[BUR_ZX3]

MAN WAS I WRONG!

Got a bit of birthday money... so I thought I'd do a little head to head comparison and find out what the difference is. And Voila!

My ZX3, 27000 miles has a FS Cool Flo, Stealth Cat-Back and UDP along with early '00 manifold and Diablo Chip.

Heres the FS 4-1 vs the Focus Central 4-2-1:

As you can see... the FocusSport made both HP and TQ across the entire powerband! They're only comparable from 3500-4000RPM. The peak TQ I couldn't believe! And this is on STOCK CAMS!!!!!!

Lemme just say that I was shocked! Obviously my choice was made!


Anyone wanna buy a barely used FocusCentral 4-2-1?

 

[EastAl]

Oooh oooh oooh, can I be the first to say Repost???

Hey Todd, wanna buy a slightly used ZX3???

You know what I just noticed, your base line is almost exactly the same as my old numbers were, when I had just the FC 4-2-1, FC 65mm TB, K&N Gen II, AF/X UDP, and a bs stock exhaust with one resonator removed.
Hmm, intersting to see what our numbers will look like when we are both done with this round of new parts?

 

[EggYolk]

Thanks Bur for doing this. This will save lots of debates -FOREVER! Too bad I got the 4-2-1

 

[BUR_ZX3]

Yes its a repost... but hardly anyone saw that one....

Either that... or they're all just shocked and regretting buying the Focus Central one...

But if you're lookin to save some money... I've got one... PM ME!

 

[EastAl]

Hehe, no thanks Todd.
I'll just put the uberJBweld on mine for now, until the ZXTuner.com 4-2-1 comes out thankyouverymuch!!!

 

[techguy]

Funny, we tested the FS vs the FC and got almost the opposite results.

http://www.steedafocus.com/charts/charts10_3.htm

Just shows what we should all already know: sometimes there is no one "best" part. It's all about finding the right part for your application.

(We have them both in stock, so there is no sales incentive for us to promote one over the other.)

 

[BUR_ZX3]

Funny, we tested the FS vs the FC and got almost the opposite results.

I noticed that you had set your cam gears to -4, -6... that would affect things, no?

Mine was done with stock cams, no cam gears, no dyno tuning. I definately could play with cam gear settings to make either one. I'm not saying you did that, but mine are at true TDC settings at 0,0...(as determined by my ford mechanic when the engine was reassembled 10K miles ago).

 

[ZXmurph]

damn.....with either header those dynos confirm what I noticed at the track......your car is just a good, strong runner.

 

[dan-d]

bur, this is some good information. but you need to keep in mind that your results may not match what others get using the same headers. Headers as always are very dependent on other mods. Even with identical mods to two different motors may result in quite the opposite results that you got. It's good that you had an opportunity to run tests for comparison between the two headers and now you know which works best for your application, I too got better results swapping my FC for a Kamikaze, but that's not to say others will too.

 

[FSWerksVP]

Funny, we tested the FS vs the FC and got almost the opposite results.

http://www.steedafocus.com/charts/charts10_3.htm

Just shows what we should all already know: sometimes there is no one "best" part. It's all about finding the right part for your application.

(We have them both in stock, so there is no sales incentive for us to promote one over the other.)

That's funny that you say that. Steeda hasn't purchased headers from FocusSport since June of 2002. They are not on your site, either. I even had one of our employees call to see if you carried "any" 4-1 race headers and the answer was "no." Funny, huh?

 

[IDversusEGO]

Funny, we tested the FS vs the FC and got almost the opposite results.

http://www.steedafocus.com/charts/charts10_3.htm

Just shows what we should all already know: sometimes there is no one "best" part. It's all about finding the right part for your application.

(We have them both in stock, so there is no sales incentive for us to promote one over the other.)

That's funny that you say that. Steeda hasn't purchased headers from FocusSport since June of 2002. They are not on your site, either. I even had one of our employees call to see if you carried "any" 4-1 race headers and the answer was "no." Funny, huh?

smackdown.

 

[Qdoba Addict]

Steeda hasn't purchased headers from FocusSport since June of 2002.

The date on their dynos is 6/22/2002. Coincidence?

But without repeated dyno testing in a controlled environment from someone that doesn't have a financial interest in the results all dyno numbers have to be taken with a grain of salt.

 

[FSWerksVP]

We dyno by the book. Ask Todd, he thought for sure the 4-2-1 was the way to go. I'd run the test again in front of a crowd if would please the skeptics.

 

[techguy]

Steeda hasn't purchased headers from FocusSport since June of 2002.

The date on their dynos is 6/22/2002. Coincidence?

I've still got one if someone wants to buy it. Haven't bought any more because we still have one on the shelf.

The dyno results were clear cut. The 4-2-1 made more power, fit MUCH better, and was quieter. Which would you put on your website if you wanted satisfied customers?

 

[FSWerksVP]

If you truly have a FS 4-1 race header, then I'll buy it back. We are already running low on our inventory.

I call B.S. on your results.

Like I said, I'll run the test again in front of a crowd to prove the results are accurate.

And btw, techguy, I thought you were unbiased?

 

[BUR_ZX3]

so... you have inventory on you shelf that you're not advertising for sale, then that strikes me a tad odd. Regardless of your dyno results.... I think you'd wanna spend money on it.

I can attest to FocusSport's dyno technique, and yes... I was a VERY STRONG BELIEVER of the 4-2-1 from all the previous dynos. I'll grant you that dyno tuning, and different mods, etc can lead to varying results.... but assuming that, you'll still see that my engine, only moderately modified made a big difference. I'd expect that an FI application would be entirely different, head packages are most likely best geared toward their own exhaust (no reason to worry here... I'll prolly get the FS head package within 12 months)

Many many variables.... but all I'm doing is showing a back to back comparison on an UNTUNED zetec.

 

[OmniFocus]

Whoa. :\

 

[techguy]

I do still have the header.

Look, I don't mean to talk smack about your product. I'm sure you guys are very sincere and take pride in your product.

I was just trying to point out that this is not a settled issue. Someone gets more power with one header. Someone else gets more power with the other header.

I stand by what I said. The results are real. We did our test to find the most power for our own racecar. When I could buy either header and use whichever one I wanted on the racecar, why would I use anything other than what worked the best for us? Where is the bias there?

 

[BUR_ZX3]

Whoa. :\

Jealous H-Stock Boy????

 

[FSWerksVP]

I do still have the header.

Look, I don't mean to talk smack about your product. I'm sure you guys are very sincere and take pride in your product.

I was just trying to point out that this is not a settled issue. Someone gets more power with one header. Someone else gets more power with the other header.

I stand by what I said. The results are real. We did our test to find the most power for our own racecar. When I could buy either header and use whichever one I wanted on the racecar, why would I use anything other than what worked the best for us? Where is the bias there?

I said what I did about you being biased, as you stated you sell both, when in fact you don't. I don't know, maybe someone at Steeda got tired of us hassling them for the release forms for the header. I'm sure FC doesn't do that.

I knew for a long time that our 4-1 kicked ass and didn't lose a bunch of torque compared to the tri-y headers out there, but I could never prove it. Until now. I remember seeing the Steeda dyno and wondering. I think that perhaps the dyno is real, but the FS race header runs must have been hot or something wasn't properly connected. In any case SOMETHING is not right. The FS race header numbers are too low on the graph.

Todd's car was untuned, as mentioned, with basic bolt-ons. Now that is the perfect scenario on paper for a tri-y is it not? If people had to bet money they would say the tri-y would have much more torque over the FS 4-1 right? We made our 4-1 very well and it shows on the dyno. Just look at the torque! Sometimes what makes sense on paper doesn't always work in the real world.

Sorry, if I'm coming off harsh, I just think that there is a lot of misinformation and half-truths (intentional or not) out there and I occasionally like to chime in. I guess the debates will go on, but this is good proof, that can be executed over and over again.