OK, let me explain what I mean about the above question. Lets say you own a Ford Focus and (just for the purposes of explanation) there are no available performance parts that are strictly stated, for the Ford Focus. Now on the other hand, say Ford Mondeo, has a plethora of performance parts ranging from big brake kits to coilovers and so on. Now lets say that both cars share the same platform/chassis (they probably do in some shape or form). Now, is it OK to use the performance parts from the Mondeo on the Focus?

Now this would open Pandora’s box or a treasure trove of possibilities. Lets talk about suspension. Why would be the pros and cons of using the suspension from one car in another.

Suspension

Pros

  • More options to choose from
  • Allowing for adjust-ability
  • Opens the door for potentially cheaper components
  • Can achieve that stance yo!

Cons

  • Could screw up the cars geometry causing other issues
  • Suspension travel could change significantly
  • Could start rubbing/wearing tires
  • Potentially degrade other suspension components quicker

That stanced life.

#getlow

Please note that by no means this is some sort of scientific and factual information. This is just from one DIY mechanic to another who is open for discussion and debate. One might even say, Food For Thought… See what I did there?

Anyway clearly there is a potentially for ruining your vehicle. Now I can say from personal experience that this has happened to me. If some of you have read my previous blog post found here, you will know that I own a Fiat Panda 100HP. Now the choice of performance suspension is there don’t get me wrong but for someone who was on a low wage, but dishing out a wad load of cash for KW coilovers was not an option for me. So I had settled on a lovely less comfortable option of FK coilovers for the Fiat 500.

As the pros and cons mentioned, I definitely had achieved that awesome “stance” look which a lot of people loved the look of. But living with that horrendous quality and discomfort? Yeah I could hack it but in the end, it was necessary to change to suspension that was meant for the car.

Brakes

So, you are running 257mm disc brakes and realize that they aren’t really suiting your track racing needs and you want a bit more stopping power. Well the answer is simple. Big brake kit! Ahh shoot there is no option for your specific car. Well why not see if you can find parts that are for a different car.

Can you even stop bruh?!

Again, I will use Fiats as my example because that is my knowledge and comfort zone.

Let’s take a look at the Fiat Panda and the Fiat Doblo. What I have done is swapped out the bigger brakes that you get from the Doblo (which is a van) and added them to the Panda. This increased the disc size to 280mm. You have a bigger surface area for the pads to work on and more cooling. Who can say no to that?? Miata bruhs can understand this too. They upgrade brakes plenty from other Miatas.

Pros

  • More options to choose from
  • Bigger sizes
  • Better cooling
  • Can use your brakes longer before fading kicks in

Cons

  • Your alloys may not fit over the calipers

As you can see, there is really no reason why you should not upgrade to bigger brakes which come from a different car of the same brand. This makes it such a cool improvement and an effective one. You could also do a rear drum to disc conversion so you have even better performance.

Final Thoughts

There are a bunch of reasons why you should and definitely should not swap certain parts from one car to another from the same brand. It is all about researching first and understanding the pros and cons. Be a smart mechanic, be safe most of all!

But in a nutshell you should definitely add bigger oem brakes on your car it is sooooo much better.

Advertisement