I was just wondering if anyone knew of any Mk1 Focus racing cars, not RS, but either ST170's or just normal Focus cars.

The reason being is I'm thinking of taking mine in a motorsport direction, and just wanted to work/look at some ideas.

Thanks

 

there are a rew about but pretty rare really.

 

Yeah that seems to be the case

 

I don't think there was much other than the WRC cars. Rallycross maybe?

 

did Will Pedley not buy a mk1 focus motorsport shell?
i'm sure he had a shell and then bought the motorsport shell to build his time attack car
there's a build thread on here somewhere, check that out

 

think there was a mk1 btcc car but mostly rallying as stated. what are your plans paul?

 

I actually support a mk1 focus in time attack with aj racing, we run a 260 bhp na zetec

 

i keep an eye on that one on facebook and youtube.

theres not that many used as track day cars either that are non rs.iv only seen another focus at 1 track day iv been to in last 5. tons of pumas, clios and rolling road blocking mx5s though

 

GR built several Mk1 Focus Super Production cars for Mat Jackson & Gordon shedden , they were quite successful ,a couple are still about today on track days and club racing .
Home built cars tho seemed to struggle we had one or two in the local BARC saloons but they weren't fast .
I have a couple of late BTCC cars here and can see what needed to be done to make them handle !

 

To be 100% honest I'm not sure what I want really For a long time I have figured that the car wasn't worth doing anything too, due to the fact it's done 120,000 miles. But the shell is rot free and very straight, so maybe my thinking has been wrong. I also keep getting hung up in my head on the fwd/rwd debate. I learnt to drive in rwd cars, and spent most of my time rally around farms in them. Don't get me wrong as I enjoy the Focus chassis and maybe I just need to brush up on my fwd driving technique ?

The car is used to travel to work and back, which is only 5 miles a day, and when the weather is better I normally take it on a 40-50 mile run every other weekend. So the car doesn't have to be too practical, besides we also have the misses car which we can use if needed.

I've also spent the last few months looking at "other" cars, mainly Japanese, but each time I have driven something I thought I wanted or something I have dreamt of owning since I was a kid, I have just walked away feeling unimpressed, what do they say about never driving your dream car or cars

Then I get into my ST and hack it home and it puts a smile on my face everytime

Yes the car isn't that quick, and it does roll around a little in the corners, also the mpg is crap. But these are all things I want to improve on

My other concern is the fact that I do often drive for work. More than often I will have to take a customers car to them, or go and pick up a new Ford from another dealership, so I am becoming more conscious of the fact that my clean license is rather important to me.

So I thought of taking the Focus I own in a more motorsport/track focused direction, if that makes sense. Something that just makes me smile a little more, i.e. the car doesn't need back seats as I never take anyone other than the g.f out.

I thought about having carbon rear panels made, or lightweight panels covered in alcantara made, maybe to even cover the dash in alcantara?

 

Speak to helix autosport about the clutch and flywheel as rhats what we have

 

Thank you

 

If companys tell you its untunable then i say do it your own way and prove them wrong. iv built my whole track build on a shoe string budget compared to other cars.
i dont want to be sound like im cocky but just to give you an idea of the CARS capabilites i rarely have to pull over to let another car past on track. yes it does happen but nothing under 200 bhp as ever passed me except a kit car.
so what you have is an awesome base for a killer track car.would it be the best in a proffesional race? prob not without some big money spent but against fellow track day drivers you will not get left behind if you mod it right.
i think the simple aproach is forget big power to the engine unless you have a pot of gold and pour all your attention into handling and tyres. reduce weight is free power and makes a big difference to the car. because i have a road and track version i can make direct comparisons and my track car will leave the road one for dead in a straight line and around the corners. the difference is night and day.


to put it into perspective a stock
mk1 RS has 165bhp per ton
mine 170 has 163bhp per ton

and that extra bhp per ton has not cost me a penny. shed that weight

il add though im very biased to a focus but i hope iv given a fair assumption

 

Cheers Steve, I actually gave up bread 2 months ago, and so far have lost 1 1/2 stone, I still have 4 to go, but that will also help me

But yes I will look into taking things out of the car

 

maybe i should try this lol. If you want to go down the route of track days then you have a great car to start with.mine is 109k on clock and engine goes well. so you should be fine if you look after it.if you dont use rear seats removing them adds up to about 40/50kg off memory and then on track spare wheel and jack is another 15kg. you only have to watch btcc to see what a weight penalty of 45kg does to a full race spec car let alone ours. they cant compete at the front so it makes an difference.

 

Thanks again Steve, I will give it a go and see what happens

 

40-50kg for the rear seats?! Surely that's a typo... unless the 170 rear bench is lined with lead.


Cheers,
Grant

 

i recorded all the weights of everything iv removed so just been to check. 47.5 kg was all interior trim from front seats back. so not just seats sorry but trim also.

 

I'm hoping mine is lined with GOLD

 

Well I emailed them that very day, and have heard nothing back I will try and ring them after work tomorrow.

 

just so you know if you do want to up your power turbo wise give us a shout, your only down the road from us and we will build you a turbo motor if you want, if your ever close pop in for a chat and glance over our car, always hear to help out another member.

 

Sounds brilliant thank you

 

sod off paul im first lol. just kidding i cant afford it

 

paul speak to mardigras motorsport about helix. iv been emailing them about a clutch. i qouted the reply in my thread on prices.


http://www.mardigras.co.uk/

 

Cheers Steve, will do

 

My rear seats was lined with a ipod and Ł15 in change and rubbish lol so you never know lol.

 

Lol funny though my fiestas 165bhp per tonne but I can't over take you.

Also the st170 engine is tuneable infact its a bloody good n/a engine but ford fucked it up reducing power (a 1.8 zetec with a st170 exhaust system will make more torque than a st170 does) for emissions and mpg but and the end of the day its still a zetec, if you don't want the flywheel ect issues drop st gearbox for a mtx and if you don't want the ecu issues drop the st head for a 2.0 one.

 

125bhp and if your 800kg is 156bhp per ton. thats higher than i expected to be honest.no wonder they fast

 

Well its less than 800kgs lol my car with a full muti point roll cage and std glass windows is 800kgs lol and the cage for my car is 56kgs lol so im closer to the 700kg mark but about 800kgs with me in the car

also im 161p/w with me and 180p/w without me roughly lol.

 

what weight your car start at 940 ish?? no it cant be 700 now mun surely.

you would have lost 240 kg? iv struggled to get 160 out of mine and in my car almost everything iv removed is bigger than fiesta parts?

 

913kgs according to the only place I could find my trim weight lol.
Which is hard to find out if correct or not but id say between 913kg to 928kgs.

the 800kgs is from a mk5 fiesta with a full roll cage glass and no driver which was acrately done on a cornering weight setup.

Which the cage for my car which was fitted in that car is 56kgs plus welds and plates and ive- got polycarbs and ive attacked everything including the dash lol.

 

http://www.turbosport.co.uk/showthread.php?t=150598

some light reading for you steve lol. Page 1 is 1.4 spec 800kgs and page 6 is 1.6 spec 770kgs.

and he thinks even with the cage you can get it down to 700kgs lol.

 

i flicked through it as its a big thread.cool car. 1.15 around combe in a 1.6 fiesta . thats truly epic.im gobsmacked i really am.

770 dry is a long way off 700 though.il go out on a limb and say it would never make 700 without a shed load of carbon fibre and a shed load of cash. still 800 with fluids i est is still very good

 

How about removing a sunroof, as mine has one I never use, that thing must weight 1/2 a tonne ?

 

get rid of it. swap it for a lightweight umbrella

 

hi, want more power!!
take the standard zetec 16 se, chip it, a new induction air filtration system, kn!
have a power run on the rolling road, get ignition results and suggestions.
Motoscope northallerton are always helpful or somewhere local to you with a rolling road.
then decide before spending on suspension/brakes etc, what youre aims are.
the above is a good exercise and learning curve.
The above costs Ł200,or thereabouts.and a chance to get to know how the vehicle handles, without performance parts.
it will give you options, ie; you might want to change/engines/vehicles.
A cheap way to begin.

 

Lol his was in performance ford beat the rs and he killed a shit load of 300-400bhp cars with 130bhp 1.4 lmfao.

770kgs dry with a 56kg roll cage which knocks it down to 714kgs, fiesta mk5 front ends are 6kgs heavyer than mk4s with knocks it down to 708kgs and ive got alot more missing including most of my dashboard poly windows which would make up for the extra 8kgs

 

I think once I clear my garage I will take 99% of the stuff I don't need out of my car

 

The Focus is a good car to go to the track with but it's very heavy compared to Fiesta/Puma and, generally, not that much more powerful.

I have a 2.0 litre which i use for sprinting and the occasional track day.