Ok i know im going to get smacked around for this but my car is a 1998 that has the 2.0l l4-122 dohc engine and i am looking to start to upgrade it just so it is a bit quicker on the daily drive . what are the best ways to relatively inexpensively upgrade the engine. i am currently going through auto motive classes so i have a place to do all of it and most of the specialty tools are available.
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Welcome to the focus forum, well it depends how much you have to spend.
Im looking into eaust and intake . lowing it would destroy the car as i live in rural illinois and the road are horrible. with as much rain and snow we get im guessing CAI isnt the way to go but would a new intake really help that much? and is there a way to improve the exhaust with out buying alot of expensive stuff i do have access to pipe benders and welders
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exactly those two things you will need plus your choice of metal tubing, preferably 2.5" or larger I think.
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For the exhaust if you can replace as much as you can with 2.5" then that will help. If you can upgrade the cat to a 2.5" pipe and high flow then continue up then it will help even more. I am not sure what headers are available that fit both the Zetec and the Contour exhaust path. I would not go bigger than 2.5 or 2.75 unless you are going to go turbo (which if you want to then I would take a serious look at the health of your engine).
A good intake system (preferably a true cold air and not a short air) should gain you some better engine response and a little pick me up. but only when you pair the exhaust and the intake together will you get better gains.
A tune (down the road and you have as many "bolt ons" as you can get) can do wonders but I would only pair it after you have the intake and exhaust work done and would only go with a premium fuel tune.
A good intake system (preferably a true cold air and not a short air) should gain you some better engine response and a little pick me up. but only when you pair the exhaust and the intake together will you get better gains.
A tune (down the road and you have as many "bolt ons" as you can get) can do wonders but I would only pair it after you have the intake and exhaust work done and would only go with a premium fuel tune.
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Fab a shield for it. Just a piece of sheet metal cut down and bent to keep anything from splashing in will do you.
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first question is, what are you willing to spend?
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What are your long term and short term goals, then?
It doesn't make sense to start building up a NA car and then switch over to turbo.
If you are looking for a V8 killer, then you may as well start building the car turbo off the jump.
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Going turbo, you're looking at investing $4-5k. Going NA you're looking at investing about $4-5k.
Turbo goes in one lump sum, the NA build you can stretch out forever.
That's the investment before suspension upgrades, brakes, and whatever else you want to do. The price may vary a bit, since you're running a Contour, but it should be in the ball park.
Turbo goes in one lump sum, the NA build you can stretch out forever.
That's the investment before suspension upgrades, brakes, and whatever else you want to do. The price may vary a bit, since you're running a Contour, but it should be in the ball park.
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http://focus.c-f-m.com/ has a large range of Engine parts (not sure how will convert over to your Contour)
Same thing with http://topspeedperformance.net and http://www.massivespeedsystem.com
not sure of Contour specific sites...
Same thing with http://topspeedperformance.net and http://www.massivespeedsystem.com
not sure of Contour specific sites...
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