txGarage » ford focus

txGarage Exclusive: 2003 Ford Focus ZX3 Pro Touring V8 Power

Adam Moore — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 23:50:25 +0000

2003 Ford Focus ZX3 Pro Touring V8 - RWD

There is always something to say about having a rare car. When you’re driving along in a car you’ve spent a lot of money on, you do not want everyone else on the block driving the same thing. But there are two different types of rare cars: those you spend an enormous amount of money on and those you put a lot of effort into making rare. Today we are focusing on the latter.

You might see a Ford Focus driving in your neighborhood, and heck you might even see a 2003 Focus ZX3, but it only takes a few seconds to realize that there is something special about this car. Taking a quick look at this Focus, it doesn’t really pop out at you at first. You might be thinking, yeah I’ve seen a Focus with nice wheels before. Wait what’s that heat extractor in the hood and what bumpers are those? The answers to your questions would firstly be, yes. Neatly fitted to the hood of this Focus is a heat extractor from a 2011 GT500 Mustang. The front and rear bumpers are Ford parts from Europe. The front and rear bumpers are fitted with custom stainless steel mesh grilles. Hella fog lights are fitted nicely into the front and a shorty billet aluminum radio antennae sits atop the roof. This is no aftermarket body-kit glued onto a rice mobile, these are Ford parts and fitted with care and passion. It really is almost easy to look right over this car thinking it’s a stock body.

Inside is more of the same. Mostly stock looks with some tasteful add-ons. The first and most noticeable of these is the A-pillar gauge pod and Autometer Phantom custom gauges behind the wheel. The stock Blaupunkt CD player rests in the dash, but the speakers have been replaced in favor of some with a little more quality. The windows have been swapped from manual to power, keyless entry has been added on, and cruise control has been added as well for easy highway driving. There are a few extra little buttons, but we’ll get to those later. Other than that, it’s pretty stock and a pretty solid ride.

So what makes this Focus so special? Is it more than a few custom parts here and there? Well yes, it is. Start this bad boy up or pull up next to someone at a light and they’ll instantly know this is no ordinary Focus. The rumbling from the engine and exhaust are unmistakable. Laying under this hood is a Ford Motorsports Sportman 5.0 block. Yes, that’s a big V8, pushing 450 horsepower stuffed into this little car. The engine has been well taken care of with forged pistons and a forged steel crank. We also have AFR 185 aluminum heads, Scorpion roller rockers, and a custom grind cam to round it all out. Up top we have a Edelbrock Victor JV intake manifold converted to EFI to help this thing breath and consume some fuel.

This 5.0 engine is hooked up to a 4R70W custom built overdrive automatic transmission with Buammator stand alone computer control. All of this sends power to the rear wheels through its 8.8 Ford differential with 3:55 gears. That’s right, a rear-wheel-drive Focus, powered by an amazing V8 powerplant.

Translate all of this into driving and it’s more mental than anything else. Here at txGarage, we’ve driven plenty of muscle cars and performance cars, but to have all this power is such a light and unexpected car is mental. Start this car up and immediately tingling sensations begin to run up your legs and down your arms. Look down to the shifter and you’ll see a small switch. This flips the transmission computer from mental everyday driving into insane race mode. Better leave if in mental for now. Shift down to drive and tap the throttle with your big toe and receive a jolt and slide from the rear-end. From a standstill, this Focus really makes it easy to break the rear wheels loose, but we’re merging onto the street so lets keep that in check. Heading in a strait line again I smashed the throttle once again propelling me to the roads speed-limit of 60 mph before I could even try and enjoy the sensation. This is one fast ride.

It’s not all about speed though. The builder of this ride paid as much attention to ride and handling as he did to the massive engine. Sway bars, control arms, adjustable caster camber plates, adjustable coil over struts, lowered, triangulated, polyurethane bushings, and 4 link are all words that came out of his mouth while we took a tour underneath this Focus. What it translates to is ride comfort and handling in the turns. Adding to the grip and handling are the racing tires mounted to the 18 inch wheels. The rear tires on this Focus are 9.5 inches wide; now that’s some grip!

When you have all this power and handling in a ride you never want to forget about stopping power. Luckily for us this Focus had plenty of it. The front brakes are a big break conversion kit for the Focus SVT with EBC slotted disc rotors and ceramic pads. In the rear, the discs are pulled from a V8 Explorer also slotted with ceramic pads and custom stainless steel braided brake lines. Let’s just say these come in handy when you’re coming into a turn a little faster than expected – which you inevitably will with this car.

To sum it all up, I’d have to say that this is one of the best conversions I’ve ever seen. It’s not every day that you see a six-figured supercar and it’ll be an even more rare occurrence to see something else like this driving down the road. This Focus delivers amazing performance in a stealth package that really is feasible for everyday driving. If you’re looking for a car that you can have fun in, show off to your buddies, and still use every day and get 20 mpg, this is a ton of fun.

Check out the Video of the 2003 Ford Focus V8 Project car on YouTube:

Check out the full photo albums on Facebook and Google:

The Jay Leno Show Electric Focus: w/Video

Adam Moore — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:30:27 +0000

Leno's Electric Focus

One of the exciting segments coming out of the new Jay Leno Show has been named “Leno’s Green Car Challenge” and will feature a celebrity racing against the clock in an electric Ford Focus, as we reported here. We know that Drew Barrymore will get the first chance behind the wheel and we know that she will be driving the Focus around a make shift track outside of Leno’s studio. What we didn’t know was the specs and the looks of this Electric Focus.

That all changed yesterday as Ford released the information on the car to star on Leno’s show. It’s a Euro Focus ST five door-hatch back converted into a one of a kind electric Focus. Ford knew that this car would go through the ringer so they fitted it with Racaro racing seats, bigger brakes, a full roll cage, and five point-harness. The electric motor will produce 141 hp and 235 lb-ft of torque with a 7,500 rpm redline and a curb weight of 2,421 lbs.

Needless to say they should be able to have plenty of fun in this car, can’t wait to see the airing of the first go around.

Hit the link to watch the Video!

2010 Mazda 3

Adam Moore — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 20:21:22 +0000

2010 Mazda 3

In 2003 when the Mazda 3 was launched replacing the boring looking but fun to drive Protege, I was excited. Mazda had just introduced the RX8 and only a year before had come out with the Mazda 6. Mazda was really on the move back to being the sporty “zoom-zoom” company it should be. The Mazda 3 was such a big hit, in my mind, because it really showed that Mazda was getting back into the sporty grove with a good looking, small, sporty car. Anyone who is into compact sports cars, then and now, knows that the European spec Ford Focus basically rules. So when we heard that this new offering from Mazda was to be built on the platform of the second generation European Focus we knew we had to get our hands on one.

The first generation 3 did not disappoint. Mazda made sure to give it a good range of engines with plenty of pep, also releasing a Mazdaspeed variant for an even more sporty experience. The interior was nice and not too cheap for its price range, the looks where spot on for the market and the power and handling was excellent. So the successor of this understated machine would have to be even better, and that’s always hard to top in these markets.

So does the 2010 Mazda 3 live up to its “Zoom-Zoom” heritage? I would say yes for sure. The exterior, although it has been made fun of for being too “smiley face” looking in the design, actually looks good in a fun sporty way. That’s the overall theme of this car, small and fun, so why not give it a fun looking exterior. The rear is more aggressive and sportier than before with beautiful molded lines and sharp tail lights. The interior has a clean fill with lots of black and splashes of chrome and red thrown in. The cluster has improved and the center console has a more grown up feel to it. A Grand Touring package adds navigation and loads of extra buttons on the steering wheel and all over the car. By no means is this an uncomfortable place to be on a long trip. Speaking of long trips the driving and handling of the car is again just that much better than the old. Where this car shines is with its new bigger and better engines.

You have the base sporting a 2.0 liter with 148 hp and 135 lb-ft of torque. The one to have is the 2.5 liter “s” with a six speed manual gear box pushing 167 hp and 168 lb-ft of torque.

All in all I think Mazda has been on the move up since its introduction of the Mazda 6 in 2002. They are still an understated company that has the potential to grow. The new Mazda 3 and Mazda 6 are making this clear. If you want a fun to drive cheaper car with lots to smile about and not much to be down about, I suggest looking at your Mazda dealership.

2010 Mazda 3

The 2010 Suzuki Kizashi:

The Jay Leno Show:

Adam Moore — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 19:57:31 +0000

The Jay Leno Show

A little bit about Jay Leno’s new show, called The Jay Leno Show, has been revealed. According to Jay they are going to have a segment challenging the gests racing against each other in “green cars”. Jay says, “You can see who is faster, Shaquille O’Neal or Cameron Diaz” can’t wait for that one.

Most are comparing this to Top Gears “Star in a Reasonably Priced Car” but we really don’t have any information on what the segment might actually look like or consist of. We do know they have already started construction of a make-shift track next to his studio. All we can do is hope that the “green car” is a sporty car and the ratings of the show are well enough to keep it going.

[ad]

Update: Jay Leno on TopGear

Adam Moore — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:22:42 +0000

Jay Leno on BBC's Top Gear

As I wrote before, Jay Leno and Jeremy Clarkson are my two favorite car guys out there. Now we have footage on YouTube of Jay Leno’s interview and lap on TopGear.

Check it out!