Joey's Focus Thread: Dragon Slayer

I know almost nothing about coilovers other than they are pretty expensive and don't take all that kindly to the salt on the road during the winter. If I live in a state where we didn't dump salt on the roads in the winter I'd probably be more likely to do a coilover setup There are a handful of choices out there too, I know KW makes a set as does H&R, Ksports and VMaxx are other brands too.

Man, I have the same challenge as you, they salt like hell here as well. I've had several sets of coils that have seen the white stuff, the only set I had a problem with was the set I left bare.. People use a little different lubricants, I've used copper grease/paste because of availability and recommendations, never had a problem. Also marine grease, anti-seize and Boeshield T9 (comes with selected H&Rs) are ways to go. Regular cleaning is also important, of course, but with lubrication you won't have problems, even with massive amounts road salt..

Joey D

It does need a drop pretty bad but I don't think I'll be able to go as low as I want too. I'd like about a 2-2.5" drop but I don't want to replace struts every 20,000 miles. Steeda just released their springs for the car though and they do a 1" drop, which should be good. Plus their springs are proven to reduce understeer, which is always good.

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You'll probably be replacing front axles more often than that.

I probably won't worry to much about lowering right now, I've been reading up on it all day and it doesn't look like it's anything I want to mess with at this time. Getting coilovers require different control arms and camber plates which appear to be expensive for the MK3. I'm sure it'll get lowered at some point though.

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Anyway I shot some better pictures of the car with the new wheels:

Just saw those on facebook earlier, looking mint! I have new shoes for my car coming in the next couple of weeks too 👍.

New Exhaust

The FedEx man dropped off a big box this morning and I knew it had to be my exhaust that I'd been waiting on for over a week now. I was quite excited to get it on and hear how it sounded.

It's a 2.25" Magnaflow CBE with a double-outlet 3" tip. The system is made of stainless steel, important for Michigan, and has a resonator along with a muffler. I'd look around at several different exhausts but many weren't stainless steel and many of the others had numerous complaints about droning. I didn't know anyone with a Magnaflow exhaust so I couldn't hear it in person but the few videos I saw made it sound pretty good.

Install took about an hour and was a huge PITA without a hoist.

All jacked up and ready to go, I'm almost certain this is how Ford designed the new Escape too .


The resonator and mid-pipe.


The muffler and tip.


And all installed on the car, the fit was perfect and I'm really happy I went with Magnaflow since I know they are a quality name and I wouldn't be struggling to make it fit my application.


I did start up the car with an open cat and it was loud, sounded just like the Neon come to think of it, but for whatever I didn't take a video of it. I wish I would have though. But I did take a clip when everything was buttoned up. It sounds really good, it's not overly loud but there's a nice little gurgle and a smooth, deep tone.

Great choice on the TD wheels! This is the first I've seen of them and they look good. Can't go wrong with a simple, well-engineered and quality performance wheel.

Also, I'm kinda digging the red steelies and white walls. Not to give you any ideas, wink wink nudge nudge, but two of my friends have recently bought and installed air ride systems on three of their cars. One did his E30 and the other did both MK4s: A VW GTI and a 1972 Lincoln Continental...

The E30 in particular will raise up slightly higher than stock (and stock was really high) and will lower it to tuck all four wheels. It rides nice and smooth while having the versatility to lower it down at shows or to cruise like a badass, or raise it in parking lots or crappy roads. There are options available with remote control outside the car, and memory chips to remember ride height settings. There's an anti-theft aspect of it too; in the E30, the signal wire for the compressor comes from the stereo. When he parks, airs out, and removes the radio faceplate, the car is rendered undrivable because the compressor won't turn on and the frame is sitting on the ground.

I don't think the main companies make any kits for your car yet because the tuning scene is pretty much non existent at this point. Keep an eye on it and maybe in a few years some options will open up.

Thanks Keef! Ya I finally listened to you guys and bought wheels that were quality made .

And ya, I'd always like to put a car on air, I just don't think it's going to be the Focus. I'm looking at another project vehicle for when I finally do get a house. It'll be on air for sure.

Its quite a nice sound. In addition to it being a Focus, which I really like. Cheers!

Looks and sounds good 👍 Digging the Touring Car vibe.

Also, on installing your muffler: I look forward to the day in my life where I can buy a brand new car and then work on a brand new car - no seized bolts, no road crud falling on my head, no seized bolts covered by road crud, etc...

Two Years and Counting

So it didn't really dawn on me, but two years ago today I bought my Focus. Doesn't really seem like I've owned it that long, but I guess the car is starting to feel more middle aged than brand new. It squeaks and rattles on the inside, the suspension feels a bit squishier, and it's lost all it's new car scent. I still enjoy the car and I'm just barely under 40,000 miles, which isn't too bad considering how much I used to drive.

Over this past year I got into doing a few more things with the car, it got new rims and summer tires, a Steeda CAI, and a Magnaflow exhaust. I still have a couple things in my garage that I need to put on the car, but since Michigan is having temperamental weather I haven't really had a chance to mess around with it too much.

Looking to the future, I think a rear sway bar is probably on the near horizon and I just discovered today that Bilstein is finally offering a set of their HD shocks for the Focus in the states, which mean I can finally consider getting some lowering springs. I'm still up in the air on it though and might wait and see if Koni ever gets around to coming out with something, although I feel that might be a ways down the road. I'd also like to get a set of the HID projector housings, but Ford makes them laughably expensive and the Chinese haven't come up with a good knock-off set yet so I'm going to wait on those for a while too.

This past August I finally made it down to The Dragon, something I'd wanted to do since I'd owned the MINI but never got the chance too. I'll be heading back down there in June for some more driving fun. The Focus isn't the best thing to tackle The Dragon with by any means, but I was still able to have quite a bit of fun with it and couple more or less keep up with my buddy's 330i (although I suspect it's because I'm a better driver, because a decent driver should have easily been able to pull away from me in a 3-series).

I'm looking forward to another year with the car and I'll be curious to see where it's at next May.

Oh and here's a recent picture, forgive the Instagram.

Did you change your IG name? What it is now?

Also, the car is looking good. I think you'd enjoy a mild lowering spring and shock setup.

Wow, time goes by really fast, I Still remember when you got it. Now that I think about it in a few months my dad's M3 will be 3 years old

Keef

Did you change your IG name? What it is now?

Also, the car is looking good. I think you'd enjoy a mild lowering spring and shock setup.

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My Instragram name? It's like Thel_oden or something because some jerk took Theloden.

And I think a small drop would be nice. The shocks would be about $750 and the springs would be about $250. The only problem is I have no one on this side of the state that could really help me do it and considering I have no idea what I'm doing it could become a bit of a mess. The Steeda springs drop the car about an 1" or so.

Ford Racing makes a kit for the car, but the thought of trying to get the front sway bar isn't very enjoyable. There's only been a few guy on the Focus forums that have done it successfully and even then they scratched the hell out of it.

Man, that name only brings up two pictures. They're yours, but they're old and your Focus isn't on there. Weird.

So I went to Tennessee last week to drive the Dragon, eat BBQ, and drink beer, bourbon, moonshine and sweet tea. Here are some of the highlights:

I left last Tuesday to head to Cincinnati to spend the night since I'd worked a half day then took off. Before I got to the hotel though I stopped to see something I've always wanted too...Big Butter Jesus. Sure it's not the original but the buttery savior was rebuilt into a 52 ft statue of the late Jesus Christ with his hand spread out welcoming his children. I honestly love tacky religious things just because they are simultaneously offense, funny and awful at the same time.



After spending the night at an awful hotel in the worse state in the union, I drove the rest of the way to our cabin in Tellico Plains. The cabin was quaint and up a steep mountain road covered with fine soft gravel, just want every car one summer tires wants to see. Also there was no Internet or mobile signal for mile which made me twitch because I was disconnected from the world. The lady who owned the cabin though was one of the sweetest little old ladies I've ever met and ever baked us the best banana nut bread I've ever had in my entire life. She also called me "darling" which I thought was just fantastic.

But Wednesday not much happened since we were all pretty tired and it was raining. So we went into Knoxville expecting something but all we saw was a giant golden globe thing on a tower. If you've ever seen the Simpsons episode where Bart gets a fake ID, rents a car, and drives to Knoxville you get a pretty good idea what it's like. After that we went back to the cabin and drank until the wee hours of the morning while blasting Van Halen since the radio only picked up a station that was doing some tribute to them or something.

Thursday was Dragon day, but first we drove the Cherohala Skyway, which ended up putting us in some of the worse fog I've ever experienced before.



The was the view of my buddy's 330i for about a half hour, also notice how he's using his rear fog lamps correctly instead of riding around with them on during a clear night.



After we came out of the clouds we ended up on the Dragon where we made a two runs, had some BBQ and made one more run. By the time we'd done that our tires, transmissions, and bodies needed a bit of a break.



Killboy.com and US129Photos.com took some nice shots of my car too that I figured I'd get.







After the Dragon we went to Gatlinburg, which I happen to think is one of the worse places on the planet, but they had moonshine and I bought a couple jars of it so I was happy enough. Also we went to some brewery to have dinner and buy a couple of growlers to take back to the cabin with us.

Friday was sort of a chill day since none of us felt like doing much. I drove to some waterfall up in the mountains which was kind of cool and then spent the rest of the day destroying brisket, pork, and turkey at a couple of BBQ restaurants in the area. Later that day we went to Craighead Caverns that had a five acre lake 140ft underground. It was touristy, but it was still pretty neat and our tour guide was really cute. A buddy of mine tried to hit on her but a little 5 year old kid out gamed him and ended up walking the rest of the tour holding the guide's hand.

Saturday morning was a little slow because Friday night we drank a ton of moonshine and played "Cards Against Humanity", but that afternoon I took another rip down the Cherohala Skyway to the Dragon. Killboy was on the Skyway and got another snap of my car.



Along the way I stopped off at the Cheoah Dam, which was used in the Fugitive movie, and enjoyed the dam view of the dam water which was rushing through making a bunch of dam power. The dam fence kept me from getting close though because I suppose they were afraid of dam terrorist or something.

But I made it back to the Dragon for a couple of late afternoon goes, I did pop off at the Scenic Outlook to get some pictures though and rip on how much we hate fat guys on Harley's that think they can ride the center line on a blind corner with some cool Canadians in a pair of S2000's.







I then drove Route 28, known as the Moonshiners Run, to Fontana Dam, which is pretty impressive since it's a massive structure in the middle of no where. Drive 28 though allowed me to add to my sticker tower on the back of the car.



I ended up back at the cabin late and got some sleep before driving almost 11 hours to get back to Grand Rapids on Sunday. All-in-all it was a great trip and I can't wait to go back next year!

Joey, as a Focus owner, I would like to hear your opinions on your car, good and bad. I've had a 2003 Celica GT for just over 10 years (156k miles and counting). It's been a very reliable car for daily driving, and probably would continue to be for years to come.

But, I really want something with four doors and more space, now that I have a son. I've been looking at getting a new Focus for nearly 6 months, and I just haven't yet pulled the trigger. I'm leaning toward the Focus SE with the black appearance package.




How do you like yours? Is it a daily driver? How is the ride quality? Road noise? Anything odd about it that you didn't know until after you had owned it a while?

In my case, I learned that almost all 7th-gen Celicas break their power door lock actuator, which is a giant pain in the ass, because I have to use the key every time I get in my car, even though I have an aftermarket alarm/remote start system. I also opted for 18" tires and 2.5" lowering springs 10 years ago, and I am so past that now. I almost want the new car just to get back to factory ride quality and cheaper 17" tires.

Great stuff Joey, enjoyed reading about your recent exploits. Still not a fan of the Focus's styling, but yours is the best I've seen and the BTCC vibe really works.

MustangRyan

How do you like yours? Is it a daily driver? How is the ride quality? Road noise? Anything odd about it that you didn't know until after you had owned it a while?

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It's daily driven, although my commute went from about 30 miles round trip to about 3 miles after I moved, so it's driven less now. I've still put 42,000 miles on it though in a little more than 2 years.

The ride quality is nice, last Sunday when I was driving back from Tennessee I drove straight though for 11 hours and felt fine. My suspension is a little more worn now so the car doesn't feel as tight as it did when it was new, but I have no complaints. I'd thought about lowering it about 15mm but decided against it since there are any proper sport struts out there for it.

Before I put the exhaust on it and the summer tires, it was pretty quite on the road at 70mph. It's louder now, but even with the exhaust hum and the roar of the summer tires, it's not horrible. My MINI Cooper was much worse in terms of road noise I thought.

The car does have a few oddities, mainly the transmission. It's a double clutch and it's a little hard to get used to at first. Ford sorted the transmission programming out though for the 2013+ models and us 2012 owners are stuck with a software patch for it. When you drive the car hard the transmission work excellent, but at lower speeds it'll sometimes jerk a bit and not feel as smooth. I got used to it pretty quick though and once you know what to expect you don't feel it. I haven't driven a manual one mainly because the Titanium spec of the 2012's only has the double clutch option.

The MyFord Touch system that controls the radio is a little hard to get used to as well, but once you get it setup how you want it, it's fine. I believe the 2013's actually have a different version that allows you to install apps on it making it much easier. If you get the Focus though do yourself a favor and go for the Sony stereo option, it comes with a small subwoolfer in the back and sounds excellent for something stock.

Overall I really like the car. It's fun to drive, has a ton of space in it, and I average about 35 mpg with mixed highway/city driving. All highway I can push it up to 40 mpg+. The Tuxedo Black also look really nice when it's cleaned up since it has a ton of metal flake it in. I wasn't much on having another black car, but I've growing to really like it when it's nice and clean.

homeforsummer

Great stuff Joey, enjoyed reading about your recent exploits. Still not a fan of the Focus's styling, but yours is the best I've seen and the BTCC vibe really works.

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Thanks Ant 👍

Joey D

It's daily driven, although my commute went from about 30 miles round trip to about 3 miles after I moved, so it's driven less now. I've still put 42,000 miles on it though in a little more than 2 years.

The ride quality is nice, last Sunday when I was driving back from Tennessee I drove straight though for 11 hours and felt fine. My suspension is a little more worn now so the car doesn't feel as tight as it did when it was new, but I have no complaints. I'd thought about lowering it about 15mm but decided against it since there are any proper sport struts out there for it.

Before I put the exhaust on it and the summer tires, it was pretty quite on the road at 70mph. It's louder now, but even with the exhaust hum and the roar of the summer tires, it's not horrible. My MINI Cooper was much worse in terms of road noise I thought.

The car does have a few oddities, mainly the transmission. It's a double clutch and it's a little hard to get used to at first. Ford sorted the transmission programming out though for the 2013+ models and us 2012 owners are stuck with a software patch for it. When you drive the car hard the transmission work excellent, but at lower speeds it'll sometimes jerk a bit and not feel as smooth. I got used to it pretty quick though and once you know what to expect you don't feel it. I haven't driven a manual one mainly because the Titanium spec of the 2012's only has the double clutch option.

The MyFord Touch system that controls the radio is a little hard to get used to as well, but once you get it setup how you want it, it's fine. I believe the 2013's actually have a different version that allows you to install apps on it making it much easier. If you get the Focus though do yourself a favor and go for the Sony stereo option, it comes with a small subwoolfer in the back and sounds excellent for something stock.

Overall I really like the car. It's fun to drive, has a ton of space in it, and I average about 35 mpg with mixed highway/city driving. All highway I can push it up to 40 mpg+. The Tuxedo Black also look really nice when it's cleaned up since it has a ton of metal flake it in. I wasn't much on having another black car, but I've growing to really like it when it's nice and clean.

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Great! Thanks for the feedback. 👍

Very Nice. The dragon tail road, I know that Seems like a sweet road 👍

Looks very clean

On the lowering, can't you swap for ST suspensions, shouldn't give as much headache as aftermarket coilovers? (just to throw it in there, if it hasn't already)

Joey D

Two Years and Counting

So it didn't really dawn on me, but two years ago today I bought my Focus. Doesn't really seem like I've owned it that long, but I guess the car is starting to feel more middle aged than brand new. It squeaks and rattles on the inside, the suspension feels a bit squishier, and it's lost all it's new car scent. I still enjoy the car and I'm just barely under 40,000 miles, which isn't too bad considering how much I used to drive.

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I still remember when you had the Xtreme.

Nice read on the Dragon, it reminds me of the fond times I spent there myself. 👍

Ibonibo

Very Nice. The dragon tail road, I know that Seems like a sweet road 👍

Looks very clean

On the lowering, can't you swap for ST suspensions, shouldn't give as much headache as aftermarket coilovers? (just to throw it in there, if it hasn't already)

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👍 Thanks!

I'm not sure how easy the ST stuff bolts up to the regular Focus or if there's even any benefit. I haven't seen anyone try it yet one the Focus forums, but I'm guessing if it does bolt up it costs an arm and a leg. The ST headlights are like $3,000 each or something stupid like that.

Ford Racing makes a handling kit that drops the car a few millimeters and firms everything up, it's just a pain to install without access to a lift. It's made up of whatever suspension is offered on the European Focus. I've considered it, but probably by next summer I will have a new car. When my girlfriend (soon to be fiancee) moves to Grand Rapids with me, she'll be driving my Focus and I'll be getting something else.

Blackbird.

I still remember when you had the Xtreme.

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I do miss the Xtreme and I ran a CarFax on it about two years ago. It ended up in some hick-town in Indiana and was last registered in 2008. I'm guessing it was either wrecked or someone bought it as a project truck. I go on CarDomain, s10forums, and Blazinlow from time to time to see if I can find it, but I've never had any luck.

Wolfe

Nice read on the Dragon, it reminds me of the fond times I spent there myself. 👍

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Thanks 👍! I can't wait to go back and it looks like my buddies and I are going to make it a yearly thing. Hopefully next year I have something a bit more fun, like something RWD with two seats.

Joey D

Thanks 👍! I can't wait to go back and it looks like my buddies and I are going to make it a yearly thing. Hopefully next year I have something a bit more fun, like something RWD with two seats.

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The second time I went was with my BMW, which didn't have two seats but it did have two doors. Fortunately, it was a low-traffic day so I was able to go as fast as I wanted. That time I also found some really epic roads by straying from the beaten path, so I always recommend the same thing to anyone planning to make the trip. The Dragon is a thing to see, but roads like this are more fun with no traffic at all.

I wish I could remember some of the two-lane highways I found, but for that area you can't really go wrong any way you go. 👍

Joey D

I do miss the Xtreme and I ran a CarFax on it about two years ago. It ended up in some hick-town in Indiana and was last registered in 2008. I'm guessing it was either wrecked or someone bought it as a project truck. I go on CarDomain, s10forums, and Blazinlow from time to time to see if I can find it, but I've never had any luck.

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Hmm considering i'm about to go close the deal on my car today I hope my car doesn't suffer a similar fate. I hope the guy drives it regularly and keeps as good as care as I did or better.

Joey, Not sure how I missed you buying this but congrats on the Ford Focus. I like the look of these cars a lot. Sounds like you are enjoying it a lot more than the mini.
I like this pic a lot.