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Well I got given the car so would rather put the money into it!
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Ah, makes sense now lol. well as I said at the start, the ffoc is probably the best plce to discuss modding.
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so why start the question thus :
'I just purchased a focus 1.8 zetec'
Anyway - what does it matter how it was obtained, the best value performance improvement involves changing the car, not tweaking it.
Is this a real thread ?
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Boring out a 1.8 is ridiculous, better to get a 2.0 motor and fit it though much, much, much, muuuuuuuuuuucccch better still - sell it and get a 2.0. The 2.0's have rear disc brakes, brakes are v-important if you plan to tune the car, and (contrary to one reply above) do make it faster A to B. Also many 2.0's have traction control and other tweaks over the 1.8.
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So you were given the car, could you not trade it is with perhaps a grand of you money for a nice 2.0 Focus? By the way the Focus is a great drivers car irrespective of engine.
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Maybe he wants something more unique...which I guess I can accept as the owner of a Focus and accustomed to seeing them regularly...
A bit like most Saxo owners like something unique...
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A bit like most Saxo owners like something unique...
Yes, good idea, sell the 1.8, get a 1.4, ideally white put 20" chrome plated alloys on it so that the tyres rub the arches, black film on the windows, 1000 watt bass unit in the boot, exhaust tail pipe by Taylor Woodrow etc etc.
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Lol. Or maybe it would be rude to sell a car you were given.
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I was thinking it would be a bit rude to sell it, at least for a couple of years anyway. Until then thought it would be my little project to get into the whole modding thing.
I can believe brakes make A - B faster, as my car is faster than my mates MG ZR+, but as he has ABS I have to slow down much sooner.
How much would a rear disc conversion cost?
I am looking for the fastest focus ever, just making the one i have much gruntier, off the line and at the top end.
I must say if i put my foot down in first or second when its wet, all i get is wheel spin!!!! Impressive compared to my last car. Peugeot 306 1.9L TD.
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Meant to say, NOT looking for the fastest focus ever!!
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A grand will not get you much - a decent cat back exhaust will cost around £300, a decent exhaust £75, another £250 for an ECU re-map, decent discs and pads £200 and a half decent suspension kit will be approx £300.
Already you have spent over a grand and have not done anything major although the combination of bits will make the car quicker point to point.
If your looking to turbo the car you will need to spend another £5k to have anything anywhere near reliable and worthwhile as you will need serious internal work to handle the required compression ratio. It may well work out cheaper to have a Cosworth engine dropped into the front of yours.
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Meant to say, NOT looking for the fastest focus ever!!
Oh, that's alright then. I was going to suggest maybe posting in the Max Power forum instead ;o)
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I agree that before considering modifications to make your car faster, making sure the brakes are tip top is a priority.
Changing to rear disc brakes will give you a negligible performance change. They are a bit of a gimmick - one of those fitments that are more for marketing than engineering! It is important to make sure that any modification to the rear brakes do not increase their propensity to lock up. Locking the rear brakes is a sure way to crash your car. Braking ratios for new cars are subject to legislation, with the manufacturer having to demonstrate that the rear brakes will not lock up under different rates of braking. Take great care if you are tempted to mess with the rear brakes.
Consider upgrading your front brakes to the same spec as an ST170 for example.
Like many others who have contributed to the thread, I think that the car is better left as standard. Consider spending your stash on advanced driving or skills improvement - you will transfer that modification to every car you ever own!
Number_Cruncher
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If you're going to blow the cash, why not blow it on something different. A full leather interior for example or something like that.
I was considering a rear disc conversion but after N-C's comments, I think I'll leave it.
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Adam
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Hi Adam,
It's another of those automotive myths. People who don't really know about brakes say that discs are more powerful brakes than drums. This isn't quite true.
As the leading shoe touches on to the drum, it gets dragged in harder - this is called self servo action. The trailing shoe gets pushed off. But, when the drum heats up, the friction coefficient drops. This has two effects 1) the brake torque drops because of the lower friction 2) the self servo reduces because the friction reduces. So, as drum heat up, they lose brake force rapidly.
As a disc brake heats up, the brake force only reduces because of the reduction in friction - there was no self servo effect to begin with.
The performance difference between disc and drum brakes is in their stability with respect to changing operating temperature.
Now, rear brakes on front wheel drive cars (barring estates and vans) have a really easy time of it. There is little weight on the back axle, and the hydraulic pressure to the rear brakes has to be turned down, usually using pressure reducing valves of some sort.
There was a time when you needed to have rear disc brakes to be compatible with some types of ABS - the dynamics of each type of brake is completely different. That isn't the case now - the modern controllers can compensate for the difference.
I once upgraded the rear brakes of a rally car that I looked after. I didn't make the necessary changes to the valving. It was shortly after this when I learnt (in a near trouser soiling manner) how it is not a good idea to have the back brakes locking up during an emergency application of the brakes!
For a typical front wheel drive car, I would estimate that the front brakes provide over 80% of the stopping force. To isolate a squaling brake fault on a mkII Cavalier, I once isolated the front brakes and took the car out for a test drive - never again! It was lethal! Isolating the rear brakes made little difference to the behaviour of the car.
Number_Cruncher
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N_C,
Thanks for that very detailed reply. I learnt a lot - also I learnt that I definitely am not putting rear discs on!
I'll leave all my brakes well alone from now on. I'm too scared!
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Adam
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The other dangerous one which seems beloved of some of the boy racers is to slap a great anti-roll bar on the back and not do anything to match the front.
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Can't see me doing that antime soon either.
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Adam
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Hi Adam,
To put a further slant on the discs v drums point the main difference is that discs are not only ultimately more powerful (not usually an issue on the rear as NC says) they are also more progressive. In fact the amount of braking force that a disc brake gives is linear to the amount of force applied to the pedal (subject to temp induced variables), this is not the case with drums, hence rear discs can be designed to give nearer the optimum braking performance without being in danger of locking as well us ultimatley more braking power, hence the estate variants of some cars (where the amount of braking force required may vary greatly based on weight, or rather the front/rear weight distrubution varies greatly) have rear discs where the saloon/hatches do not.
Regards.
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This is why I couldn't be an engineer!
Thanks Cheddar and N_C for the valuable assistance. It still sounds like too much hard work to do the conversion though ;-)
Thanks again,
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Adam
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I agree that before considering modifications to make your car faster, I think that the car is better left as standard. Consider spending your stash on advanced driving or skills improvement
>>- you will transfer that modification to every car you ever own!
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Spot on.
Just bank your money and give yourself a brain remap.
Believe that you have a very acceptable vehicle.
Maybe look for a higher spec /power version in the future.
Enjoy
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