Add-in camber plates for -3deg static at front, and a Torsen LSD, and it is a very quick car, although not competitive in FSP or SMF (because of the Torsen) without serious power mods. I drew the camber curve at front starting at -3 static and had some gains and no camber loss fully compressed. Depends on ride height and angle between strut and control arm. Was one of the top cars for STF in 2012. Can still do well in HS and STF.
I sure do love my SVT focus! Bought it a few months ago. Funnest car I've ever owned. Not the fastest in a straight line, but I think the handling and 6 speed makes up for it on fun factor. Thing rides corners like a beast! Only things I've done to mine are FS werks front strut brace, slotted rear rotors, and Steeda shifter. Better tires to come.
Great review. It does handle well, but even on the street I feel the lack of LSD. A kit is available from Massive to fix this oversight from Ford. On heel and toe... I wear a size 9.5 shoe, and I learned to heeltoe in this car. I rest the arch of my foot on the brake, and I kick the gas with my toe. Im not sure if this is backwards, but it works for me and I still have good control over the brake. Not much we can do about the macpherson strut, unfortunately. Most street cars have a macpherson strut, so not much to do about this.
I’ve owned 5 SVTF’s and currently own two, and agree with every point made. The pedal box works for me with a size 10.5 and driving shoes with a balled heal, but the suspension geometry is difficult to dial in for autocross even with camber plates, coil overs and a corner balance. You will always end up excessively wearing the inside of the tires. The LSD issue is what it is. You can upgrade to one but the process is nearly half the value of the going price for these vehicles. Obviously tires matter and with only 145 ft tq ridding wider rubber and aggressive toe will give enough traction to amateur autocross without a lot of wheel spin.
Nice review. I am thinking about one of these for HS but the non LSD worries me the most. Up here at altitude it probably doesn't matter. But the other 2 cons... If that's all you have to say bad then this much be a Great Autocross car. You very very rarely heel toe in autocross and almost every street car out there has Mcpherson struts.
Thanks! It really depends on what style courses your local group likes to run. If it's full of those 180 degree sweeping turns, you'll be at a real disadvantage because you can't put the power down like other cars can. But yeah, I meant to say this in the video, overall its still a great choice. Definitely a top 5 car for HS. The only people I wouldn't recommend it to are seasoned veterans that go to nationals. They should go with something a little better suited, like an S2000 or Corvette.
Regarding the throttle, if you have a cable operated throttle body you can make it so you can heel and toe quite easily and almost for free. I used a couple of zip ties between the throttle cable and the pedal itself to raise it just enough to heel-toe easily. The difference is minimal, but you have to be aware of it when flooring the gas.
I don't agree with all of this. I think biggest disadvantage of svt is long gearing 1st and second, problem with pedals can be fixed. LSD depending on the class most your competitors won't have it either...
This was cool to see! If you ever get tired of the focus you could try a festiva haha. All the cons you listed apply to the festiva too. I have been told that #2 and #3 work in the festiva's favor tho. See you in September!
On the rare occasion I heel-to-toe in my 2003 SE 5-speed, I have my heel on the brake, and toe on the throttle. It works that way. And apparently I have been doing it wrong all this time...
Interesting that you have 2002 wheels on the front and 2003/2004 wheels on the back?? At least you don't refer to it as a ZX3 SVT like too many younguns that I hear. The ZX3 has almost nothing in common with the SVT.
I have a 1.8 ZETEC. Although underpowered, it is very fun to drive. With some good tires it's a monster in the corners. Very easy to drift too(left foot braking induced oversteer). I have the same problem with front outside tire wear, I should try a camber plate. The open diff is a problem in tight accelerating turns, especially uphill. I have almost mastered heel and toe, but more like pinky and toe. Heel doesn't do anything... But a lot of professional drivers do it like that. All in all great car, just needs an LSD(Quaife isn't that expensive) and some more power. Oh and very long gears indeed, but no aftermarket trannies... Just power upgrades.. BTW What tire pressures are you running?
Add-in camber plates for -3deg static at front, and a Torsen LSD, and it is a very quick car, although not competitive in FSP or SMF (because of the Torsen) without serious power mods. I drew the camber curve at front starting at -3 static and had some gains and no camber loss fully compressed. Depends on ride height and angle between strut and control arm. Was one of the top cars for STF in 2012. Can still do well in HS and STF.
-3 degrees up front sounds a little excessive. But yeah, I'd definitely be doing those mods if this car wasn't also my daily driver.
I sure do love my SVT focus! Bought it a few months ago. Funnest car I've ever owned. Not the fastest in a straight line, but I think the handling and 6 speed makes up for it on fun factor. Thing rides corners like a beast! Only things I've done to mine are FS werks front strut brace, slotted rear rotors, and Steeda shifter. Better tires to come.
Great review. It does handle well, but even on the street I feel the lack of LSD. A kit is available from Massive to fix this oversight from Ford.
On heel and toe... I wear a size 9.5 shoe, and I learned to heeltoe in this car. I rest the arch of my foot on the brake, and I kick the gas with my toe. Im not sure if this is backwards, but it works for me and I still have good control over the brake.
Not much we can do about the macpherson strut, unfortunately. Most street cars have a macpherson strut, so not much to do about this.
I’ve owned 5 SVTF’s and currently own two, and agree with every point made. The pedal box works for me with a size 10.5 and driving shoes with a balled heal, but the suspension geometry is difficult to dial in for autocross even with camber plates, coil overs and a corner balance. You will always end up excessively wearing the inside of the tires. The LSD issue is what it is. You can upgrade to one but the process is nearly half the value of the going price for these vehicles. Obviously tires matter and with only 145 ft tq ridding wider rubber and aggressive toe will give enough traction to amateur autocross without a lot of wheel spin.
Nice review. I am thinking about one of these for HS but the non LSD worries me the most. Up here at altitude it probably doesn't matter. But the other 2 cons... If that's all you have to say bad then this much be a Great Autocross car. You very very rarely heel toe in autocross and almost every street car out there has Mcpherson struts.
Thanks! It really depends on what style courses your local group likes to run. If it's full of those 180 degree sweeping turns, you'll be at a real disadvantage because you can't put the power down like other cars can. But yeah, I meant to say this in the video, overall its still a great choice. Definitely a top 5 car for HS. The only people I wouldn't recommend it to are seasoned veterans that go to nationals. They should go with something a little better suited, like an S2000 or Corvette.
So swap in an LSD. Best mode I ever did on mine. Worth every penny.
Regarding the throttle, if you have a cable operated throttle body you can make it so you can heel and toe quite easily and almost for free. I used a couple of zip ties between the throttle cable and the pedal itself to raise it just enough to heel-toe easily. The difference is minimal, but you have to be aware of it when flooring the gas.
I don't agree with all of this. I think biggest disadvantage of svt is long gearing 1st and second, problem with pedals can be fixed. LSD depending on the class most your competitors won't have it either...
First gear is 3 mph higher than a VW Golf GTi 16v and the second gear 6 mph per higher.
This was cool to see! If you ever get tired of the focus you could try a festiva haha.
All the cons you listed apply to the festiva too. I have been told that #2 and #3 work in the festiva's favor tho. See you in September!
Looks like over inflation on the tires as well
On the rare occasion I heel-to-toe in my 2003 SE 5-speed, I have my heel on the brake, and toe on the throttle. It works that way.
And apparently I have been doing it wrong all this time...
Interesting that you have 2002 wheels on the front and 2003/2004 wheels on the back?? At least you don't refer to it as a ZX3 SVT like too many younguns that I hear. The ZX3 has almost nothing in common with the SVT.
I have a 1.8 ZETEC. Although underpowered, it is very fun to drive. With some good tires it's a monster in the corners. Very easy to drift too(left foot braking induced oversteer). I have the same problem with front outside tire wear, I should try a camber plate. The open diff is a problem in tight accelerating turns, especially uphill. I have almost mastered heel and toe, but more like pinky and toe. Heel doesn't do anything... But a lot of professional drivers do it like that. All in all great car, just needs an LSD(Quaife isn't that expensive) and some more power.
Oh and very long gears indeed, but no aftermarket trannies... Just power upgrades..
BTW What tire pressures are you running?
This is great technical info! Do you have any thoughts on the civic si EP3? These were two of my dream hatch backs in the day.
Solution for the problems: cheap lsd, camberplates and another peddals and its perfect
Could just run better tires. Those look old.
Can’t have everything I guess, I mean it is only a baby Focus, buy a Mustang then clever clogs
audio is super quiet. can't even hear the review