zlatky

Good evening Ford lovers and modders!...


Following is a rather long but (hopefully) interesting story. If you don't have much free time, I suggest you read this some other time (you've been warned-lol! )


First of all, let me introduce maself: My name is Alex, and I am a 34 y.o., Greek, and residing in Athens (Greece). The story starts back in end of July of 2004. I was then an excited 28 y.o. fella that just bought a brand new Ford Focus (mk1) 1.6 5d Trend S.I.P. Collection. I had no clue whatsoever whether that was a decent buy or not, since the only thing I knew back then about cars was that they all had...4 wheels (believe it or not! ).

Anyhow, soon enough I realized that the 100hp that my car yielded was not enough even for a simple overtake! Actually I found out that in a rather bad way, when I nearly *died* after a simple overtake in a highway on a trip I took around August of '04. The acceleration pedal was *floored* but the poor 1.6 Focus took an...eternity to "wake up" and complete the overtake! Thank God that the speeding "maniac" at the opposite lane that was approaching me like a speeding bullet realized the trouble I was into, and hit the breaks before crushing into me!!!...

Well, I guess that was the start of the whole thing. A couple of months after that (nearly tragic) incident I realized that I should become a member of a local Ford-owners club, so I can get (through the course of time) all the necessary knowledge / help / etc in order to, somehow, "boost up" a bit my car!

So, I became member at the clubfocus.gr (which was changed to www.clubford.gr after some years, in order to include all Ford-owners) after a small research that I did on the net. The lads there were very friendly and quite active, and soon enough I became a very active member.

Around end of '04 I decided to get some serious help from my fellow club-members in order to transform ma car to a decent non-turbo vehicle, that would yield around 130-135 Hp. The cash necessary for the relevant mods had been accumulated, and I was "ready-to-go" on my "power quest"!...

...However, the whole story after that turned sour on me. I was introduced to some rather ignorant (to say the least) mechanic that promised me the horsepower I was looking for. He prepared for me a list of things to be installed, and we agreed on the overall payment fee, and time-schedule for the whole project...

...After a delay of several months (...) I got my car back. Everything seemed to work pretty good, and I was thrilled indeed from the punch that ma car could give on the road. I was feelin' like I was drivin' some bass-azz Porsche (to say the least!). However, when I dyno-ed the car on a scheduled dyno-club day I was rather...shocked: The car yielded a mere 122 Hp, which was quite a bit of a difference from the agreed upon Hp I asked from my (then) mechanic!

Needless to say that I dyno-ed the car again to another facility (in order to cross-check the initial results). And - as you might have already guessed -I got pretty much the same numbers!...

...After that I got all kinds of excuses from the mechanic. They all resulted in the phrase "IF you could invest *another* x-amount of euros we could easily get to the horsepower you've been after!" which sucked *big time* as a reply as you realize!!!...

...I was disgusted and felt cheated. I had given more than 5k euros back then for the whole modification procedure, and it felt like lost money - and time, and it was! I took a very valuable lesson tho: That if you wanna do things right you gotta do them yourself! So, I decided that I *needed* to become more knowledgeable in car-tuning maself, and stop depending so much on others!...

...A couple more months passed by after that. By then, I had acquired some pretty decent (basic) knowledge on technical matters, and got to know my car's pros and cons after spending sufficient time on net-searching and relevant-literature reading. I wasn't satisfied tho, since my (initial) "Hp-goal" wasn't met yet!...

...It was around that time that I got acquainted with one of clubfocus' most knowledgeable modders - Vassilis. He was well aware of my...unfortunate modding experience and offered to help me by introducing me to the "turbo-modding" experience! He even got me acquainted to a really knowledgeable mechanic - should I decided to tune-up my car in the future - "turbo-wise"...

...One thing led to another, and after the necessary time (a couple of months or so, actually) that I took in order to learn some basic stuff about turbo-modding, I visited that mechanic Vassilis was tellin' me about. He was the same guy that had tuned-up (turbo-wise) his (then) Focus (mk1) 1.4 car, and had yielded a whooping 200+ Hp!


"So...who is Ivan then?" you might be wondering!

...Ivan: That's the name of my "son". My car that is. I "baptized" him like that because of my license-plates - "IBA" and...kinda attached the "N" at the end! (lol!). IVAN = IBAN in Greek, but it is pronounced like "(h)Eee-'v'-aan" btw!

...I was dreaming of gettin' more horsepower and torque by that time, and believed that was quite doable too. I think it all started with the...lame-line that most Focus owners have heard at some point from a friend (or foe): "Paah!...Get real dude! You *never* gonna see serious horsepower and torque from a...Focus!" (followed by some derogatory laughs)...Nearly no one believed back then that I would surpass the "300 Hp barrier". "With a 1.6 Focus?! Get real man!"...Right!...

On November of 2005, Ivan (as a turbo 1.6 car) was yielding 270 Hp - that was much more than I ever dreamed of! Well, at least at *that* point! () By February of 2008 Ivan (as a 1.6 Zetec SE engine-based still back then) yielded a whopping 325 Hp (@ 6.270 rpm) / 38 Kg. of torque (@ 5.320 rpm). On March of that year, he was proclaimed as the "fastest / most modified Ford Focus mlk1 in Europe" by one of the most prestigious Greek tuning-mags ("Max Power")

"Phase-2" had come to an end after that period. I was satisfied, and had become quite knowledgeable in turbo-tuning (concerning my car that is). Friends and foes that kept judging and mocking the whole thing from its start kinda...disappeared or "silenced" themselves after those achievements. But the "Ivan Project" wasn't meant to end at that phase it seems!...

...Another Ford-mechanic friend of mine, asked me if I was interested in purchasing a stock (!) Ford Focus RS (mk1) engine at some point, and do me a special discount too! My initial answer was "no", but the..."modding virus" I had kinda started...itching me bad once again! "How far could Ivan go with RS's Zetec-E 2.0 engine?" was an answer that preoccupied not only my mind at that time, but most of the Focus community (local and international)......When I decided to make that "next step", I still got - more or less - the same "attitude" from the...unfaithful ones: "You gonna reach 500+ Hp with a Ford Focus?! Are you stoned or something man?! Get real!"...Right!...

...On April 1st, 2009, the first dyno-results of "Phase-3" (transformation to a Zetec-E based 2.0 project car) of Ivan were at my hands: 550Hp (485 Whp) / 49 Kg. of wheel-torque! The "500+ flywheel barrier" was broken! "Yeah, but can ya reach 500+ *Whp* too? Don't think so!" Some people just never learn it seemed!...

13 months after that date, Ivan seems to be the most powerful Ford Focus (mk1) Zetec-E (2.0) engine-based car in the world: The resuts of his latest dyno that took place on 19th of March, 2010 prove just that: @ 1.7 bar: 5 1 2 Whp (around 580-590Hp that is) @ 7.610 rpm, with 5 3 Kg. of wheel-torque @ 5.680 rpm!!! ...

...The whole "Ivan Project" is going on for more than 5,5 years now, and more than 70+ mechanics / modifiers / programmers / engineers / Modding "Houses" (domestic & abroad) / etc., have contributed thousands of working hours for a total of 175 modifications that are currently installed on him. A real 2.0 "monster" ready to "devour" the...non-believers!...

Yet another milestone was surpassed then - The 500+ Whp that is. And was done using "conservative" programming (Note: The above dyno results were taken at only 1.7 bar of pressure, while Ivan can "max out" at 2.2 bar in total!!!). I've celebrated with both real-life and internet friends, and shared my joys, tears, anxiety, dreams and more, concerning Ivan. And so have they. As far as those that still remain...faithless, well...what can I say? It seems they'll always be around - won't they!...You see, the thing that they don't understand is that this car has more soul and spirit than they could ever imagine! And that when one has a dream and believes in it, one day - sooner or later - it will become reality, no matter what obstacles will be on the way!...

...So, keep dreaming guys and never take c**p from no one! Find the inner strength inside you and pursue your dream until it is realized before your very eyes! Tuned cars are more than just...cars: They are our means of escaping our daily routines and boredom! Our vehicles to a better, prettier world! The feeling of creating something beautiful out of something rather...plain, is indescribable, and can only be felt! "Modifying" means creating something (or becoming) better. If we could all expand this to other areas of our lives (besides modding our cars), this would be a much-much better world!

Thanks for your time, and God bless you all!

Alex


P.S.: Photos, charts, etc will follow soon enough - be patient, hehe!