[Duratec 2.3]

Here is my 03 Duratec as it is now.

My car is pure stock and now that I have decent income to save for parts. I wanted to ask the community for ideas on what I should do on my car. I am not looking to go extreme I just want something where is can occasionally go autocross, drag, and Canyon driving, but also be my daily driver. I do have over a 103k miles on it as well and also wanted to mention that it is automatic. Exterior wise I was thinking of a this kit

and was hoping that anyone with photoshop skills can try taking the colors from this drawing into the car seeing that I named my car after Nirvash mech suit from a Japanese anime. Pictured here

It would be greatly appreciated for all the ideas and photoshop help. Duratec 2.3

 

[jgustafson]

Don;t use that F2 bodykit get an OEM Ford ones fromm here or Europe.

Boltons should yield a lot, your so lucky you have a duratec and not this Zetec, Focussport also has some really good turbos.

Sorry I couldn;t be more of a help but I know more about the SVT than Duratec motors

 

[svtf1417]

your deffinately going to want coil overs for auto crossing and canyon driving. I say get a shift kit and get a super charger or a turbo kit. I too know more about the SVT Zetec then your duratec but upgrading an engine is upgrading an engine. Oh, dont forget exhaust!!

 

[ChuckDee]

^^^^ r u kiddin me?? thats boring and way common and soon to be played out. do the f2 kit man, you'll stand out trust me.

 

[jgustafson]

^^If hes going to autocross it that kit is going to give him problems with clearence, AND its just as played out as the other stuff.

 

[Duratec 2.3]

thanks for the great info so far. On the kit I totally forgot to think of the clearence especially for autocross and canyon driving. I was considering on buying a svt kit from ford as well.

 

[jgustafson]

^^Or you could do a ST170 bumpers, plenty of clearence and more rare than the SVT AND fake RS kit. It is costly though

 

[BigRed03]

car looks sweet!

do some subtle things to set your car off. Def do the drop, and how extreme you want it to be is up to you. I have the SVT suspension kit which comes with springs f&r, struts, shocks, and rear sway. Thats about 1/2 inch lower than stock. If you want to go stiffer from there, the SVT struts can take a lower spring later on.

Color match all exterior trim pieces and side view mirrors. Nite shade the turn signals and tail lights. Tint! Rims. Decent tires.

For the 2.3 duratec I recommend intake, header (depending on your state may not be legal), TB, exhaust, and tune. You'll be pretty pleased with that. If you want to go more crazy, cam and bump compression unless you feel like youd want a turbo (in which case you'll need a lentech tranny and $6-7k+ for a complete and reliable build)

 

[Duratec 2.3]

Thanks Big red for the info I am for sure looking into the mods you mentioned. On the Svt suspension kit do you know whats the usual going price on it? I am 75% I am going with the SVT body style. I looked up the ST170 bumper and they are really expensiv. I can get the whole front fascia for about 400 complete with driving lights, lower grill insert, lower valance, side marker lights, and SVT horn.

 

[BOOSTA]

What kind of money are you looking to spend?

For performance I suggest all the bolt on parts, Focus Sport or F2 Header, CFM throttle body(67 mm), Focus Sport tune w/aggressive shifting, Focus Sport CAI or HPS CAI(or something like that, can find it on ebay) or a Cosworth cai if you can find one, 2.5 inch exhaust(trubendz is always nice).

Suspension- SVT suspension(not too harsh of a drop) good for rallying, Massive Speed or Focus Sport strut bars.

Body- The kit you wanted

Your car would be killer after all this!

 

[warneej]

personal fan of the F2 RS widebody kit, however crappy it may be...the real fenders are no longer available from Ford...but the SVT is the next best way to go

come chill in the Duratec Performance chat (link in my sig) for tips and ideas on what to do performance-wise, check the "read first:" section at the top of the forum for all the info you will need to make some educated decisions and ask informed questions [thumb]

 

[01Turbozx3]

Go with the F2 kit. If I could do my car again I would have def. went with this kit. Who knows I might redo it anyways because that kit is awesome.

 

[besthaticouldo]

ok...this thread is filled with ridiculous ideas...

first off...you wanna do canyon driving, you need to address the lack of quality brakes on the focus. upgrade to SVTs with good pads (HAWK HPS's)

second...suspension, depending on budget coilovers are the best way to go, however a good spring and strut assembly will yield some amazing results

third...TIRES, its the most overlooked part in building a car. you want a good set of sticky tires. BFG G-Force sports are great tires, handle well and last a good while, while still being quiet on road.

fourth...sway bars, bushings, and front sway bar endlinks...replace them all. eibach bars, energy bushings, and moog end links...it will change your car so drastically


VISUALLY

the f2 kit is terrible, it hardly ever fits right, it is of very very low quality and honestly its big and bulky and doesnt make a lot of sense on a street car that sees track time.

you would be better off with an SVT kit, ST170 bumpers or making the best of what you have. headlights, grilles, tint, wheels, etc...remember with wheels tho you want a 16x7 wheel with a good contact patch for auto-xing and canyons.

PERFORMANCE

do some bolt ons. intake, throttle body, exhaust, header, flexpipe, and a tune, and that car would be a freaking rocket. you have a 2.3 so you have a great motor to start with, and im sure you're going to be driving this car every day so you wanna stay as close to legal as possible. those are my suggestions. if you want links...ask ill get you some.

 

[02SilverSVT]

^very nice list

 

[Duratec 2.3]

besthaticouldo Thank you for this great list. I am for sure going to follow this and start saving right away. Can you help me out with links. If anything just pm me

 

[Chupathingy009]

Yea, I totally agree with that list too. Heres some links to help you get started

As for brakes, you should definitely PM Mike @ Hilbish Ford about getting a full set of SVT brakes, those would be amazing on your car, and they'll fill a 16 inch rim beautifully. And heres the Hawks that he mentioned above
http://focussport.com/brakepads.htm

For suspension, I'd either recommend H&R coilovers from Focus Sport
http://focussport.com/coilover.htm
or the Eibach Pro-Kit spring/damper package, I don't have a link on that one, sorry.
And I'm not sure about the H&R sways, but I can definitely recommend the Eibach sways from personal experience!

As for a good wheel/tire combo, I agree on BFG and a nice 16x7 rim.
From BFG i would recommend the KDW2 if you want an excellent gripping tire and a really trick looking tread pattern. And I know people say its a loud tire, but I haven't heard anything from it.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=g-Force+T%2FA+KDW+2

If thats not your taste or out of budget, then yea go with the BFG Sport.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=g-Force+Sport
Rims are also gonna be a budget based decision. If budget is no problem, you could go with a sick set like these Works from Focus Sport although they are a 17 so a lil bigger than what he suggested.
http://focussport.com/workwheels.htm
At the moment, Tire Rack has a really awesome deal on the Motegi Traklite, $200 for it in a 16x7
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/WheelCloseUpServlet?target=runWheelSearch&initialPartNumber=238866534FB&wheelMake=MOTEGI+TRACK&wheelModel=TRAKLITE&wheelFinish=Flat+Black+Painted&showRear=no&autoMake=Ford&autoModel=Focus+ZX4&autoYear=2005&autoModClar=SE&filterSize=16&filterFinish=All&filterSpecial=false&filterBrand=All&filterNew=All&sort=Brand


Bushings and motor mounts and the like are easy enough to find, you should see most of that on Focus Sport and C-F-M's websites.


Now visually, I prefer a clean, purpose built look, especially if your talking about racing. Something like this simple Focus Sport front lip would look really badass if you had it painted black and maybe ghosted some grey decals of your brands over it.
http://focussport.com/ford_focus_front_lip_spoiler.htm

And yea, the subtle things like grille, tint, headlights, ect. really make a big difference too.

I won't talk bout performance tho, sorry because I have a Zetec so I wouldn't feel right recommending parts for an engine I've never driven. But C-F-M and Focus Sport should have most of what you want, and Massive Speed System too. Good luck!

 

[03OrangeSVT]

If you REALLY want ot autocross and do other forms of road racing do a good FULL suspension setup with a break upgrade, some sticky tires and maybe go to a couple of HPDE's.

Do the most expensive stuff first... its easier that way plus you get them done instead of dreading to do them later.

 

[Chupathingy009]

The other thing to remember too man is that you don't have to have a mile-long list of mods to have a really strong car. Just focus on the important things first, like making it handle and drive better. Do the big things right away, and do the little, less dramatic improvements afterwards.

 

[zx360]

if you want to auto X it and hit some mountain drives id say focus on suspension and performance before visual... for looks, svt bumper, eap hids, euro grill... simple things to set it apart...

 

[CaysE]

A European bodykit will yield the best ground clearance out of anything else, since the bumpers are actually shorter. This will require some modifications to the crash bar that sits behind the bumper covers and is typically the most expensive option, but it's the best in my book.