- Boreham’s 2.1-liter four-cylinder packs a billet crank and throttle bodies.
- The lightweight naturally aspirated four-cylinder makes 325 hp total.
- Customers can also choose Boreham’s Ford Escort RS with a 1.8-liter.
There’s something undeniably magnetic about the art of engine building. While the world may swoon over brute displacement, and we do too, from Chevy’s 6.2-liter V8 to Bugatti’s outrageous 8.0-liter W16, there’s an equal thrill in the opposite direction.
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A small, high-revving, naturally aspirated four-cylinder that howls to five figures on the tach has its own kind of magic, one born of precision and nerve rather than sheer cubic inches.
Read: New 1970s Ford Escort MK1 RS Is Nice, But Is It Nearly $400,000 Nice For 182HP?
Among these little powerhouses, the new 2.1-liter unit from Boreham Motorworks stands out as one of the most remarkable we’ve encountered.
Ten Thousand Reasons
This four-pot is destined for Boreham’s modern Ford Escort RS, first previewed late last year. After a long and meticulous development program, the company has revealed its flagship powerplant, and it’s something rather exceptional.
Known as the Ten-K, the engine spins to a wild 10,000 rpm and produces 325 horsepower (330 PS / 243 kW), which translates to a specific output of over 155 hp per liter. frankly absurd output for a naturally aspirated 2.1-liter four-cylinder.
Just for perspective, the 4.0-liter flat-six in the current Porsche 911 GT3 RS, widely regarded as a technological masterpiece, calls it quits at “only” 9,000 rpm while delivering 126 hp per liter.
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The specifications are as serious as the numbers suggest. It employs individual throttle bodies, a billet steel crankshaft, forged connecting rods, and a 16-valve setup. Boreham’s Ten-K is also impressively light, weighing just 188 pounds (85 kilograms).
Power is sent through a five-speed manual transmission with a dogleg pattern.
The Ten-K won’t be the only option for Boreham’s reborn Escort RS. The base version features an evolved take on the car’s original Twin-Cam four-cylinder, enlarged from 1,558 cc to 1,845 cc and now fitted with a modern fuel-injection system.
It produces 182 horsepower and is paired with a four-speed straight-cut manual gearbox that sends power to the rear wheels.
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While it might sound like a restomod, Boreham’s new RS is far more than a reworked classic. The car is constructed entirely from new components, with even the steel body panels freshly fabricated. Carbon fiber is used for the hood, trunk lid, and several interior elements, keeping mass to a minimum.
When development wraps, the Escort RS is expected to weigh just 1,763 pounds (800 kilograms), promising the kind of agility and response that should make those high-revving ambitions fully worth the wait, well, at least for those who can afford the privilege.
Only 150 will be built, with prices anticipated to start around £295,000, or roughly $390,000 at current exchange rates.
