As some of you already know, I’m in the process of building a wild 2.3L turbo motor. The plan is to throw the book at this thing. I don’t want to spend money frivolously, but I don’t mind spending money where necessary to ensure I reach my goals and preserve (to a certain degree, anyway) reliability.

I’m looking to build ~400whp on boost, then maybe toss some nitrous on for kicks (more for bragging purposes then anything; lets face it, the bottle in the trunk is cool).

I’ve been doing quite a bit of research on crankshafts and like everything else I’ve researched for this build, I cannot find a definite answer. I want to use a forged crank if at all possible. I know Cosworth makes a unit, but I don’t feel $3500 is justifiable (hence my frivolous spending comment).

I’ve been told by a number of people not to run the stock Mazda crank as it will not handle the load. A lot of people seem to run cranks out of Ford Rangers. I’ve read on a number of forums (not this one) that this is because the Ford Ranger crankshaft is infact forged (and lighter). I then read another article stating that the Ford Ranger crank is actually cast as well! So… Why bother?

(I know that less rotating mass is definitely desirable and that the Ranger crank does weigh a few pounds less + eliminates the balance shafts; I’m just playing devils advocate).

If anyone has some insight on the matter, please let me know.

Are there any other options out there?

I’d also be interested to know if any other aftermarket suppliers make a unit that is much more reasonable in cost (vs. Cosworth).