st exhaust vs 05 zx3 exhaust

[TungfumastR]

I'd like to know if anyone has a stock dyno of this "mystical" 2005 ST with 20 extra ponies. As far as I know the only differences between mine and a 2005 is the springs and black suede on the seats and doors instead of the red inserts. Mine even had the sport exhaust. The only thing worse than a snobby SVT owner is this new breed of snobby ST owner.

[MrBirdman330]

You REALLY want Snobby, talk to a VW (minus a few) or a Mini owner. Hell BMW and Mercedes owners are a heluva lot more friendly. I can actually hold a conversation about those cars with the owners rather then getting thrown the curb because I don't own one.

[TungfumastR]

Originally Posted by MrBirdman330

You REALLY want Snobby, talk to a VW (minus a few) or a Mini owner. Hell BMW and Mercedes owners are a heluva lot more friendly. I can actually hold a conversation about those cars with the owners rather then getting thrown the curb because I don't own one.

Funny you mention that...I've talked to some benz owners recently that have gone gaga over my 2010 Fusion Sport. They were surprised that it had features unavailable to them.

[TolusD]

Originally Posted by TungfumastR

I'd like to know if anyone has a stock dyno of this "mystical" 2005 ST with 20 extra ponies. As far as I know the only differences between mine and a 2005 is the springs and black suede on the seats and doors instead of the red inserts. Mine even had the sport exhaust. The only thing worse than a snobby SVT owner is this new breed of snobby ST owner.

I haven't ever dynoed my ST and it's almost stock except for a CAI. I seriously questioned the dealer when I was test driving the car. I couldn't believe it only had 151HP but he swore that it was the tuned tranny that made the car pull so damn hard. I have a friend with a stock RX8. He drives my car from time to time when he ends up pulling designated driver duty. We've never lined our cars up but he swears that we'd be neck and neck until he got into 4th gear if we ever did. I call him crazy every time he says it but he says it allot. I wouldn't bother with the anecdote but he's a professor of physics at Ball State University so his opinion on the matter has at least some relevance in my mind.

I have serious doubts about Ford being 20HP off the mark for an entire model year but my butt-dyno says >151.

[MrBirdman330]

A fellow Ford fan and engine modifier and I have been talking about my ST. He has said that if I push it just to the brink I can pull a mid to low 14 with it in the Quarter Mile. We've even discussed at the expensive to destroying my clutch, more than likely the CV Shafts while at it and a set of tires on the front possibly pulling a high 13 in the quarter mile. The ST has some serious and heavy pull in gears 1 through 3 which makes it a heavy contender with the right set of tires. I think its why when Ricers see the ST badge on the trunk they try to get me into a Street Lamp battle. When I do autocross and the owner of a Lancer Evo 9 says this "The ST has just as big of balls as the SVT Focus and they do command a lot of respect, which is why I don't like to take them on any more than an SVT" that right there shows what these Sedans are capable of.

In regards to the extra hp I've seen situations where a few production models have higher than what they're rated at. It can be anywhere from 10-25 depending on computer settings when set up at the factory. Its possible somebody may have gotten bored and made a few extra changes to some of the cars to spice things up. they don't Dyno these things to make sure they're all at 151 HP when they come off the assembly line. I knew somebody who had a Daytona Turbo who when they bought it brand new didn't have the boost set up for it at all.

[TungfumastR]

Well I think you guys are being duped due to ST's fat torque. I don't think I've seen anyone get 10-25 ponies with just a tune. Also these ECU's aren't tuned on the line, mass production doesn't work that way. I have heard of "factory freaks" where the machining tolerances allegedly end up near perfect increasing the power. I really doubt this is much of an issue any more as the factory tolerances are getting tighter anyway. Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge ST fan and I've had quite a few who have ridden in mine ask me if it's a 6 due to the torque and smoothness. I just dynoed recently and got 139/140. That's on a dynojet with a stealth intake and flex back SVT exhaust. Oddly enough when I got back in the car the damn AC was on so I don't know if that dyno was accurate. What I can tell you is the ST feels like it has 30 or more HP over my 04 pzev which was rated only 10 HP less.

Or maybe I'm just a "half empty" kind of guy

[Zoomer69]

The SVT was pretty hamstrung when it came to off-the-line haste. It had precious little extra torque compared to the regular Zetec, and it had TALLER gearing. It pulls nice and hard at the top end thanks to that intake manifold, but it was sluggish 0-30 unless you abused it. Had it not had that trick intake, it would have had WORSE torque.

The 2.3 is almost the polar opposite - loads of torque down low and better gearing. In anything short of running the Autobahn, the ST has the advantage.

The RX-8 is NOT a stump-pulling torque machine - quite the opposite, in fact. Its rotary engine makes slightly more peak torque, but it has to rev to 5500 to make it. It likely makes LESS torque down low compared to the 2.3 Duratec. The only thing that saves the Renesis motor from utter embarassment is it revs to 9000.

[pssdfocus]

good points zoomer

[cobrawannabe cdw27]

Originally Posted by MrBirdman330

In 06 the ST was watered down heavily, much of its "exclusive features" were lost such as the steering wheel and shift knob with red stitching. The seats with Red and black inserts along with the door panels. The suspension was made softer and the exhaust was done away with. In 07 the body colored grille was gone.

Here's an 07 ST to show proof of what I mean.

'The Hell are you talking about? My 06 has every single one of the features that you said was deleted in 06......

EDIT: Sorry for coming on so strong, but my ST will pretty much out handle any other Focus out there (with the exception of other STs). It sits a full 1" lower than my sister's '07 SE; rides much stiffer; gets considerably less body roll; and feels much less "wallowy". While a few of those characteristics can be accredited to the 21mm sway bars (stock), the ride height and dramatic difference in body rollas compared to my sister's '07 SE sedan are very indicative of different springs. A different tag on the rear springs may also tell a different tale than your post.....

And before clutch questions come up, my stocker is incomparable to the standard 20D clutch.

[MrBirdman330]

The Seats with Red Inserts after 05 were no longer standard it was "optional" as were the steering wheel and shift knob. You either got lucky on the lot or ordered them. I've seen a few that didn't have the ST wheel and Shift Knob. I've seen many ST Foci without that Red insert seats and panels. And yes it is true about the suspension on the later ST Foci. Ford redid the Focus suspension on all models for a softer ride not just the ST in 06 with the changing of springs, and struts also if I recall ball joints. They wanted to give it a soft smoother ride.

[sayin0487]

Well idk where you got this information from, but it is incorrect....

You know how the window sticker will say what was standard and what was optional? Well my 07 had the red stitching on the steering wheel and shift knob under the list that said standard. I had the leather with suede inserts so I can't say too much about the interior. But I have never seen an ST that didn't have the red stitching wheel and knob or a different interior than your everyday focus.

Also, as for the suspension, the only thing that was changed was the front. The rear was still the same. Yes the springs and struts in the front were different, but the valving in the struts was the same as before.

[MrBirdman330]

Take a look at the ebay link I had posted and you'll get your proof of the different seats and door inserts as well as loss of body colored grill.

[cobrawannabe cdw27]

Originally Posted by MrBirdman330

Take a look at the ebay link I had posted and you'll get your proof of the different seats and door inserts as well as loss of body colored grill.

There is also the possibilty of a fake....

[pssdfocus]

plus it's used! people do all kinds of things to personalize their cars.

[sayin0487]

When I was in school, we had an 06 ST that didnt have the red stitching steering wheel or the red stitching knob or the seats. Hmmm I guess that means 06 and 07 don't have those standard?

Or maybe it was because one of the guys I went to school with swapped all of it for the ones in his car....

Someone is selling the car, maybe they knew someone that wanted the stuff out of it.

Also, take a closer look at the car in the ebay link. They only thing it is missing is the shift knob.... The steering wheel has the red stitching.

The reason it does not have the red inserts is because there was an option to get leather with suede inserts and suede inserts in the doors.

[MrBirdman330]

I went through the pics again, that 2.3L engine is different from mine. PS Fluid resivor is in a different location from mine. I've seen an ST Clone, it was an SES with an Automatic that had all ST Features just was an automatic.

[MrBirdman330]

Originally Posted by cobrawannabe cdw27

There is also the possibilty of a fake....

Not a fake, the VIN says its clearly an ST without needing a car-fax report to tell me. It has the letter Z in the VIN, only ST's have the Z VIN for the Duratec 23. And the ZTS' that have the Duratec 23 as well.

[cobrawannabe cdw27]

Oh, jeeze. I should have checked myself. Whoops

[sayin0487]

Originally Posted by MrBirdman330

I went through the pics again, that 2.3L engine is different from mine. PS Fluid resivor is in a different location from mine. I've seen an ST Clone, it was an SES with an Automatic that had all ST Features just was an automatic.

In 06, the PS res and pump were changed, and the res was actually mounted on the pump.

[MrBirdman330]

Yeah mine is mounted in the back at the firewall.

[TolusD]

All this bickering about minutia is strangely productive. It's dragging ST owners closer to the actual ST thread and we're learning about more ST variations that occurred over the 3 production years.

The best part though hands down is that everone with ST experience recognizes that they have something special even if it is a patchwork masterpiece. We really need to get more information into the ST roll call thread so we can develop a baseline based on facts and not eBay ads. Then we should be able to start some fantastic arguments.

[cobrawannabe cdw27]

^ Good post full of good ideas^

[TungfumastR]

Originally Posted by MrBirdman330

Yeah mine is mounted in the back at the firewall.

Strangely enough my 06 has it mounted against the firewall also.

[MrBirdman330]

Originally Posted by TungfumastR

Strangely enough my 06 has it mounted against the firewall also.

Check your build date, some of the early built 06's didn't get any of the changes made and were the same as the 05 ST.

[cobrawannabe cdw27]

Originally Posted by MrBirdman330

Check your build date, some of the early built 06's didn't get any of the changes made and were the same as the 05 ST.

That may explain my ride height. My car was Nov of 05, and has a firewall-mounted resevoir.