Well, stock the Focus SVT is making 170 hp (claimed) which is in the right neighborhood to take on the Civic SI and the Celica GTS, among other cars of course, which is what it was built to compete against. Let´s be honest here, ANY STOCK engine that ANY car manufacturer puts out is not making nearly the amount of HP what it could be, thats always going to be a given. Car manufacturers simply don´t want to totally over run the competition because of the repercussions for the next year models. It´s the same thing with the Mustang and F-Body Twins (Camaro and Firebird), FINALLY the Mustang is the true winner after all these years of being the Underdog. Lets say the Focus SVT makes 300 HP, well then Toyota could come back the next year with a 350 hp Celica, and to me that´s a little extreme for such small cars. They also limit HP and torque so that people can buy them and tune them how they want, i don´t know about Toyota, but Ford loves it when people do that.
And you had a point, i don´t know much of anything about Aussie and European spec Scort/Mazda engines. I´m sure they are available through corksport, but with a pretty hefty tag on import taxes, etc.
I´m set in my American ways, although i was thinking about buying a Corolla. the new 2003 S models are pretty sweet lookin, and they compete nicely with the Escort. But lately i´ve been trying to decide whether or not to keep this car and just rebuild the engine, meaning nothing but the block itself will be stock. Lately and the more i think about it, I am leaning towards this course of action.
I like the Focus, but i´m not a big fan of hatchbacks (yeah yeah I am driving one, but technically it´s a "notchback" hehe
) I´d have thought about getting a Focus if they made it in a sedan with a separate closed trunk. I´m not 100% sure but i think Ford already has a supercharger for the Focus SVT, unless i´m just thinking about the Eaton Supercharger for the Mustang GT/SVT. I dunno.
oh and don´t be apologetic to Neon drivers, they bought (my opinion) a piece of junk and they´re paying the price now when they pull up next to me.
Well i probably got about 5 more posts i can reply to tonight, catch ya later Rob.
Red 92 EGT