America came up with some decent things in the '70s and early '80s (Peter Frampton's "Frampton Comes Alive" and Burger King's Burger Buddies, for instance), but hatchbacks were not one of them. To the best of my recollection, they were all pretty much crap. My grandpa owned a tan Chevrolet Citation, for instance. Nothing against him, of course, but that Chevy should have worn a sticker saying: "WARNING: Unfit for human consumption."
When was the last time Detroit turned out something cool in a hatchback? The best I can think of is the late '80s Escort GT. But even this doesn't really count, as it was powered by a Mazda-sourced 1.8L DOHC engine. Don't know about you, but I'll take a second-gen Honda CRX Si, thank you.
Times have changed a little bit since then, though. The CRX is long gone and, if you read in last month's Super Street about the '01 Honda Civic, you no doubt know that Honda has discontinued the Civic hatchback (for the U.S. market, anyway). If you want to buy a new hatchback for 2001, the best platform available right now is from Ford.
Yes, that would be the Ford Focus, the same car that Ford has been spending millions of dollars hyping and promoting. If you need justification that the Focus is for real, look no further than our August 2000 issue with Shawn Carlson's Focus drag car on the cover. But is the Focus a good car to modify for the street? Can it compete against modified Civics?
To find out, the crack team here at Super Street magazine ("Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help-and if you can find them-maybe you can hire...") obtained a turbocharged Focus ZX3. Built by FasTrax of Torrance, California, this silver Ford is host to a wide selection of aftermarket parts.
Visually, the car is much more aggressive thanks to the Wings West body kit, Hella Projector headlights, and Versus Motorsports M3-style side mirrors. The Fiber Images carbon-fiber hood is also pretty cool, as this was the first time we had seen one on a Focus. If there is a problem with the Focus ZX3's shape in general, it's that its height minimizes the effect of running big wheels and tires. Fastrax bolted up 19-inch T5 RH Evolution wheels shod with 225/35ZR19 Toyo Proxes tires, but they didn't really look any bigger than 18s.
Providing power to those wheels is Ford's 2.0L DOHC four-cylinder Zetec engine. In stock trim, it makes 130 hp and 130 lb-ft of torque. Decent, yes, but that's not enough to truly challenge new Celica GT-Ss and Integra GS-Rs at the stoplight. To get more power, the options would be nitrous, a turbocharger or a supercharger. Since FasTrax's specialty is turbochargers, adding one to the Focus made complete sense.
FasTrax's Focus ZX3 is equipped with a Garrett T28 turbocharger, along with a Spearco intercooler, an HKS AIC with RC Engineering fuel injectors, a TiAL blowoff valve, a MSD ignition system, Esslinger adjustable cam gears, Focus Sport spark plug wires, and an HKS exhaust system. Everything else is pretty much stock, including the clutch and all of the engine internals. Boost is set at a modest 6 psi.
Placed on a Dynojet, FasTrax's Focus ZX3 generates 198 hp and 208 lb-ft of torque at the wheels. To back it up on the pavement, we tagged along with former Super Street staffers Brent Romans and Karl Brauer as they were testing cars for their current employer, Edmunds.com. It's a different life for them now, with cool cars being replaced by minivans, SUVs, and Buicks. If you want to know how many cupholders the Dodge Durango has, just ask them.