[Tony B]

Hello group,

I've got a Focus ZTS, and I do a lot of stop and go traffic, I travel through Pittsburgh every day, so those of you who know what Parkway traffic is like know what I mean.

Anyways, once I get out to where I can get up to speed, the car is very sluggish and it feels like I'm driving with an Elephant in the trunk.

I installed an Iceman CAI, but I'm still getting the same sluggish throttle and power.

My question is, what can I do to combat this? I'm sure the engine is getting too hot and the plugs are probably loading up a bit as well.

Should I get a cooler thermostat?

Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

[hotfocus]

cant go wrong with a TB! or you can try a ultra light flywheel.

 

[spankenstein]

I wouldn't suggest the throttle body on a near stock Focus... actually I wouldn't suggest anything other than boring the stock throttle body until your able to move quite a bit more air.

UDP will liven up the response and give a really good power gain for the money. It is especailly noticeable down low in the rev range.

Also try resetting the ECU every once in a while. The "learning" mode may be great for emissions but it sucks for performance.

 

[JRez]

Tony,

The Iceman is a good start. The car can suck a$$ in stop and go on a daily basis. I'd still agree with Hotfocus and get the FC or JR Throttle Body. Either or will improve the feel a bit. Even with that, it's not going to feel SIGNIFICANTLY faster/more responsive if you're sitting in heat... one of the quirks of our cars. If you can come, we've got a large group going to Robinson Town Center tomorrow night for a car show and you can "test drive" the various intakes and exhaust systems in warm weather to maybe get some ideas about what feels like it would make the most improvement to you.

 

[tenderloin]

The Zetec does give up some in hot weather. A low cost way to lower the engine (water) temperature is the use of the coolant system additive Redline Water Wetter. You only use as much anti freeze as needed to protect against freezing. Anti freeze is not needed for cooling when you use Water Wetter.

Water Wetter also provides full protection from corrosion.

I live in Southern California and use no anti freeze at all, I just use straight water with one bottle of Water Wetter.

A lower temperature thermostat as well as using a quality synthetic oil will also help to lower engine temperatures

 

[Blue01Street]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by tenderloin:
A lower temperature thermostat as well as using a quality synthetic oil will also help to lower engine temperatures<hr></blockquote>

A lower temperature thermostat will do NOTHING for a car with cooling problems. All it does is open at a lower temp. It doesn't provide you with extra surface area in your radiator. With my stock 195 degree thermo installed I checked my temp using an OBD II scanner. It ran from 205 to 215 degrees. Pop in the 180 degree thermostat. The operating temp ran from 205 to 215 degrees. I checked both thermostats in a pan of hot water with a thermometer. They were both accurate. Maybe during the winter it will run a little cooler, but who cares during the winter.

 

[P.]

I heard that dropping a 351 in your focus will make it a little bit faster. AND not to mention that much cooler.... J/k that would be cool though... but i would personally add an exhaust header and full cat back system on it. That'll wake it up.

 

[Tony B]

Awesome, Thanks for all the suggestions, I'm currently looking at upgrading the computer and spark plugs/wires. A TB is a bit out of my range right now, maybe come winter.

Thanks again all.

Tony