Focus Fanatics Forum banner

Anyone race their 2012 yet...

13K views 29 replies 18 participants last post by  Juicedz 
#1 · (Edited)
...besides me??? [cool]

This past weekend I went to a Mustang gathering near Cleveland. It was a private track rental at Thompson Raceway, called the Buckeye Brawl V. I decided to leave the Mustang at home and take our 2012 Focus SE 5-door instead. In addition to racing, I was also searching for OEM-style wheels for the new car (a story for another section here).

We raced on Friday, with about 35 cars in attendance. Many folks I had met before, but there were quite a few new-to-me faces. We made a weekend out of it - FUN!

Back to the racing...

I made three runs. We were delayed early on when one of the cars had a mechanical problem, and then rain/lightning closed us down by mid-afternoon. The Focus ran a best of 16.7052 @ 83.48mph (with a horrible 60' of 2.5950), backed up with a 16.7942 @ 83.02mph.




I didn't powerbrake - just mash the gas and wait. Each time I would stage the lights and watch for the yellows to drop. Imagine my excitement racing a new car as I floored it, only to hear the Focus say to me - "You've GOTTA be kidding me!"; then the car would begin to move. The delay between gas & go was so looooong. On my third and final run, I hit the gas on the 2nd yellow, which netted me a best reaction time of 0.0550.

Had I made subsequent runs, I would have stalled the RPM's up to get it closer into the powerband. The motor pulls fine at higher RPM's, but that 60' time was killing any type of decent ET's. Another factor was an incredibly high DA, which is a measure of air quality for those who don't know. We started racing with a DA of 4,500', and the day only hot hotter and more humid. Most of the Mustangs were 0.3-0.5 seconds off their normal ET's. Also, the car is dead stock with normal street weight (full of gas and kept the spare in the back). I'm confident that at my home track (Cecil County Dragway) with better air and launch technique, that I can drop my ET's further.

Plenty of pictures and videos were taken. I am expecting at least one great picture to be sent to me, which I will post up. We all had a blast!
 
See less See more
1
#2 ·
so overall car sucks in drag ? and new transmission needs upgrade?
 
#3 ·
As far as I know, the 2012 2.0L doesn't currently have anything available in terms of aftermarket support. Things like exhaust, CAI, and tunes should be coming shortly. We'll see how the car responds to mods. I think the poor 60' times (which weren't a traction issue) indicate that there are better ET's to be found in the car. That high DA was killer too.
 
#14 ·
Unfortunately, that there is ricer math. It's nice to look at, but you can't just assume your car is that fast. If your tracks are still open this late in the year, the air right now would be great for racing.

Took the wife's Focus out to the track on Saturday. Bout 3800 miles on her. Running 87 octane, tank half full. Temps were in the 40's-50's, and the DA was probably 700 or so by the end of the night (started around 1700).

Breakdown of the times (all runs done with TCS off, S mode, brake standing at the line):
16.40 @ 85.34
16.53 @ 84.76
16.32 @ 85.88 (as seen below)


reset battery to possibly clear any knock from running 87
16.08 @ 86.69
16.12 @ 86.62
16.13 @ 86.07 (as seen below)

16.46 @ 84.83

If i do it again, i'll definitely run premium to see how it acts. I feel with minor weight removal, premium gas, good air density, it's a high 15 car.
 
#7 ·
Automatic or manual? I found with the auto, the 'select shift' mode allows you to keep the RPM's at 2500-ish RPM with the break pressed firmly. Basically brake torquing except there's there's no torque converter.

If you do it right you can get a bit of wheel spin when launching. I've only done it a handful of times and it's difficult to get just right. I found just flooring it and letting the RPM's sit at the 2500 mark then letting off the brake doesn't always work well.

In either event...that should help with times. I know mine is painfully slow at lower RPM's, but makes good power up high. I'm hoping for some basic bolt ons or a tune will help with the low end.
 
#23 ·
Since the DCT disengages the clutch when the brake pedal is depressed, you should be able to rev it to the dis engaged rev limiter, then quick release the brake, re-engaging the clutch(es)...kind if like an automatic's powerbrake combined with a manual clutch-dump..
 
#8 ·
Car has potential to do a mid to high 15sec pass, with a 2.0 60ft, maybe faster. sounds promising
 
#9 · (Edited)
Thanks guys. Its the regular automatic, btw. As I said, if I had the chance to make more runs, I would have tried stalling up the RPM's for a better launch. Since the temperature was rising as well as the ET's, I was concentrating on dropping my reaction times in a effort to win a trophy for the best reflexes. I ended up getting the Turtle Award for having the quickest stock car, which wasn't hard because all of the other Mustangs were modified.

[giddy]
 
#11 ·
Probably not. The motor has 2,300 miles on it now, and I will be changing the oil this weekend. In the grand scheme of things I floored it 3 times, which shouldn't be that hard on the car (at least that's what I'm telling myself!)
 
#15 ·
It is a high 15 car trust me I know. Raced one in my focus. The 2012 is just as fast as my focus. Well all depending on the launch of course, but that's the beauty of the tranny y'all have, the consistency is great. I have vids and see if I can get them uploaded.
 
#16 · (Edited)
Here our my vids. I am VERY impressed with the 2012's. It also reminds me I need to finish the tuning on my cams and ECU lol

First race




Second race





Third race it stays with me. Not so good launch on my part but not bad ether and I miss 4th. Perfect example of how fast the 2012 is though. If the aftermarket will support it like they did the earlier models then it should be a very quick car with bolt ons.






All vids taken on my private road/drive way [read] I live way out in the boonies
 
#17 ·
I embarrassed a 1st gen Audi TT (180hp 1.8t) last night, surprised me, I had to Wikipedia the TT to make sure Germany didn't get a naturally aspirated base model (they didn't). I had them from off the line until we both let off in third.
 
#18 ·
People say there slow but they really aren't that slow at all. Launch depending of course. Which brings me to my next point. Where's the aftermarket support? If we could put a header, intake, tune, and exhaust I bet these cars would fly or at least surprise the crap out of a lot of unsuspecting drivers.
 
#19 ·
The Mazda3s is the only Focus competitor that can beat it in a drag race, and it has a 2.5 liter engine. C&D ran a 15.9 with a 5MT SE sport... that's not much slower than a '95 Mustang GT.

Posted via FF Mobile
 
#20 ·
hmm... i was talking with the guy that tuned my Sport Trac, he said that SCT is close to releasing a program to tune the focus, ill let you know how that goes, as i will be his test pilot...
 
#21 ·
They are close, real close, from what I hear. So does anyone make a header for these cars yet? I know the bolt on market sucks compared to what it was when the first gen was released, and it wasn't that big with the first gen. I just hope the aftermarket makes more parts for these, I think these foci will be damn quick with bolt on's.
 
#25 ·
Can't wait to race mine... I expect hi 15 as well, feels like my old crownvic when it was stock which was doing 15.8-15.9... and later with a 5 speed hi 14s!
 
#26 ·
Just to compare, my 4 cylinder Fusion runs high 16's in stock form. I hope for low 16's maybe high 15's with every single power modification available done to it.

Sometimes we must admit that we have a slow car designed for maximum efficiency while sacrificing performance. We still have style though! We still have style...
 
#30 ·
Sometimes we must admit that we have a slow car designed for maximum efficiency while sacrificing performance. We still have style though! We still have style...
Well said sir, well said!
 
#27 ·
Normal cars run normal times haha just a fact of life.

My V6 auto mustang ran a 16.5 @83mph when it was stock. 6 years later after intake, tune, exhaust, wider wheels, stickier tires, tightened suspension, rear seat delete, and 91 octane it ran a 15.7 @88mph. LOL Even after all that it was still just a tick away from a stock manual mustang.

I'll be taking my Focus to the track this spring and I am hoping to hit a 16 dead, maybe 15.9 if I don't totally botch the launch.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top