any thoughts on the focus?

A

airpiraterob

New member
its about to be within the 5 year window...any ideas on what class and the possible performance? pros and cons? above or below par with the escorts? how bout the zx-2's?
 
The new SSS eligibility rules will extend the time for IT eligibility.

Unfortunately, it will likely get tossed into ITS--initially--and be hopelessly outclassed there until the SCCA rethinks these matters.

It would be better to see such cars in ITA (or ITA-/ITB+[my new tweener category].

Cheers.
It is the same with the ZX2
 
Probably they will be tossed in ITA. They are on par with the same power as my EGT and of the same weight....just my guess though.

-Jeremy-
 
Behold... the future ITA Fountain Motorsports Ford Focus ZX3

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will be fully assembled about the same time the snow flies. All the goodies except the motor internals- want to sort the car out and use up the stock motor a bit before tearing it apart.
Should get a weight around 2400lb when classified, based on other vehicles which have moved from SS to IT. 'Course, comp adj could change all that!!
Rated a choked 130hp stock, w/ all legal mods and stock block, I'm expecting @135-140 at the wheels.
Cheers!

Tom C.
Fountain Motorsports
 
Tom--Why would you want to build an unclassified car for IT?

I suppose you could still race it in SSC?
 
joeg,
we will be running the car with EMRA, NASA, and other regional clubs for the time being. We'll have a better idea if the car is competitive through the next few years. If not, we can always convert it for rally duty.
 
2.0 16 Valve DOHC in ITA? Dreaming.

More than 130 HP from the 2.0? Dreaming.

(I've had plenty of them on the dyno. Port the head, move the cams, that'll make a little more power, opps, not legal.)
 
Behold... the future ITA Fountain Motorsports Ford Focus ZX3

fb1fbdd4.jpg


will be fully assembled about the same time the snow flies. All the goodies except the motor internals- want to sort the car out and use up the stock motor a bit before tearing it apart.
Should get a weight around 2400lb when classified, based on other vehicles which have moved from SS to IT. 'Course, comp adj could change all that!!
Rated a choked 130hp stock, w/ all legal mods and stock block, I'm expecting @135-140 at the wheels.
Cheers!

Tom C.
Fountain Motorsports
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Tom C,

If your still lurking on this board... or if anyone else has any input...

I am going to be sending in a VTS sheet for the 2002-2003 Focus SVT for competion in 2008. I was wondering what struggles/ successes anyone has encountered with your focus over the last few years. What tracks have you run and what type of lap times. Have you changed the supsension at all? Have you tuned the engine yet? Has anyone seen a 8/10ths build on the ITA focus let alone a 10/10ths build? I know the SVT is completly different being a 6 speed, with 170HP and 140FT LBS of torque but the car dynamics seem to be very similar from the limited research I have done. It seems as though it could be competitive with the other front wheel drive cars classed in ITS and I think it also puts it in about the same spot as the RX7 and the 325is if the weight is resonable given that it is front wheel drive and may destroy tires.

Thanks for your thoughts,
Stephen
 
Stephen, are you moving away from the German mark and over to the dark side of a domestic ride?

No just kidding, I have looked at the Focus for a little bit I just don't see it making the power, Now maybe if they had the later motor it might be fun. I do know they handle well out of the box and the aftermarket for parts is quite good. Thats why we run the Mustang in ITB,I did not have to figure every little thing out.

Ron

Hope your Pop is doing well
 
Stephen, are you moving away from the German mark and over to the dark side of a domestic ride?

No just kidding, I have looked at the Focus for a little bit I just don't see it making the power, Now maybe if they had the later motor it might be fun. I do know they handle well out of the box and the aftermarket for parts is quite good. Thats why we run the Mustang in ITB,I did not have to figure every little thing out.

Ron

Hope your Pop is doing well
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Thanks Ron,

IN am very interested in running in ITS with something different than everyone else. The idea of something new that still has available parts is an interesting idea. I would love to stay german but BMW is out since those are like belly buttons :) An A4 would be cool but I think the focus SVT actually has a better chance. Now the dilema seems to be that the SVT is unobtainble for less than 10 grand for the donner car. At that rate I can buy 2 BMW's or 2 Porches and have a german car!

Oh-well the search is still on...
Stephen
 
Stephen,

There was a guy running an SVT Focus at the June National race of Atlanta. Might want to track that car down as a possible car. I think the Focus is a great idea and I might join you in the quest.

Ron
 
A friend out of Maryland ran a SVT with EMRA and NASA for a few years. We classified the car in ST-3, which is roughly analogous to ITS. The car wasn't quite a full on build (stock motor), but the chassis was pretty much state of the art. It was a competitive enduro ride in that playground. The car ran what was reputed to be one of the first Torsen diffs in that application as well.

The weak spots on the car:

Weight. Them things is damn heavy.
Wheel bearings - it took a season or so to come to the realization that they are even more disposable than on a A1 VW.
Throttle linkage - I wasn't very familiar with the car, so forgive the fuzzy details, but I gather that the SVT motor has some sort of weirdness with the way the throttle opens. I believe that there even may have been a recall on them at one point. Either way, Gary couldn't quite get his scienced out - some sort of plastic cam thing was always breaking.

Go over to http://forums.focaljet.com/ and do a search on user ID "GaryK" and read about the trials and tribulations of the Focus learning curve.
 
I can't speak to the Focus itself, but the 2.0L Zetec, with custom headers, balanced, valve job, but all else stock including the ECU will produce 129 horsepower on a Dyno Jet chassis dyno. Quite obviously that's more than 130 at the flywheel. Note this was on a race car with the motor prepared to IT rules a few years ago, so no UDP, AC, smog stuff, etc.
 
I don't know how to inject it into the process, but the ITAC should consider the items already optimized in the SVT from the factory when actually classifying it. I seem to rememember that it came from FoMoCo with extrude honed manifolds and head, for instance, thus unlikely any gains from an IT legal port job.
 
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