[FordFocus897]

Hey guys, let me tell you about my situation. I bought my car used with 1200 miles on it. It came with an injen intake, ford racing springs, some kind of a BOV (don't know what kind) an MBRP catback, some kind of a short shift kit but I dont know exactly what kind. So I'm pretty sure of most the mods but I can't say for sure what I have and what I don't because I didn't mod it myself. I'm pretty sure I don't have a downpipe. Once I finish paying it off (I'm getting really close) I want to mod it more. The main thing I want to do is buy an access port. So here's my noob questions. Will a tune unlock more power out of the mods I already have? As in am I not getting as much horsepower and torque as I could from those mods without a tune? Also, i would like to get a downpipe. What's the difference between an off-road downpipe and one that's not? (I notice the off-road seems to be cheaper) and what's a catalytic converter? Will getting one without it be louder? Also, should I be looking at an inter cooler? Anything else I'm missing? Thanks for the help

 

[lug]

Most of the power will come from the tune itself, not the mods you have listed. An off road downpipe usually just means it has no catalytic converter in it ergo it's only legal "off road" Also a larger intercooler is one of the most recommended mods for this car because the OEM one is tiny and barely adequate even for the stock setup.

 

[elyk864]

Hey guys, let me tell you about my situation. I bought my car used with 1200 miles on it. It came with an injen intake, ford racing springs, some kind of a BOV (don't know what kind) an MBRP catback, some kind of a short shift kit but I dont know exactly what kind. So I'm pretty sure of most the mods but I can't say for sure what I have and what I don't because I didn't mod it myself. I'm pretty sure I don't have a downpipe. Once I finish paying it off (I'm getting really close) I want to mod it more. The main thing I want to do is buy an access port. So here's my noob questions. Will a tune unlock more power out of the mods I already have? As in am I not getting as much horsepower and torque as I could from those mods without a tune? Also, i would like to get a downpipe. What's the difference between an off-road downpipe and one that's not? (I notice the off-road seems to be cheaper) and what's a catalytic converter? Will getting one without it be louder? Also, should I be looking at an inter cooler? Anything else I'm missing? Thanks for the help

1. Without a tune, other mods are near useless as the car is trying to make it run like stock as much as possible. So yes you will get much more power from the mods.
2. An off road downpipe will just be a pipe, straight through with no catalytic converter. A catalytic converter is for emissions, it helps reduce them but "can" restrict flow.
3. It will be louder without a catalytic converter.
4. An intercooler is very nice to have as it makes the power you have consistent. With out an aftermarket one the OE gets heatsoaked very easily and you begin to "lose" power after a couple good pulls.

 

[FordFocus897]

Hey guys, let me tell you about my situation. I bought my car used with 1200 miles on it. It came with an injen intake, ford racing springs, some kind of a BOV (don't know what kind) an MBRP catback, some kind of a short shift kit but I dont know exactly what kind. So I'm pretty sure of most the mods but I can't say for sure what I have and what I don't because I didn't mod it myself. I'm pretty sure I don't have a downpipe. Once I finish paying it off (I'm getting really close) I want to mod it more. The main thing I want to do is buy an access port. So here's my noob questions. Will a tune unlock more power out of the mods I already have? As in am I not getting as much horsepower and torque as I could from those mods without a tune? Also, i would like to get a downpipe. What's the difference between an off-road downpipe and one that's not? (I notice the off-road seems to be cheaper) and what's a catalytic converter? Will getting one without it be louder? Also, should I be looking at an inter cooler? Anything else I'm missing? Thanks for the help

1. Without a tune, other mods are near useless as the car is trying to make it run like stock as much as possible. So yes you will get much more power from the mods.
2. An off road downpipe will just be a pipe, straight through with no catalytic converter. A catalytic converter is for emissions, it helps reduce them but "can" restrict flow.
3. It will be louder without a catalytic converter.
4. An intercooler is very nice to have as it makes the power you have consistent. With out an aftermarket one the OE gets heatsoaked very easily and you begin to "lose" power after a couple good pulls.

Thank you very much for this info! Would I get pulled over if I got a downpipe without a catyktyic converter? Would any downpipe still be louder?

 

[elyk864]

Thank you very much for this info! Would I get pulled over if I got a downpipe without a catyktyic converter? Would any downpipe still be louder?

Any downpipe will be louder than stock, you wouldn't get pulled over for not having a catalytic converter. There would be no way for them to know. However depending on where you live it may hinder efforts to pass emissions without a catalytic converter.

 

[FordFocus897]

Thank you very much for this info! Would I get pulled over if I got a downpipe without a catyktyic converter? Would any downpipe still be louder?

Any downpipe will be louder than stock, you wouldn't get pulled over for not having a catalytic converter. There would be no way for them to know. However depending on where you live it may hinder efforts to pass emissions without a catalytic converter.

I live in Florida. How loud would it be without converter compared to now with just a catback?

 

[elyk864]

I live in Florida. How loud would it be without converter compared to now with just a catback?

I don't know about the emissions laws in Florida, but depending on what exhaust you have it could be obnoxious and drone. I don't have any exhaust work done, and if you look at my sig you can see the mods I have done. With a custom tune you will get the most power out of the car.

 

[AK2112]

I'm saying this not to be mean, but to help you.

Based on your questions, I don't know if tuning is a good move at this point. I'd really read up and learn more about the car and tuning before jumping in.

 

[brian60]

I'm saying this not to be mean, but to help you.

Based on your questions, I don't know if tuning is a good move at this point. I'd really read up and learn more about the car and tuning before jumping in.

Seconded. It'll help in the long run because you'll know what mods benefit from a tune and what mods don't. For example if I got a catback right now I wouldn't update my tune because I don't need it. It won't do anything for me and be a waste of money. Knowledge is power (in the form of HP )

 

[Lordred]

Just to be that guy everyone hates. Running catless is a Federal offense and can cost you up to 10k if caught.

They make good high flow catted down pipes.

 

[brian60]

Just to be that guy everyone hates. Running catless is a Federal offense and can cost you up to 10k if caught.

They make good high flow catted down pipes.

I can promise you, you won't ever get in trouble unless you have emissions testing where you live. Most car guys who don't live in California or a place where they test emissions prefer catless for the maximum power potential, UNLESS you don't like the smell of catless. Don't scare him like that when there's a ton of guys running catless all over the states where you're able to.


Edit: Helps with smell, lower sound, SLIGHT emissions.

 

[Burnboy]

Just to be that guy everyone hates. Running catless is a Federal offense and can cost you up to 10k if caught.

They make good high flow catted down pipes.

Ignore this guy

 

[brian60]

Ignore this guy

:whs::LAME::agree:

 

[FordFocus897]

Thanks for the replies guys. I had an idea on some of the questions I asked but just wanted to be sure. There's a local place that does tuning and one guy who works there had a focus st that he tuned. He has an RS now. So maybe it would be a good idea to have him do a custom tune on my car if I were to tune it?

 

[FordFocus897]

Also, I may not go catless simply because of the potential drone

 

[brian60]

Also, I may not go catless simply because of the potential drone

You have an MBRP catback...it'll definitely drone with catless. It also might drone slightly with a high flow cat though too because that brand is known to drone a little.


Edit: It'll sound badass though. Lol

 

[FordFocus897]

Also, I may not go catless simply because of the potential drone

You have an MBRP catback...it'll definitely drone with catless. It also might drone slightly with a high flow cat though too because that brand is known to drone a little.


Edit: It'll sound badass though. Lol

Yea I think I will go with the flow. It's gonna sound ridiculous

 

[brian60]

Yea I think I will go with the flow. It's gonna sound ridiculous

It won't pass the "girlfriend/wife test" unless she's a car person for sure.


P.s. If you're a woman my apologies. Lol taking an educated guess on gender here

 

[FordFocus897]

Yea I think I will go with the flow. It's gonna sound ridiculous

It won't pass the "girlfriend/wife test" unless she's a car person for sure.


P.s. If you're a woman my apologies. Lol taking an educated guess on gender here

Hahah good guess. Good thing I'm young and single! ?

 

[FordFocus897]

Also I'm a dude. Almost forgot that part