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My Race Red 2015 FL ST3

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6.5K views 41 replies 13 participants last post by  loafer-st77  
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Picked the car up on the 20th Nov and trundled around in it for one whole week before starting to tinker.

Have yet to wash it and its already filthy so no obligatory 'here's my car' pics at the moment.

Spec:

Race Red ST-3 Petrol with Rear Priv glass, door edge protectors, Sync 2 Nav, Rear Camera, heated steering wheel

Exterior Mods (if you can call them that):

  • Richbrook 'Ford' aerial
  • Shortened Plain Numberplates
  • All indicator bulbs swapped out for silver type (de-tangoed)
  • Puddle lights swapped to LED's
  • Cornering lights swapped to Osram Nightbreakers H1

Had most of the bulbs laying around already, doubt I would have bothered otherwise but all were very easy to swap and do tidy up the light clusters.

Interior Mods:

  • Carmats4u mats fitted (black with grey edging/white stitching). These match the Windsor leather nicely and are better quality than the Ford items. Drivers mat is also longer than the standard Ford item. (Matches far better than the pic shows, light reflection makes the seats look much lighter than they actually are!
  • Boot Cargo Net....lol!
  • Dashcam
  • OBD lock/relocate

Engine:

  • Mountune Billet short shift arm - bit of a faff to fit but quality piece of kit and shortens the gearchange just right for me.
  • Revo Induction Kit
  • Bluefin Remap
  • Mountune Uprated re-circ valve - pig to fit but quality piece
  • Mountune Hard Pipe upgrade - well recommended, more response and noise!
  • Forge Boost Hoses - turbo hose only fitted (Red)
  • GPS Tracking device

To be fitted sold:

  • De-res - currently just gathering dust in garage

Possible future mods:

None - RS on order!
 

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#7 ·
****Update****

Finally got around to fitting the following (well, most of them....):

Mountune Re-Circ Valve:

Been led to believe this was a fairly simple 30min ubolt/bolt on replacement. IS IT FUUUUU.........!!! The 3 screws holding the original valve in were mega tight and took an age to get out. Trying to do this through the wheel arch was skin-scrapingly difficult and I found it easier to remove the undertray and work underneath the car while threading my hand through from the outside. This was all using the 'correct' tools too! Nightmare job but having seen the cheap standard valve I'm glad its done.

Mountune Hardpipe upgrade/Forge Boost Hoses:

Fairly easy to swap over except the two intercooler hoses are impossible to change from under the car as you can't get to the clips at the intercooler end! Brilliant.....no way was I removing the front bumper just to fit them so at the moment I have just swapped the turbo hose and the hardpipe.

Team Heko wind deflectors:

Never been a massive fan of these but I'm fed up of being blasted in the side of the head with turbulent air every time I have the window down a bit. Worst car I've had for that (I find it seriously uncomfortable and I like to have fresh air in the car most of the time) and the look of the deflectors has grown on me. Haven't bothered fitting the clips yet as I'm not sure they are really needed?

Conclusion:

Re-circ valve was changed just for precaution as I am planning to flash bluefin to the car in the New year, so no noticable change.

After fitting the hardpipe/turbo hose I definitely notice faster spool up and a nicer turbo sound. You can hear the turbo spool up and a slight 'dump' sound when lifting off after hard acceleration. Well pleased.
 

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#8 ·
*

Mountune Hardpipe upgrade/Forge Boost Hoses:

Fairly easy to swap over except the two intercooler hoses are impossible to change from under the car as you can't get to the clips at the intercooler end! Brilliant.....no way was I removing the front bumper just to fit them so at the moment I have just swapped the turbo hose and the hardpipe.
We changed mine at the same time as changing the intercooler so the bumper was already off. It's not too bad getting the bumper and headlights off but it's far easier to have at least two of you doing it.
 
#9 · (Edited by Moderator)
***More updates***

Edit: Bluefin now removed. See here for intiial thoughts after going back to std map

http://www.focusstoc.com/forums/topic/440977-bluefin-installed/page-9

Removed airbox lid and I think I may need my hearing tested?! Hardly any sound difference at all except if you bury your right foot everywhere you go then you get a tiny bit louder induction noise. Will leave it off for this week but can see the lid being re-installed tbh.

Changed the Mountune gearknob for a Steeda one (black with red ST logo). For some reason the Mountune one just felt 'wrong' with this car (weird as it was perfect in the Fiesta). The Steeda one is much heavier and solid and feels perfect with the Mountune short shifter installed. Perfect gearchange for me now. Rather poor quality pic attached.

Just coming up to 1000 miles and currently averaging 28mpg, I know it should improve a bit more but the torque from this engine is addictive! My eco-mode ratings are not good lol.
 

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#10 · (Edited by Moderator)
Few more subtle little touches done:

  • Team Heko Wind deflectors removed - the extra wind noise did my head in and I never liked the look.
  • Slightly shortened plain numberplates from DMB Graphics
  • Richbrook 'Ford' aerial
  • Red 3rd brake light from non-ST Focus/Fiesta - direct fit, you just need to swap out the plastic washer nozzle from the std clear one. Blends in nicely with Race Red spoiler.
 
#11 ·
Few more subtle little touches done:

  • Team Heko Wind deflectors removed - the extra wind noise did my head in and I never liked the look.
  • Slightly shortened plain numberplates from DMB Graphics
  • Richbrook 'Ford' aerial
  • Red 3rd brake light from non-ST Focus/Fiesta - direct fit, you just need to swap out the plastic washer nozzle from the std clear one. Blends in nicely with Race Red spoiler.
To be fitted:
De-res - currently just gathering dust in garage
RS airbox lid - when Ford eventually decide to ship them!
Glad to hear I'm not the only one with the wind deflector sound! At 70 mph it's pretty irritating! Was thinking of just putting silicon around the seals.... halfords special I believe they call it!
 
#13 ·
I've found a way to stop the wind noise from the deflectors. There is a round silver knob right in the middle of the dash, below the display. Turn clockwise until wind noise goes away.

Edited to add...

also removes unwanted noise coming from the passenger seat.
Haha but what if I want to listen to my cars engine? Whoops sorry I mean electronic symposer!

On a serious note I've found jamming my finger between where the tweeters go and the window stop it completely. Shame it's not a very permanent fix to the problem!
 
#17 ·
Well, over 6 weeks after ordering this thas finally turned up! (Look away RS nerds).
RS Airbox.jpg
I can hear the RSOC groaning from here :lol:

I have a feeling you will need the inner bonnet liner from an RS too so the rubber seal makes contact with it, noticed it was thicker on the RS we had in our showroom and had a cut out the same shape as the rubber seal.
 
#18 ·
I can hear the RSOC groaning from here :lol:
I have a feeling you will need the inner bonnet liner from an RS too so the rubber seal makes contact with it, noticed it was thicker on the RS we had in our showroom and had a cut out the same shape as the rubber seal.
Really?! Sod that, I'll take my chances with the ST liner lol.

I've got it as a good halfway house between fully sealed cold airbox and extra noise of the lid removed. Don't think I'm going to get too pedantic over if it's fully sealed to bonnet.
 
#19 ·
Fitted airbox lid this morning and pleased to say it did what I wanted (phew, pricey experiment otherwise).

I've been running without a lid for the past month and while it can sound nice at certain revs there are other times when I thought it sounded rougher than a badgers a'hole! I really didn't like the wheezy 'whooshing' noise at low rev acceleration either. Sounded like a vacuum cleaner.....

The RS airbox lid basically gives you a nicer smoother sound whilst still being able to hear whats going on. If you are expecting the same amount of volume inside the car (with windows up) as with the standard lid off then you'll be disappointed. But, it is still audibly louder than having the standard airbox lid back on.

With windows down just slightly it is very noticible still and sounds great when lifting off after applying a fair bit of engine load.

Perfect compromise between standard lid either on or off.

The lid also seems a fair bit taller than the standard Focus one so I can see no issue with it not sealing up to the bonnet?! Dunno, difficult to see lol.

(This is all fitted in conjunction with the Mountune full induction set-up):



 

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#24 ·
Can we see some pics of the car :thumbsup:
errrrrm.....yeah that would probably help now wouldn't it lol.

Between the rubbish weather and us having a 6month old son, car washing has dropped off the radar for most of this year gone. Once its clean (again), I'll get pics. Although, essentially its a boggo Race Red ST3 on standard 18's with a few very subtle exterior changes.