I just picked up an '02 ZX3 MTX last weekend and am in the process of finding out what I can about it. I just came from a nice V8, so naturally I'm interested in upgrades that might get me a little more zip. I'm also interested in keeping the car fairly quiet...
I haven't had a chance to get through much of the board yet, but I'm sure this is a frequently asked/answered question: what are the top 5 or so easy mods that might give me a little more go?
I got a Focus because I've always been a Ford person and I (and my fiance) like the looks and now need a commuter. I've had an '85 MTX Escort, a '93 MTX Escort, a '97 SHO, and most recently an '03 Lincoln LS Sport. I'm made the move back down because I have to start saving for a house/family and to have more investable income - and the V8's, they don't do so well with today's gas prices when you drive 80+ miles/day.
I'll say this - boy was it hard finding a MTX on one of these! I'm very happy so far, except with the lady who backed into me 30 minutes after I got the car...
Hey, 'yall', dont forget to inform Chris that since he is saving for a house and needing some more investable income, the best way to do that is to cut down expenses. We got three excellent Amsoil dealers here that could more than help out with cutting down maintenance costs as well as keeping your Focus around for a good long time.
Okay, so I made the pitch
As for mods. Top 5 or so that you could get that would be inexpensive and give your Focus some punch would be, at least in my opinion:
1. Intake system. Cold air or Ram air depending on the environment you are in. I chase storms here in OK so I chose not to go with the Cold air intake because I didnt want to take the chance of ingesting water into the intake.
2. 65mm Throttle Body. This is just going to enhance the addition of an intake system by taking out the last bottleneck in that stream. You get a wide opening from air filter to intake manifold, especially if you port or open up the opening to the intake manifold itself.
3. Underdrive Pullies. These are really good for improving the throttle responsiveness of the Focus as well as freeing up a few ponies. They dont 'increase' horsepower, but by turning the accessories a little slower you free up some horsepower and make the motor more responsive.
4. Performance Computer chip. Yeah, there will be those that argue that with gas prices as high as they are this may not be the best thing. You typically have to run 93 octane with these installed but around here the difference between 87 and 93 is usually less than 0.25/gal. So you will add about $3 to a total tank fill. To me, at least, this was a small price to get the better responsiveness and higher shift points. Its not a huge horsepower improver, but it helps.
5. Exhaust system. You can pick up a bit here by freeing up the exhaust as with any car. However, you now step into the higher price range mods. The header alone running in the $300 range for a new one. Replace the flex pipe, catalytic converter and cat back exhaust and you could be looking at $750+ for the whole system if you replaced it all at once.
After all that you can look into ajustable cam gears, Stage 1, 2, or 3 cams depending on the work you want to put into it all. Obviously there is forced induction options, heck I even found an electric water pump that would allow you to drop that accessory off the drive belt and free up some horsepower that way. After the basic mods I guess its just a matter of how much you want to spend and how deep you want to get into a particular project.
Good Luck, hope this helps out. Also a big welcome to the Team Focus board.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
Question: what is the diameter of the stock exhaust system?
I've been looking at dyno results from Magnaflow and FocusSport that show numbers ranging from 100 to 140... and I'm getting confused. They don't differentiate between ATX and MTX, and the "Zetec" numbers are much lower than the Duratec numbers - I thought the Zetec was the one with more power...
stock exhaust is 1-7/8". Most aftermarket for the focus are between 2-1/4" and 3" (3" is for forced induction applications i.e. superchargers, turbos, 2-1/2" is good for lots of mods, or forced induction on low boost, 2-1/4" is without a doubt the best for smaller bolt-on applications).
As for power numbers, the zetec has less numbers than the duratec. The only zetec with higher numbers is the SVT zetec, and well, I don't know if you have that or not. The numbers that consumers show for their stuff is like reading a foreign language, your best bet is try and find someone who has it. Just from a catback exhaust (not including the flexpipe that is) you might see 3-5 hp or so at the most.
If you arent going turbo or supercharged, then i would get this: FR stage 2 cams, FS adjustable cam gears, intake system, Exhaust.
IMO, even though I have them, the throttle body only improves the "feel" of the car, and the UDP is a small gain compared to what you would get with otehr mods. not very efficient use of the dollar. Plus, we can argue all day about will you kill your main bearings with the UDP.
As TXFO stated cams and cam gears will wake the motor up(IMO best bang for the buck for power w/o FI). If you have the money get a shop to port the head and and that will help also.
The Throttle boby will wake up the throttle response but as for gains they will be minimal like maybe 1hp. I did notice a slight MPG increase with a TB on a stock focus sedan.
Does it make sense to do an intake/throttle-body upgrade without doing an exhaust upgrade at the same time?
I'm a little leary of opening up the intake, as I had a K&N cone filter on my '97 SHO and it sounded like a foghorn over 3300 RPM. Can people comment on the noise level for this car?
If I do the intake/TB/exhaust mods, do I need a new chip to really take advantage of them?
I've seen the FocusSport and Focus-Power websites - are there others, or those more highly recommended? My preference would be to buy as much as I can from the same place.
Also, I'm interested in keeping the MPG (don't really want to sacrifice it for power). I'm pretty sure what I've described above is a win-win, but not sure about the other things you've all mentioned.
And can anyone point me to a good description of what adjustable cam gears do for you? I've not heard of these before...
As for the intake, it won't be that loud, a short ram is louder than stock, and some are louder than others, but it isn't terrible.
From what I understand, adjustable cam gears allow you to "fix" the timing of the cams either advancing or retarding the timing of each individual cam. For example, some cars show better gains by advancing the intake timing and retarding the exhaust timing or vice versa. Sometimes both, the stock timing has tremendous variation within a certain set of limits (that are pretty broad). The adjustable cam gears allow the cams to be tuned specifically for the engine.
I think some intake work without a new exhaust will indeed give you some improvement. Once you're adding a supercharger or turbo you're at the point of needing exhaust mods. So a CAI and a new throttle body are great starts. Add to that an underdrive pully, and you should like the results. For a 4 cyl, the Zetec is pretty torquey - especially in MTX which I too have and it makes a WORLD of difference if you ask me - so even though you're leaving a V8 you should still like it. I traded my 96 T-bird for the focus and I wouldn't have it any other way.
For better intake but still quiet, I'm a big fan of the ITG foam air filter. Goes in the stock box so it's not any louder at all. Iceman also makes a CAI that just connects to the stock air box (and does not remove the resonator - removal of that is what will give you more noise). A great place to go for focus parts is http://www.batinc.net I've always been happy with them.
As for the sound, I've run mine without the air box resonator for a long time now just because I like the sound a little better. It's some louder, but mostly a deeper tone from the engine. I'd think if you're leaving a V8 behind, that you'd like the sound.
cclittle wrote: Does it make sense to do an intake/throttle-body upgrade without doing an exhaust upgrade at the same time?
Also, I'm interested in keeping the MPG (don't really want to sacrifice it for power). I'm pretty sure what I've described above is a win-win, but not sure about the other things you've all mentioned.
First, the intake upgrade. I can tell you from personal time slips at the track that upgrading the intake and throttle body without doing an exaust upgrade is not the ideal thing, but it isnt the worst. You will notice a bit more responsiveness and a bit more low-mid range power, however I dont believe you will see the FULL benefit of it until the exhaust is upgraded. You are pulling in quite a bit more air with the intake/throttle body upgrade so you naturally will need to push it on through and a larger exhaust will help that cause.
As for the sound, it is a tad bit louder, I wouldnt call it obnoxious, probably a bit more throaty would be a good way to describe it.
Second, as for the mileage, I have an intake with an Amsoil foam filter on it, the 65mm throttle body, UDP, performance chip, Livewires w/Screamin Demon coil (plug wires and coil) so far. I currently average about 31-32 mpg or so on the highway and about 27-28mpg in the city and I have an ATX. So I see no reason why you shouldnt at least stay where you are at if not improve a little.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
