how did ford tweak the focus chasis to make the ST170?

[Glover321]

As title. Anybody know?
I think I heard something a while back about stiffer rear ARB bush's, not sure though. Obviously its a tad lower than a standard Focus, and slightly stiffer sprung I assume. Did they go into fitting stiffer ARB's?

Reason for asking - Quite fancy a cheap 1.8 zetec as runnings costs are lower than a ST170. However, if it could be given a ST170 chassis setup over time on a small budget it would make an amazing daily driver

Not really interested in changes they made to braking system etc...

[Justin S]

wouldnt be much different, probably stiffer springs and different dampers. ARB's maybe stiffer, but you may as well just plump for some aftermarket stuff such as Whiteline arbs and any type of shock and springs rather than using tired stuff off an ST170

[rumple]

Standerd mk1 focus is an amazing drive anyway

[Podie]

From what I remember...

ARBs increased to 21mm front and rear
There were specific ST suspension items.
Revised power steering pump
300mm front brakes, 280mm rear
17" wheels

Might have had a winder track...

[Pumajay]

Nail of the head hit.... I wouldn't worry about fitting st170 bits to a standard focus, there good to drive from standard.

[The Highway Man]

I know it's a completly different beast. I have a mk1 turbo diesel. For an oil burner, i'm very impressed with it's road handling and takes everything I can throw at it, and it's frugal with the go go juice!

[Pumajay]

The Highway Man said:

I know it's a completly different beast. I have a mk1 turbo diesel. For an oil burner, i'm very impressed with it's road handling and takes everything I can throw at it, and it's frugal with the go go juice!

ditto!

[Glover321]

I used to own a mk1 focus zetec, so I agree they are a great drive, which is why I would like another. In fact mostly I would like an ST170 - as they handle better, but due to a drop in my households income I dont fancy the running costs ...plus they have quite a few things go wrong that normal focus's dont have.
Whatever Ford did to tweak the chassis I really respect, as Ford really know what they are doing in this respect. I think copying this would be more beneficial on a road going car than throwing a bunch of aftermarket parts at it

[BillyWhizz888]

i owned a 170 for bout 6 month went ok but everytime you went round a corner fast, it rubbed the arches. im sure ford tweeked the engines which made it special

[neiljohnson]

BillyWhizz888 said:

i owned a 170 for bout 6 month went ok but everytime you went round a corner fast, it rubbed the arches. im sure ford tweeked the engines which made it special

Then there was something very wrong with it i tracked mine & tried my hardest to drive the wheels off it & never had an issue with the wheels getting anywhere near the arches.


The biggest change on the suspension is the front hubs are totally differant to support the calipers on the larger (300mm) discs the other focus (excluding the Rs) have the pad support carrier built into the hub rather than it bolting on as a seperate part.

[sday12]

It's a shame they geared and calibrated as they did, made it into a c riser when what you wanted was a cat on a hot tin roof.

[mnkiboy]

BillyWhizz888 said:

i owned a 170 for bout 6 month went ok but everytime you went round a corner fast, it rubbed the arches. im sure ford tweeked the engines which made it special

Mine did this as well. Had it for 2 years and spent hundreds on replacing various suspension components but never resolved it.

[Rickyy]

If your buying a leggy Focus, I'd recommend getting 4-Wheel alignment checked.

Had this done on my Mk1 and it has completely transformed the handling!

[coxyboi]

hi the st170 should have:
Uprated front shocks,
Uprated spings with 20mm drop,
a larger rear roll bars, not sure about the front,
the wheels also make a difference,
the st also sits a fraction wider,

get some lowered eibach - or second hand st springs
new st170 shocks from ford
A set of 17inch 215 wheels 0r wider and yourl almost be ther!

you could add the rear roll-bar for good luck hub spacers and polly bushes could be added, all the parts should be interchangable on all focus mk1 (many cheep upgrade kits are only seem as good as new st170 parts if that!)

[coxyboi]

mnkiboy said:

BillyWhizz888 said:

i owned a 170 for bout 6 month went ok but everytime you went round a corner fast, it rubbed the arches. im sure ford tweeked the engines which made it special

Mine did this as well. Had it for 2 years and spent hundreds on replacing various suspension components but never resolved it.

did you change the shocks, had my st 8 years 80,000miles no real probs apart from the imrc and aircon units giving up, last year the shocks faded giving me the arch rubbing under cornering and hard braking, and i do chuck it about lol, so thought they did well to last this long,
for £200 a full set of ford st shocks would be a great upgrade to any tired focus setup,

[mnkiboy]

coxyboi said:

did you change the shocks, had my st 8 years 80,000miles no real probs apart from the imrc and aircon units giving up, last year the shocks faded giving me the arch rubbing under cornering and hard braking, and i do chuck it about lol, so thought they did well to last this long,
for £200 a full set of ford st shocks would be a great upgrade to any tired focus setup,

It got 4 new OEM shocks but it made no difference. The originals had done around 60k.
Nothing major failed on mine in the 2 years and 30k miles I had it. Drivers heated seat failed and the 9006 audio unit stopped playing CD's.

[urquattroGus]

I had a MK1 1.8 Zetec. Fitted Eibach progreesive springs, and reatained the standard dampers. A great upgrade that did not make the ride any worse, but just made the handling even better. It was a really sweat drive