EcoBoost Swapped 2008 Ford Focus

May 3rd, 2017, Chris Bauer and Alex Mrazik made the trek from St. Louis to Chicago to pick-up a 2008 Ford Focus SE coupe. This may sound like your average vehicle purchase, but daily duty was never in the plans for this car.   

 This car was purchased with one goal in mind, at that was to replace the 2.0L naturally aspirated Duratec engine with a 2.0L EcoBoost engine out of a Focus ST.  In August of 2017, the stock 4-cylinder engine was removed to make way for the new turbo charged unit.

After weeks of long nights and hard work, the EcoBoost engine had its new home in the bay of the '08 Coupe. A lot of modifications were made to get the engine to fit and operate correctly. 

Shortly after the engine was settled into place and wiring was complete, the EcoBoost powered Coupe fired to life. The Panda Motorworks team had succesfully done it! The world's first EcoBoost powered Mk2 Focus was alive. However, the build was far from over.

Fast forward a year and a half later and you get the car as it sits now. Gone is the factory paint, stock suspension, XXR Wheels, and the stock 2.0L Ecoboost engine. Instead, what you have is nothing short of a showstopper. The factory paint has been covered in Smurf Blue by Vivid Wrap. The stock suspension has been upgraded to Custom Airtekk Air Suspension with Air Lift Performance 3P Management. The XXR wheels were tossed in favor for a set of black powdercoated Rotiform RSE's paired with Federal SS595 tires. And the stock 2.0L EcoBoost engine was replaced with a 2.3L EcoBoost engine out of a Ford Focus RS.

Aside from the mechanical upgrades, the car is very different aesthetically from the base model SE that rolled off the lot in Chicago. Just about every inch of the car has been touched with an OEM+ theme in mind. the SE bumper was axed in favor of a bumper off the sportier SES model. In addition to the SES bumper, a 3D carbon front lip was installed to match the 3D Carbon side skirts and flush mount rear spoiler.  

The interior of the vehicle has been upgraded by including Sparco racing seats, NRG steering wheel with a quick release hub, and custom gauge cluster. The trunk has been modified to display the Air Lift components backed by custom diamond stitched leather.

Check out Chris's build at a variety of shows throughout the Midwest and check out his Instagram page (@boosted_08) for more content!