MY SVT Test Drive

[BenBrausen]

Today I went to the SVT dealership and test drove an '04 SVT Focus. Very nice ride. There are just a couple things that made it even more memorable. First when the sales guy was backin' it out of the place it was parked in the lot, he backed the large yellow cement base of a lamp post crushing the corner of the driver side bumper in a good 4 inches or so. Ouch.... Then he drove for a bit at first. He claimed he drives a SVT Contour but for some reason every time he banged through the gears tryin' to show off the acceleration, he would shift at 5k RPMs every time. Only once did he make a shift right before redline. Then when we were on the highway, he tried to downshift from 5th to 4th but hit 2nd at around 70mph. He blamed it on the fact that his SVT Contour is a 5 speed. Other then that fun, it was great. I'm still unsure what kinda car I'm gonna get. I love the Focus but I wish it had the power and Qualife of the SRT-4 (and aftermarket). We'll see what happens.

[DNeinstadt]

Holy cow! You're serious? he was a doofus!
Dan

[BenBrausen]

Heh... It was pretty funny. He even laughed at himself for blastin' the rev limiter on the highway.

[Twitch]

the only time i bang the rev limiter is going from 1st to 2nd, and thats only so often, but damn i hate when i do it, it makes me look like an idiot

[BenBrausen]

I never bang the rev limiter....... My SHO's an auto. :tongue: I guess I can if I shift it manually. Gotta love a 7.5k RPM redline. I need some UPD's to rev to 8k. Even though the SVT Focus has the dual stage intake like the SHO, it doesn't seem to make the beautiful music the SHO engine makes when the short runners open up. It's really cool to put it in 2nd and floor it from 1.5k RPMs, you can really feel it when the short runners open. And it sure shows on a dyno graph. Like 2 different engines.


Just a reminder.... Don't :drink: and :shiftin:

[Tommy]

Just by reading that I can tell that didn't happen here.:drink:

[SSHFTY1]

sweet rice, i think :confused: what color was the foci..??

[John M]

Hey I saw that Foci at Tousley, I wondered what the hell happen to the rear corner of the bumper.

[BenBrausen]

It was a red SVT. God I wish the SRT-4 engine came in the SVT Focus. It's a sweet car, it just needs most power and cheap performance parts.

[lightningboy00]

wasn't me either, though i probably wouldn't admit it...

[Twitch]

Originally posted by sshfty1
sweet rice, i think :confused: what color was the foci..??

nother comment about the foci being rice, and i am gone. J/K



hehe, Blackcoog has the ricer remember???

[SSHFTY1]

actually rice refers to a tommy quote about two different colors on the car. not the car itself buudyy.. I actually refer to ricers as the uncle, chris would know what i mean.

[SVT-5LITER]

As a whole, I like the SVT focus... but IMO the big downfall is it is under 200hp. I understand the Cobra and the Lightning (especially the new L coming out) are the "top dogs" of the SVT lineup... but I also feel that being it is wearing the SVT badge, it should be at least equal, if not above the competition. That is not the case right now.

I like the SVT Contour also as a whole... That atleast has 200hp... but it still needed more from the get go. The V8 SHO had a V8 and over 200hp... that shoulda been an SVT!

[BenBrausen]

Personally I don't know about the V8 SHO engine. Add 2 cylinders and only pickup 15hp more then my V6 SHO? Plus it's a heavier car. They say the V8 is evenly matched with the ATX V6 SHO but I pull my buddie's V8 SHO at any speed.

Sadly this'll be the last year for the SVT Focus. Lets hope that at some point in '06 we see those turbo charged V6 SVT Focus' that some car mag or another had spotted. Plus a Cobra R like hood.... :eek: That's what I'm talkin' about. Their gonna have to do something like that if they wanna keep up with the SRT-4. Then again I can't imagine them addin' a bigger engine and a turbo and keepin' it in the same price range as the SRT-4.

[Cobra-R]

Kind on and off subject, but I think Ford needs to come out with somthing that can compete with the mitsubishi Evo and the WRX STI. Thats where the non v8 market is headed.

Brian

[SVT-5LITER]

The V8 SHO motor is a SMALL V8. They have a bit more torque iirc, but I know the V6 SHOs get 'em outta the hole. But the V8 shines above speed limits, total road trip car. :grin:
Plus a heckuva lot more realiable than the high maintence V6 SHOs (once you address the cam issue).

I think the focus would be alright just re-working the motor for a turbo myself. Or a blower I s'pose... but I'd prefer a turbo. I don't think a 250hp turbo 4 would be asking too much, not at all.