New svt focus rally builder

Hey everyone, the name's anthony. i got a 03 svt focus i'm building up. the car has been sitting in the yard and my brother says that i can finally have it so i been buying parts to get it in shape. i bought the eibach pro system plus kit, a new clutch, short shifters/ cables, spark plugs with wires and new ignition coil from central florida motorsports. also got some factory wheels with blizzaks on them as well. i'm new to the rally world and would like to s=advice and helpful tips on parts, rallying, basically everything lol. thanks in advance everyone

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One of the very few black guys trying to racing all over the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome to the site Anthony. You got a lot of work ahead of you, but its worth it!

Awesome thanks. What all have you done to your focus

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One of the very few black guys trying to racing all over the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck with your car. I would start by taking the car to some rally-crosses. There is a good series run by the SCCA in your area. Great way to start having fun with the car. I would sell or return the eibach suspension, the stock SVT stuff is what you want for rallycross and the eibach will not cut it for a real rally suspension.

If you decide to build a stage car, the SVT is one of the best focus cars to start with. You get the big brakes, better motor and an ok transmission. And you might be able to part out some of the interior.

That car will go pretty well with just a cage, rally suspension, and safety gear, maybe some better pads.

You should talk with the BRAID wheel guys as they are in Michigan and see if they have some 15" rims that you can make fit over your front brakes. I know the Team dynamics wheels require you to grind the caliper a little to clear but they fit.

thanks. how do i get in contact with the braid guys up here? also i found that if i want to run 15in wheels, i just have to switch the calipers and brackets from an 05 ST and i'll be good to go.

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One of the very few black guys trying to racing all over the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

just so you know, you deifinitely will want 15 in wheels. There are basically no 16 rally tires... almost all go with 15 inch, some tiny cars go with 14. On the other hand, the Blizzacks may be good for snow rallies.


Reach out and find the active rally folks in your area. You can learn a ton and have a great time volunteering to help out on a service crew.

i'm trying. there's a rally event this weekend so i may go out to it and volunteer. my car will be in the shop getting worked on.

The focus has JVL suspension, SVT intake, Obx headers (came with the car), swapped out the drums for discs. The car is pretty basic as I don't need much yet it does the job. I do however plan to put in a limited diff at some point as it will help a lot. This weekenf I will be puting in a new EGR and CAT as I blew out the CAT this last weekend. Luckily it was right after the rallycross as I pulled out of the driveway. lol

lol awesome. i plan to keep the car stock for now and compete in the scca rallycross stock class and then get all my safety equipment done (roll cage, fire system, safety gear, etc..) and compete int the magnus rally with nasa in june if i'm ready by then. all my parts have finally come in so now i just have to get the car towed to the school to get the new clutch and suspension installed. i got a new shifter with cables, spark plugs with wires and new coil i'm gonna put on before thursday when i get the car dropped off at school

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One of the very few black guys trying to racing all over the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, are you talking this june for Rally? You got a lot to do! Who is doing the cage? You may want to start building now. lol

i may have capaldi racing build the cage for me depending on the price

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One of the very few black guys trying to racing all over the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is braid usa's site they are in South Eastern Michigan.
http://www.braidusa.com/wheels.htm

If you find the right wheels you do not need to switch out calipers / carriers / disks. You just need to clearance the calipers with a grinder.

Capaldi Racing is a good company that knows the focus line as they were the road racing arm of the spec focus category. The do not know much if anything about rally. I would start asking around in the rally community in Michigan for a good cage builder.

I would go here: http://www.thompsonracingfabrication.com/ before I went to Capaldi for a cage. He has built several rally cages and is currently competing in rally.

Whatever you do. Do not buy DMS suspension for your Focus. The fronts will fail and cost you major amounts of money to fix.

Agree with trying rallycross first. I ran a Focus SVT in SCCA RallyCross for several years with some success (two National Championships). I would recommend Team Dynamics Pro Rally 15" x 6" wheels (tight fit, but they clear the stock front calipers without modification) and a limited slip diff (I used a Torsen T2). Add some good coilovers. The Bilstein PSS9's I used were bullet-proof but the ride height would be too low for rally. Get your feet wet with a season or two of rallycross then add a cage if you still want to try stage rally. Although it can be rewarding to build your own rally car, most rallyists will advise you to buy your first rally car; it'll be cheaper and you can start rallying sooner. And remember that the cost of rally is significantly higher than rallycross, so make sure you budget accordingly.

Cool thanks for the info. Since you got the 15x6 on there, maybe I can grab the 15x7 rally wheels. I thought about buying a rally car already built too. Friend of mine has a 92 talon ready for rally for like $3000. Needed a little work but had the cage and all. I planned on doing rallycross and get some practice first. Hopefully someday I'll be racing with ken block, tanner foust, and everyone else then go to stage rally all over the world. I was thinking of either the kaaz or Torsten but I still got a few things to do. Just gotta find a service manual so I can really get in the car and start stripping the car out as well. I'm volunteering at the first event this weekend just so I can get a feel of everything.

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One of the very few black guys trying to racing all over the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good to see another rally enthusiast here from the metro Detroit area I'm looking to get into rally to my self but I am only 15 so I couldn't start rallycrossing my xr4ti until next year and its good to see your as well going to magnum opus hope the see you running your svt focus there.

Conner