Hey all, bought a "5" last summer. Normal story, needed versatility with growing family. Right about the time all of this occurred, ran the vehicle I had (2007 Focus with manual trans/2.0L motor) in an SCCA event. Think maybe I was just trying to get away from the family for a few hours. Anyway, it was a real blast and the car was a lot of fun on the course. My instructor also happened to start in the exact same car. Got to find out from the passenger seat that the little; previous 1 owner, $1,800 daily driver with 100K miles on it and rare street appearance package option, could run within .5 sec of a Porsche. Sometime around June or July 2014, seemed like the time was right to switch over to the mini-mini van and found new "5's" for around $16,800-17,000. Hmmm, a new vehicle for how much and it seems fun to drive? Along the way, also sold the Focus for much more than my purchase price.
Fast forward to present day, have been randomly trolling the internet for months waiting for someone to do something with the 5 and post about it. Discover someone recently has and then one of the first posts here I read is "tuanies" (who was the author of the ebay blog and Tom's Hardware articles I was reading).
Ok - plans are simple, am going to run it on some courses for fun/track days. Already signed up for first weekend in about two weekends. Don't really care about classing rules/limitations of modifications for the vehicle. It's a van for crying out loud.. with kids seats and cheerios everywhere. I'm just happy to be out there. Only looking for things at this time that would help/improve handling and power (besides the driver).
In order -
1) Wheels/Tires: Looked at trying to locate used MS3 wheels but never have had much luck buying used stuff anyway. MS3 2nd gen wheels 18X7.5 +52mm offset, 24.6 lbs http://**************************/forum/f319/ultimate-will-they-fit-thread-everything-you-101473/
Found Andros N1, good price and lighter, plus low pressure casting. These are 18X8 +48mm offset. They don't look too over the top, subtle. Mods please delete link if not allowed.
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Whee...lse&filterNew=All&filterWeight=All&sort=Brand
This calculator tells me will stick out 0.2" further when compared to the MS3 wheel and 225X40X18 tire.
http://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp
Anyone see a concern here? I know not all tires are the same so if anyone has thoughts on a specific tire or size around similar OE 280 treadware that would be great.
I'd like my next step, budget permitting, to be the megan racing coilover suspension set up. I'd hate to have rubbing problems. Would also consider 17" rim.
thanks,
Erik
Fast forward to present day, have been randomly trolling the internet for months waiting for someone to do something with the 5 and post about it. Discover someone recently has and then one of the first posts here I read is "tuanies" (who was the author of the ebay blog and Tom's Hardware articles I was reading).
Ok - plans are simple, am going to run it on some courses for fun/track days. Already signed up for first weekend in about two weekends. Don't really care about classing rules/limitations of modifications for the vehicle. It's a van for crying out loud.. with kids seats and cheerios everywhere. I'm just happy to be out there. Only looking for things at this time that would help/improve handling and power (besides the driver).
In order -
1) Wheels/Tires: Looked at trying to locate used MS3 wheels but never have had much luck buying used stuff anyway. MS3 2nd gen wheels 18X7.5 +52mm offset, 24.6 lbs http://**************************/forum/f319/ultimate-will-they-fit-thread-everything-you-101473/
Found Andros N1, good price and lighter, plus low pressure casting. These are 18X8 +48mm offset. They don't look too over the top, subtle. Mods please delete link if not allowed.
http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Whee...lse&filterNew=All&filterWeight=All&sort=Brand
This calculator tells me will stick out 0.2" further when compared to the MS3 wheel and 225X40X18 tire.
http://www.rimsntires.com/specspro.jsp
Anyone see a concern here? I know not all tires are the same so if anyone has thoughts on a specific tire or size around similar OE 280 treadware that would be great.
I'd like my next step, budget permitting, to be the megan racing coilover suspension set up. I'd hate to have rubbing problems. Would also consider 17" rim.
thanks,
Erik
