# 2012 Ford Focus Install



## Comp-U-Geek (Jan 23, 2009)

This will be the first of several upcoming build logs from me so please provide feedback as to what you like/dislike. Pics seem to be of high importance, so if these are not good enough I'll try to acquire a better camera. Update: Pics moved from flickr to my own server. (3/15/12)

The Car: 2012 Ford Focus S This is my daily driver so this install will be rather basic.










The Equipment:
Stock HU (for now, tired of waiting on the "coming soon" dash kit - once the kit is available, I will be putting a real HU in)
Soundstream Rubicon 5.800
ID CX62v2 mids
PG Xenon Tweets
Cerwin V-Max 12 in SQP112 ported box (approx 1.75cu/ft)



















Will be updating this thread as time/weather permits. Forecast is 20% chance of rain for the next 7 days.


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## Comp-U-Geek (Jan 23, 2009)

Some ampguts of the Soundstream Rubicon RUB5.800 for you. I did set this up on my testbench before opening it up to check sound quality (subjectively) and verify it was fully functional. To say the solder job on this amp was done by monkeys would probably be a compliment. Its.... bad..... BUT, it was a <$200 amp for a 5ch with theoretically a decent amount of power output. While on the test bench, I compared it directly to a CV EXL400.4 and a ID Q450.4 on the same drivers with the same source. It did not have the clarity or sparkle of the ID but the ID was also substantially more money. It compared favorably to the EXL amp. They both displayed similar characteristics with the Rubicon being slightly more warm and laid-back. I wont be able to give a reasonable answer on the power ratings until its installed in the car, so we'll see if it can do what it claims.


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## Noobdelux (Oct 20, 2011)

the photos you have here are more than good enough


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## raresvintea (Sep 17, 2010)

Can you post some interior pic? It's not the same focus like in europe?


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## Comp-U-Geek (Jan 23, 2009)

raresvintea said:


> Can you post some interior pic? It's not the same focus like in europe?


Not sure if Ford has gone to the Global Model on the Focus yet or not. I'll get interior pix as things get installed. Hoping to at least get some cables run tonight after work.


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## Comp-U-Geek (Jan 23, 2009)

Unfortunately did not get much done today. Running the power wire (4ga OFC) the way I wanted took more effort than expected.

Pic of dash and factory radio. Why can't they just make them simple to replace?










Now some pics of the wire run. First up is the passenger side floorboard. There turned out to be MUCH more factory installed sound dampening than I am used to. Wire was ran through the rubber grommet in the firewall.










Still passenger side floorboard, showing the wire run in the same cable channel as the factory wiring. Will be running the remote wire along this same path.










Passenger side rear door/floorboard area.










And one under the hood.










For now, no fuse in the fuse holder and cable is tucked away in the foam trays in the trunk.


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## Comp-U-Geek (Jan 23, 2009)

Finally getting around to posting the remainder of the install... Work has sucked lately.

This is what you see when you remove the front radio control panel. This panel is separate from the radio itself. There is a small access cover under it. Remove the access cover with a small screwdriver or PRT then remove the 2 T20 torx screws. Once those are removed, the panel pulls off from bottom to top.










Next came wiring in the switched 12v wire and the LOC. Unfortunately, the ONE source of switched 12v I found did not appear to give the amp enough juice to actually power on. Here is a pic of the wire I found.










It reads 12.3 ish on the meter, but once run through the small blue wire to the amp it only reads about 10v and thus not enough to switch on the amp. I could find no other sources of switched power in the fuseblock under the dash or in the radio wiring harness. I hate these data bus powered systems. I'll have to track down a bus adapter for this car. For now I'm using a physical switch. (yeah, ghetto, but it'll suffice until I get the adapter)

Couple pics of the LOC wired up. Another cheap move to get by until bus adapter and head unit.


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## Comp-U-Geek (Jan 23, 2009)

Running the wires into the doors on this car SUCKS. Ford decided to use plastic connectors for the body-side connection. It is not a plug and I could not remove it. There were some slots I was able to pull the wire through barely, but if anyone else attempts an install in one of these, you will likely have to drill another hole and use a rubber grommet.

First pic here is a pic of the area under the passenger side dash (glovebox removed). More foam and sound insulation. You can see the speaker wires running in from the right side going out to the door. Another FYI, in order to get the wires through there, the glovebox has to be removed on the pass side and there are some 4x4 blocks of foam stuffed into the double-walled metal. To get a hand in there, you have to first pull out these blocks.










And another view of the area from the side. As with most Fords, a T20 is your best friend. There are 2 behind the access panel on the side, 2 in the glovebox area at the top and a couple more under the glovebox accessible from the floorboard area.


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## Comp-U-Geek (Jan 23, 2009)

Now we have the factory tweeter pods. Even on the non-premium equipped model, it came with the pods, just nothing in them. Removed 2 of the plastic tabs in order to fit the larger Xenon tweets. Heres a side-by-side so you can see what I did. With the angle of them, they are nearly on-axis once installed in the car. New tweets attached partially with the factory clips and partly with hot glue.










This link gives instructions on door panel removal for this car. I used this as my guide for the doors. Pretty straight forward and of course, more T20.

This pic is a close-up of the mount I used for the Focus as well to give an idea how much mounting depth there is. Simple answer: a bunch. The ID CX62 mids fit easily. The adapter brackets used came from a 09 Subaru and required only adding 1 hole to line up perfectly with the factory Ford mounts. In the pic, you can see the bottom tab on the adapter has 3 holes in it that were original and the screw went into the new hole I made to line up. Inner mounting hole was not large enough for CX62s so it had to be opened up slightly with a dremel.










And finally, a pic of the door with tweet and mid installed. Again, more sound insulation on the car. A layer of CCF about 1/8" thick covering most of the door. I will be adding some CLD at some point to take care of a slight bit of resonance but for now I'm really impressed how much sound insulation this thing came with. The friend who was assisting with running the wires has nicknamed the car "Foamy the Focus" because of the amount of foam. Oh, and did I mention, we noticed the fender wells had blocks of foam between them and the chassis too?










I'll get a pic of the amp mounting at some point, likely once I get a real source of switched power so theres not a switch hanging off of it. Will also add pics of head unit and mounting kit once those are available and installed.


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## Rockton (Nov 29, 2012)

Any luck finding a switched power source or even one that shuts off after 10 minutes?

The only two fuses that I found switched in passenger fuse box are the ones that go to the Airbags and im not touching those..


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## trojan fan (Nov 4, 2007)

I think this build might of made it to the graveyard...just saying


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## Comp-U-Geek (Jan 23, 2009)

trojan fan said:


> I think this build might of made it to the graveyard...just saying


This is about right... No, I never found a switched 12v. The head unit mounting kit didnt come out until after I started having multiple mechanical problems with the car. At that point my focus (no pun intended) was on getting the problems fixed. After a little over a week at one dealership and half a week at another and both of them telling me there were no problems and the second one straight up called me a liar, I decided it best to move on from that vehicle. First problem was a massive loss in power (to where the car struggled to break 45mph) that produced no codes in the ecu or on the dash at the time of the incident. Somewhat scary when it does that as you are trying to enter a highway on-ramp.... Second issue was the steering wheel would lock up and produce a "Steering Assist Fault" message on the dash. Had the wheel lock up twice and the second time was while driving through a parking lot. The second dealer told me "Steering faults are stored permanently and this car has never had a steering code."

I have since sold the Focus and gotten a 2012 Subaru Impreza.... Stereo install on that was rather simple. :laugh:


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## chefhow (Apr 29, 2007)

I had a Focus as a rental car about 2 weeks ago and it was the ABSOLUTE WORST CAR I HAVE EVER DRIVEN!!!


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