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COBB Initial Focus ST R&D Findings

23K views 39 replies 28 participants last post by  ZayK47 
#1 ·
I’ve introduced myself on this forum before, but for anyone that missed it, my name is Braden and I am an R&D Calibration Specialist at COBB. I am working on the Focus ST, mostly because I begged Trey to let me.

I bought my own ST as my daily driver just a few weeks ago. It’s a great car and should prove to be a good tuner ride in the future. I come from owning just about every turbo Subaru there was, with my last one being a 2004 WRX wagon that was making just over 500whp on our Mustang AWD dyno.



We’ve been doing a lot of development on our STs and have learned some interesting things that I thought I would share::

Stock R&D Findings
From the factory, our cars are torque monsters. They generate 280lb-ft of torque at the wheels (on our Mustang AWD dyno) from 2,000rpm to 4,000rpm. This gives a LOT of punch off the line and makes them really fun when you jump on the throttle (to the detriment of wheel hop and sad engine mounts). Unfortunately, this power level can be rather inconsistent. We have noticed that engine performance is extremely sensitive to Engine Coolant Temperature (ECT), Charge Air Temperature (CAT), Intake Air Temperature (IAT), and Catalytic Converter Temperature (CCT). When these temperatures increase, the ECU decreases power delivery. There are several factory components that can be improved upon to better handle this engine’s peak power output and keep temperatures in check.

Intake R&D Results (Stage1)
Welcome to Speed Density, or, in other words, this is not a MAZDASPEED3! The factory air metering system uses three MAP (Manifold Absolute Pressure) sensors and does not incorporate the MAF (Mass Air Flow) sensors found on many of today’s modern vehicles. What this means for us enthusiasts is that the ECU will be less sensitive to common modifications such as intake upgrades. A MAF sensor meters air mass by detecting voltage changes across a heated wire element in the intake tract. This is a very precise calibration, and altering the air filter or intake system can introduce turbulence or change the airflow pattern across the sensor and affect the sensor’s output. This is why vehicles with MAF sensors typically require a retune when the intake is upgraded, which recalibrates the MAF sensor so that it can accurately meter air mass with the new intake. A MAP sensor works purely on air pressure, and does not have the same calibration concerns with respect to changes in airflow or turbulence, which makes making changes to the intake tract less of an issue.

Interestingly, what we have found is that the OEM airbox is well designed and is not a restriction to airflow. We experimented with removing the lid of the airbox, and what we found is that the engine ingests hot air drawn from the engine bay, predictably resulting in higher IAT, translating into a reduction in power. The factory airbox must remain sealed to deliver optimal performance. Aftermarket upgrades that take advantage of the way this well designed factory system draws in cool air from outside the engine bay will produce the most consistent gains in power.

The factory MAP sensor elbow appears to be sized adequately to support power gains up to what the stock turbo is capable of producing. The OEM turbo inlet hose is made of many corrugated pieces, various bends, and pancakes that do a great job of reducing intake tract noise, but do so at the expense of smooth airflow into the turbo. Replacing the OEM turbo inlet hose with a smooth section will optimize airflow into the turbo and allow audible feedback from the turbo and bypass valve.

Power gains with these upgrades will be minimal on their own, but paired with a recalibration of the ECU – there are gains to be had here.

Intake + Catback R&D Results (Stage1+)
The OEM catback is a one piece design similar to first generation 2007-2009 MAZDASPEED3. It can be removed by cutting the rear section off and unbolting the remaining front section, or by lowering the rear sub frame for access to remove the entire catback intact. The OEM muffler and resonator are HUGE for a reason; to reduce the enormous sound output of this vehicle.



Our initial catback exhaust designs with minimal components resulted in dB levels comparable to a loud rock concert! After numerous configurations, we’ve found the perfect combination for this car.

The catback alone produced minimal gains on the dyno, but does help to decreases exhaust back pressure. This results in more consistent top-end performance by reducing temperatures from run-to-run. The exhaust note is incredible and unique, unlike any hot-hatch I’ve heard before it. Combined with the intake, our cars are almost fully optimized to take advantage of tuning.

Intake+Turbo-Back Exhaust R&D Results (Stage2)
This is the jam. The OEM downpipe inhibits flow, creates back-pressure, and increases temperatures that are ultimately responsible for top-end power inconsistency. There is also an oversized flex-section designed to allow for the astounding amount of engine movement designed into the engine mounts. So much so, that we’ve had the engine into the firewall during hard shifts.

Replacing this component will play a crucial role in eventually making big power safely and consistently. Due to the reduction in back-pressure with our downpipe, we did see that temperatures are reduced across the board. This results in more consistent power delivery and a slight bump in top-end power when untuned (~15-20whp). When tuned – big.



Conclusions
The ECU in the Ford Focus ST uses torque targets to hit consistent power output in various conditions. This means that the ECU tries to have the engine make the same power in 50 degree weather that it does in 90 degree weather so that the car performs consistently. The ECU does its job so well that despite freeing up restrictions in the intake and exhaust systems, the power gains are not very significant. Adding bolt-on products without tuning will be insignificant. You really need to modify the torque targets to make this one scream.

Finally – please don’t ask when the AccessPORT is going to be released because I’m definitely not allowed to talk about it.
 
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#2 ·
Thank you for sharing your findings definitely looking forward to what your able to do with the car.
 
#3 ·
Good read. Are there any plans for developing engine mounts that can find the "sweet spot" of movement and driving comfort? I'm sure those that AutoX their rides would be very interested in isolating excess movement.
 
#7 ·
this should have been stickied by know, such a great post.

also from what i gather from this is that you guys are working on tuning, exhaust and engine mounts. replacement tubing for turbo? then maybe an intake seeing as to how you guys did find that the intake has a realy good design to it?
 
#10 ·
Considering that most factory turbo engines have, or require, forged rods and pistons, then yes, the already boosted engine has more power potential.

What would make you think otherwise?
 
#9 ·
saw a few pages talking about cobb in a modified magazine. read through most of it in while the wife was doing her shopping. great read, cobb is realy doing a lot with the st.
 
#11 ·
Welcome to the forum Braden, I saw your ST earlier in the month at the first Thursday meet. Spent about 30 minutes speaking with another tech about your ST and the blue Focus. Great info on your R&D project.
 
#15 ·
Braden, that was a very informative post. Thank you for sharing you findings and I hope to see what COBB comes up with!


...and what this AccessPORT you are talking about?[deviltail]
 
#21 ·
+1. The guy writes a very informative post. So much so that it gets stickied, and then no word for three weeks. I looked today and still no info on their website.[???:)]
 
#22 ·
mostly likely caught up with sema and trying to make the finale designs on the upgrades for the car along with trying to test fit/design more parts. mostly likely some dyno testing and hopefully some 1/4 mile times to.
 
#27 ·
I used to have an SVT on SCT and now have forester xt using Cobb. Overall I will say the Access Ports are great little devices and there are a ton of parameters to monitor. Not sure if the focus will ha e it, but real-time flashing of ROMs are awesome: I can switch my tune from 93oct to e85 within a minute while fueling and easily switch back. You can also adjust timing and idle while the car is running.

The only complaint I have about the AP is I miss the logging of the SCT unit. For instance looking at the graph vs. the AP showing a spreadsheet of data. The real big thing though is that you are limited to the number of parameters you can log at one time. Just the other day I tried to add a only a few extra parameters to the default list and it gave me a memory warning. Hopefully you guys can address this in the future.

Overall these are great units and support seems to be good as well.
 
#32 ·
Why you making excuses for the decisions you made?

The standard Durtec does not hold a candle to the Ecoboost motors. You would be spending a ton of money just to match it potential. Its cheaper to just trade-in your standard Focus and carry over the negative on the ST.

Your payments would be higher but hey, you knew the ST was coming, you could have bought a cheap car just to hold you over. Save money and put more down on the ST with a lower principle and payment.

Boo-hoo sucks to be you wishing Cobb make stuff for standard Focus when they've only dealt with boosted cars their entire existence, good luck with that.

Face it you bought a slow car, so live with it.
 
#34 ·
I too am Happy to see COBB in here. I used some of there stuff on my MS6. Great products. And yeah ECOBOOST motors...flat out kick ass. I struggle to even use Ecoboost anymore...its just Fords boosted engine, there is nothing ECO about it when I drive my ST or my F150

With all do respect to frinesi2.....The logic you are using is understandable, trying to think outside the box, but you would have a small fortune getting the Duratec motor up to the point of the ecoboost is already. I would start with the best and add my time and money from there if you were really serious in building a monster. This comes from one of the many guys that has dumped a ton of money into my cars in the past.
 
#35 ·
These N/A motors are more advanced than you are giving them credit for, even with just an intake and exhaust they are picking up nearly 20 hp with the stock calibration. There are still more gains just from an exhaust manifold in some applications.

It is running at 12:1 compression vs 9.3:1 of the ST, which is why even with up to 20 PSIG of boost pressure only makes 93 more horsepower at the crank shaft as the naturally aspirated engine as a stock baseline.

The higher compression is more efficient at extracting power out of the fuel when you're out of boost on the turbocharged application.

Without tuning however there is only so much can be gained on the stock calibration.

The N/A powered Focus also weighs 275 lbs less than the EcoBoost powered ST, 3223 lbs is the estimated curb weight of the ST, vs 2948 lb for the N/A hatch.

It should be feasible to get the n/a engine up to around 200 hp or slightly over for the 5MT, but until proven otherwise the DCT models are constrained to 180 lb-ft of torque per the rating on the gearbox by Ford and Getrag (250-280 NM).
 
#36 ·
Personally I am looking for 2 specific types of tunes.
1. Eco Tune for daily driving.
2. Full on tune for track days on road courses.

Both of these keep in mind to be used on a completely bone stock Focus ST. I do not plan on doing any "real" mods to the car. There will be some but they will all be OEM upgrades from Europe.
 
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