Supercharged 5.0L Coyote MG ZT-T 260

How did we end up building a British RHD wagon with a Coyote swap? Great question and if you have a minute, I’ll explain! In 2019, on a late whisky-infused night of researching the next big Coyote-Swap car at Shrader, we were looking at a Wikipedia list of cars that came with the Mod Motor engines, since the Coyote is a direct fit for most 4.6 and 5.4 modular engines. On the list, was a rare British car by MG called a ZT 260 (that’s ZED-Tee, if you want to say it in proper English), that featured the 4.6 2v engine in 2003-2004. After digging a little further, it turns out MG went bankrupt in 2005, just after having started this cool V8 platform on their existing MG ZT cars that were originally FWD V6 and Diesel variants. You don’t often see a vehicle that has both a front wheel and rear wheel drive configuration, but MG decided to do just that! (maybe one of the reasons for their demise, was their big aspirations with little financial sense.) MG only made about 880 of these cars with a V8, most of them in a Sedan format with a trunk (“boot”, if you like porridge). There were a smaller number of those 880 cars (about 120 depending on your source) that had the Wagon body, which MG calls a Tourer and why it’s a ZT-T model. The 260 represents the anemic hp rating of the 2-valve at the time. So this being such a rare vehicle with a Mod Motor, what did the Whisky say? It said, You Gotta Have It! With visions of a supercharged Coyote British wagon dancing in my dreams, the relentless research began on how to get one. Since they are not yet 25 years old, you can’t bring one to the good ole USA thanks to your unfriendly government EPA. We were able to acquire this one on development considerations, and have since built what you see here over a 2 year period. Can you buy one for yourself? Yes… if you wait until 2028. And that’s the plan actually… is for all your R&D to already be done. Here at Shrader we will have all your parts needs fulfilled to Coyote swap a MG ZT 260, leads on where to get one, and all the testing to back it up. So, on to the build! What is it? It’s a Gen 2 Coyote crate engine with a Vortech JT supercharger mated to a built 6r80 trans. We originally wanted to keep it a stick (Yes these almost all stick shift!), but due to the limitation on rear tire size with the IRS, we were limited to a 245 tire on a 17” minimum. So Auto was the choice of champions here. It’s controlled by the Ford Performance control pack with a stand-alone controller on the 6r80. Other upgrades are the 18 intake manifold, custom exhaust, PS relocation, upgraded oil pump gears, custom fuel cell, carbon fiber driveshaft, custom air-to-air intercooler, piping, and lots of other one-off pieces. The car has made several debuts in 2022 at various tracks, so check our social media for the coverage on it! We’re turning it up in 2023! As of 11/30/22, we have now pushed the car to over 1000 bhp with a pulley change and exhaust change. Waiting on warmer weather to test it out.

The Specs

1/4 mi Record Video of the MG ZTT – Click HERE

Idle Video of the MG ZTT – Click HERE