All Focus body styles are legal, except for the station wagon. Since they share the same platform and wheelbase, equalizing them was pretty much a matter of setting a minimum weight of 2575 pounds, including driver. Unless, that is, your car is equipped with the top-shelf 2.3-liter Duratec, in which case you have to carry an additional 50 pounds. Suspension mods depend on the model-and your budget. Unlike Spec Miata's one-size-fits-all method, Spec Focus allows you to choose from a gigantic buffet of possibilities, ranging from more aggressive dampers to springs that lower ride height by more than an inch, and bigger anti-roll bars to upgraded brakes. But because certain combinations of components are specified by the rules, it's not simply a matter of mixing and matching parts from the Ford Racing catalog. Again, do your homework before getting started.
The rules equalizing the four eligible engines are even more complicated. For big-picture purposes, think of the 2.3-liter Duratec as the gold standard. Starting with this, all that can be added is a cold-air intake and an exhaust manifold. Figure on about 150hp and 150lb-ft of torque. The stated goal for the 2.0-liter Focus motors (Duratec, Zetec and SVT) is 160hp and 140lb-ft. But hitting those targets will require more substantial upgrades that vary on a case-by-case basis.
For example, the 2.0-liter Duratec gets a bigger throttle body than the 2.3, but smaller than the Zetec. On the other hand, the SVT has to run the stock cam while an aftermarket upgrade is permissible with the Zetec. CNC-machined ports are OK for the Zetec and the 2.0-liter Duratec, but not the 2.3 or the SVT. However, all engines can be balanced and blueprinted, and while the stock ECUs have to be retained, they can be flashed. Got that?
To get the ball rolling, Ford commissioned three Spec Focuses from Leo Capaldi Racing. A Visteon (and ex-Ford) employee who was Jack Roush's first engine dyno operator, Capaldi used to campaign a Ford Focus in World Challenge. I have to confess my first impression of his cars is mixed. The most impressive feature is the stout cage, but it's been spray-painted black. The steering wheel is a rude-looking OEM unit with the airbag removed. Meanwhile, zip-ties abound, and the graphics are marginal.
Capaldi explains that he opted for the DIY look because Ford wanted to show grassroots racers that Spec Focuses could be done on the cheap-between $8000 and $12,000-depending on the cost of the donor car and the quality of build. Anyway, nobody says you have to go whole hog. Unlike Spec Miatas, which are meant for all racing, all the time, the Spec Focus is designed to hit a broader market. A not-quite-ready-for-prime-time Spec Focus would be a great track day car, both relatively easy to drive and reasonably cheap.
Capaldi has trucked two of his cars out to Fontana for a NASA weekend of wheel-to-wheel races interspersed with track day run-groups. The cars look right at home in a Ford Focus corral that's been set up in the parking lot. Organized by Focaljet.com, a Focus enthusiast website, Jetfest 2 has drawn 140 mostly customized cars and top tuners such as F2 Focus Performance and FocusSport. But the only cars racing in the Spec Focus class are the two Capaldi and I are driving. I know the track, he knows the cars. Let the games begin.
Capaldi and I qualify 41st and 43rd respectively, in a 61-car field that includes a substantial spread in speed and skill. Amazingly, two cars wreck even before taking the green flag. The line I'm in comes to a dead stop. And so, for the first time in my racing career, I do a standing start after losing about a dozen places. Gradually, I make up positions, fighting mostly-and fittingly-with Japanese front-wheel-drive imports. I never really master the brakes. Capaldi falls back with a slipping clutch as the race winds down, and more by luck than by skill, I nip him at the line by less than a car's length to finish 28th.
As I replay the race on my internal big screen during my drive home, I decide the Focus chassis was a lot better than I was. And that I kept losing time by repeatedly jumping on the throttle too soon, promoting tire-destroying understeer.
In one sense, the Spec Focus might be a better entry-level racer than a Spec Miata. Rear-wheel drive encourages tossing the car into corners, which is fun but not necessarily fast. A front-wheel-drive car like the Spec Focus rewards smoothness and precision, and that's one of the toughest, yet most important, lessons for novices to learn. I also appreciate the fact that the car is relatively new, which means less money spent replacing bushings, hubs and the like.
Still, I'm not sure that's enough to make the Spec Focus a hit. First, there's a chicken-and-egg issue here. A great part of the appeal of Spec Miata is having so many cars to race with, and at the moment, there aren't even a dozen Spec Focus cars in the country.
Second, it's hard to catch lightning in a bottle. Yeah, Mazda managed it with Spec Miata. Doing it twice in such a short time with similar cars seems like a stretch. Third, 'Ford Focus' is not a phrase that's likely to get vast numbers of people sufficiently amped up to pull the trigger on a race car.
Then again, I used to think the Miata was a chick car. I started racing a Spec Miata and now I'm a believer. Spec Focus isn't going to put Ford back in the black, but it may add some luster to a company that could desperately use some. And it might just be manna from heaven for budget-conscious racers.