FORD is to offer Scorpios from next month (June) with a new British built 2.3 litre 16 valve engine. The engine will be available with both manual and automatic transmission and as a saloon and an estate. The price premium is £430 above the existing 2.0 litre 16 valve unit. Saloons and estates are the same price and on top models, manuals and automatic cost the same.

The new engine has been designed to give strong mid-range performance and while power is up just 11 PS on the 2.0 litre engine (136 PS to 147 PS), torque is up from 175 Nm to 202 Nm. Attention has also been paid to cutting noise with the introduction of a new balancer shaft assembly.

The manual saloon can reach 60 mph in 9.2 seconds and go on to a top speed of 130 mph with the automatic version slightly slower at 10.6 seconds and 127 mph. The new engine also produces slightly better economy figures than the old 2.0 litre. Government figures for the manual version are 24.4 mpg on the urban cycle, 42.8 mpg at 56 mph and 34.9 mpg at 75 mph. The new engine will be available in two highly specified models - Ghia and Ultima. Additional equipment on the Ultima includes cruise control, electric driver's seat, air conditioning with automatic temperature control and a CD autochanger.

Prices for the Scorpio 2.3 models are: Ghia 4dr/ Estate manual, £20,270; Ghia 4dr/Estate automatic, £21,290; Ultima 4dr/Estate manual, £22,725; Ultima 4dr/Estate automatic; £22,725; Ultima 4dr/Estate manual leather, £23,725; Ultima 4dr/Estate automatic leather, £23,725.