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The difference in rear swaybar thickness between stock and Eibach is readily apparent here. Guess which one is better for reducing understeer?
Here is another view of how the stock swaybar bolts to the top of the front subframe. This makes the installation much more time consuming. On a positive note, this is a very rigid, strong platform to mount the suspension and steering on.
A super cool feature of the Focus ST is that a lot of the suspension bushings are low compliance. Look at this subframe bushing. Solid plastic with a thin layer of rubber. Just enough to absorb vibrations. Most cars have big squishy rubber bushings with huge windows cut out to ruin handling!
A lot of the other bushings in the suspension are low compliance being small diameter and mostly solid rubber with small or no windows. Less flex, better handling!
Removing the front struts is a bit harder than typical. Since the Focus is a modern cab forward design with a sloping windshield, the strut mounts are buried under the plastic cowl cover which must be removed to access the bolts. There is a steel strut tower brace that has to be removed too.
Once the strut was out a spring compressor was used to safely remove the top hat. The Focus uses spindles with pinch bolts to hold in the struts. As a result the ball joint has to be removed and the spindle removed from the car. With the crossmember needing to be dropped to install the swaybar and the separate springs/shocks of the rear suspension, adding performance shocks and swaybars is nearly an all day job as opposed to just a few hours for a typical Japanese car.
