The original owner of the '02 Sonic Blue SVT Focus No. 1618 was Steve's older bother Rick, and as such the car has become a bit of a family focus group project. Rick bought the car new in December of 2002 and began changes almost immediately. After owning the car for several years Rick moved on to a Mustang and little bother Steve bought the breathed-on Focus and still owns it today.
No. 1618 now sports a wide variety of mods, although two of the most notable are the excellent Jackson Racing supercharger with requisite Ford Racing big boost kit and the KW coilover performance suspension kit. The original car came with almost everything that Ford offered in terms of cockpit-based amenities, but a short-throw shifter was added and a shift light was mounted on the steering column. Although the key still does work for the accessories and ignition, a fully functional starter button from an S2000 was added; certainly not necessary, but it's a cool little addition. To keep an eye on the manifold pressure produced by the JR supercharger, a boost gauge was placed on the dash.
Brakes were left stock and the Focus still rides on the stock SVT based five-spoke wheel, although the original Continental tires were traded out for a set of sticky Goodyear GS-D3s. The KW coilover suspension lowered the shimmering purple hatchback perfectly, giving the Focus the lower meatier stance that characterizes a WRC Focus set up for the tarmac Monte Carlo rally.
After the hardware was installed, the Focus received a proper tune on the ECU from Black Oak. Maximum revs were increased to 7400 from the stock 7200-rpm redline and the combination of elements boosted horsepower from 170 to 215 at the flywheel. Torque had a marginal increase of 30 from 145 to 175 ft-lbs. After just one run up through the gears, the increased power was noticeable and seemed in line with the published numbers. While certainly no threat to an STI, EVO or even a WRX, the Jackson Racing/Black Oak combination appeared to breathe new life into the Focus. SVT's original target for the Focus was the Acura RSX Type-S, and although the stock version fell somewhat short of that order, Learned's improved Focus offers a suitable rival to the ultra-slick Honda.
Although the stock SVT Focus offered a nimble chassis and responsive suspension, Learned's car took the handling equation to another level and was the single best quality of the car. With Eibach sway bars front and rear, roll control was tight and flat, and steering response seemed to be improved with a limited off-center dead feel. There was still a somewhat overboosted feel to steering effort that was similar to the stock system.
Although left stock, and with a similar pedal feel to stock, the braking itself actually felt improved over the standard SVT Focus. The lower CG and the improved drive control from the KW/Eibach setup helped to keep the platform level and ultimately gave all four corners of the car some good bite under braking. A big brake kit might not really help this particular Focus unless Steve ends up seriously tracking the car and sees some higher temps at the rotor and caliper sites.