I disagree. While my Focus was a steamy pile of shit (I just had bad luck with the car), it was TONS of fun to drive with only about $2k put into it. With coilovers (real coilovers, none of this sleeved bullshit), Eibach rear swaybar, cams, exhaust, and a lightened flywheel the car was quite fun to drive. It wasn't the fastest car in the world, but it handled like it was on rails and was quite "zippy" with the more aggressive cams.


My suggestion is to:

1. Buy my B&M short shifter. But seriously, just the shifter makes that car much more fun to drive.

2. Save up and buy a nice suspension setup. I only paid $800 for my FK Coilovers. Very nice firm ride. Probably the best suspension for the money for the Focus.

3. Since you have a header, get an off-road pipe. Picks up quite a bit of low end (suprisingly) with less restrictive exhaust. I also have one of these for sale for cheap.

4. Cams. Crower Stage 2's are the best bang for the buck. Get a quality set of cam gears as well...FocusSport/Kent are some of the best out there.

5. Ported early 2000 intake manifold. This manifold was cast from one piece of plastic. About half way through 2000 they went with a two piece manifold design which was much more restrictive. You can find the early 2000 manifolds on Ebay, and they are easily cleaned up with a Dremel by someone who knows what they are doing.

6. Lightened flywheel. Basically the Focus has a 25-30lb flywheel and makes for quite a lethargic reving motor. Drop down to a Fidanza or FocusSport which weigh in a hair under 9lbs.

Check out www.focaljet.com . Great bunch of people and lots of good info to be had.