[Stasiu]

Alright guys, had to move on from a full bolt on Evo X MR that was putting down about 350hp 325 torque at the wheels on a mustang dyno, had coilovers, and cutco frame braces. I drove a bunch of cars, and coming from the Evo it made me realize how lacking "sport sedans" felt. Drove a 2015 Lexus IS250, 2014 BMW 535i, and 2012 Audi S4. I almost bought the Audi, but the check engine light came on with a test drive and it just gave me a bad feeling about the car. The Lexus was a dog, the BMW was nice, and the Audi was my favorite, but having had some time to walk away from the deal I really couldn't justify spending that much money and still not coming close to the performance I had. A local 2014 Focus ST came up on craigslist with 8900 miles for $18k, and I was surprised by how it felt when I drove it. No turbo lag, tons of torque. Driving it around for a day I realize how much traction is an issue on the car, something I never had to worry about on the Evo. I know I'm gonna end up doing a full bolt on in the next 6 months, K&N drop in, bigger intercooler, catless down pipe, likely agency power exhaust (what I had on my Evo too), Cobb AP with custom tune, rear sway bar. So that brings me to my question.

Rims/Tires. Keep the stock 8.0 width or go with 8.5, and with what tire size? I'm gonna do some coilovers with a modest drop, nothing slammed, I'm looking for performance. I like the Dunlop Direzza Star spec line of tires, and will probably put them on. What tires are popular on these forums? Any thoughts on a rim width/tire package that has the most bang for the buck? Thanks in advance

 

[Stasiu]

Optioned with the ST2 pack with full leather, navigation and moonroof upgrade

 

[betterthansx]

Alright guys, had to move on from a full bolt on Evo X MR that was putting down about 350hp 325 torque at the wheels on a mustang dyno, had coilovers, and cutco frame braces. I drove a bunch of cars, and coming from the Evo it made me realize how lacking "sport sedans" felt. Drove a 2015 Lexus IS250, 2014 BMW 535i, and 2012 Audi S4. I almost bought the Audi, but the check engine light came on with a test drive and it just gave me a bad feeling about the car. The Lexus was a dog, the BMW was nice, and the Audi was my favorite, but having had some time to walk away from the deal I really couldn't justify spending that much money and still not coming close to the performance I had. A local 2014 Focus ST came up on craigslist with 8900 miles for $18k, and I was surprised by how it felt when I drove it. No turbo lag, tons of torque. Driving it around for a day I realize how much traction is an issue on the car, something I never had to worry about on the Evo. I know I'm gonna end up doing a full bolt on in the next 6 months, K&N drop in, bigger intercooler, catless down pipe, likely agency power exhaust (what I had on my Evo too), Cobb AP with custom tune, rear sway bar. So that brings me to my question.

Rims/Tires. Keep the stock 8.0 width or go with 8.5, and with what tire size? I'm gonna do some coilovers with a modest drop, nothing slammed, I'm looking for performance. I like the Dunlop Direzza Star spec line of tires, and will probably put them on. What tires are popular on these forums? Any thoughts on a rim width/tire package that has the most bang for the buck? Thanks in advance

Welcome!

I assume that the car is completely stock as or right now?

One thing to help with traction that is relatively cheap, would be a RMM (Rear Motor Mount). They are $150-160. I have the Cobb and love it. After it is broken in, it is no different from stock.

For wheels, I believe some have gone as wide as 9"? The stock wheels are 18"x 8" +55. Check out the link below that will give you a good idea of fitments;

http://www.focusst.org/forum/focus-st-wheels-tires/48559-18-focus-st-wheel-offset-diagram.html

For tires, you are spoiled for choice. For the Direzza Z2 Star Specs, the 235/40R18 are only a 91W load rating. Which SHOULD be OK, but the car comes stock with 95Y which is a decent amount stiffer. You could easily bump up to a 245/40R18 93W which would be more suitable. I like these tires, but I have found that they do not wear very nicely compared to other sticky tires.

The Michelin Pilot Super Sport is the tire of choice it seems around here, but where the Direzza is a 200 treadwear, the PSS is 300. So it isn't quite as sticky. You can actually go with Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2's which are 235/40R18 95Y and they are a 180 treadwear. These tires seem to wear much nicer though for some reason. The outer shoulder seems to take tracking much better and doesn't chunk. My last set I got 50,000km out of them and I still had a bit of life in them. I also had quite a few track days on them.

There are many good tires out there, but I wouldn't cheap out on them. Buy the best that you can afford, because one emergency maneuver and you will be happy that you did. The extra couple hundred dollars will end up in a longer lasting tire as well as something that has better performance.