Fun In The Canyons!

[DJ Taso]

Man what a sweet site! I love mountains.. Everything here is flat...

[MDMike]

i'm sure the focus is finally becoming an alright car, compared to the major lemon that it used to be. ...
i'm not trying to bash him, i just don't see how the focus kept up.

Of course. Wasnt taken that way. I am no one to defend FoMoCo, even tho the Lincoln MkVIII was the neatest car I've owned. But the Focus is a neat sports sedan in its design parameters.

Strano recommends Bilsteins.

[ConElite]

Of course. Wasnt taken that way. I am no one to defend FoMoCo, even tho the Lincoln MkVIII was the neatest car I've owned. But the Focus is a neat sports sedan in its design parameters.

Strano recommends Bilsteins.

Sam Strano ran Koni Shocks when he won SCCA Solo Nationals Championship. So If it worked for him it will work for me. lol. I know those are pretty expensive. Im wondering how those Koni Shocks would work with my Pro-Kit.

[MunsonGTA]

You would be very very surprised as to how many g's those things can pull in the bends. I didnt believe it myself but you have to remember the weight transfer is so much quicker than an f-body. He is stock. With a full tank of gas and driver he is right over 3klbs. A full f-body and driver is right almost 4klbs.

In the bends he was kissing my bumper the entire time, and when I got a nice straight away I would pull on him. My Slotted rotors held up and never gave me one ounce of doubt that my brakes were going. I did have a little better braking than him (Thank you dual piston calipers!). We now got the autocross bug. Hes going to get some stiffer sway bars and shocks. Im going to invest in some Strano Springs and KYB shocks. And some Strano Sway bars. Im sure after that I would be able to give him a run for his money.

P.S. You have to remember that in third the entire way up the mountain my car tops out quick once it hit 5k rpms, he has also a 6 speed Getrag Trans with 7500rpms to play with, And he plays it well.

didn't realize your car was so heavy, thought 4th gens were only around 3600 lbs. and i'm sure his car does handle well, but i'm sure yours does to, espically with the aftermarket handling parts you have.

p.s. you both had 6 speeds, yours goes to 6500, his goes to 7500... you put out 150 more rwhp...

[ConElite]

Check it out.

The wheelbase for the
-------------SVT------------T/A
Wheelbase 103.0 in---------101.1 in
That tells you something. as well as

--------------------SVT---------T/A
Front / Rear Track--58.8 in------60.7 in
-------------------58.5 in------60.7 in

Those are very close numbers. Say he weighs about 2950 loaded with driver. And my T/A is about 3650 with a full tank of gas, PLus 200lbs of driver (me) thats about 3850. Thats pretty close to about 1000lbs for the SVT. You have to keep in mind that these were not huge long sweeping curves but the less fast. As well as I do not have any "Handling" suspension mods done to my car besides the 1LE sway, Poly bushings and endlinks. All the other mods are simply for straight away performance.

So it is very easy, well not easy but someone with some good driving skills to keep up. Its hard to admit but I tip my hat to that car. I guess MunsonGTA you would just have to see it to believe it. And It was not b/c of my driving skills b/c they were more than good enough to push my car to its limit.

P.S. Not using the greatest tires either.

p.s. you both had 6 speeds, yours goes to 6500, his goes to 7500

6500? I dont think so. Plus I would not want to be hitting the limiter going around a bend. I take it no more than 5300rpms when doing any type of auto-x. His redlines at 7300rpms.

[Joe 1320]

i'm not trying to bash him, i just don't see how the focus kept up.

There could be many factors. A properly setup front driver with an experienced person at the wheel who knows the handling dynamics of a front driver can stick with anything in their class. You know it's set up right when the inside rear tire lifts just a hair in the turns. That really plants the front tires for lots of stick. Yeah.... that means some turns are taken on 3 wheels. It does work.

[Rhode Island Red]

There could be many factors. A properly setup front driver with an experienced person at the wheel who knows the handling dynamics of a front driver can stick with anything in their class. You know it's set up right when the inside rear tire lifts just a hair in the turns. That really plants the front tires for lots of stick. Yeah.... that means some turns are taken on 3 wheels. It does work.

you have me thinking of the VW Diesel Rabbits... 90 hp of fury, cheap, and blew me away at an SCCA event I went to. Never seen a car drive on 3 wheels before that

[Trans Am]

Sad to say but that lunch box is an f-body outhandler. lol.

then i ll take my alfa 166 and it will outhandle the f-body outhandler and do so in style not looking like an 'angry toaster' , oh , i ve done that before, it was an orange focus st, the 225 hp one, alfa has 226 i think

[Joe 1320]

you have me thinking of the VW Diesel Rabbits... 90 hp of fury, cheap, and blew me away at an SCCA event I went to. Never seen a car drive on 3 wheels before that

As you have discovered, it's not about HP. It's about balance and stick. I drove a really small lotus that belonged to an old friend. Can't remember exactly what model, but I could drive around anything in the corners. This was an open cockpit job, not a street car. The most brain sloshing car in the corners that I've ever had seat time in. It really took getting used too. I think the first 10 times I would slow in a corner and he barks at me over the radio "what the heck are you slowing down for"? He says "it will stick, just drive it". After the 10th time I got the nerve to go into the corners wide open and by god, it stuck like glue no matter what line I took.

His shop had a few TVRs that were wicked handlers too. In a way, I really miss those kinds of rides.

[Trans Am]

As you have discovered, it's not about HP. It's about balance and stick. I drove a really small lotus that belonged to an old friend. Can't remember exactly what model, but I could drive around anything in the corners. This was an open cockpit job, not a street car. The most brain sloshing car in the corners that I've ever had seat time in. It really took getting used too. I think the first 10 times I would slow in a corner and he barks at me over the radio "what the heck are you slowing down for"? He says "it will stick, just drive it". After the 10th time I got the nerve to go into the corners wide open and by god, it stuck like glue no matter what line I took.

His shop had a few TVRs that were wicked handlers too. In a way, I really miss those kinds of rides.

could have been a lotus elise..nice cars but they are tiny