Modification Where To Start

[jb72510]

Hey guys so my car is a 1.6 ford focus lx 5dr and ive been thinking about if I should try and make the car sportier by ways of modification. Just wondering what the best place to start is?

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[Stoney871]

Air filter, larger intercooler (the ST one will fit), custom exhaust or at least get your particulate filter deleted (ask Lenny about that one), and a remap to bring all these bits together.

[jb72510]

Thanks for the quick reply! Could you recommend a good air filter? And intercooler!

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[Stoney871]

K&N or Green Cotton are pretty good.

Lenny has a code for discounts from Green Cotton ones.

The ST standard intercooler fits well although I believe modified pipeeork is necessary.

The price of the intercooler has dropped a fair bit over the last couple of years.

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[jb72510]

Thanks il have a look!

Whats your oppinion on having a loud sporty exhaust? (Not too loud)

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[Stoney871]

Loud doesn't always equal sporty.

A bit of a bark is good but not so loud that your neighbours gob on your windows when you're parked up ;)

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[Lenny]

On 11/9/2013 at 0:39 AM, jb72510 said:

Hey guys so my car is a 1.6 ford focus lx 5dr and ive been thinking about if I should try and make the car sportier by ways of modification. Just wondering what the best place to start is? Sent from my GT-I9505 using Ford OC mobile app

Welcome,

Is your focus petrol or diesel?

If its a 1.6 petrol then fitting an air filter and bigger exhaust with a 4-2-1 manifold is about all that can be done.

If its a 1.6tdci then there's a lot more can be done to the engine with turbo upgrade and intercooler arc.

Let's start with the exhaust system:

Your model is a 2005 so it is doubtful you have a DPF (diesel particulate filter) that came in around 2007 and caused a bit of bother in models from 2007-2009 when it was later redesigned.

Your 2005 will have a catylist fitted,

You can purchase a straight fit decat pipe from pumaspeed it is built for the 1.6TDCi fiesta but should fit your focus as its exactly the same engine giving you some reasonable gains and a significant reduction in turbo spool time.

You will need to keep your Catylist pipe and fit for MOT purposes but will be a straight bolt on/bolt off item flanged on both ends

Here it is:

http://www.pumaspeed.co.uk/car-Fiesta-Mk6-Zetec-S-TDCI_1_9.jsp

Moving on from the the cat

Is your flexi-down pipe

Now the ideal internal bore size for your diesel engine is 2.5"

Chances are your flexi-downpipe is already a 2.5" internal bore as mine was as standard.

Moving on from the flexi-down pipe

Is your Cat-back exhaust,

You can get various prices on these, I recommend a 2.5" internal bore for performance,

Your choices after that are;

Stainless steel or mild steel, theres a big difference in price but Id say if you plan to keep the car for 4 years only. Then go with mild steel, but if you plan to keep the car for life, then go with T304 Stainless,

Now for some information about the 1.6TDCi specific exhaust

The 1.6TDCi standard Cat-back is 1.75" internal bore

It doesn't have a pre-silencer pipe like the 1.8TDCi or 2.0TDCi models, it only has the back box silencer,

If choosing a custom fit exhaust being made while you wait,

Then you have the option of fitting a pre-silencer, back box silencer only, or no silencer just a 2.5" internal bore pipe,

If purchasing a ready made system from a manufacturer such as Piper Performance, the 2.5" system will come with a pre-silencer and back box fitted as standard because its designed to meet the requirements of the 1.8TDCi and 2.0TDCi requirements aswell as the 1.6TDCi

If fitting a 2.5" cat-back along with the de-cat pipe you will then have a 2.5" turbo back system,

The gains would be 10-15bhp before remapping it,

Now moving on from the Cat-back is the exhaust tips and rear exit options

At this point you have 3 options depending on how you plan to style your focus,

If you plan to keep the exterior body standard then have the exit pipe hidden inside the bumper like standard,

If your going for a sporty exterior then choose an exhaust tip and have it peak out under the bumper,

Or

If going for an ST replica you can have a duplex exit exhaust,

This is where the exhaust splits two ways at the rear silencer location,

If choosing a duplex and your meticulous like me then I highly recommend you choose a piper performance duplex exhaust,

Because the split is hard to perfect, in the sence on a frosty morning if the split is not perfected in the exhaust, then you will notice more steam exiting the left pipe than the right.

Piper performance use wind tunnel technology aswell as C&C machinery to perfect the split resulting in equal 50/50 balance giving that authentic look even in the depths of winter.

Here's a link to piper performance direct fit systems in stainless steel

http://www.piperexhausts.co.uk/piperstore/index.php?cPath=26_230_461

let's go with the induction filter next:

An upgrade induction filter as a modification on its own will give you a noticeable gain of between 5-10bhp

If the EGR is blanked; I highly recommend fitting a performance induction filter, because of the operations EGR once did taking up to 30% of waste gasses in to the induction for recombustion thankfully with that blanked,

Your induction filter is now drawing in 100% of the air for combustion, resulting in many positives but a free flowing performance induction filter will ensure the demand for air is freely available.

I don't recommend any type of mushroom filter or cold air induction systems,

I only recommend straight fit direct replacement performance induction filters such as green cotton performance induction

See guide and review here:

http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/36783-green-cotton-performance-induction-filter-fitting-guide/

Or choose a K&N57s induction.

I imagine it would out perform the Green Cotton Performance as its a bigger filter with upgrade housing but both filters will do the job nicely,

All depends on your personal budget after that.

Here's a link to the K&N57s system, the used to be up in the region of 300 GBP 6 months ago.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271238138352?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

Now we've covered the induction, egr blanking and exhaust,

Moving on from these its time for a remap.

Now I say remap and I mean exactly that, I don't promote these tuning box's that fit to your fuel line,

Yes they give more power and go buy one if you want but I don't promote them.

One reason I don't promote them is; they don't alter the settings of turbo boost or mass air flow sensor they just keep throwing fuel in to gain more power.

Your much better going for an ecu remap by a tuning company,

They use a laptop to connect to your OBD port (on board diagnostic) in the drivers foot well,

They copy the file from your ECU alter the complete settings such as boost parameters etc.

To provide you with a tailored remap that is both performance enhancing and economical when you want it to be,

All depends on how you drive it afterwards,

A remap will give you as much as a 30% increase in bhp and all other performance supporting mods we have discussed above will come in to play to bring the percentage a bit further.

Now if you've followed all of the above and completed it on your car you have now reached Stage 1 tuning.

Since you now have the power I recommend you fit some handling upgrades to help put the power on the road and further enhance driving pleasure,

Firstly choose some 17" or 18" rims,

I've personally fitted 18" but they contribute to what's called "un-sprung Mass"

Unsprung mass is the name given to any weight that is not on the chassis of the car,

Any weight such as wheels, brake calipers or wheel nuts all contribute to the weight of unsprung mass

The more unsprung mass the less power to the road.

So with that said,

I recommend fitting some 17" rims with Avon zz3 tyres,

You may think what difference is 17" rims gonna make compared to my stock 16"

Well the bigger the rim the better the lateral Gforce is handled on cornering at speed,

The bigger the rim, the smaller the rubber side wall on the tyre, resulting in less sqwat and improved handling.

Moving on from bigger rims is lowering

I recommend fitting ford approved Eibach lowering springs,

They drop the rear 35mm and the front 25mm

This levels the door will line to horizontal which looks much better for starters,

It actually lifts the nose of the car despite lowering overall.

And really enhances the handling of the car,

Reduces understeer and allows for better cornering end result more power to the road,

It also eliminates sqwat on acceleration when over taking etc. The rear doesn't sink when you put the foot down.

Moving on from lowering is camber adjustment.

When lowering using direct fit springs to the existing shocks,

You will need to fit Eibach rear camber adjustment bolts, these allow the rear wheel hubs to be aligned correctly after lowering to prevent excessive wear on the inside of the rear tyres aswell as correcting the face of the rim so it doesn't face the sky.

There are front camber adjustment caster kits,

But these are only required if removing the standard struts and fitting coilovers

If fitting coilovers you will require both front and rear adjustable camber kits to align the face of the wheels to the road.

Moving on from lowering and camber adjustment is sway bars.

Now you've got the ride height set and your rolling the same as an ST on the same suspension and chassis setup you may feel the car under steers a bit, this can be corrected by fitting a white line rear anti roll bar, its a direct replacement to the standard sway bar and is proven to allow the car turn in more sharply,

There is white line front anti roll bars but if you fit both front and rear you will end up with the same problem all over again,

Just fit the rear one to feel an improvement over stock.

Moving on from sway bars is brakes,

Now your existing brake calipers are fine you can fit green stuff pads and perhaps some cross drilled discs,

Being an LX I'm guessing you've got drums on the rear,

You can upgrade these to a caliper & disc setup which will stop you from spinning around doing 360's under heavy breaking

Check the breakers for a zetec model thats breaking.

Moving on from the braking system, with all of the above done

Your options are and upgrade clutch,

Found here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180982110154?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

hybrid turbo, after hybrid turbo id look in to a upgrade intercooler,

With these fitted i recommend a rolling road custom remap this will see your motor at around 155bhp

Moving on from that you can fit BMW nozzle's to your fuel injectors and a methanol injection kit works like nitrous,

Can expect to see just under 200bhp

Moving on from that theres nothing more in terms of performance,

You can create an ST replica by fitting front&rear bumpers, side skirts and rear spoiler all of the parts are a straigh swap,

But if performance is your interest,

The focus looks just as good lowerd on 17" rims with an ST rear spoiler and perhaps some window tint.

Ive more/less coverd everything interesting,

If you would lik to see some subtle modification guides with links to the supplys click link here to see my list: 

 

Some of the guides are available in PDF format can be download printed making them even easier to follow.

Thanks for reading and hope it helps,

[Lenny]

Thanks il have a look! Whats your oppinion on having a loud sporty exhaust? (Not too loud)Sent from my GT-I9505 using Ford OC mobile app

Diesels don't get loud or raspy,

They get low bass grumble like a mustang,

Even straight through diesel system give a deep growl

[jb72510]

Hey, thanksfor all that il sit down and havea read through tonight but thats exactly what I wanted to know! Its a petrol:)

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[Lenny]

Hey, thanksfor all that il sit down and havea read through tonight but thats exactly what I wanted to know! Its a petrol:)Sent from my GT-I9505 using Ford OC mobile app

Ah !Removed!,

There's not much reading in the above that will apply to you then mate,

Only things you can do to the 1.6 petrol is a 4-2-1 manifold 1.5" or 2" cat back exhaust and an induction filter,

They can't really be mapped there 115bhp as standard with exhaust and induction you may see 122bhp tops.

The handling aspects I've written about above will still apply,

But the parts involving dpf, egr, and decat down pipe, you can ignore all of those as they don't apply to petrol,

My honest advise now is save your money and buy a 1.8TDCi

Or a 1.6 petrol toyota Corolla Levin BZR ;)

[hoofy2812]

lenny you seem to kno your stuff what could i do to make my focus mk2 1.8 tdci titainium more kick

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