I've got my Grandfather's old focus that's needing a few pounds spent on it. It's due a major service (cam-belt) anyway but I'd like to go a bit further to get the best from it. It's a 2001 1.8 zetec with just 12k on the clock.
I don't want to spend thousands, just a few small changes that should add up to make a marked improvement. Work to be carried out at indy garage. Any advice or suggestions would be very welcome. Ideas:
Wheels & tyres- Upgrade to 16'' from 15'' buying used set on eBay (Ford parts). Tyres need replacing anyway as they are all original.
Brakes- Order good quality discs & pads on net, garage to fit. Only drums on rear, replace if need be.
Suspension- Upgrade springs & dampers? Too expensive/worth the bother? Advice please.
Any other tips on how to get this car back to its best, it has been sitting around for years doing nothing but short runs. Anything that can be done in the engine dept? Is it best to order the parts I can on the net for the service too? Loads available from sellers on eBay.
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Avoid modifications that will change insurance premium. Get a good trusted garage to do the work? i.e. not a dealer.
You seem to imply at first you want to get it back to how it was but then want to upgrade everything.
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The focus was the best handling / ride car of its time - possibly not surpassed by many cars since
soWheels & tyres- Upgrade to 16'' from 15'' buying used set on eBay (Ford parts). Tyres need replacing anyway as they are all original.
stay at 15inch
Brakes- Order good quality discs & pads on net garage to fit. Only drums on rear replace if need be.
standard brakes were fine its only a 1.8 zetec not a veyron
Suspension- Upgrade springs & dampers? Too expensive/worth the bother? Advice please.
leave well alone. standard fords parts only if the old ones are tired. (bushes may need to be replaced due to age)
in the engine dept? Is it best to order the parts I can on the net for the service too?
If you supply parts and are fitted by someone else you get no warranty on the parts and labour wil be extra if the need to be replaced due to defects. Many counterfeit parts on the net.
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I'd simply like to make the car as good as possible without spending a fortune on it. I do a fair bit of cross-country motoring hence my interest in wheels, tyres and brakes.
The standard brakes are reported to be sub-par by many owners anyway and a set of front mintex discs & pads can be had for £50 on eBay from a reputable parts dealer.
It's going to need lots done at its service anyway, most things age rather than mileage related. I will be getting it done at an independent garage of good reputation.
Any other suggestions regarding servicing & improvements?
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Ford spent lots of money getting the original Focus to be one of the best driver's cars in class. Take it to the independent and get parts replaced where necessary with the original spec parts.
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Nothing wrong with rear drums on a car of this performance. Rear discs on this type of car are fitted more for fashion purposes than any braking performance concerns. I don't have the exact figures, but the front brakes provide the vast majority of the stopping effort.
I agree, the Focus is brilliant as it is. A much easier car to make worse through modification than to improve IMHO. Much like Peugeots of a certain vintage. My recommendation would be genuine Ford parts (often no more expensive than pattern ones) fitted by an indie.
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I bet I wouldn't get the same advice if I posted this question on a 'Max Power' forum!
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No you would not. We're offering unbiased advice, i.e. the car when sorted with original spec parts where needed will be a very good car. Max Power type forums will suggest you stick big wheels and all sorts on and not point out the need to tell the insurance.
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Over the years i have owned / driven many cars with various mods, and i am totally convinced that for A-B motoring on the public road, assuming you start off with a reasonably performing car, ( eg your focus as opposed to a skoda felicia ! ) the very best performance return per £ spent is the best set of tyres available. After an alarming case of brake fade long ago with a BMW2002, i also pay attention to braking, but if i were you i would try the car (safely) on the standard set-up before changing anything - i don't know about focus', but part of the "zetec" spec for the mondeo3 is uprated suspension over the "LX"
Car modding like you are thinking of used to be almost essential if you wanted to travel quickly and safely, but most modern cars will do the job fine. If you really want to spend some money on your new car (and why not? ) how about the sound system, bucket seats, good phone hands-free kit, wheels too if you want (but standard size) etc, ?
If i still had my old "whip aerial" you would be welcome to it, but unfortunately it passed away years ago (anyone remember those? )
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If i still had my old "whip aerial" you would be welcome to it but unfortunately it passed away years ago (anyone remember those? )
Yes my uncle had one on his mk3 cortina clipped to the roof gutter just above the back door.Quit a lenth if i remember when unclipped
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I thought that the cambelt interval on these was 10 years or 100K? I haven't recommended that my gran do her's and her Focus is the same age and mileage.
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Nice car, way ahead of the pack when it was brought out and to keen drivers it still ranks very highly. Certainly have it properly serviced and looked over by your independent. I'd suggest you run it as "standard" for a month or more and see how you get on with it. I guess a few long runs and a few short blasts (when engine is warm) will clear the cobwebs associated with less than 2,000 miles a year of use. Once you've got used to the car as standard you'll know what you want to improve to suit you and you won't be guessing. Ford engineers spent mega money developing the Focus blade suspension to give it the best handling so bigging up the wheels and tyres might look better to you but won't improve the ride or handling.
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I think it depends whether you want the car to look good or drive well. In my experience, it's hard to get both unless you spend an absolute fortune, and know exactly what you are doing.
Going back about 8 yrs or so, we were looking for a used 106 XSi, a car with brilliant handling in standard form. We test drove one which had been lowered and was running 16" wheels with 45 profile tyres. It was so awful to drive I cut the test drive short after just 2 minutes. It tramlined so badly under braking that you had to hang on to the wheel, all the feel had gone out of the steering, and the ride was, let's just say, incompatible with early 90's Peugeot plastic interior quality. Instead of an agile, light footed little go kart, it felt leaden, dull and rough. A tired, knackered rattle box despite just 35,000 miles on the clock and an impeccable maintenance history. It did look good though. The next (standard) car we looked at was a revelation in comparison, despite more miles on the clock.
These kind of mods work on some cars. We lowered a friend's mk2 Astra GTE 16v for example, using one of those Jamex one box spring and damper kits, which massively reduced both torque steer and understeer, without much of a deterioration in the already poor ride quality. When you start with rubbish underpinnings like this, it's easier to make an improvement than when you start with what is arguably the best front wheel drive family car chassis ever designed.
If I were going to mod a Focus, I'd make it faster. The Zetec / Duratec engines are the darlings of the kit car and aftermarket tuning industry, and can be made to yield daft power outputs if you have the cash to spend. Also the chassis is more than up to dealing with a major power hike). Otherwise leave it well alone. A 150 bhp Focus on standard suspension and brakes would be a significantly quicker and more entertaining car than a 115 bhp one on big wheels and lowered suspension.
Cheers
DP
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As you are getting this low mileage car from your grandfather, the best thing you could do is give it an Italian Tune-up, replace the air filter, maybe upgrade the brake pads and fit some decent tyres. Forget cosmetic mods, as others have suggested, unless you are prepared to put up with a worse driving car (which might look 'smarter' to some).
Did you not see the Top Gear episode when they spent fortunes tuning up a Renault Avantime (wheels, suspension, spoilers, etc.) with virtually no affect on performance?
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Just fit a set of "premium" tyres to your current wheels;going to a set of larger wheels will destroy ride quality and will make little difference to handling;a set of Tarox discs/pads will improve the brakes;leave the drums on the back-rear discs are mainly cosmetic.There are books on improving engine performance available-read them before you start throwing money at the car.
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"i don't know about focus', but part of the "zetec" spec for the mondeo3 is uprated suspension over the "LX""
I don't think that's correct. When the Mondeo 3 came out what you got extra with the Zetec was alloys, front fogs, some alloy on the dash, leather wheel and a bit of colour coding IIRC. I'm happy to be corrected on this however.
Interestingly enough, with the Zetec spec on the Focus you did get uprated suspension as well as alloys and fogs but lost the A/C of the LX (unless you specified the "climate" pack)
To get back to the OP, I agree with all the advice given. I had a new 01Y 1.6 LX Focus and it was a well sorted car as standard (apart from the flat spot in 5th at motorway speeds)
Edited by Marc on 08/01/2009 at 23:36
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Some great advice there guys. I think the main reason that I'm less than satisfied with it at the moment is because of the tyres. They are still the originals and despite the good condition and reasonable tread they have probably hardened with age and I'm hoping that a new set of good 'uns will make all the difference. Although the car handles well there is too little grip to enjoy it.
As for the breaks, I still think that new shoes at the back and slightly posher discs and pads would be beneficial. Again, perhaps it is the tyres that are to blame for the slightly lacklustre breaking. As I have discovered, tramlining is all to easy to achieve.
I wouldn't be averse to a spot of engine tuning if it was easy and cheap enough. Any advice on thin matter would be greatly appreciated.
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You might find the 1.8 a bit thirsty as standard (my Ghia is) so tuning it might make it worse, for all I know. I find the standard brakes (without ABS) absolutely fine - does yours have ABS? I thought it was only fitted to 'all round disc' models at that age.
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No, mine doesn't have ABS either. I'm pretty sure that breaking performance will improve once I've fitted a new set of boots. I find the fuel economy to be very reasonable on my car. Although a spot of light tuning wont help this, I am in a position to be able to enjoy the extra poke, so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making. My problem is where to begin, if anywhere!
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LM - Ford spent millions making the Focus a brilliant car, how much are you going to spend to improve on their work?
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as mentioned above, try to keep close to stock.
New tyres... yep, definitely.
Italian tune up would also help, but get the service done first, then just do an oil/filter change 1000 miles later, after doing the Italian Job!
Also, have you tried some emergency braking yet - NOT advisable in the icy weather - to see if that improves the braking by deglazing those old pads?
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What were you driving before inheriting the Focus?
If you give the forum an idea of your aspirations and budget, they might be able to direct you more accurately.
Somewhere on the scale between an Aixam and a Veyron. ;>)
Edited by bathtub tom on 09/01/2009 at 19:51
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What were you driving before inheriting the Focus?
My Dad's elderly Honda Accord. I don't want to spend a lot on the Focus as it isn't worth a great deal anyway. If I could get a bit more power from it for relatively little time, money and effort then I would be pleased. However, a set of good tyres is probably the easiest way to improve the car's drive. The current tyres were manufactured when Bill Clinton was president (checked DOT code) and so are probably past their best!
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How about spending some money on some decent driver training? Potentially more benefit to be gained. Good training will up your speed, safely, improve your overtaking and some courses will teach you the finer points of handling. As many have said, the Focus is a superb handling car for it's class and you may well spoil it. Money spent on training will be with you for life, but one day the Focus will go. Improved skills will give you endless pleasure. Many decent cars are clearly driven by people with very little ability - the very thing they haven't invested in.
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After some brief research on the net I have decided to abandon all notions of tuning and modification. For a start I'd have to tell the insurance company who would then promptly empty my bank account, then their is the question of difficulty.
From what I gather, most modern engines are pretty well sorted anyway. With emissions regulations and so on it is in the manufacturers interest to make engines as efficient and therefore as powerful as possible. In other words, nothing is wasted. It seems that even with an engine as popular as the zetec, lots of money can be thrown at it for very little gain.
No, I shall heed woodster's advice, get a good set of tyres and learn to drive properly...........
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Good cars even in the most basic spec LM. Had a few rentals and they are actually very good fun for what is supposed to be a commodity item. Bit of TLC and enjoy !
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The other modification I would make is to upgrade the headlamp bulbs and the front sidelight bulbs.
Get some legal Osram Silver Stars and some W5W Philips Blue vision Ultra sidelight bulbs.
The W5W bulbs are much brighter and give a white light rather than the dull "standard" candle light.
Looks much nicer and does not cost too much.
And of course the standard advice ( assuming you do have two keys.)
Get a third key as an insurance. Might save £100+ if you loose one of the exiisting keys.
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