying a secondhand Barra powered Ford here in Oz with a 250km’s on clock … is often described as “just run in” … mine as 285km’s … love this engine !!!
The BMW S55 Twin turbo Inline 6 is leagues better over the N54 and N55. With it already being a high performance design already in mind out of the factory. Only major thing you need to upgrade is the crank hub assembly, if you plan on going over 700whp. Because the factory 3 piece crank hub will fail.
Of this list? I'd go with the Barra, followed by JZ, RB and N54, in this order.
But DRA, there's one engine I think it would be cool to talk about, the "Ameri-Barra": Chevrolet's Atlas engine, specifically the original one, 4.2L straight-6, with the same characteristics as the Barra, like dual overhead cam and 4v per cylinder.
That engine surely deserved more development.
Can you make a video about the entire Atlas engine family, which includes an inline-4 AND inline-5's?
Ford falcons and barra engines we're the mainstay of the Australian taxi fleet, quite common for these engines to exceed 1 million kilometres as a taxi.
Wow. What's that in miles ?
Nah kilometres. So 622,000 miles +
I need one of these engines in my 98 mustang.
@bill-fc6hz second hand motors go for $250 to $400 and turbo motors around $2500 to $6500 US dollars here in Oz. Green top LPG fueled barras are pretty popular because of having larger and stronger rods fitted compared to the NA motor so they can take a fair bit of boost.
Plus a lot of the taxis ran on LPG gas only, which is harsher on the engine due to less lubricating properties of the gas, therefore valves and seals ran drier than gasoline. A testament to Australian engineers
The Barra is a really impressive puller when vehicle is hitched to trailer. Fuel economy is great and it pulls like a busload of schoolboys.
That’s exactly why I bought my FG. It tows a loaded car trailer with ease, and in comfort. I’ve probably done 25,000km up & down the east coast lugging cars around since I got it new in 2011. Just about to hit 350k on it. I might be Holden biased, owning 6 of them at present (and dozens in the past) but credit where it’s due, the Falcon platform has always been a great tow vehicle that doubles as a very comfortable daily.
I can powerskid my FG turbo ute towing a Tinney
@@nathanmorley2573 do that in my BA turbo ute full load of red gum 🤣
thats a really gay comment.
Aye yooo wtf
They're definitely an awesome engine, I'm currently pushing about 1100hp at the crank with an engine that cost under $7000 Australian to build, and it's been going since early 2014
noice
Who did you get to build your engine?
@@JonathanSmallhorn LK motors in Cairns built mine
What is that motor in?
@@BorisBidjanSaberi11 BA xr6t
We Aussies have always loved our inline sixes, just as an aside Chrysler Australia built the tough (for its day) 245 and 265 Hemi sixes to replace 225 slant sixes in our Valiants, Chargers and other Chrysler products from the early 1970’s (we also had 318’s, 340’s, 360 V8’s) and just to give you an idea of how good these inline sixes were Chrysler Australia produced a hot version of our Valiant Charger 2 door R/T coupe that was unique to Australia and unlike anything the USA had and was different to your Chargers, this car was powered by an inline six that was unique to Australia also and was a 265 Hemi in line six that came from the factory with triple weber twin throat carbs and held the title in the early 1970’s as the Fastest accelerating Six cylinder car in the World! It also did the standing quarter mile in 14 seconds straight off the showroom floor that anyone could buy from their local dealer, it was faster down the quarter mile than our then Ford Falcon GTHO phase three with its hot 351 4BBL Aussie built Clevelands, we always loved our good in line sixes here!
Just to add to your comment the HEMI 6 was the first production engine from the big 3 cars companies (Chrysler, GM and Ford) to make 1 horse power per cubic inch, (production engine) Aussie engineering at its best (not bad from a reworked reject inline 6).
And now there’s Mirabito performance turning a 265 Hemi into a 320 Hemi six pushing over 400hp!
Imagine if this was around back in the 70’s. would have beaten everything
Fully sik.
GTHO did not have the Aussie built Cleveland it was the import 4v Cleveland from US as we Aussies did not take over building Clevelands untill 1975 when US stopped !
@@JosephCowen-ru7up yes the XW, XY’s had the US Cleveland’s in the GTHO’s I realised that after the post, my mistake, the XA Falcons in the GT’s had a mix of US and Aussie built 351 Clevelands and all unique to Australia Aussie built 302 Clevelands and all Aussie Cleveland’s from XB onwards, Australia even provided most of the 351 Cleveland’s for the De-Tomaso Panteras when the US stopped building them when they stayed with the Windsors
I always liked the 400 Cleveland/Midland which ever way U want to call it. It would have gone hard with 4v US heads in a XY falcon , shame it had a 460 big block bell housing , not Cleveland small block, even stranger still was the 351 M a 400 M /Cleveland with a 351 Windsor crank , seems in the early 1970s ford needed lots of motors of this size so around 1972 ford had 4 motors , all different motors the same size a 351 Cleveland a 351 Windsor a 351 Midland/modified and the 352 big block FE motor all 5.8 litres , what a way to waste money!
Not only they the best inline 6 in the world because they can do amazing things with the power they put out but they can easily do a 1 million km without skipping a beat
Correct.
Incorrect, great notor and best aussie motor ever. But.. it's heavy and really only good for roll and drag racing. Not circuit or time attack. So its more on par.
The Barra is definitely up there with the “best” 6 cylinders. They are very popular here in Australia.
Honorable mention also goes to the 4200 GM V-6 here in the US. Not really popular yet, and I don't know why.
It was also sold in South Africa in the Ford Territory Ghia(182-190kw) and ST Turbo(245kW)from 2005-2009
Australia? Not africa 👽🦖
@@DrSaucePacketall sorts of different generations of falcons were sold in Africa
Fact.
@@DrSaucePacket we sent fords holdens to lots of countries .
Yebo we do have here in Mzansi
I have a Barra from 2006, had it now for seven years, in a Falcon wagon, just gone past 400,000kms (250,000 miles). Great engine! Good horsepower and miles of torque. Love it. :)
Me too i have a BF wagon with 485,000 k's on it, original engine, auto and diff, just be sure you change the oil in all 3.
Knocked out a lazy 1200rwhp in my F6 Tornado ute (Barra based engine, tuned & refitted with FPV stuff from factpry).
They are a good motor, probably the best ever to come from Australia
It's a great engine, I've had one as a daily since 2011
One of the best things about being an Australian is that these things can be found basically anywhere. The cars that contain them are seldom wrecked because of the engine
but they're getting rare now that they're cool. they used to put them on the side of the road
@adambartlett3483 i've not seen one that cheap in a long time mate.
Maybe it depends on which state your in
@@winkerface2332 dunno all the usual websites have them but they start at like 800 bucks for a short motor. not sure where these cheap motors are hiding but i think people are fooling themselves. a set of headers cost 100 bucks
@adambartlett3483 you're talking nonsense mate. why is it all of a sudden everybody has barras for a carton stories even though the reality is that there barely even existed in the first place. let alone in 2023 when americans are paying 2k to have blocks sent over.
The other great thing about the Barra was the way it put down its power & torque. In the early/mid 2000’s only the XR6T’s & the Mercedes 63AMG delivered such brutal acceleration from 50kph up. It was insane you blink and they put 1 street block distance on you!. When you consider the Merc AMG’s were from 250K- 375k. Its incredible nothing else really came close here in Australia. The Fords weren’t great off the line but when they got going very few cars could live with them- even in standard trim let alone modified!.
Agree with this, I loved the way the XR6T's power would surge up! It wasn't instant so it wasn't the best off the line like you mentioned, but it still made me smile as the boost increased exponentially!
Throw a territory rear end in em and it fixes the sluggishness off the line, if you've got a 6 speed or a zf it won't upset the fuel economy too much either, from memory u can get a 3.7 3.9 n 411s in the territory 👍
@@5lcalais1 the FG had a smaller turbo that spooled much quicker, stock trim they really punched over a BA/BF
Fun fact ford wanted to call the barra "gull" as in seagull because they knew it was going to sh*t on everything else
I have to agree as I own one of them. The FG FPV F6. That’s it in my profile pic. It’s a BEAST 😂
A place in the US who imports the Australian Ford Barra engines. All aftermarket parts are easy to purchase from down under as they offer shipment to the US. You can purchase second hand engine from Australia Auto wreckers. Rebuilt engines or even brand new as theirs plenty of them made. I have a friend in California who purchased a barra from Australia rebuilt and worked in Australia and pushing over 1500hp along with a falcon 6 speed gear box and LS diff. And delivered to him that he put in his mustang GT. He loves it.
Would be very interested in knowing more about this. Especially the importation part you referred to.
Adam LZ has a turbo barra in a mustang
@@jedclampett6466look up AUTO MAFIA RACING. In the US They import and sell all aftermarket parts for the barra
Yeah it’s a pretty nuts engine platform, I’ve had 4 of them over the years, currently daily a ute model, all the bolt ons, 550hp starts everytime even when super cold, can idle it out your driveway without causing a scene, smacks just about anything you come up against, pretty special really was a massive shame to see them discontinued
This engine really needs to go back into production!
The factories that made them are currently being demolished. I drive past the old plant in Cambellfield regularly, and there's not much left of it.
@@DaemonLlama76 is that in Geelong?
Its not profitable to build engine that will last a life time.. We know how to build these engines but companies are building engines with 5 year life after witch you have to replace or rebuild it (more repairs, more profit) Unfortunate truth🤷♂️Look at BMW , made to be black hole that will swallow customer whole😂
I agree with you 💯
@@KevinTullock Nope
The barra turbo had dual vct from the start, it wasn't introduced on the bf as stated. The barra will make a reliable 500hp everyday unopened, if you want to make more you need to change the valve springs ( valve float), chants head studs (head bolts stretch to much above 500hp) and change the oil pump gears to steel gears (originals crack and break).
How well would this engine do in a tow rig? I’m using a Ford 5.4 3v triton engine right now but will be rebuilding or replacing it soon.
@@jz28h they tow great heaps of grunt
So can a stock K20A Honda engine!
Not all Barra engines can make 500hp not even a factory BA XR6 turbo engine!
Rods need tossing past 500hp also !!
@@kingmarz3635lol it’s 4L very easy to get 350-400kw just with valve springs and bita boost n more fuel I’ve had a heap of falcons also had a 2jz was good but gone back to the older falcon there nice engines
Did you know Honda designed the barra cylinder head lol I’m a cylinder head specialist/engine rebuilder…
RBs JZs Barra is definitely a great engines but there is also 1FZ 4.5L in the land cruisers and the TB48 in the patrols google turbo patrols and u will see 4.8L in-line 6 turbo is a weapon
Would like to see what the !FZ could really be worked to. Only video I'm seeing is a destroked racing motor. There is a turbo kit available from Wits End that takes it to around 300 but I'd like to see if this beast could make 500 hp/tq. Not rich enough to experiment with my 97 LC.
1fz doesn't hold boost on stock internals
@@willmcc05 and lacks a powerful spark due to the distributor
Both are brilliant engines, but neither will handle what the Barra will stock. It's a lot more work to get big power out of those.enfines.
A partially grouted street driven barra can make 2500hp. Yes, really.
2jz block deck warps @ 1800hp.
Another example if it ain't broke, don't fix it, the Barra reminds me of the 4.9L I6 in a way. Sucks we didn't get the Barra or modern Falcons in North America, I'd own one in a heartbeat. Easily my favourite I6 Turbocharged engine coming from a die hard V8 or nothing guy.
The old 300 can make power, but big and heavy and requires lots of rare aftermarket parts,, a bit like the 292 Chev 6
@@ldnwholesale8552the old 300 makes up for its sluggish power by being a absolute tank. It's so over built and due to low compression is so little stressed it will chug along forever. But yeah a good cross flow head and cam with a 4 barrel and some headers will get you a good 260 hp and 320 torque. Ask me how I know lol my 87 f250 is my favorite truck I've ever owned and I'd never swap the 300 I6 for any 302 or 351 Windsor.
@@robertstone9988 Check out the Pat Nahan 6 cylinder dragster....7.38@almost 175mph n/a !!
The 300-6 will never die. My 90 Bronco has a 300-6 with a manual ZF-5... best engine ford every made. Not fast but great low end grunt. Perfect truck motor especially off road.
I would daily another car with the Barra and use my LS powered car for summer. I've known about the Barra for about 5 years now, but living in the US makes it harder to obtain and I don't have a shell to throw it in, and I already have a daily and a summer car, but I still love them.
Slight correction. The Barra always had Dual VCT however in the BA both intake and exhaust cam timing was mirrored. The BF saw the introduction of
independently adjusted cam timing. I was told by a Ford engineer that they wanted it for BA but the ECU was too expensive in 2002 but cost effective by 2005.
that the same thing with lots of other parts of the car, the v8 models they looked into turbo and supercharged options and they cut the intercooler for the miami, I do wish it was sold to Europe and the America's so they had more budget for cool things
Slight correction, The ECU was not the problem, nor was the cost, the software and method of calculation of charge air estimation was not developed in 2002, thus it ran Dual equal (or "mirrored" in your words) where only the intake cam was considered in the air calculation. This was mainly due to there being insufficient time in the development program to get this done (with quality) in time. So it was pushed over to BF....otherwise you are correct.
Little known fact about the Barra is as stated the engine block dates back to 1960 but was never intended to exceed 3.6 litres (225 ci) so the small crankcase does not allow the 4.0L to be perfectly balanced. This results in the Barra not reliably revving over 6,500, there are custom Alloy billet blocks that have fixed this, but if you reduce the stroke with the stock block to allow full balancing it will rev over 8,000 and make more power.
I was going to mention they are quite unbalanced for an inline 6! I've always found them quite 'vibratey' compared to their German and Japanese counterparts, which makes me feel uncomfortable at higher revs like you mentioned...
NO NO NO = the barra is from aston martin ! = when ford owned aston = nothing will swap over = clean sheet engine ! = no 200 or 3.6 is compareable = you made it up = google it !
People destroke them to 3.7 or 3.8 on cast block n rev em to 10k 🤷♂️🤣
Idk where u got your information but it's not right, u don't balance a block u balance the rotating assembly and that's done outside the block, u just machine the block to suit.
Factory yeah they're a bit rough but so are a lot of engines, even a factory ecotec will rattle the teeth outa ya head 🤣
Aftermarket wise u can balance them perfectly 👍
@@5lcalais1 The size of the crankcase skirts determine the available space you have to swing the balance weights, there isn't enough room to fit a perfectly balanced 4L crank in the standard iron block even with extra machining. I got my information from the Ford Engine Company where I was the auto transmission design engineer. Ford ran 3.2L, 3.6L and 4L prototypes. the 3.6L was dropped because it made as much power as the 4L but less torque which marketing thought was a selling point over Holden, but the 3.6L was nicer to drive.
No. There is nothing in common between a Barra and a 60s Ford i6. Nothing. The Barra has an 4v dohc vvt alloy head designed with the help of Toyota engineers.
Thanks for the feedback on a mainstay of the Aussie taxi fleet. Love that it is being recognised internationally for all the right reasons.
I love the Inline 6 in my BMW 3 series. Smooth power delivery, fast, and well balanced.
Me too
Excellent video bud. I never would have thought this engine would have made the list. But it's an awesome contender. I might have to re think my next build. Thanks for changing my mind!!!
I can't wait to see how the hurricane tunes
My thoughts exactly.
My dad's keen to get one for his 1966 Australian market Chrysler VC Valiant. Replace the slant-6.
I was just about to say, “ Hey Jeep has two inline-6 engines!” The Hurricane and 4.0 are strong but I want to know do either have aftermarket support yet?
It’s a bmw engine, it’s gonna be very similar to the n55/b58
Like shit
300-6 is better 🤣
I cut my teeth working on the Barra, back then every taxi had them
In Australia we also had the RB30E with a single cam head but a longer 85mm stroke. I'd have to say the 153HP/182LbFt NA engine is my favorite, so torquey & silky smooth. The RB30ET turbo version made 200HP with only 6-7 Lb boost & can be boosted to 600HP with all standard internals, up to 1200HP with aftermarket bottom ends. A much more civilized engine than the 3.8 Ecotech V6 in my current VT Commodore
This was valid a couple of years ago, now we know the bmw s58 will take over 1000hp on stock internals on pump gas, while being reliable (as reliable as 1000hp can be)
One thing you didn't mention, all Barra motors came from factory with a one piece steel plate on top of the main caps, tying the bottom end together and reduce the long crank from flexing, which greatly adds to the bottom end rigidity. see 7.25 in the video...
I love designers that put in a crank girdle from factory.
And crossbolting the caps through the alloy sump, but have seen a cap break on a 3.6 destroked engine on my brother's Nissan S15 Barra D1NZ car pushing close to 800hp @wheels.
New dry sump engine being built atm 😊
you misquoted the power figures, the most powerful ford production barra was 496hp and 479 lb/ft
dion amatos drag barra makes at least 2200hp, maria passos xr6 street car made 2202hp on the dyno at summernats.
billet alloy barra blocks are already available so i doubt it's going anywhere anytime soon at this stage you could build one entirely from parts.
4.0L Jeep is right there for reliability. 5.9L Cummins(diesel, I know) for power and reliability...
*AMC
Thanks to Renault they finally got a little every day performance. Reliable yes, but hardly powerful.
So we’re just not gonna talk about the B58??? proven to withstand 800whp stock block out of a 3.0L and many of the gen 1s have touched over 150,000 miles. So bulletproof it made it in a top of the line toyota…
It's about inline with the N54 as far as the engine itself is concerned. I have an awd N54 and the motor is simply awesome it's the other shit like injectors and hpfp that ruin the reliability, although mine has never left me stranded. I would love to get a B58 to screw with.
@@joshuaquilliam2887 been a while since i watched the video lol i could’ve sworn they mentioned all types of i6s except the b58. nonetheless, best of luck with ur n54 man, I’ve heard mixed reviews on it but i’m sure if you treat it right it’ll be solid.
You are dreaming mate. I was a mechanic in Aussie for 30 years. owned several Falcons with that engine and while good and strong, not as silky smooth or trouble free as the Nissan.
Tons of 20 year old barras still getting round without a problem
I had I 95 F-150 with the 4.9 300. I wanted the 300 over the 302 few guy's wanted to trade me. But my dream inline would be the 2JZ you can get parts little easier.
The ford 300 is unkillable.
Look into the '06-'07 4.2L Vortec.
@@jedclampett6466 will do 🍻
If you’ve a jdm fanboys and have money to burn get a 2jz or a rb25/26. The Barra is the new ford 300. Incredibly reliable. Bulletproof bottom end. Parts aren’t as expensive. I look at the barra like it’s a 300 but with dohc instead of ohv.
It's. 4 litre engine, it's supposed to out perform a 3.0 litre or a 2.6 litre engine. If it was the same size as the JZ or RB then you'd have a valid point.
So the Barra may be a convenient engine for forced induction but I wonder how all these engines do in stock forms in their respective cars?
Pretty sad that Australia is de-industrialised and quickly becoming a third world country.
They do very well in stock form. The US is also becoming de-industrialised, Just look at parts of Detroit, Once affluent suburbs, Now abandoned, boarded up and left to rot. That's what happens when they ship off jobs to Mexico and other 3rd world countries.
they last forever as the standard na engine
The Barra and all falcon sixes, like a 2jzge in a gs300, with frequent oil changes, last 5-600,000km+ in taxis and highway driven cars. Most die because of owners never changing oil, so they a full of sludge in the sump instead of fresh oil. That's when they fail.
By comparison the RB25/30 dies before 250,000km from a blown head gasket.
The NA versions last forever and are still pretty quick for a big car
At 7.01 the original BA (240kw at Flywheel) and BF turbos had the same sized Garret Turbo (3582 or 84?) be they just XR6 Ts or Typhoons (sedans) or Tornados (utes). In the FG model (2008-2014) the XR6T and G6ET had the smaller, faster spooling Garret turbo (3576) which maxed out at around 320 Rwkw or 430Rwhp on a chassis dyno but the FG F6 310 @ flywheel retained the same larger turbo that had been used on all BA/BF turbos which would go up to 380rwkw or 509Rwhp. The XR6 Sprint, the final Barra Turbo was rated at 325kw going to 370kw on overboost at the flywheel in total stock form.
Bought my XR6 Turbo in 2015. Driven 144,000 Kilometres. No problems with the Barra so far. Only mod I did is Catt Back Exhaust. Will do cold air induction next with K&N Pod Filter.
Great engine, the bmw N55 and B58 have efficiency, smoothness, light weight and lower CG. Inline 6s or half a V12 is just so addictive.
I had a ba falcon with the standard Barra motor. It was a great torquey engine that felt made to last. Shame the 4 speed auto was not so durable, the 6 speed was a real step up. The ba falcon was a superb vehicle for the way it drove and it was a good looker too. All that money ford invested was worth it.
I disagree, the 4 speed auto IS the most reliable automatic (providing you change the oil every 50k) the 6 speed ZF offers better fuel economy but it is much less durable.
@@americarsqueensland1667 My experience was that I had trouble with the 4 speed along with others. The earlier version in the ea falcon was trouble free because the oil pump was much better or something. I had an ea falcon in Perth and it was excellent, an ex taxi with over 900,000k.
What about the BMW B58, how would that compare to the Barra? People are already making 900whp on the stock internals!
"No replacement for displacement" is the truth. The Barra beats the 2JZ and RB26 because it's bigger. But boost a Coyote or an LS and it's game over.
Great engine had a 2010 Barra Falcon, Massive torque and effortless power
None of the mentioned engines are the best inline-6. That award goes to the Ford 300 straight 6; an engine that will continue to run until the end of time simply because people at the time weren’t idiots by using aluminum in their engines. An aluminum head and cast iron block is a recipe for disaster due to the fact that aluminum and iron expand at different rates when heated. This will eventually lead to a head gasket failure. I used to drive a 1997 GMC Sierra 1500 with the 5.7 Vortec. It blew its head gasket. I also used to drive a 1990 Toyota Pickup (the Hilux for the rest of the world) with the 22r-e. It blew a head gasket. My dad used to drive a 2002 Cadillac STS with a Northstar V8. It blew a head gasket. Why did these 3 vehicles blow a head gasket? Because all three of these engines had a cast iron block and an aluminum head.
aluminum head and a cast iron block is a proven design, and has worked for decades, it's literally what the 2jz uses...
Don’t underestimate the Ford Intech- they can hold up to a lot in both stock and fully built versions. They also came out in the AU Falcon, which in Australian translates to “God’s Car”.
Exactly. I've got a mate who has an AU Intech VCT with a small turbo, in his EA Fairmont Ghia. It's still lush inside, and has around 810rwhp. Feels amazing to gently squash the loud pedal, and feel the boost come on!
Admittedly, he's building a Barra for it as we speak.
The bottomends are the same but the heads different . 1 r rods though like the stock barras na . Greentops and turbo in bf on got 3r rods . The first ba greentops and turbo had 1r rods until ford put 3r rods in them during ba series after bending rods . The 1r rods can still take a bit until they snap and cut the block in half . Its funny to see . Carnage on yt did it . Chopped the block in half when it broke . The intech was a good engine way better than an ea engine but the twin cam vct is the best one . I have a turbo greentop with a gt 3584r on it . Loves the boost . No more than 18 psi though .
Mexican Hoon Cartel aproves this comment!
I might prefer the Intech, but it might be harder to produce numbers from given they are SOHC. They are also alarmingly unbalanced at high revs for an inline 6, which is apparently because of the block design and also applies to the Barra.
Intech is The Mod Motor in Lincoln. Nothing to do with inline 6.
Now do the 4200. Superior to any Barra variant by leaps and bounds.
Let's talk about a great crawler motor for a jeep XJ with 40" tires. I have experience with the mid 2000s 5.3 liter GM and atleast in a Tahoe the mileage was crap. If I could lose some engine weight and improve mileage without losing much torque or horse power with the reliability of the 5.3 that is where i want to be.
Agreed, but this is about an inline 6 cylinder...
Leads me to believe that he is not aware of the 4.2L Vortec.
5.3 are fucking tough 😂
The intec and Barra engines are an understressed in factory form and often get more that 1 million km with no more than normal maintenance. I have more than 500,000 km on mine and all i have ever done is chane the oil, filters and spark plugs when needed.
Bullet performance engineering in Australia makes the billet barra block and head, it does 3000hp+
TRP racing's as well
The guys at engine power/power nation got a Ford 300 inline 6 over 500hp/600ft/lbs. Inline 6 motors are beasts and they love boost.
All hail the AU Falcon. Forever may it do circle work and stand stills. May the vice grips on the rear break lines nor the shitty welded diff ever break. Amen
The guy you show Hooning the white AU over a small jump....later he went full send, and hurt his back, trying to prove an AU Falcon is tougher than the Toyota Hi Lux ute. How tough was it....the front of the sump was smashed off, which he video-ed with crank and rods visible turning, then proceeded to hoon it minus oil !!!
Fun fact. The rumoured internal codename for the xr6t during development was the seagull. Because it was going to shit on everything.
Had a xr6 turbo in the mid 2000s . Spent 4K on it with bigger turbo and bigger intercooler.
Apart from stronger head bolts and valve springs stock internals ..
Result 850+ rear wheel hp… Still running strong when I sold it after 4 years of abuse… wish I still had it.. awesome package.
honestly you are forgetting one other inline 6 and its the ameri barra 4200. the reason is because the fact we dont have a barra in the US but rather its truck engine cousin(the vortec 4200). and its aftermarket isnt as common as the barra either but can make 600 HP on stock bottom end(if you can fix the finnicky ignition issue). being it was an SUV truck engine. it has low compression
Given the atlas is a GM motor not a ford, definitely not a cousin.
Low compression isn’t an advantage!
I had a 2003 xr6 turbo quite a few years ago, a tune and valve springs ($2000 nzl) 321rwhp and 516.294 pound-force feet.
Then intercooler, muffler delete and fuel injectors ($2.5) gave me 400rwhp and 700 pound-force feet, an absolute weapon for bugger all on the oldest model.
All up I spent 11k and for the time it was the king of the Street. You could easily spend and 3-4k and get 700rwhp but I was perfectly happy with that
Great engine for sure. But not quite as cheap and easy to find as they used to be. I recall a few years ago, wreckers trying hard to flog off good running Barras for $250, they had a glut of them. Getting a bit thinner on the ground here now, probably because they're getting snapped up for transit to the US 😂
They were sending them for scrap also, as no one needed them.. I've seen skip bins full of them at wreckers, i couldn't believe they were worthless at the time. Such a waste.
In around 2005 there were wreckers in Brisbane doing clearance sales of a Barra and five or six speed auto and all wiring for $150. I wanted to grab one and put it in an XC Fairmont we owned at the time but ended up selling the car. Would have been a fun build.
The Barra holds the candle of the best straight 6 engine.
They are cheap, they are reliable and hold great power.
I have owned every model since 1983 XE 250 crossflow till BF 2006 which i currently have. Some models i have bought multiple times like the EB and EL. They are brilliant engines no matter the year when it comes to torque and reliability. My XR6T BA was quick but they all been great in their own ways. BF Fairlane as my daily and an AU Fairmont garaged at the moment
250 crossflows were bloody grouse sound grouse too when done right 🤌
@caseycameron5370 They were, also had a Cortina with one in manual. Went pretty well in the small shell. Loved second gear burnouts lol
At 6:00 you say the turbo has the same rods as na. Incorrect. Please fix this.
Also until the 2010's people didn't really go mega fast with the barra motors. Sure nizpro did 1000hp in 2004, but it wasn't common.
I think the best Inline 6 engine is the Nissan TB48DE with a Single/Twin Turbo Kit (ofc aftermarket because it never came turbocharged from the factory). And it's more comparable to the Barra, because it's displacement is more than 3 liters.
Cant fail to mention the GM "Atlas" series inline Six found in the Chevy trailblazer, Saab 97x and other cars on the 360 platform. Great, well balanced & quick and dare I say reliable
Give the b58/s58 5 more years for aftermarket development and it’s the best by far
the n54 platform is better just slept on. the 3.5l stroker kits and the darton wet sleeve block inserts for the n54 , the n53 cylinder head swaps (naturally aspirated n54 head from europe that flows a fuck ton of air) big cams, springs, etc. now the 8hp trans swap kits availible for the n54 cars. i built a 1200whp n54/n53 with a billet 8hp75 trans, identical transmission and rear end gear to the new a90 supra, my car weighs 600 lbs less than the supra, has a trans brake and 5k rpm stall. i built the entire car for about 27k dollars and i just eclipsed the 900whp mark not even pushing the engine. my car ran 8.98 off the trailer first ever pass just breaking the trans in, 100% a 7 second car and the only non bmw part of the drivetrain is my ford 8.8 rear end.
the volumetric data for the head flow and my tuning software estimates about 1370whp capable on nitrous with this setup. total cost of the engine alone to replace is under 9k dollars. ive been beating on it for months and months now too.
I hear they have the sbf bellhousing pattern. I would love to get one to put into something like a maverick or torino.
A few things to keep in mind about the turbo Barra cars
Ford deliberately hobbled them so they wouldn't out power the comparable V8 car. The XR6 Turbo had less power than the XR8. And the F6 Had less power than the GT/GT-P.
In fact the BA Turbo's power increase was so minimal, they used the same injectors as the NA engine.
Keep in mind that these engines came out 10 years after Japanese turbo engines were repeatedly churning out 100hp/litre from the likes of the WRX and 200SX. The Barra had more than enough turbo capacity for the engine to make 400hp straight out of the box, but the big ol' 5.4 litre truck engine V8, would have looked ridiculous.
The turbo was originally Garrett GT3582. This is the same for the BA/BF XR6 Turbo and the FPV F6 Typhoon.
The FG XR6 Turbo used a smaller 3576 turbo, but the FPV F6 (they dropped the Typhoon name) used the original GT3582 turbo.
There is plenty of unused power potential in the OE 3582 turbo, being rated at around 600hp from Garrett.
As mentioned, the torque output of the factory engine is very impressive. Th BF F6 churns out 550Nm @ 2000rpm. And the FG F6 engine is better again.
It would have been awesome to see Ford Aus put more effort into the engine before it was canned.
Oil squirters for the pistons, a new head with direct injection and either smaller twin turbos or a split pulse manifold and turbo combination and maybe a WTA intercooler integrated into the inlet manifold, could have really brought the engine up to date.
I think that if Holden had used the turbo variants of the 'Alloytec' engines from the States to have their own Turbo chariots (Commodore), Ford would probably have been forced to put more effort into the Barra.
Love ya thoughts mate 😊
You got me thinking of sticking one of these 6 cylinders in my 69 mustang. I was thinking on a Toyota V8 but it’s a ways out for now. Waiting on current final assembly, hopefully done by the end of summer.
If ur looking for the best inline 6 you gotta hand it to the TB48 really it share the down sides of the barra "bigger engine and exclusivity to certain markets" with more lights especially in the US it will be great to see what they can do to it! And theres the M104 its an engine ppl sleaping on and its in the 90s mercedes cars with diffrent sizes 2.8L to 3.6 in some AMG models i would love to see you doing an episode on the M104s
m104 def underrated
The M104 is right up there! Apparently it was used by Toyota as an influence for the 2JZ... They are rock solid from stock and perfectly balanced
??? Due to the iron block, A partially grouted street driven barra can make 2500hp. Yes, really.
2jz block deck warps @ 1800hp.
The merc engine ?
Hell yes I appreciate the m104 love!
I own a C36 Amg with this engine and it is by far the smoothest and most linear power I’ve ever encountered.
I’ve also owned an Aristo 2zjgte, and ls400 1uz, as well as currently owning a turbo Sohc Falcon.
@@nordic5490Plenty of clips of Eastern Europeans taking the m104 well beyond 1000hp on stock internals with some boost.
A very underrated engine in the west.. Better than any straight six that has come from Bmw anyway.
GM Vortec 4200. Cheap to find and build. May need a couple custom fabricated parts. But capable of 1000hp as proven by Nivlac57 on youtube. And not even on an ideal setup.
The vortec 4200 never gets enough love, how many trailblazers do you out there, still on the road after 20 years, with a ton of miles. The RB-26 is massively overrated and you have to pour a TON of money to get any real power out of them😂
Same as the SR20, or putting a k24 in a rwd car.
It is because this is so cost prohibitive to import that I have to go with the '06-'07 4.2L Vortec for my swap.
The Barra is THE BEST inline 6 built, period. RB, JZ yes very very good. As per previous posts, what your story doesn't outline is the original BA Turbo, used near zero boost, had less lag than most internet connections and was good for a million kms if serviced correctly. I owned a later model FG Falcon Turbo, with some reasonable and not overly costly work, was dyno'd at 527 RWW HP and was a perfectly good daily driver. Avg high 8's to low 9's Litre per hundred kms across both city and country driving. That said, swapping from 6th to 4th to overtake on the highway and leaving number 11's at 130kph always reminded me what she could do. Brilliant car! And they handled! Could seat 4 adults in comfort, with an Esky for Refreshments........
9ltrs per 100klms? no way mate. more likely 14ish around town.
@@robertfonovic3551 it all depends on the right foot……
BS.
8 psi... no boost...😂😂
a turbo 1fzfe can do all those things and go 4x4ing aswell
Stock 2jz bottom end,oil pump etc. 850hp. Have seen it done many times on standard bearings. Try that hp on a barra it will blow to bits. Even the later turbo models need upgrades to make big power. Oil pumps/gears are rubbish especially if you like limiter bashing. My opinion only but honestly jz is gods engine. Barras a bogans engine
Only GTE comes close to 850 and at this point the pistons are getting raped and won't survive for long. The non GTE versions piss themself at just 400hp max while still costing double or even triple of what barra costs. Plus don't forget that the turbocharged barras straight from the factory are beating turbocharged 2jzs easily ;)
Not really seeing how you came to the conclusion the barra is better. Everything you named aside from displacement the 2JZ has performed better. 2J has gone 5.5X@260, made north of 2500whp, run 8s and stock longblock. Quickest and fastest 6speed inline 6.
I agree the barra is a great engine but both engines listed have more accolades to their credit. We may even see a 5sec AWD GTR before we see a 5sec barra powered non chassis car.
I really appreciate when I am humbled by good content. I knew about the existence of this engine, but I didn't know anything about it. Thanks for the lesson.
Good vibes, and Cheers from Brazil! 👊
What about the GM straight 6 out of the Trail Blazers?
Castings are kind of trash, you can't get too much flow out the heads.
There’s been container loads of Barras going to the states over the last few years.
There was a time where you could go to a wrecker and buy a complete barra for $75.
That time has long gone.
Atlas or gm 4.2 is also a good motor but I wish we got barras
You can import them from Australia. You can buy them stock or work them yourself or get them worked in Australia with all the running gear including 6 speed gear box and LS diff and have it shipped to you
Amery Barra is cooler in that it is extremely light due to the aluminum block, but at the same time extremely durable, with stock connecting rods (the only improvements are apr bolts in the connecting rods, apr studs for main bearings, other valve springs, and other camshafts) with pistons it withstands mind-blowing 600 horsepower turbocharged, besides, it is at times, MUCH cheaper than barra if you do not live in Australia
You forgot the GM 4.2 straight 6. A guy on youtube got 600 HP at the wheels with 25 PSI boost. Pretty good. I drive one and like it.
Wait until the day the world finally learns about the Vortec 4200, aka the ATLAS, or LL8.
I agree I have heard of the barra, never realised it was so good 👍
we didn't get it in the states because ford was smart enough to know they'd have no chance against the atlas 4200
*I had a 1968 Ford 300 cu. in. i6. It was awesome. I have always loved Australian cars. Living in Canada, I've only seen a few imported. But the Barra always blew my mind. Simplicity, reliability, power and efficiency. Maybe one day I'll get a TS-50 imported or an XR-6 turbo.*
Fun fact basically all cast iron engines have a good rep
Actually the AU was a very ordinary car all up. The engine wasn’t the weak point. But I don’t disagree that the Barra evolved into a great engine.
I want one of these in my 07 pony package
My 2008 FG Falcon (second last iteration) XR6 is naturally aspirated . She has the gorgeous ZF 6 speed sports shift transmission and is a pure joy to drive every day... Even the N/A has so much torque at any speed and pulls like a train . One little fact too ..Driven quietly its surprisingly economical fro my seven years ownership so far . On long cruises I'll see low 8's for litres per 100 kms ..and mid 9's a lot of the time ...and hardly ever needs a spanner for anything ...Such a great engine /trans and c ar generally ...
I had a 1988 Crown Vic here in New Zealand and I thought more than once about pulling the 302 and seeing if a Barra turbo with the 6 speed auto would go in. Would have been a hell of a thing but the certification process here for mods like that is one very expensive migraine.
Have the Barra in my wife's Territory. Just a sweet engine that revs hard and won't die.
People have also been able to make quite alot of power. With the 4.2l GM Atlas inline 6. Which has pretty good availability here in the states.
Damn I commented the same thing
i was always fan of 265ci hemi strait six myself would loved to see how one those went with 30 more years of development but they stopped making them in 1980
This is just incorrect, the only advantages to the Barra is an extra liter of displacement and its a modern production engine. The 2jz was ludicrously over engineered and sold in the states, Makin them easier to obtain and they are the gold standard for durability, it's not uncommon to see one making 1,000 plus hp on the factory block and 800ish to the tire on the on the factory crankshaft. Not saying the Barra isn't good, but it's just not worth paying thousands and waiting weeks to have one shipped to the states, unless your Australian.
What about my australian? I'm not using my australian in my engine bay, do you think my australian is a Flintstones character?
I mean. The 2J can definitely handle more power stock. But the barra doesn't need an aftermarket crank until over 1000hp. And the block handles plenty more. Rods and pistons are much more hardier in a 2J though.
There's one in Australia at 1700hp stock block head crank
Had an 86 f150 with a 300 I6. Best motor ever. Stopped clocking at 336,000 on the odometer and ran it for years after that then sold it and for all I know might be still running. Other than the ignition module being placed on the motor where it apparently can get too hot, never a problem with it. Learned to carry another module and the silly wrench needed to change it.
There. Are a lot of great i6's out there including the Barra. But I'll put my $ on the mighty 300 aka 4.9l, nothing is more reliable. It was designed specifically for turning industrial generators, it didn't take Ford very long to realize what they had. This engine ended up in just about everything, tractors, construction equipment, wood chippers, trucks (F100 up to F700)and the list goes on and on. And we've seen recently with a good cross flow head they can make really good power. look up BOSS 300 bored to 308 cid whith custom built head from multiple Cleveland 351 heads which were basically the same as the small block BOSS heads.(620hp from 308 cid naturally aspirated, pretty incredible)we also see a 300 powered front engine dragster with a drag racing only cross flow head (no cooling jacket) turning over 10k. I think its running on alcohol. Mid 5s quarter mile. And Power Nation built a turbocharged 300 with readily available parts with stock head to 500hp. Hope some company comes out with a good cross flow head for the street so we can find out how much power the 300 is capable of. If the was a ecoboost 300 I'd bet it would be close to diesel power numbers.
The Mercedes M104 is right up there with the Bara but it doesn’t have the aftermarket support
You sent the skyline and supra weebs into meltdown with this lol I love both, but god barra engines are INSANE when modded 👀
The Falcon BA also had a mean IRS. I remember reading that a prominent Japanese car company was taken to court by MB for copying their in-line 6 and won.
The AU IRS was better though.
This Aussie Falcon is right hand drive also so I'm not expecting to see one.
Why not you see RHD JDM cars on the road here more and more
You could after they are 25 years old
Here's the thing though. If you own a Barra Falcon turbo and double it's HP (easily done) then you quickly trash your diff and drive train.