Right after we finished our prototype Focus RS suspension (camber plates, monotube dampers, & coilovers) and big tire upgrade (Forgestar 18×9.5″ and 275mm RE71R) we did our 2nd round of track testing to see how much improvement we made over the stock RS at MSR-Cresson’s 1.7 mile course. And only 10 months later we finally processed all of the video, data, and wrote updated the build thread – starting here.
In the massive 3-part forum update we cover the challenges of the 3rd gen Focus chassis/suspension and how we overcame that with prototype camber plates and a modified Bilstein coilover suspension. With big spring rate changes, lots of camber, and more caster, we were able to stuff 1.5″ wider wheels and +40mm of tire under this little AWD hot hatch.
The changes to handling balance were nothing short of miraculous. Gone was the heavy understeering car with computer woes, and now we had a damn fast little 4 door on our hands – less than a second off a C6 Corvette Z06 lap time we ran at the same track only weeks before! We show a lot of our MSR testing in this post to give a good comparison of where the little RS ended up.
Todd raced the MyShopAssist RS for the rest of the 2016 season with USCA/Optimam showed the car at SEMA, and even raced in the Super Lap Battle with Global Time Attack, which we cover in the forum thread also. He has started racing the RS with Optima once again in 2017 – and we can’t wait to see how the results shake out.
You can read more, see 80+ pictures, and watch dozens of videos of the RS in full battle trim starting here.
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