I have a 2002 Ford Focus ZX5 with a 2.0L DOHC Zetec engine. It’s currently stock, putting out 130 hp and 135 ft lbs of torque, but I’m looking to change that. I’ve never modified an engine before though, so I need to ask, “How do I get it up around 160 hp and 160 ft lbs of torque without adding nitrous, a turbocharger, a supercharger and without totally emptying my wallet?” Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Welcome to TF. I don't know how deep your wallet is, but here are some common 1st mods:
Underdrive Pulley...IMO, this is absolutely the best bang for the buck. You'll notice the difference immediately....About $100
Intake...There are 2 kinds - Cold Air Intake & shorty. CAI MIGHT give you a bit more, but I personally recommend a shorty. CAI's are a pain. You'll have to get a protective valve that shuts it, in case you suck up any water with it. This can be a serious prob when driving in the winter, heavy rain, through puddles, etc. The shorties don't have this prob, & they're cheaper too. Shorty...$90-140...CAI...$150 & up.
Exhaust...There are lots of brands available. I've got a Magnaflo, and am very happy with it. Bosal, & Borla are other popular brands. There's probably not a significant diff in terms of hp. I forget how much $$, but they're not super expensive. You might also look into headers & a high flow cat.
If you have an automatic, I recommend a chip. If you have a 5spd, don't waste your money.
I'm not a great believer in ignition improvements. I haven't seen any objective evidence that they improve performance. That being said, I did spring for a set of Ford Racing 9mm plug wires. I don't think thay gave me any perf. gains, but they smoothed things out very noticably. They're worth it.
After that come cams & cam gears, heads, and forced induction.
Putting a TF decal on your car is good for around 10 extra horses, too.
Hope this helps you.
Last edited on Mon Oct 3rd, 2005 02:00 pm by Mr. Versatile
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Thank you for the suggestions. I had heard that an underdrive pulley is worthwhile. Does using one cause the accesories that it drives to work less efficiently? I mean, does it cause the engine to run hotter or the a/c to not blow as cold? Also, there are knock offs of short air intakes for sale all over ebay...are they worth anything?
My ZX5 has a manual tranny, so no chip upgrade I guess. Also, it was a northern car before I bought it and the ENTIRE exhaust, from the engine back, is rusted together so bad that if/when I have to replace ANYTHING I'll be replacing EVERYTHING. I'm trying to determine the pros and cons of a 4-2-1 exhaust header versus a 4-1. I've also gotta figure out which flexpipe, which hi-flow cat, and which catback system to go with. I don't wanna get into just swapping out parts and I need to still be able to pass emmisions.
If I do a short air intake, an exhaust header, a flexpipe, a hi-flow cat, a catback system, and an underdrive pulley, how much should I expect to spend (ballpark) and will I get an increase in hp and torque that I can actually feel when I drive? If I can, I want to keep the gains in the lower RPMs, where a daily driver would get the most benefit. I'm not trying to race anyone and will rarely push the engine beyond 5,500 RPM.
Everything Mr. V said is correct. As fot the exhaust expect to pay $250-$300 + for a decent cat back system. Headers are in the $250 range for decent ones and than another $150ish for a high flow cat and $150ish for a new flex pipe. Want to keep that exhaust the same diameter all the way down.
Also FYI the 130hp spec it at the crank. you probably have between 95 & 110hp at the wheels depending on the factory tune (all zetecs are tunes slightly differant at the factory due to the way they are built)
These mods might gain you the 30 horse to get the crank hp to 160 (if you do all the bolt ons). If your looknig for 160 at the wheels than you are looking at head work, cams, and possibly some boost if you aren't changing any interanls.
Thanks for the input guys. I had no idea choosing upgrades would be so confusing. Or addictive - I've really got to stop ignoring my schoolwork. LOL I had asked some questions on other boards that didn't get answered so I combined them in a post I'd like to put on this board, even though you guys have already answered a few of the questions. I'll post it right after this. Thanks again.
I asked these questions separately on other boards and didn’t get any responses, so I’ll combine them here and see what happens. Most posters on these boards seem to want their rides to rumble and be loud, so I hope it doesn’t seem too sacrilegious that I want mine to be as smooth and quiet as possible while still producing noticeable increases in hp, torque, and throttle response.
I have a white 2002 ZX5 with a manual transmission and a 2.0L DOHC Zetec engine that produces (at the flywheel) 130 hp and 135 ft lbs of torque. I’d like to get those numbers up to 160 hp and 160 ft lbs of torque without resorting to forced induction or nitrous. At the same time I only want to make changes I won’t have to undo later if I ever do decide to go forced induction or nitrous.
I’m not looking to race anyone so I’m not after high RPM gains. I just want a faster grocery getter for getting on and off exit ramps, merging into traffic, and pulling away from stoplights and stop signs. Keeping in mind that I want my ZX5 to remain as smooth and quiet as possible, if anyone has any recommendations I’d really like to hear them.
This is what I’ve come up with so far:
1. Iceman intake ($169) with a K&N replacement filter ($28). Or the Volant with ram air scoop, the FocusSport Cool-Flo, or the K&N Typhoon, if any of these is noticeably more powerful while still not getting too loud. Note to the powers that be: I’d love to see these 4 intakes in a head to head shootout, like this one done for catback exhausts: http://www.focaljet.com/shootout_0.html
2. AEM True Power Pulley Kit ($90). It uses a pulley on the alternator and a pulley on the power steering pump instead of just one pulley on the crank underdriving everything. According to AEM the vibration dampener on the factory crankshaft pulley is critical to engine life. Don’t know if that’s true, but I have read that replacing it with an aftermarket UDP will cause excessive vibration and rough idling. Don’t know if that’s true either.
3. HKS catback system - if I could ever find out which one was used in the shootout I mentioned above. Otherwise, the Pacesetter looks like a nice combination of performance, quietness, and price ($169). Or perhaps the Trubendz 2.5” with Magnaflow muffler and resonator ($310).
4. If anyone makes a race header I can mate to a hi-flo cat, I’d love to hear about it. Otherwise I’m looking at a shorty header with a hi-flow cat. Perhaps a Pacesetter Black Painted 1-5/8 Inch Mild Steel 4-2-1 Header ($146) with a MagnaFlow Hi-Flo Cat ($65).
I think that’s all I’m interested in for now. Can anyone give me a ballpark idea what sort of hp and torque figures I can expect with the above setup? Future mods I’d like include an intake header and throttle body. I’ve been told by several people that I don’t need a chip upgrade because I have a stick shift, so other than that have I left out any significant “bolt-on” upgrades? Would an aftermarket flywheel do anything for hp and torque? Later on, I think I’d like to add cams, sprockets, injectors, and ported and milled heads. What else would be reasonable? After all that, if it’s not enough, I’ll add some sort of forced induction.
First off stay away from Pacesetter. It is a cheap price for a reason. There has been an incident where a Pacesetter cought fire on someones car a while back(on a differant board). Don't know if it was defect or not or if Pacesetter fixed it. Either way I would avoid it. Anything you do as far as exhaust goes will make the car louder but there are some kits that are not odnoxious. I say go for the TrueBendz and get a resinator put on it to kil some of the sound.
All long tube headers on a Zetec take the place of a cat except for the SVT header McNews has which allows for a snub/short cat but the combo kit is in the $775 range I beleve, if I was reading the site correctly. You can get a shorty header and hi-flow cat for about $500.
A lightweight flywheel may give you a few HP but it will definantly let the engine rev more freely
As for the crank pully its a huge debate. When they first came out in the 70's or 80's they were a solid piece as they are now but were grenading on motors. They have come a long way sence then and do not grinade anymore but the debate is over harmonics i nthe motor. The stock crank pully has a band of rubber build into it making it a harmonic dampiner. There are companies like Fluidine(I think that is the name) that are making light weight and differant size harmonic dampiners for differant motors, but they are price.
People have had good luck and bad luck with the aftermarket crank pullies. Some have over 100K miles on aftermarket crank pullies with no problems. They are the way to cheaply and quickly get more power to the wheels. I do not know it it actually make the motor have more HP but it allows more HP to get to the wheels and thus the ground.
Personaly I won't be putting one on but its up to you if you want to do it or not.
As for intake. any open cone filter system will make some noise but the degree of noise depends on the quality of the filter. Gr33nlemon on here has a AEM knockoff (ebay special) long tube intake and it came with a cheap filter and would get "ricy" loud as the RPM's went up. I haven't personaly heard the AEM long tube intake but beleve it is in the top 2 for power allong with the Volant and not to loud when you get on it. With the long tube intakes you do have to watch out and avoid any large puddles and such because there is the tendancy to suck up water and water + motor = realy bad.
With ful exhaust and intake you may get near 20hp increase at the crank(maybe 10 at the wheels). I beleve the crank pully is good for about 5hp at thh wheels. But I could be mistaken.
I agree with FX3 re: the pulley. I have had several of them on cars I've owned, and haven't experienced any ill effects. I've also put more than 11K on one.
I have noticed no difference in ac, lights, ps, etc. Everything seems perfectly normal. While the pulley doesn't actually add power, it reduces the parasitic drag on the engine, so more power gets to the ground.
____________________ If you can't read this, you're illiterate.
I don't know how deep your wallet is, but here are some common 1st mods:
I had asked some questions on other boards that didn't get answered so I combined them in a post I'd like to put on this board, even though you guys have already answered a few of the questions. I'll post it right after this. Thanks again.