My new ST! Oxford White 2015 content

kevinatfms

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A single photo so far of me. They took a few photos of my buddies Miata and we had another friend bring his Mach 1 out for a try and they got a great photo of him. Hoping the other photographers start to post the photos from the day so i can get a few more of me...

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kevinatfms

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The big surprise......


Out with the old....
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And in with the new! 16x8 Konig Dekagrans with 205/45R16 RS-Pro tires. I got aluminum hub rings and Muteki SR48 open ended lugs to go with it.
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Plan is to keep the 15/16 sets, get rid of the 17” FRPP Rally wheels and give my winter set and OE ST wheels to my brother in law who has a Fiesta SE as a daily.

I am very excited for the new 16’s and Federal RS-Pro’s. Next event is February 9th at Summit Point on Shenandoah Circuit. Will have video and hopefully some photos after.

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kevinatfms

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Just got a smoking deal on a Mountune 4 point lower subframe brace. They were discontinued last month and finding this was amazing. Hope to have it on by the next event.
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kevinatfms

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I completely forgot to post VIDEO! Here is from the last event. Morning runs were wet and afternoon runs i placed 28th out of 80+ entries and was the fastest Fiesta ST and beat quite a few FoST cars and even an FoRS.

Link to my page w/ the videos.

Hope this weekend i can do just as good if not better.
 

kevinatfms

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Welp.....went faster! Placed 12/83 in morning runs and was fastest Fiesta ST. Afternoon was a battle between a pretty worked over Fiesta vs mine. He ended up going faster by just under .9 of a second. Him running Koni's/Swifts and 15x8's with 205 BFG R1's. I am on B8's/Swifts and 16x8's with 205 Federal RS-Pro's. So the 140tw might have given him a little advantage. Either way it was great to compete against another Fiesta with an extremely competent driver. I ended up placing 17/83 and he placed 12/83.

The 16x8's are a huge upgrade in terms of turn in response. I was shocked at the difference over the 15 inch setup. With that i did experience some oversteer which seems to be due to the brand new RS-Pro tires. I did not get them heat cycled by PTS so they still were fresh as can be. Once i got 2 runs on them they stuck like glue in the rear. I kept the car in Sport mode in the morning due to the tires and the cold(sub 30*). I tried to go full off ESC on my last morning run and ended up 180* on track. So it was still too cold to go 9/10ths.

Afternoon runs i ran 2 in Sport mode and 2 will full ESC off. The 2 in ESC off mode were my fastest as the car was cutting power through "Bus Stop" and into the corkscrew of Shenandoah. Once off the car kept putting down power through the turn and the car kept dropping time, first run .5 second down and the final run of the day was a full second off my last Sport mode run. So it does make a difference when it is off.

Overall great day and cant wait to get back on track here in approx two months. Autocross also starts in March so events will be coming in HOT. Videos of this past weekend were sparse due to the cold(Fake Go-Pros do not like the cold). So i have only my last 3 runs of the afternoon session. Ill get the edited and upload to my youtube channel.

Here are some photos from the day that a buddy took. Hope to get the official photos from the event page when they post them up.
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Cant really see really well so hopefully the bigger photos come in....
 

kevinatfms

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Videos from this past event. All afternoon runs. Camera didnt want to work in the frigid cold of the morning. Sorry about the audio, no external mic and a DIY mount lead to some bad audio.
 

kevinatfms

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Mach V Motorsports owner Dan got a pretty good photo of me on the exit of Bus Stop on Shenandoah circuit this past weekend. The new wheel/tire package definitely looking better and felt great.
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kevinatfms

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Some parts added. Fresh oil change today. Threw the Mountune lower chassis brace in along with the MBRP hot side charge pipe. Huge difference in diameter.

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kevinatfms

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It warmed up so I went back into the garage to tackle the Velossa Tech air snorkel install.

Remove headlights
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Pull front bumper
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Mark location of cut
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Cut
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Put in snorkel and deal with that one SHITTY bolt. To Velossa Tech, come up with a better solution. I was cursing you to hell and back for this stupid design.

Finished product
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Peeking from the front.
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kevinatfms

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So with the 'Rona going around, all events have been cancelled near me. With that, ive been toying with an idea and i said "F-it" and went and did it.

After my last event i found my legs to be incredibly sore a day after an event. I was using my legs to prop myself into position to keep from sliding around. Even with the CG lock tightened down my legs still needed to support themselves to keep me on the pedals.

I then started looking at buying a set of Recaros, removing the bolster plastic and refitting the base foam to make them more comfortable and to increase the support on my legs during track/autocross.

The big issue is that people want exorbitant amounts of money for worn ass Fiesta Recaros. So i tried to find a set of Focus ST seats(13-14 model years) to fit into the car and add the resistors to eliminate the airbag light. I found a set but then didnt want to deal with the insurance issues with removing a working air bag in a street vehicle.

So i was either on the hook for $1600+ for a set of worn Fiesta Recaros, $1000 + insurance issues for FoST Recaros or deal with the base model seats. I complained to a friend who races in SCCA AS class and he told me about a small but very capable upholstery company local to us that did some work on his daily driver. I went and talked to this company about maybe modification of the stock seats to make them support me better during track days.

So, they took a look, gave me a cost for just the driver seat(for now) and set to work. He ordered materials directly from the manufacturer of the fabrics for the Fiesta ST base seats. I gave him dimensions of the Recaro bolsters that i wanted to copy. He opened the seat up, fixed a bunch of issues with the foam(lots of wear from track days) and added harder foam at the bolster locations.

So, here is a factory base seat. Notice there is ZERO bolstering around the thigh areas. Also, i took measurements of the distance from the center stitch. They added 1" of bolster height along with a significant width increase.
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Now here is the modified base seat with OE fabric, added bolstering foam and fixing the stock foam base which was badly sagging and ripped.
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Huge difference. It now hugs my thighs but isnt as harsh as the Recaro bolstering.
Here is the completed seat.
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SID297

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Some parts added. Fresh oil change today. Threw the Mountune lower chassis brace in along with the MBRP hot side charge pipe. Huge difference in diameter.

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It warmed up so I went back into the garage to tackle the Velossa Tech air snorkel install.

Remove headlights
View attachment 1624790
Pull front bumper
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Mark location of cut
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Cut
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Put in snorkel and deal with that one SHITTY bolt. To Velossa Tech, come up with a better solution. I was cursing you to hell and back for this stupid design.

Finished product
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Peeking from the front.
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Did you notice much of a difference with these mods?
 

kevinatfms

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Did you notice much of a difference with these mods?

My take:
1. Mountune chassis brace - you can feel a bit more in the steering wheel. Turn in feels a bit crisper. There is a bit more feedback from the road now.

As far as lap times? Wont know for quite a while until i get back to back on the same course. COVID-19 has shut down all motorsports around me so it might be a while.

2. Velossa Tech snorkel - Thing is loud. Very loud. Sitting in front of the car and you can hear it sucking through the snorkel. Intake air temps are ambient at all speeds. No increase sitting at a light either. The stock box would creep between 6-8* above ambient at a light. The ST200 box and snorkel seem to get ambient air from in front of the grille and below the headlight versus the stock box/tube at the radiator air deflector. I doubt any power increase but consistently cold air would benefit on track. I can post logs next time i run around.

3. MBRP hot side pipe - no noticeable difference. Noise didnt seem to increase, no discernable throttle input increase/decrease and no NVH increase. So it might be a mute part. For $90 on sale it was worth a shot. I dont think the "resonator" donut on the stock pipe is a restriction as much as people tend to believe. Ill leave it on for now but if the bracket ever breaks off ill go with the OE front pipe and get the Whoosh Motorsports donut delete as the stock front pipe has more flex versus the hard mounted MBRP pipe. Then use the donut delete with the original pieces to get rid of the resonator. For $60 its the best piece and keeps the OE part attached to the oil pan to reduce the chance of the bracket breaking off.

Its shiny though. So it has one thing going for it?

Let me know if you want to see anything else. I can grab pics galore since i have free time after work(i am an essential employee but after work is stay at home for the foreseeable future).
 
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kevinatfms

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Nice! Now that I'm well versed at taking apart Fiesta seats to install seat heaters, I may to this as well......

Worth it. Just driving to work this morning(my truck is in the body shop) the seat feels like it keeps me placed center the entire ride. The cool thing about the base seats is the "bump" fabric in the sides are there to act like fingers to hold you from sliding. With them and the increased bolstering it really feels like its holding my legs in place.

I hope this COVID-19 thing gets resolved soon as im itching for an event to enter. Been too long without motorsports and the sim rig can only do so much to quench the thirst.
 

kevinatfms

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Whoosh intake tube. Fits great after I screwed up the first evap line fitting. Great customer service and sent me a new one out after I totally buggered the first one they sent.
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WutApex

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Hadn't viewed this thread in a while...great buy on the chassis brace. I'm waiting to see the prices when Ron posts the Sauve braces.

Love the seat bolstering. I wish I knew a good shop around here cause that would be my next mod.
 

kevinatfms

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Hadn't viewed this thread in a while...great buy on the chassis brace. I'm waiting to see the prices when Ron posts the Sauve braces.

Love the seat bolstering. I wish I knew a good shop around here cause that would be my next mod.

Yeah, i saw the prices of the Mountune brace skyrocket when the discontinued it. I got this for a steal and jumped on it the minute i saw it. I felt kinda bad after the fact cause i know how much they go for now.

After some time in the newly bolstered seats and im loving them even more. Its insane the difference a little added foam can make. I am going to contact Rankin Auto Upholstery and have them do the passenger seat now. Worth every penny.
 

kevinatfms

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Went and replaced the third brake light with a clear OEM Focus ST version. Fits right into place and is OEM so it should last the life of the car.
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1996slowbra

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Yeah, i saw the prices of the Mountune brace skyrocket when the discontinued it. I got this for a steal and jumped on it the minute i saw it. I felt kinda bad after the fact cause i know how much they go for now.

After some time in the newly bolstered seats and im loving them even more. Its insane the difference a little added foam can make. I am going to contact Rankin Auto Upholstery and have them do the passenger seat now. Worth every penny.

Pierce Motorsports also makes a chassis brace for our cars, no idea what the quality is on them but they do have them in stock.

Are you still on the stock radiator? I replaced mine with a Mountune because I was constantly going into limp mode after doing full cobb stage 3 + stratified tune.

Also have you thought about trying to purchase a set of Recaros second hand? I hated them at first but once they break in to your body shape they are amazing. Best OEM seats I have ever owned.
 

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