MagnaFlow’s Five Favorite Mods for the Focus RS: Fanning The Flames Of Ford’s New Hotness

Ford’s new Focus RS managed to really blow people’s minds when it hit our shores earlier this year. It took the successful ST formula and cranked it up to 11000. With more than 300hp on tap and all-wheel drive, the RS is a blast on any surface and will even give European sports cars a run for their money on a canyon road. That said, stock is never good enough and we have been thinking about some of the best ways to massage Ford’s good work to make it even better. Here’s what we came up with.

MagnaFlow Race Series Exhaust:
Sure, we’re biased but we think our exhaust system for the RS is the best sounding one out there. So does Matt Farah from the Smoking Tire. We designed and built our prototype system for his car. If you check out The Smoking Tire’s YouTube channel, you can find a One Take video of Matt’s car with a ton of killer Mountune upgrades and our exhaust. It’s definitely worth a watch.

White Line Swaybars:
These Australian geniuses make some incredible suspension components from bushings to sway bars and their new stuff for the RS makes a huge difference in how tight the car feels on the road. Their sway bars help to tame the RS’ added bulk and makes it feel razor sharp in the canyons. We partnered with these guys for a build at SEMA and were super impressed with their products.

Bilstein PSS10 Coilovers:
Bilstein needs no introduction. They’ve been making some of the world’s best shocks and struts for ages now. We love their unique feel and excellent valving plus the fact that you can send your old worn out shocks in to be rebuilt by the factory for almost no money is amazing. In addition to just plain old shocks and struts, Bilstein makes some positively epic coilovers in the form of their PSS10 series. We’ve experienced these bad boys in the RS and can’t say enough positive things about the ride quality, build quality and adjustability. These should be considered a must-have if you own an RS and want to keep your dental work intact.

Cobb Accessport:
The mad scientists at Cobb completely changed the game when they introduced their Accessport line of handheld tuners to the Subaru crowd years ago. Now, they’ve upgraded the Accessport into a ridiculously useful and powerful gadget that makes turning up the wick on your car as easy as making toaster waffles. The Accessport allows you to change maps on the fly, utilize flat-foot shifting, gives you launch control and lets you scan codes and have shift lights. It’s amazing. Add in the fact that Cobb’s off the shelf maps are second to none, and it would be stupid to not have one of these.

Seibon Carbon Bits:
Sometimes making your car more unique and aesthetically pleasing has the fringe benefit of making it perform better too. This is certainly the case when you start swapping out heavy steel body panels for Seibon Carbon parts. Not only do they look the part, but they’re strong and super lightweight. Your Focus RS isn’t a light car, so helping it to lose a little body fat will make everything work better and your car will feel faster. Let’s face it, everyone likes carbon fiber. Plus, things like carbon hoods with additional venting will help keep your EcoBoost from losing its chill thanks to increased ability to evacuate under hood heat.