Focusing on Wheels

Update by Tom Suddard to the Ford SVT Focus project car
Apr 6, 2015

With two rallycrosses under its belt, our 2003 Ford SVT Focus was getting pretty good at sliding around in the dirt. Unfortunately, its tires weren’t. The car came with a set of basic all-seasons on some neat wheels from Tire Rack. And, though we liked the wheels, the tires just weren’t up to rallycross. We’d been wanting to go faster, anyway.

The solution? Rally tires. But before we could mount a set, we needed to downsize our wheels. Most rally tires fit a 15” wheel, meaning that our 17” wheels would have to go. That’s not easy to do on an SVT Focus like ours, as the big front brakes make mounting most 15” wheels impossible. The Focus’s 4x108 bolt pattern severely restricts the selection, too.

So, to the internet we went. And after a few hours of research, we found some wheels that we thought would fit: the Team Dynamics Racing Pro Rally 1. Besides being the right size and shape, they were even made in the Focus’s odd bolt pattern. So, we ordered a set and crossed our fingers.

Two minutes after the wheels arrived, we grabbed the breaker bar and hit the driveway. It was time to see if our math was correct. And, after a quick test-fit, we decided it was! The wheels fit, though just barely. And while the looks are certainly a departure from our old wheels, we like the rally wheels, too. They suggest a different aesthetic, one dominated by flying dirt, hairpin turns, and crowds of cheering fans.

It’s time to order some rally tires.

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