Somebody needs to have a chat with Ford's marketing people. At the turn of the century, the Zetec engine was hot, new news at the Blue Oval -- so justifiably proud of it was Ford that it included the Zetec as standard in the top-line Focus, and kept the engine firmly in mind by calling that package the "ZTS." But, in a blatant case of "Forest for the Trees" Syndrome, somebody, somehow missed that this badge of honor contained an unfortunate slur. Imagine the fallen look on that proud high-schooler's face when the first girl asked him why his new car was called "The ZiTS." But such blemishes are easily forgotten, particularly after a bit of facial reconstruction in the form of a sweet ground effects kit.
This one must be gotten out of the way first, and is only included for the sake of comprehensiveness. If you really feel like Brian O'Conner's bright green Eclipse was too subtle, but don't want to get laughed at for wearing Bomex, then Cervini might have the kit you're looking for. By absolute rice terms, the Cervini kit is fairly tasteful; it's got a big, fake diffuser screen in the back, tall, fake side inlets behind the doors, and at least one quartet of fill slits in the bumper ahead of the front tires that don't do anything. The Cervini kit is very well-proportioned for the Focus' shape, though its blockier elements -- particularly the large lower grille opening up front and the fake diffuser screen on the back bumper -- might be better in keeping with the hatchback than the ZTS sedan. Still, it's got that slab-sided, flared-out-at-the-bottom look that gives compacts like the Focus a purposeful stance. Prices as of 2014 run about $1,200, available from Cervini.
DTM stands for "Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters," which is Germany's notoriously brutal touring car racing series. If Europe had a NASCAR, DTM would be it. Extreme Dimensions offers several body kits for this car, and some, including the B-2 and Buddy Kit, are legitimately good-looking and aggressive, without slipping into the Cartoonland of ED Poison or mouth-big-enough-to-swallow-Civics Drifter kits. They do have another good one, but more on that in a moment. For now, the DTM kit is super-cheap at $400, and is hard to beat if you're looking for something stylish and purposeful, yet restrained enough to look almost factory. What sets this kit apart is the boxy recesses in the lower bumpers, which when painted black tastefully contain a pair of small driving lights, and all the ducts and bits. The rest of the kit, outside the recesses, is glass smooth with no American silliness. Definitely worth a look if you're the kind of Focus driver who pulls his pants up over his underwear.
The Silk kit, also sold under the appropriately named Sense brand, might be a good choice if you're thinking of going with a darker color, or a single, body-length, grille-width racing stripe going over the car. Charcoal on red, or silver on blue -- take your pick. The Spyder is a good-looking, wide-stance kit with a pronounced flare-out at the base, and a very rectangular lower grille opening. A good functional kit if you're running a turbo and intercooler, with brake cooling ducts on either side and a single, large exit duct ahead of the front tires. A good enough looking kit that is, if anything, just a bit too too smooth and featureless at the corners. It would look good with the right paint job, but bright colors, metallics or pearls will draw attention to that huge corner expanse and make the bumper look noticeably aftermarket -- and not in a good way. Definite potential, just be sure to use your paint or graphics scheme to draw attention to the center of the car, and away from the corners. Plan on a reasonable $500 for this kit.
The Focus has one of those faces that could remind you of almost any popular Japanese car, provided it had the right body kit. A few companies, including Extreme Dimensions and JT Autostyle, make Focus body kits styled after the older Mitsubishi Evolution, which proportionally seem to suit the Focus well. The ED kit, which does look for all the world like it was lifted straight from an Evo III, is the better-executed of the two. JT's Evo III and V kits look definitively aftermarket, and a bit too impressionist to fool the Mitsu faithful. For those looking for an even more legendary homage, there's the R34 kit, which as you might have guessed, recalls the R34 Nissan Skyline. The R34 -- like the Evo -- is a Poison kit aside from the front bumper, which somehow manages not to look out of place on the Ford. All are around $400 online. Of course, you could always pay homage to the Focus itself, which has its own World Rally Racing pedigree; a full WRC kit will run you about $1,200 from Wings West.
