What would be the best engine to turn a '96 ford escort into a sleeper?

What would be the best engine to turn a '96 ford escort into a sleeper? - 1

302. Beef up the suspension too…

Brigs and stratton. Your seriously gonna do this go find a 2.3 Inline 4 from a turbo coupe thunder chicken an older one minus fuel inj this way no ECM issues I only say the 2.3 with turbo cause its the only motor that may fit without a bunch of fabricating in my 20's i took merkur 2.3 turbo 4's put them in a older ranger with stage 1 nos it was a 11 second truck but you never would have known it looked farmer john bone stock used to blow away unsuspecting mustang drivers unless say a B&D mustang came along. The stocky 5.o's i blew away easily without the NOS even but this late 80's thru the 90's but it all i can think of that won't create a slew of fabricating mods that's budget oriented and the 2.3 turbo has a good aftermarket parts availability otherwise find another more realistic build instead of a escort

Hi get a life this old beast is now only fit for one thing the scrap yard. Where it might lie till it is crushed.

It's a front-wheel drive platform, so you're stuck. The $$$ you would need to convert it to a rear-wheel drive would be enough to buy a Mustang. So sell it & buy a Mustang.

The 3.0L or 3.2L V6 out of a SHO (with it's transaxle) would be your best bet. It wouldn't be easy, but the swap as already been done on Festivas, so it should be at least doable for an Escort. You wouldn't have to worry about converting the car to RWD either.