Hi folks,
My first post!
I bought my wife a 2004 Focus ZTW. The mileage hasn't been the greatest and I find the performance lacking (well keep in mind I'm driving an F150 with V8). I would like to know if upgrading the exhaust and adding a cold air intake would add significant pep to the car...at what cost and what brand names would be recommended. Since this is not my car (though I pay for it) I do want an exhaust that's sport tuned but not super loud over the stock sound.
Looking forward to some replies and recommendations!
Cheers,
JP
An exhaust and intake will make a bit of a difference, but no where near super charger difference, or even cam shaft difference for that matter. By them selves not alot, but with other mods, they do make a significant difference.
Check out places like FocusSport for exhausts...if you dont want the sound, they have a silent cat-back system that gives you all the benifits of a aftermarket exhaust, but not the sound.
EDIT-- i just checked their web-site and dont see the "stealth" exhaust anymore :huh: ...but it exsists still...i think.
Some other good exhaust systems are Magna-flow, Borla, MRBP...run yeah anywhere from $200-500 depending on how well you look
Intake, will give you more sound than performance, but something nonetheless...
people like Volants alot, Pipercross is good but expensive...AEM , steeda, they will run yeah anywhere from $150 to $400...take a look at short ram and cold air...people will tell you what they prefer or what they think is better.
Might want to check with Mitch from ZX3Tuning, he deals with focus-central and focus sport gear, among lots of other things...
hope that gets the ball rolling a bit
oh yeah and :hi:
Thanks FociPhil!
If the car was my daily driver, then YES a SuperCharger would be certainly an option but exhaust and intake should help enough I think. We all know there's never enough power!
Most guys here will vouch for the following.
UDP kit (underdrive pully) Helps with bogging when using accesories ie: a/c etc...
CAI ie: Vilant, Iceman etc. all great ways to get a little more zip
headers: very popular among us
exaust. MBRP, BOSAL etc...
If anyone can think of anything else, please add.
All these can be done for under 2k.
Steeda seems to have a decent short-ram intake. Others are AEM, Ractive, and K+N has a Filtercharger that promises good gains but it's expensive. Others bolt a K+N filter to the stock MAF (Mass AirFlow) sensor housing and the stock intake tubing and see some gas mileage and performance increases that way.
MBRP for exhaust all the way. They sound great on the Zetec, and they shut up on the highway nicely. Others like Magnaflow and FocusSport.
Headers are great, but if you do:
- make sure there's a place to put the O2 sensor
- make sure you get a high-flow catalytic, or you'll butcher the stocker in no time (by most accounts, I have no personal experience there)
UDPs are a great way to bolt on ponies, but you need to remember the caveat that your charging system is underdriven below 1,000 RPM with most "racing" UDPs. Others underdrive less and as such your charging system is largely unaffected.
A throttle body would be beneficial if you're doing intake/header/exhaust, but then your next mod after that logically is a set of cams.
Once those are done, you start getting into the serious "toys" - performance clutches, intake manifold, port and polish the head, etc.
One last thing - when all is said and done, an aftermarket tune (most N/A guys trust Superchips aka SCT here) to clean everything up and to cater to your mods is your best bet.
As always when modding, Your Mileage May Vary. Not all tuning experiences are the same.
NOS2Go4Me,Jun 27 2005, 05:53 PM Wrote:MBRP for exhaust all the way. They sound great on the Zetec, and they shut up on the highway nicely. Others like Magnaflow and FocusSport.
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Haha, Lies... all lies, well at least on the svt. I love my mbrp. but noise levels on the highway are insane, be prepared to yell at your back seat passengers if they want to be part of the conversation.
FocusSport stealth exhaust are by far the quietest exhaust on the market but still have a very nice burble and tone to them. only down side is they are made out of aluminized steel and will rust out in 5 years with our harsh winters.
intakes are dime-a-dozen so what ever floats your boat will work. FS coolFlo or Volant work great and keep intake temps to a minimum without having to resort to a CAI which i do not like nor suggest.
if you are going to do headers, do not waste your time with shorties! the cost, the hassel, the effort and the power are not worth it. that is not just my opinion but dyno proven. they are a PITA to install, raise underhood temps and have caused numerous plugged cats! plus every major Focus parts manufacturer dropped the shorty headers they used to make as they were just too much hasselon every level.
the only down side to going with a race header is removing the cat, which happens to be the biggest sound suppression device on the focus, which will make your car loud as all hell to put it bluntly. there are ways around this, going to your local Autoparts store and ordering a Magnaflow 54305 Cat and welding it into your exhaust just after the flex will do a lot for bringing the sound back to a reasonable level. if there are no local autoparts stores that carry magnaflow gear you can order them from me for $120cnd plus tax and shipping.
throttle bodies are good if you feel your car does not have the throttle responce that you would like. the power gained from the TB will varry depending on your other mods and what year intake manifold you are running.
UDPs are good upgrades, cheap, easy and effective.
going with a 2-pully kit allows you to retain your stock belt and also does not underdrive you alt as much as the 1-piece kits.
you can easily make the focus into such a fun car to drive that you may swap cars with your wife! ;) only question is how much you want to spend on it!
oh and welcome to FocusCanada!
Welcome, and rather than just repeat all that has already been said about modsm I'll just say ditto to all above. A good place to check out is the for sale section, as you can usually find some goods deals there. I know there have been a few newly supercharged focuses out west here, and with that comes sales of underdrive pullies and intakes and such. If you're looking for new parts Mitch from ZX3Tuning, is a great guy to deal with, and aways there for advice.