COYOTE MG ZTT 260

Why did we swap a Coyote into a British RHD station wagon? Because we can! We discovered in 2020 randomly on a Wikipedia search of what cars came with a modular based engine, that there was a little known batch of 880 MG-Rover cars in 2003-2004 produced with a 4.6L 2v engine and manual 5-spd transmission. It was supposed to be a way to give new life to the MG brand by inserting a V8 option into their sporty MG ZT and ZT-T models. Unfortunately MG abruptly went bankrupt in late 2004. This means that few knew about the ZT 260 model was produced. Only about 120 of those made were V8 wagons making them even rarer to find. The remaining models are 4 door sedans (Saloons).

As most have figured out over the years, if a 4.6L engine fits, then so can a Coyote, as the engine mounts and trans mount is the same bolt pattern. And what’s cooler than a rare wagon? Well, a rare wagon with a supercharged Coyote engine of course.

Because the rear IRS limits the wheel size to a 17×8 max, we chose a set of Sparco lightweight wheels and some Mickey Thompson ET Street Radials. The tire limitation is why we went with the 6r80 auto instead of a manual trans. The rear end and IRS axles are all stock, unmodified.

There’s not much packaging space in the engine bay of these cars, and just enough room to stuff all the bits of our project. We started with a naturally aspirated coyote setup, to make sure everything worked which eventually led us to 11.90 quarter mile times in full weight testing. Once that was completed, it was time for boost. We are huge supporters of the centrifugal supercharger, and Vortech to be even more specific. Ironically MG used Vortech on the very early pre-production test cars for their marketing cars. So we called up our friends at Vortech and ordered a self-contained V3-JT model. The V3 version of the JT gave us just the right amount of front clearance without having to tap the oil pan for oil.

The first ¼ mile track visit with boost, was in 2022 at zMAX dragway in Charlotte NC, where its second pass clicked off a 9.92 to be first ZT in the 9’s ever. Running 9’s these days isn’t enough so we continued to tweak the tuning, the shifting, and other areas, until we finally ran a 9.66 at 144 in Florida at the Street Car Takeover event in 2023. With some weight reductions and more boost, we know this car will get into the high 8’s. And that is our eventual goal for the MG platform.

We are working on plenty of swap parts for the MG ZT and will be able to get you all the components you need to make these cars fast.