Paul Sweeney - 2008 Focus St 225

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Paul Sweeney

2008 Focus St 225

Instagram: @sweeney_st225

Over the years I’ve owned lots of cars, mostly 2 at a time, 1 family car which I would have a few years and a second car for work that I would get bored of too quickly and change on a regular basis. The first car I had from passing my test was a Vauxhall cavalier Sri. To be honest I hated it. After a few breakdowns and faults, I got rid of and bought a little mk3 fiesta 1.1 lx and loved it. From that nearly all the cars I have now had have been a ford, never wanting to own another Vauxhall again. I suppose everybody has their prefered make and I just love a ford.

Although I have had lots of cars, I have never really been bothered about tuning them up or doing any kind of modifications. The odd car I have owned has had a sports exhaust on or changed the wheels but that was mainly due to existing items needing to be changed. I think that the car I loved the most was my escort gti, that's the only car I wish I had never sold.

I bought the focus nearly 3 years ago, at 40 years old some say mid-life crisis. Apart from an exhaust and dump valve it was standard. It was one car I had always looked at owning, mainly because of the noise from the 5 pot engine. The dream would be an escort Cosworth but budget stops that. I knew what I wanted, it had to be electric orange, st3 for the leather and facelift model. I did look at others but my heart was set on orange.

The day I bought the car I went straight onto Facebook and looked at joining a club as I knew then I loved the car that much it had to be tuned. I joined the EOSTOC run by Alex Gorden. A week after this I went to my first ever car meet at the opening season event at Squires. Another owner Jamie Thorpe got in touch and showed me the way forward. Once there I met up with Alex and they introduced me to other clubs. It was during this outing when around lots of beautifully modified cars, my 12-year-old son turned to me and said - "dad, your car's boring compared to these". That was it, let the modding begin.

The first thing was the exhaust. Section 59 was too loud for me being a daily driver and going to work at 3 am the neighbours weren’t keen either. After advice and guidance from the club, I looked for a place to entrust my motor, and Mark Kent @ Automodz was chosen. With him being local as well it was a no brainer and so far they have done all the mechanical work on my car and advised well on what parts would work best.

I also paid Nick Wiley a visit to get the bonnet vented for the looks and to help release heat from the engine bay. Blueprint was also used for most of the striping and the roof, other graphics have been put on me whilst bored during the first lockdown so went for a colour change to the wheels and something down the sides of the car - thanks eBay.

With the addition of a little devil boost gauge and DRL lights fitted by Alex Gorden, I was getting closer to what I was hoping for. With the mods on the car which Automodz have done, I spoke to Dreamscience and purchased their Imap and put on Modx. The car is now running beautifully and although not been on a dyno yet, told by @dreamscience should be around 320bhp which is perfect. With the car looking well I had CM Illustrations do me a few renderings to frame and put up.

The mods running at the minute are;

• Block Mod
• Full Scorpion Exhaust 3" with 4-inch tips
• Decat
• Highflow downpipe
• Forge Recerc Valve
• Forge Actuator
• Airtec Stage 2 Intercooler
• Rs Plugs
• Induction Kit with K&N cone Filter
• Little Devil Boost Gauge
• Dreamscience Imap Running Modx with V2 Overrun

Future mods will include RS clutch as still running standard without issues, RS vac Pipe, Plenum, change tips to 5" - in the shed just not fitted yet and change all hoses in the engine bay. Externally will be a rear diffuser and side skirts, roof scoop and possibly a big wing.

The car clubs I'm a part of are EOSTOC, #TeamTicTacs and Rolling Oval, they are more like family than just car friends. Like most people, I’m in lots of car clubs, all through Facebook mainly as I love to see other cars and see what’s happening with shows and meets.

What do you think?

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