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Most bang for the buck modifications?

5K views 22 replies 11 participants last post by  GO.army.1969 
#1 ·
I realize there are a thousand threads like this and I've read them all but would like to hear your opinions. I'm on a budget (which can change anytime lol) and am willing to save up for a while for some modifications if they are worth it more then others. So, I'm curious what your opinions are of the best bang for the buck modifications? I'd like to see a list from like 1-5 or something. I've heard teh SVT header conversion is the best bang for the buck so far besides a turbo (not wanting to do that unless there is one around the $2000 mark which seems doubtful).
 
#4 ·
I'd rather not go with NOS.

a JRSC, u can pick them up for 12-1400 and will put you at 180 whp or more
Hmmm... Which brand do you recommend or are they all pretty much the same? Also, is there anything around the $500 range that would give similar performance. I haven't landed on a budget yet but I'm curious about the performance gains difference between a $500 budget and a $1200.

Thanks!
 
#5 ·
JRSC is jackson racing supercharger. It is the more mild (thusly cheapest) supercharger available for zetecs. you could find one used for the above mentioned price and while it doesnt put down as much power as powerworks or some of the other high end kits it does provide a nice performance boost for a nice price.
 
#6 ·
a JRSC will cost u a full 2k after tuning unless you get the base kit w/ the black box. then it will put you in the 160 range for 1200.

YOU WILL NOT reach 160 for under 1200 bucks any other way than Nitrous or a JRSC. hands down end of story.
 
#14 ·
What will I have with a ported head, 65mm TB ported 2001 intake, CFM UDP kit, SVT MAF and intake setup, MSD coil/wires, SVT header w/2.5" Exhaust, ORP, Crower Stage 2 cams and a tune I won't hit that number? Can you can give me guesstimate with your experience? I sure someone has done this before.
 
#7 ·
Another question, do you think a tune would be a good first step instead of an intake or header swap?

EDIT: What I'm really wanting to knwo is I have $1000 to spend on upgrades and to make it more responsive, powerful, and handle better what should I get done. (this budget may not be here in a month or two but I'm just planning right now). I've read about ever thread I can imagine about performance upgrades for the car but am still confused.

So, with a $1000 budget what do you think would be the best performance mods. (I will buy used as I don't care about that)
 
#11 ·
Another question, do you think a tune would be a good first step instead of an intake or header swap?

EDIT: What I'm really wanting to know is I have $1000 to spend on upgrades and to make it more responsive, powerful, and handle better; what should I get done?

... with a $1000 budget what do you think would be the best performance mods. (I will buy used as I don't care about that)
The SCT/Predator tuner the guys at the dyno will give you can be reprogrammed again later (they're about $400 + another couple hundred for dyno time) so a tune will only really give you a baseline reading, and a talking point later when referring to how far you've come... You may want to save that one for later after you have more stuff as it's gonna eat up that budget and only do so much for performance feel without better parts.

For better response and power delivery you may want to look into polyurethane engine mounts... My manual went from dropping 1000k+ rpms between shifts to around 500rpms. Acceleration was crispier because of 'em too. Just a warning on that though; your car may not play cds anymore! The engine vibrations reverberate through the whole frame and the cd player skipped so much I couldn't use it anymore.

And handling could be improved with springs (I have Eibach pro kit springs 1.5in drop), and you might also look into SVT shocks while the car's apart and getting the springs ( they're about 1.5in lower than what you have already) they'll round out the suspension without having to go to a more hardcore suspension setup... And a lowered Focus is already a VERY competent corner-carver!
 
#8 ·
a tune is always a good mod, however, may not be needed if ur 100% stock. once you start modding, you will need to start tuning!
 
#10 ·
purchasing an x calibrator 2 or 3 and picking a tuner. you also would need a laptop and cables to connect from xcal to laptop to datalog so your tuner can see what he is working with. it also helps alot to have a wideband air/fuel ratio gauge so the tuner can use the input from that to further tune your car. using a flasher in combination with datalogging is the same thing as getting a dyno tune except the road is your dyno and the tuner can be on the other side of the world and tune your car.

tuners to choose from

focus-power
FSWERKS
top speed

those are really the only three worth mentioning that do the job for a decent price and do the job well. tom (1turbofocus) from focus-power is the guy i do business with because he gives free updates. say your car is stock now but you plan on adding boost (turbo, nitrous, supercharger) in the future. pay for the boost tune, which is more expensive, right now and he will tune your stock car. add more mods and he will re-tune it for nothing. finally put boost to it and once again he updates the tune for free. it is cheaper for a naturally aspired tune but if you boost in the future you have to pay for the tune again. all the other tuners out there charge to update a tune unless they are the ones that screwed it up in the first place.

if you have an automatic or SVT focus that is stock then a tune will make quite a noticeable difference. if it is a stock standard focus with manual tranny then you may not notice anything at all.

with the flasher you arent limited to just loading tunes into your ecu. it gives you the ability to read DTC's (check engine light codes) and clear them, you can tweak spark timing, what temp the cooling fans kick on, calibrate your speedo for different size tires, adjust the rev limiter, adjust the speed limiter anywhere from like 25mph all the way to taking it away all together if you want, you can adjust fuel trims to a degree as well as many other things that im sure im forgetting about. a flasher is a very nice tool to have around. and you can use it to read DTC's on pretty much any ford and mercury. i personally have used it on a mercury cougar, ford ranger, mustang, and f-150.
 
#13 ·
The tune is for safety the flasher is a tool. Intake and exhaust mods can create lean conditions which can cause engine damage. Tuning fixes this
Posted via FF Mobile
 
#15 ·
65mm TB, ported IM, CFM UDP, MSD coil and wires wont add up to more than a combined 5whp tops. the coil pack is completely useless other than for looks and the other 3 will make more of a difference on throttle response. if you are shooting for the most WHP for money spent i would port the stock TB and IM and not buy the UDP kit at all. for the record the stock coil is good for well over 700whp. that goes for the wires as well.

the power you make will depend ALOT on what is done with your head. if it is a stock head that gets taken to a local machine shop then i wouldnt expect a whole lot since they probably wont do the best job in the world. its just the way it is, not alot of machine shops will spend the time to get the most flow out of a head unless they already know how to and since a focus head probably doesnt come to them very often, chances are that they wont. i dont know about your area but around here if you walk in with heads from a small block chevy or ford v8 you can get them done great any day of the week. same goes for pretty much any honda head. now if you walk in with a zetec head you definitely get a WTF? kind of look and are lucky if they even agree to mill it let alone port it.

its also important to know how much compression you will have. will you mill the head for more compression or leave it at stock compression? more compression = more power but also means you will HAVE TO run higher octane fuel.

will the head have larger valves than stock? will it have upgraded valve springs? with the amount of lift of the crower 2's it would be advisable.

SVT header will add 15whp PROVEN on open header, the 2.5 inch exhaust might hold that number back some however. the more you can open up the exhaust after the header the better off you will be. free flowing exhaust is best for higher rpm power which is where you will be making your power with those cams too. IF you can or if you have the option try and get your exhaust done in 3in. the 1/2in might cost perhaps 2-5 whp on the top but that is purely a guess.

the nearest i can figure by looking at an old ford racing book on how much power FR stuff is good for you might be looking at a total of 18whp and 10wtq from the head if it is done correctly or is a FRPP head or equivalent. maybe 15whp and 5wtq from the cams.

so in review 15whp header + 18whp head + 15whp cams + 5 from intake = around 53whp increase POSSIBLY. it could come out to more with extra compression and it might come out to less if your bottom end is completely worn out.

hope that helps. i still think that is ALOT of money to wrap up in 50whp when i can make twice that much of an increase from a $500 nitrous kit and still have my torque too. good luck and let us know how it turns out! dyno videos are always nice to watch.
 
#16 ·
HA! lookie what i found. this is basically the same chart i was looking at in my ford racing book. according to THIS one the numbers were made on an engine dyno. which basically means this is how much power the car has at the crank, not at the wheels. subtract 15-25 hp from the numbers there to take into account power lost between the crank and wheels. 10-15whp for a manual 20-30whp for an automatic would be better.
http://www.newcougar.org/forums/attachments/6/7/1/9/40349.attach
 
#17 ·
Ported the head myself. MAF readings during the first tune were indicating about 8-10% more airflow over stock. This was a noticeable seat of the pants improvement. It was milled as a std cleanup procedure only .010"-.015". Yes it will have the Crower springs and titanium retainers. Adjustable cam gears will dial in the cams too. As the last upgrade before the N2O kit.
I been doing this stuff for a while (25 years).
At 46 people do think I should be driving something else but hey these cars are a blast to drive and I don't care.
 
#18 ·
awesome! you may be held up by the flow of the head a little but you should be able to hit the 160whp mark. maybe mill the head a little bit more if you have it off (an additional .010" should put you slap in 93/91 octane only territory) and it should be good to go. oh i forgot to mention anything about a 3 angle valve job. those tend to help out pretty good too. have fun with that nitrous. please be safe with it too, get a good tune, use a larger fuel jet than the nitrous jet, and absolutely must have a wideband air/fuel ratio gauge.
 
#19 ·
I does have a 3 angle on it. I've already tuned it with a WB O2. No other way would be acceptable. At the moment it runs pretty hard for what it is. Have 2 free tunes left from the shop I tuned it with so when I drop the cams and springs in it I'll get it tuned again. I have an SCT 3015 tuner for the car.

Thanks for the reply.
 
#21 ·
Around the 150whp is where the stock injectors are about done, they say.
But there are ways around that, higher fuel pressure. But that has drawbacks too and doesn't raise the bar much. But it's not like you're always making full power either.

Cams, exhaust and good suspension makes for a pretty fun car. And that's about as far as $1,000 goes.
 
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