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2012 2.0 (poor mans intake mod)

62K views 91 replies 47 participants last post by  jbjs40 
#1 · (Edited)
I don’t know if this is the right section or not since it is a new engine but close enough.

Alright everyone, so since the new focus just came out and there are no intakes available yet. I decided I was going to pull the resonator out of the intake like in the older 2.0 d20 motors.

Well low and behold ford did us one better.

Here is the engine bay


On the intake box lid there are five bolts holding it on I removed them and this is what was found



Not much of a performance increase but there was a big difference in sound.

So here is my poor mans intake mod on the 2012 :lol: Took all of five minutes including getting the tools and popping the hood



Here is with the box taken out


What it looks like in the engine bay


the silancer

Couldnt fine a filter the fit on the maf, the maf has like a 2.5 inlet and all the filters in the ricer isle at autozone was 3 inch..


I put every thing back together for the mean time though
 
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#2 ·
sweet. You could throw a K&N in there later and be set.

edit: I also just noticed the ground wire on the drivers strut tower, it looks like they have learned that a 16 ga wire doesn't work very well.
 
#6 ·
I have no way of testing iat's. But what other pictures under the hood would you like to see let me know and ill snap a few more pictures.
 
#10 ·
I didn't remove the bottom part of the intake box so I haven't checked to see if there was anything below it lol
 
#11 ·
Its not going to hurt performance. The cover was plastic. That plastic would be the same temperature as everything else in that area of the engine. The snorkel will continue "pulling" in air as it was before but now you have opened up more surface area to pull the air from.
 
#14 ·
Even plastic is an insulator. And because this pulls air in from outside normally, it could make a difference. When I removed the resonator from my airbox I put a hose in its place to pull in cooler air from behind the headlight.
As was said before, knowing the intake temps would help. I'm sure someone with a 2012 has a way of getting a reading.

Either way, if you didn't notice a difference in performance, it couldn't hurt to try for a while, and it looks good. Good find!
 
#13 ·
Couldnt fine a filter the fit on the maf, the maf has like a 2.5 inlet and all the filters in the ricer isle at autozone was 3 inch..


I put every thing back together for the mean time though
you can get a K&N filter in just about any size imaginable. go to their website to find a part number.
 
#16 ·
There are millions of pictures available of the overall stuff but anything interesting you find under the hood could be useful.

I notice they went to the older-GM-style MAF sensor according to your picture..
 
#17 ·
With aftermarket cold air intakes normally the filter is 100% exposed so that means you are sucking in 100% engine heat. So does this mean those are not going to help if anyone comes out with one? I was thinking about cutting a 4x4 square out of my air box on top, basically like my volant air intake I had on my 03 focus.
 
#20 ·
Will the computer learn the air ratio? With my 03 focus I did airbox and cat back the same time. When I started it for the first time the car idled at 3K rpm..I was thinking shit I screwed somwthing up. Then after about a minute the idle started dropping down and down until it was at normal idle. Waiting a minute turned off the car started it backup and went right to the correct idle. Did not retune and drove it 7 years that way until I sold it to buy the 2012. Was hoping it would work the same?
 
#21 ·
To a point yes the Focus ECU will learn, the problem is the ECU will only make changes to the fuel in closed loop , closed loop is the fueling done at idle cruise and part throttle , closed loop on the 03 Focus can adjust fueling by 25% +/- either direction. The problem is in open loop fuel nothing gets adjusted so lets say your running 8-10 % lean and the ECU adjust this in closed loop fueling when you go to open loop fueling (wide open throttle) there is nothing to adjust the fuel and you will run 8-10% lean

You have to ask your self if you had a tune how much better would those mods of been and how much safer would the engine have been

When you add mods 95% do it for better performance if you add mods and have no idea if your rich or lean you could be hurting the mods and loosing power from them

Yes I know some one is thinking I did mods and it felt great with no tune , the butt dyno lies because it comes from the same place that just added the mods so it thinks better gains , How much better would it be knowing its right and actually making that power


Tom
 
#22 ·
I agree 100% with your statments, and know nothing about the closed loop or open loop but it sounds solid. On my mustang I did do a tune when I changed my intake, in fact everytime I did something I changed my tune so it would make the same sense to do it to this vehicle.
 
#23 ·
I added to K&N Filter today and left the top of the box off......noticed it was louder for sure. A little to loud for my taste so I put the box top back on. I'll let everyone know if my mileage picks up.
 
#24 ·
just noticed the coors light nice haha
glad to see someones already pulling apart the car hope some mods come out soon but i wouldnt be suprised if alot of companies are waiting for the st for a mod platform
 
#30 ·
Sorry to resurrect a dead thread but i just couldn't help it after reading this. I haven't posted here in months, and the one time i came back i found something awesome! I like the note the engine in this car makes, however I have always wished it was louder since i bought the focus. I did not realize how much better fofo sounds just by taking that intake box off...my god its a night and day difference when you press the gas haha. ANYONE with this car, please do yourself a favor and just rip the top of the Air filter box off, and enjoy. Don't waste money on a stupid aftermarket one. You'll never get any realistic gains from an intake anyways (especially if you get caught in city stop-and-go traffic), and any difference between taking this box off vs. throwing $200 at an aftermarket one is negligible at best. Plus, this way you can still use the stock MAF and tube! Its a Ford Genuine Accessory [headbang]
 
#36 ·
Top-half off is definitely a night & day difference. Love the sound!
Anyone with a K&N know if there's a material difference in sound versus the stock filter?

Also, is there a trick to removing the bottom-half of the airbox? Had some resistance with it and didn't want to force it out. (the side with the MAF disconnected seemed to give way, but the right side didn't).
 
#37 ·
There are two large pop-out snaps. one on the right side and the other on the left by the battery. I just replaced my filter with a K&N and took off the resonator but the bottom have did need a good pull. I put everything back together and even put the top cover back on until i get the parts to make newmission's cold air intake mod. still sounds great with the cover on. with the cover off it was almost too loud. https://picasaweb.google.com/101492819118857238996/2012FordFocus#slideshow/5653084785524747826
 
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