[wsdmskr825]

So, I've had my Focus for about 2 months. Se, 5-spd, Sport package. Starting to think that, as happy as I've been with the car, I'd be much happier with about 180+ horsepower and torque. So the question becomes.... How to do it?

I've heard that because of the compression the GDI makes, no mods will be able to accomplish much. Any feed back?

 

[memphiscbrider]

get a cold air intake. ive seen weapon r has one for a little over $200

 

[FordBass]

once a tune is available we will see 180-200hp.
This engine is very capable as is. Though there wont be much more that can be done to gain more power beyond lowering the compression and turboing.

 

[lscrx]

i'll bet a turbo kit comes out before too long, but it will probably make over 200whp. A full exhaust, performance intake, and ECU tune would probably get you close to 180hp for less money than a turbo kit.

Posted via FF Mobile

 

[dasilvarsa]

So, I've had my Focus for about 2 months. Se, 5-spd, Sport package. Starting to think that, as happy as I've been with the car, I'd be much happier with about 180+ horsepower and torque. So the question becomes.... How to do it?

I've heard that because of the compression the GDI makes, no mods will be able to accomplish much. Any feed back?

Wait for the Focus ST, it is going to be the same engine with a Turbo and will have the kind of power you are looking for.
Keep away from all the Micky Mouse Mods, They will do nothing except make more noise. Remaps for this engine are not yet available.

 

[FordBass]

Wait for the Focus ST, it is going to be the same engine with a Turbo and will have the kind of power you are looking for.
Keep away from all the Micky Mouse Mods, They will do nothing except make more noise. Remaps for this engine are not yet available.

Go ST if you want higher insurance and lower gas mileage...
Like dasilvarsa said avoid 'micky mouse mods', but once a remap is avalible there will be an increase in power but it wont get you anything like a ST will be.

Plus mods may void warrenty

 

[FlankerDFR]

get a cold air intake. ive seen weapon r has one for a little over $200

Do you remember which model it was? I couldn't find any listings for Weapon R parts for the 2012 Focus on their web site. Thanks!

UPDATE: Found these by running a web search:

http://www.carid.com/2012-ford-focus-air-intakes/

http://www.carid.com/2012-ford-focus-air-intakes/injen-air-intake-311445.html

I dunno................Weapon R talks smack but doesn't make any specific claims, or publish dyno pull charts. Injen is alittle more specific as to claims, but no dyno pull charts for them either. The K & N stock replacement is looking pretty affordable.

 

[BiggerBoat]

Wait for the Focus ST, it is going to be the same engine with a Turbo and will have the kind of power you are looking for.
Keep away from all the Micky Mouse Mods, They will do nothing except make more noise. Remaps for this engine are not yet available.

I tend to agree with you on this but you just ruined the life of half of the people on this site!!

 

[SimonSellsAustin]

The quick, cheap and easy way is to do a few mods. The ram air post on here would be a good power increase and cost less than $30. You can also cut off one of your three mufflers. Another post on here outlines that (chop + pipe +tip =>&100). You can also put premium gas in it, upgrade the sparkplugs, advance timing, and finally put a toggle switch on your alternator.

Cheap muffler delete 0-3%hp increase
Ram air 1-6%
K&N filter 0-2%
Spark plugs 0-1%
Advance timing 0-2%
93octane gas 0-4%
Alternator delete/toggle. 1% (estimated .3hp-.5hp while under load)

Later=?
Shift light (2stage show vetec and shift rpm).
Wait for ECU upgrade and under drive pulley kit.
Lower compression with thinner head gasket.
Port polish intake and head.
Cam gears.
Upgrade valves to titanium.

 

[JSR84]

The quick, cheap and easy way is to do a few mods. The ram air post on here would be a good power increase and cost less than $30. You can also cut off one of your three mufflers. Another post on here outlines that (chop + pipe +tip =>&100). You can also put premium gas in it, upgrade the sparkplugs, advance timing, and finally put a toggle switch on your alternator.

Cheap muffler delete 0-3%hp increase
Ram air 1-6%
K&N filter 0-2%
Spark plugs 0-1%
Advance timing 0-2%
93octane gas 0-4%
Alternator delete/toggle. 1-2% (estimated .3hp-.5hp while under load)

Later=?
Shift light (2stage show vetec and shift rpm).
Wait for ECU upgrade and under drive pulley kit.
Lower compression with thinner head gasket.
Port polish intake and head.
Cam gears.
Upgrade valves to titanium.

1) Ram Air [rolleyes]

2) K&N nothing wrong with that

3) Don't bother with Spark Plugs at this point.

4&5) Higher octane gas won't make more power alone. It will give you the ability to run more timing which is were the power increase will come from.

6) Alternator Delete? Really? That's digging pretty deep for HP.

8) "vetec"??? For one its called VTEC and its used in Honda's!

9) If your not running boost why the hell do you want to lower the compression? Also, running a thinner head gasket will decrease the volume of the cylinders which will result in an INCREASE in compression.

Anyways, I think what I'm getting at here its, its pretty obvious your still learning so I would do a little more research before you start messing with anything.


OP, whoever told you that this engine won't mod well because of the high compression is just plain stupid. The ability to run higher cylinder pressures on lower octane fuels is a benefit of Direct Injection. I honestly don't want to explain it all over again as I have a few time already.

 

[jmiller_1974]

Wait for the Focus ST, it is going to be the same engine with a Turbo and will have the kind of power you are looking for.
Keep away from all the Micky Mouse Mods, They will do nothing except make more noise. Remaps for this engine are not yet available.

Wrong. The 2.0L DI-VCT engine is nothing like the 2.0L EcoBoost. But thanks for sharing.

Oh, and being one of the people who likes doing "Mickey Mouse" mods to My car, I would beg to differ. But that's because I actually know better. I have owned many cars over the years, most of which were modded in one fashion or another, and I can assure You, bolt-ons do indeed improve performance.

But I digress. As was previously mentioned, a tune is going to be the one thing You will want to wait on, because You can do all kinds of performance mods and gain little to nothing or even hurt performance by not having the proper fuel map in place.

 

[cuke2u]

Hi, you are correct about the engine, it was a completely new design first introduced into a road vehicle in 2010, although it was shown in the concept Ford Explorer in 2008 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_EcoBoost_engine
Chris

 

[FlankerDFR]

You can do all kinds of performance mods and gain little to nothing or even hurt performance by not having the proper fuel map in place.

Great point! Capaldi Racing is in my home state. My game plan is to drive down there in about 10 days or so. Check with them on their commercial plans for some of the mods they made to their SEMA Focus Sedan (yes, I'm going to ask about the aero kit [^]), and kick the Focus performance game around a bit to see what they think about intakes, exhausts, tunes and that sort of [][][][][][]*. Then maybe I'll spend some cash on a "plan" not just on parts and end up with what jm warns about above.

 

[SimonSellsAustin]

Higher octane gas won't make more power alone. It will give you the ability to run more timing which is were the power increase will come from.

And whoever told you that this engine won't mod well because of the high compression is just plain stupid.

My bad, I meant raise compression by adding a thinner head gasket. (I'm hopped up on cold medicine). (Higher octane doesn't give you power but will make the power improvements come alive). You might see an improvement though. The foot never lies, that's why I put 0-4% increase. As for the Alternator switch, that's a simple mod for under $20 that will undoubtedly give you .3-.5hp or more. The whole point of an under-drive kit revolves around the idea of lessening the load on the engine. It's the same thing as running your AC at the drag strip. You just don't do it. There was talk about our 2012 having a smart alternator that lessens load at certain times. I'm not sure if our alternator has this but it's still a good idea to be able to switch it off for the times when you really need every .5hp.

 

[FordBass]

I also find it funny how we want more power, yet we had an increase from 140hp to 170hp(dyno tune correction to crank)...

To me it's gets through 1st in a hurry. But who dosn't want more POWER!!!!!

 

[FordBass]

My bad, I meant raise compression by adding a thinner head gasket. (I'm hopped up on cold medicine). (higher octane doesn't give you power but will make the power improvements come alive). You might see an improvement though. The foot never lies.

:/ Seriously.....
Raise the compression...
12:1 is NA race block material
13:1 is not a good idea even 12.1:1 is bad...

You can produce 230-250 hp on 12:1 on 93 octane in a cosworth 2.0l duratec.
11:1 will get you over 200hp.

This engine was designed to handle 12:1 and will be capable of good numbers with a tune. It has a powerful fuel pump so it should be able to be told to pump even more fuel in this engine.

 

[JSR84]

My bad, I meant raise compression by adding a thinner head gasket. (I'm hopped up on cold medicine). (higher octane doesn't give you power but will make the power improvements come alive). You might see an improvement though. The foot never lies.

No, you won't see an improvement unless tuned for higher octane. Running higher than required octane can actually reduce power output because it slows the actual burn down. Octane is control not power, lower octane fuels are actually more reactive than higher octane fuels.

 

[FordBass]

No, you won't see an improvement unless tuned for higher octane. Running higher than required octane can actually reduce power output because it slows the actual burn down.

true yet for use it's a little different. we have 12:1 compression ratio, the manual states that higher octane will improve performance and with 87 the engine will knock lightly but you can use it.

 

[JSR84]

:/ Seriously.....
Raise the compression...
12:1 is NA race block material
13:1 is not a good idea even 12.1:1 is bad...

You can produce 230-250 hp on 12:1 on 93 octane in a cosworth 2.0l duratec.
11:1 will get you over 200hp.

This engine was designed to handle 12:1 and will be capable of good numbers with a tune. It has a powerful fuel pump so it should be able to be told to pump even more fuel in this engine.

Its not that its adding more fuel but its the cooling effect that DI has cylinder temperatures that allows you run higher compression.

 

[FordBass]

Its not that its adding more fuel but its the cooling effect that DI has cylinder temperatures that allows you run higher compression.

I didnt say its adding more fuel... I said it can get more power from more fuel...