A few days back, local ST enthusiast Bernard brought in his 2015 Ford Focus ST to be fitted with a set of lowering springs to give the Focus ST Suspension a bit of a drop. The Mod Experts helped Bernard schedule the install and get the springs ordered. With years of road racing experience and being a fellow Ford owner, he’s the guy who can help you pick out the best suspension setup for what you’re trying to do with a car.
Swift Suspension has been making quite the impression on the ST community as of late with their Spec R Springs – we installed a set of Swift Spec R springs on a Fiesta ST a bit over a week ago. Swift Springs reportedly offer a spring both great handling and has a decent ride as well. The Focus ST is already an outstanding corner carver, but a set of Swift Spec-R Lowering Springs for Focus ST has been optimized specifically to make optimal use of the car’s existing geometry.
Tech Juan makes quick work of installing the springs, even the Focus ST’s tricky front suspension
With a rate of 4.5Kg/mm (251lb/in) up front and a rate of 5.0Kg/mm (279lb/in) in the rear, the Swift Springs offer predictable, responsive handling performance as well as lowering the ride height by 1.0in both front and rear.
The Swift Springs were a piece of cake to install in the rear and look perfectly at home as a part of the rear suspension.
Here’s what Bernard had to say about the experience here:
“(This was my) first time getting work done at Mod Auto, real professional guys. Better show up on time for your appointment because these guys get the work done when they promise to get it done. Thanks to the Mod Auto crew!”
Under the hood, this Focus ST Intake has been upgraded with a mountune High Flow Intake Tube for EcoBoost 2.0 Engines, offering sharper response than OEM and certainly a more interesting look under the hood.
Having done a few Focus ST spring installs myself, the front springs are a pain and depending on your level of skill and how willing the suspension is to come apart, you may or may not need to remove the front axles – so you may want to consider getting yours installed at here at ModAuto if you’re not super-comfortable taking that much of the car apart.
After getting the front springs changed out, we put it all together and took the Oxford White 2015 ST out into the sun to snap a few pics of how it sits on the new springs.
Sporting a custom-made ST-specific bike rack (several Focus ST guys have asked – this is custom made by a FocusST.org member – we’re a supporting vendor), Bernard’s ST looks perfect at this ride height, exactly how the car should’ve looked the day it rolled out of the factory.
Like we mentioned earlier, the Swift Spec R Springs for the Focus ST drop the car 1.0 in, which is less of a drop than some of the other sport spring applications out there – the reason it is where it is all comes down to Swift’s testing their springs on every platform they offer suspension bits for.
Here’s how she looks from the front, and we have to say, we really like the new front end on the 2015 FoSTs.
There’s just enough wheelgap to allow sufficient travel for a car that’s daily driven on the very imperfect streets of SoCal.
After a few days of driving, we got in touch with Bernard to ask how he likes the performance and ride after getting to know how it behaves.
“Swift rides really nice, almost like stock, but a touch stiffer. I do notice that it holds ‘the line’ a lot better than the stock height/springs… less body roll. With the negative camber, its turn in and exit lines are really nice, but (on the downside) I’m going to kill the tires for sure.”
Accurate observations – a lowered car with negative camber will go through tires a bit more quickly, but that’s one of the normal tradeoffs when lowering a vehicle – however we should note that an alignment and other suspension upgrades can help correct the rate of tire wear – but we’ll save that for another post.
We love the stance of the lowered Focus ST, and can’t wait to see what Bernard does to his ST next. We hope you enjoyed the photos!
Interested in modding your Focus ST? Need something installed? Talk to the Mod Experts at ModAuto, give us a call at 714-582-3330 to chat with our team of experts or stop by the ModAuto showroom in La Habra CA during business hours (8-5 M-Sat) and talk to our experts in person.
Thanks for reading, see you next time!
Story & Photos Nick Gregson