2002~2004 Ford Focus SVT, ST170, is a high performance edition of the first generation Focus for North America. In addition to exterior, big brake and tire upgrades, the SVT featured the 2.0 liter Zetec engine with cylinder head reworked by Cosworth, that produces 170 horsepower.
Personally I was attracted to ST170 because I owned a 2003 Focus ZX3. And Prior to the purchase I was a fan of Colin McRae’s WRC Focus. I had fond memory of carving twisties on winding Pacific Coast Highway.
The original mod came from 101 Creative and physics by VR driving. This is a very good quality mod, about top 5, if not the best, of all my FWD cars on Assetto Corsa. The 3D model is beautiful and the car drives smoothly with no hitch, the steering feel was good and car fairly responsive. The mod should be easy to find from simply searching for “Assetto Corsa Ford Focus SVT mod”. The version number I just found was 1.7.
As good as the mod was, I still feel that the car appears to be “too stiff”. Watching the reply, there is very little roll or pitch. This is actually a very common thing and most people actually prefer the cars to be stiff, as “the car handles great like a go kart”. There might be a few of you out there that prefer the car to ride a bit softer. I personally think that is actually more realistic, especially for older cars. But this is a tricky thing in a sim, because as good as some modders are, the center of gravity height most likely is still a guess. One can have the exact suspension geometry in the mod, all the forces still has to act through this uncertain CG height and behave accordingly.
My work, in car.ini and suspension.ini, essentially does two things: (1) increase basey by about 5 cm to raise the cg height and (2) lower the ride frequency to soften the ride. Other things like suspension attach points, alignment, damping and graphic offset were adjusted accordingly.
How To:
Personally I was attracted to ST170 because I owned a 2003 Focus ZX3. And Prior to the purchase I was a fan of Colin McRae’s WRC Focus. I had fond memory of carving twisties on winding Pacific Coast Highway.
The original mod came from 101 Creative and physics by VR driving. This is a very good quality mod, about top 5, if not the best, of all my FWD cars on Assetto Corsa. The 3D model is beautiful and the car drives smoothly with no hitch, the steering feel was good and car fairly responsive. The mod should be easy to find from simply searching for “Assetto Corsa Ford Focus SVT mod”. The version number I just found was 1.7.
As good as the mod was, I still feel that the car appears to be “too stiff”. Watching the reply, there is very little roll or pitch. This is actually a very common thing and most people actually prefer the cars to be stiff, as “the car handles great like a go kart”. There might be a few of you out there that prefer the car to ride a bit softer. I personally think that is actually more realistic, especially for older cars. But this is a tricky thing in a sim, because as good as some modders are, the center of gravity height most likely is still a guess. One can have the exact suspension geometry in the mod, all the forces still has to act through this uncertain CG height and behave accordingly.
My work, in car.ini and suspension.ini, essentially does two things: (1) increase basey by about 5 cm to raise the cg height and (2) lower the ride frequency to soften the ride. Other things like suspension attach points, alignment, damping and graphic offset were adjusted accordingly.
How To:
- Search and download the Ford Focus SVT 2003 mod. Install the mod through Content Manager.
- (optional: back up the car.ini and suspension.ini by putting them in a different folder)
- Extract car.ini and Suspension.ini and copy into the Ford Focus SVT 2003 folder.
- (optional: if you wish to adjust damping and suspension yourself, a setup.ini is included)