Back when the EcoBoost engine was first introduced under the hood of the Ford Mustang in 2015, many were less than thrilled. It was believed by a large percentage of Ford enthusiasts that a four-cylinder didn’t belong in the engine bay of the iconic muscle car, even with a turbo. Now, I won’t say that I was overly welcoming to the four-cylinder S550 either. I would be lying if I said the EcoBoost made my wish list. But after much time thinking about Ford’s potential reasons for including the new engine alongside the existing 5.0-liter Coyote option and 3.7-liter V6 option, I realized we all might be knocking down the EcoBoost before we gave it a fair chance. After all, the EcoBoost wasn’t too far of a cry from the coveted SVO of the Fox-body era.

Photo courtesy of Parker Performance Facebook page.

As the years have passed since its introduction, we have seen many impressive EcoBoost Mustangs hit the street, dyno, and race track. We recently heard about an EcoBoost belonging to Jessie Ringley, an engineer at the University of Tennessee, and owner of Engineered Motorsports Solutions in Rogersville, Tennessee. According to a post on Mustang6G, it took five years of research and development, testing, and more to break the world record, passing the 800 rear-wheel horsepower mark — 805 horsepower and 726 lb-ft of torque at the rear wheels to be exact — without nitrous.

According to the post in the forum, the Mustang features a 2.0-liter hybrid block with the 2.3-liter rotating assembly, assembled by its owner. The poster, whose name is only listed as Josh (username MiDiablo), says the pair began developing the lethal combination in 2016, beginning with an OEM Ford semi-closed deck from the Focus or Fusion 2.0L offerings. They added the 2.3-liter rotating assembly along with a Focus RS head gasket, and “several other tricks,” according to Josh. After trying many iterations and with a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, Jessie perfected the combo. Josh said some of the issues they ran into included the trigger wheel coming apart from the crank pulley and flexplates breaking. The team created solutions like a one-piece crank pulley and SFI-rated flywheel. They also added a CVFab Race Core front-mount intercooler.

Josh said the combination made more than 50 psi on-track according to datalogging information and believes that the dyno pull that resulted in an 805-horsepower reading was at 43 psi.

After sharing data with other EcoBoost owners in an effort to help others make big power, the pair now offers a fully assembled short or long block from Jessie’s company, EMS, through Parker Performance. Josh says that Jessie’s goals for the 2021 season include clicking off an 8-second quarter-mile time, and we’re sure it’s only a matter of time before that dream becomes a reality.