i have a 2002 ford focus spi. it has an automatic transmition. i installed the tachometer on it. and for some reason it redlines at 3000rpm. i know it is suppost to redline at 5000rpm. also i tried to top it out last week. it only went to 100mph. then as soon as it got there the rpms dropped and it would not go any faster. i think it is an electronic governor. if anyone could tell me whats up w/ the situations and how to fix them it woud be great.
____________________ Thanks to the Ford Focus you can be different.
I'm not certain about the "redline" on the spi, but I can tell you that there is a govoner that kicks in around 100-120mph on the non-SVT focus.
You can purchase a chip to override this.
TXFO - Are you out there man?! He's the fellow who can give you the downlow & up-high on the spi.
Drive carefully though...the speed govoner is there for more than just to limit your speed on the road. Your tires - you must be certain of the rating of your tires before you push it any further. Be certain they can take more than the 100-120mph - you could have a blowout going over 100mph and we'd have to have a memorial for a newbie. That would be sad.
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Ray, the owner, is a great person to deal with in a business sense and is a good person. No way he'll rip you off. I'm a faithful client as is my b/f fx3 here on this site.
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I don't own a SPI but I'm sure the eletronics are about the same for spi and zetec. First there is two differnt cut offs. One is the Speed limiter and that is suppose to be set at 108MPH however I have herd of the car going up to 115 without the governer kicking in. There is also the Rev limiter and for a Zetec it's set at I believe 6900. You can buy a chip for the car and with an ATX it would be a good mod. I would recomend the SCT. It will remove your speed limiter and raise the Rev limiter to I think 7100. But the chip is $299 and you must run at least 91 octain gas at all times after the chip is installed. I don't know what the top speed for an SPI would be after the limiter is removed but for a Zetec it's not that much further down the speedo then the 108 cut off. I have has my car to about 120+ and there isn't too much more after that. I would say 125+ is top speed for the Zetec. And yes to run speeds over 100MPH for to long with stock tires and suspension.
Once the govenor and rev limiter is taken off, The SPI will definately reach 135MPH. That has been Autobahn tested. I don't know for sure how much faster it will go, because after that, I was eyes on the road. It does get a little shakey past 120mph even with the H&R springs and Dropzone shocks that I have on it. If you get prothane bushings and upgraded swaybars as well as strut braces, it will settle down a little more. Also bingo on the tires. V or Z rated. Not no continental or uniroyal. Go with B.F. Goodritch traction T/A's or Kuhmo Ventris, or something like that.
Another point I want to add is that, you may be able to go that fast, but your car isn't built to go like that. We got the grocery getter of the bunch. I already have a lifter loose, and blew two wheel bearings. Not to mention my car caught fire, my tumbler froze up, my master cylinder, brake booster and rear wheel cylinder went out at the same time. All of that is contributed to me driving it like and SRT4. Bottom line be careful Bra.
____________________ Take a grocery gettr, Stuff in an Engine not intended for it, Then JDM the hell outta it...what do you get? One BAD ASS Focus!!
SVT engine swap, SVT brake swap, GT28RS turbo kit
kruptminz wrote: Once the govenor and rev limiter is taken off, The SPI will definately reach 135MPH. That has been Autobahn tested. I don't know for sure how much faster it will go, because after that, I was eyes on the road. It does get a little shakey past 120mph even with the H&R springs and Dropzone shocks that I have on it. If you get prothane bushings and upgraded swaybars as well as strut braces, it will settle down a little more. Also bingo on the tires. V or Z rated. Not no continental or uniroyal. Go with B.F. Goodritch traction T/A's or Kuhmo Ventris, or something like that.
Another point I want to add is that, you may be able to go that fast, but your car isn't built to go like that. We got the grocery getter of the bunch. I already have a lifter loose, and blew two wheel bearings. Not to mention my car caught fire, my tumbler froze up, my master cylinder, brake booster and rear wheel cylinder went out at the same time. All of that is contributed to me driving it like and SRT4. Bottom line be careful Bra. You have had your SPI to 135MPH? That's pretty fast. This is an American Focus right? I'm pretty sure my Zetec won't hit that and I have all the boltons. Once the car gets to 5500RPM's in 5th gear that's about all the pull power it's got.
Your Zetec will go about as fast but quicker because of the DOHC and 5th gear ( I have an Automatic). You just need enough room, and confidence to go that fast.
But it can be done, but again without extensive head work and suspension work, I wouldn't recommend that this be done. like you said 5500 is the safe point for the engine, and in order to sustain (not reach) this speed, your engine needs to go to at least 8,000 RPMs. EFP has got most of the parts to make this happen. The only things they don't have is a better valve and offset rocker arms.
The ford Racing head for the Zetec engine is very much capable of the above task, and that's why I hate my SPI. But I still love it.
____________________ Take a grocery gettr, Stuff in an Engine not intended for it, Then JDM the hell outta it...what do you get? One BAD ASS Focus!!
SVT engine swap, SVT brake swap, GT28RS turbo kit
smoknzx3 wrote: You have had your SPI to 135MPH? That's pretty fast. This is an American Focus right? I'm pretty sure my Zetec won't hit that and I have all the boltons. Once the car gets to 5500RPM's in 5th gear that's about all the pull power it's got.
You might need to change your gears. Butron Power sells a European Spec, race ready 1-final gear upgrade for the mx-75 as well as the IB5. Or for the time being, perhaps changing the final gear. That little 135 isn't that impressive. There's an integra in my club that maxes out at 160, an SRT4 that maxes at 165, an Opel Ostra that can go 300kph, VW Jetta Turbo that's 160, not to mention the BMW's, Jags, Porches, and MB's that do 170-180 cruising. When I'm on the A-bahn, I'm pretty much standing still. Now if I put a V-8 in...
____________________ Take a grocery gettr, Stuff in an Engine not intended for it, Then JDM the hell outta it...what do you get? One BAD ASS Focus!!
SVT engine swap, SVT brake swap, GT28RS turbo kit
I have had my up to 105 in 4th gear and that was close to 6k RPM's. When I shift to 5th it drops down to around 5200RPM. At around 5500-5700 I'm at 115-120. So I'm pretty sure I'm not going to hit 135. Even with the chip raising the rev limiter to 7100RPMs. Once you push past 6000 there is no more power.
It took me a minute, but I got the solution figured out. Now apparently both the SPI and Zetec share the same Auto tranny right? The only difference is the final drive gear. The SPI has 3.69, which is good for high end and gas. The Zetec has 3.96, which is good for low end, but not as good on high end or milage. The five speed, Don't know, 'cuz I don't have one ( I wish), but if it's not close to the SPI auto, your not going to go as fast. You just have better low end torque. Now you know what you need to improve if you want to get to a higher cruizing speed. It might take about 1 sec longer to get there. But unless you live in the land of no speed limit, I wouldn't even bother. The only time you'll break and sustain speeds of 100MPH (leagally) is on the track. For that you'd want a larger final drive gear, so you accelerate quicker.
____________________ Take a grocery gettr, Stuff in an Engine not intended for it, Then JDM the hell outta it...what do you get? One BAD ASS Focus!!
SVT engine swap, SVT brake swap, GT28RS turbo kit
I have the MTX but the 5th gear is pretty tall. I don't think that has anything to do with it. The gear is tall enough to make it real hard to push it to the 6K area. On the track it wouldn't be a gear you would want to get in, there is very little pull at any rpm.
That's why for the track, you would get a larger gear, in the neighborhood of 4.09 which would increase you acceleration time, but decrease your maximum MPH. Since on a track you'll probably never hit your maximum MPH, it's wise to go that route. If you were doing GT, Rally, circle track, or circuit racing, a mid to lower gear would be more beneficial considering you would spend most of your time in the higher RPM range. If you were to change your gear out, your power vs. RPM would change drastically.
____________________ Take a grocery gettr, Stuff in an Engine not intended for it, Then JDM the hell outta it...what do you get? One BAD ASS Focus!!
SVT engine swap, SVT brake swap, GT28RS turbo kit
thanks, for all the useful info! i really appreciate it. i think i have found a different solution. it is called a tach adapter. it makes the guage read properly. i have read of someone else with this same problem as i have, and that fixed his problem. it costs about $70. i think i will try that.
____________________ Thanks to the Ford Focus you can be different.
