it was factory, my engine was blown last year from a dodgy cam change and needed a complete rebuild its an 07/98 build

mines 8/98. went to change the fuel pump, and was scratching my head as to what the fuel pump was that burson had given me. Just out of curiosity asked for an au fuel pump and wallah! Turned out that the complete fuel sender/pump assembley is au. The sender unit stamping numbers were the au WR numbers. Another thing for hybrid owners to think about. Dont know if the au fuel pump has better flow though ?

The build date would explain why you have those parts, cos its certainly not something Ford did originally. All their documentation points to these engines having E-Series rod and piston combo.

Might also explain why the car went better, having the longer rods and compression. Essentially more torque. Maybe the e-series ECU's had a better tune on them.

From my experience, every thing with a hybrid engine generally performs like crap in comparison. Even my parents comment, as mum has a standard NL, whereas the old man has hybrid NL, and he complains his car is slower... But he will get 750 to a tank on the open road easily, whereas mums will struggle to get 700.