2007 Ford Focus wagon, 5-speed

[CAPTAIN CHAOS]

Originally Posted by spacemanspif

Good tips Chaos, unfortunately I have everything keeping me from doing any of those upgrades. Mine is PZEV with 3 O2 sensor manifold/cat system that I believe is not upgrade friendly. Focus wagons have a different rear suspension and because of that there are about NO suspension options. I could use front stuff from other Foci but 05-07 have much less choices than the 00-04 cars. Apparently Ford decided for 05 that the front struts and springs should be slightly different from previous years. Pretty sure I'm going to cut the springs this coming summer.

I still want to try the DIY short ram to try and pull in warmer air and test if does actually get better MPG. Been dreaming up a kam back/box cavity like Donkey CRX did to the Mule VX but I just found a thread saying that the wagons have better aero than the hatches and makes me wonder if a kam would help. I'll find it and link it....

That sucks on the suspension. I went with a set of 1.5" drop springs on mine and the Ford SVT struts and it absolutely transformed the cars handling. It was sharp, precise and quite a bit of fun. I always felt like the factory suspension was WAY too tall and too soft.

As far as the other mods; a short ram did pretty much nothing on mine as far as mpg. Like I said though, mine was an earlier 'Zetec' engine which is a different animal from your 'Duratec'. The Zetec was not especially responsive to changes of any sort but it proved to be a solid and reliable little engine. I don't really have much experience with the 'Duratec' outside of occasionally wrenching on my wife's friends 08 Focus (I'm her unofficial mechanic). I know that 4sp auto they put in there feels like a real turd though (other than a nice tall final drive) so good score with the MT.

[jcp123]

I thought the stock suspension was a fine piece of work, but I do agree that the SVT stuff was amazing. Ride was still fairly compliant, but you forgot that the Focus was designed with a fairly tall cabin, it had razor sharp reflexes. Super responsive to mid-corner throttle lift or braking, it rotated very well. I do think that the actual SVT Zetec was the weak link; not very responsive down low, and didn't feel as powerful as its 170hp suggested when flogging it. It was also stupendously thirsty for something of its size. 26-28mpg was the best I could ever do on my commute, though 35+ was a breeze on the freeway.

I kind of miss my SVT though, it was a really nice car, practical, entertaining on technical roads, nicely done interior, and a great GT car as well. A turbo approach or a Duratec 23 would have matched the chassis better though, IMHO.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by spacemanspif

I'm torn on deleting the roof rack entirely. On the one hand it can help MPG and isn't needed probably 95% of the time. I've been driving for 13 years and never needed to put anything on the roof.

That pretty much sounds like a 100% statistic to me.

[spacemanspif]

Fixed some dents and made a small deletion

Hatch wiring was all jacked up so spent most of a day just soldering and splicing in new wires. Luckily the green hatch came with some wiring so I was able to add properly color-coded wire to the mix and hopefully won't run in to any broken wires in the future.

[Miller88]

I'd LOVE to find a 5 speed duratec wagon. The few I have seen around are all Zetec

[spacemanspif]

They are around but not nearly as plentiful as just regular car manuals. Depending on how bad you want one, I might be willing to let mine go

[Miller88]

Originally Posted by spacemanspif

They are around but not nearly as plentiful as just regular car manuals. Depending on how bad you want one, I might be willing to let mine go

Let's swap final drives! The 3.56 sucks for taking off from stoplights and on hills

[spacemanspif]

I drive pretty much flat highways. What is your RPM at 60mph? I'd switch to a taller gear if I knew how to get it done. Haven't checked but I'm sure it's not an easy job...

[spacemanspif]

Just took my old, dented doors to the scrap yard and got the car weighed for free lol. With me in the driver's seat, normal tools I carry and half of a tank of gas the wagon weighed in at 3,040lbs. Kinda heavy, I think, considering the info I found on the car is curb weight of 2,775lbs. Other problem is the I need to lose about 50lbs too lol.

[Miller88]

There's a lot involved haha.

Right now with 3.56 it is ~2300 at 60MPH. That's one thing I hate about the MTX75. First gear is too tall, 5th gear is too short. There needs to be a 6th gear.