1,000 Miles in the Focus ST - Some Thoughts So Far

"Garrett Davis" (GarrettDavis)
04/23/2014 at 14:42 • Filed to: None

Nearly two weeks ago, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! Somehow, I have already put down 1,000 miles over 30 hours of seat time. That means I have filled it up four times already in less than two weeks. That's right. If I keep up this pace, I'll have somewhere near 27k miles on my car in one year's time. Yeah, I'm going to cool it a bit.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Anyway, I figured I'd sum up some of the things I've noticed so far. Lets start with...

The Good:

Toooooorque. This thing is effortlessly quick. Second gear especially fun to roll into and let boost build quickly from "meh" at 1,500 RPM, to "Oh, that's why the seats are designed this way" at 3,000 RPM. That last part is almost exactly what my cousin said when she rode in it for the first time. I love how non-car people can put things sometimes.

Some more notes:

The seats are surprisingly comfortable over longer drives. 2-2.5 hour trips are nothing in this car. The best part of the seats that no one talks about is that the head rest is actually usable without leaning your head way back. Very nice.

The Sony stereo is pretty nice. Lots of volume, lots of bass if you want it, its a little strong in the mids, but there is enough clarity in the highs without getting too hairy.

It stays under the radar pretty well. In black at least, it doesn't scream "race me" and doesn't seem like it would be a cop magnet.

Torque steer is pretty manageable. Around turns you can kind of guide it to the direction you want to go. The oversteer is especially easy to correct, just throttle out of it once you've rotated the amount needed. All this with a big grin on your face.

The keyless entry and ignition work flawlessly. I absolutely love being able to unlock the door by just putting my hand in the handle, and locking it is almost as easy.

Sound symposer or not, I don't care. This thing sounds good when you get on the gas, without being loud to everyone else on the road. That's ideal for me.

It has the room of a Focus, which is pretty good. The seats fold flat, and when I don't need that space I can fit plenty of people. Cool.

The Bad:

The gas tank is tiny. Ford says 12.4 gallons, so that means it sits on E after only ~9 gallons of fuel used. This is very annoying especially since it doesn't get that fantastic mileage. I'm averaging 24.6 MPG right now, which isn't bad considering I've been flooring it up any empty onramp I encounter, but it isn't great. This is probably a 60/40 split of freeway to city mileage, but freeway traffic can get pretty obscene here in SoCal. I did play around with it though, and on the freeway cruising at 70, it will stay above 30 mpg pretty consistently. Cruising 80 averages out to 28.5-29 mpg, which sounds about right.

Some more notes:

Sync and MyFord Touch are OK for the most part, but can still be slow to respond. Navigation is particularly annoying though. Your passenger cannot input a route while you're driving, forcing you to pull over to do it. Then the resistive display is unresponsive and slow. Very annoying.

Fifth gear is essentially useless. If I'm accelerating hard, third and fourth gear can take me well above legal speeds. If I'm cruising, I get up to speed in fourth and can then go straight to sixth at any speed above 40 MPH. Then, annoyingly enough, 6th gear is approaching 3k RPM at freeway cruising speeds, and fifth is only ~500 RPM above that. They are both overdrive gears, but they need to be spaced out more.

The shift light is a bit annoying. It will almost always tell you to shift under 2k RPM, regardless of any reason you hold it out. Not a big deal, and you can turn it off . Nevermind, you can only turn it off with an ECU flasher.

There is a decent amount of wheel hop when spinning the tires in first (which is very easy to do). This is due to a very rubbery rear engine mount and is a very common first upgrade.

Brake dust, brake dust, brake dust. These pads Ford uses are notorious for turning your wheels grey in just a few days. Annoying, but not a big deal.

There are USB ports in the center console to charge your phone, but on the ST3, there is no slot for the cord to come out. I might file down a hole for this at some point.

There is no height adjustment for the ST3 passenger seat. My head is brushing up against the headliner if I sit there, but luckily most people aren't as tall as I am.

Not my shot — !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Other interesting little details:

In models with the (stupid) ambient lighting, the lights change color depending on who's door is open. A closed door will have a blue light in the handle, and an open door has a red light.

On the 2014 models and on, there is no pause/play button on the steering wheel. Slightly annoying.

Every window switch has an auto up/down feature. Even the rear windows. The moonroof does, but it is the only window that looses power when the ignition is off.

The car knows when the key is inside the car, and makes it nearly impossible to lock your keys in the car.

You can track your trip MPG, but there is no live readout for current MPG, which is kinda weird.

People in other Focus ST's will wave at you. I'm used to seeing this from my Jeep days, but this was a little bit of a surprise.

Overall I'm very happy. When I showed it to my girlfriend's family they just kind of said, "Oh, cool, you got a Focus," and seemed kind of surprised because I usually buy "cool cars," but such is the way of things. So far only a few people have tried to race me, which is a nice change from every other ricer peeling out next to me when I drove my BMW. I think the color helps keep this car incognito, especially in stark contrast to the orange and red models, which are just screaming for tickets.

I'll leave it stock for now, but I'm not sure how long I can last. Most upgrades seem to add torque and not much horsepower, and this thing will already spin its tires up to third with traction control on. So I'll probably wait off on that. It doesn't need more torque steer just yet.

DISCUSSION (100)

Audi-os, amigos > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 14:48

Kinja'd!!!

This is a cool picture, and how all car interior shots should be done from now on.

William Byrd > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 14:50

Excellent, thanks! I just bought a Fusion SE with the same engine. I have a good relationship with the GM at the Ford dealer, may pick up a Focus ST as well in white. Glad to hear about your experiences.

Manuél Ferrari > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 14:50

You've been flooring it before passing the break in period? :-O

Also, awesome review!!!

Saracen > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 14:51

Show it some corners. Enjoy the lift throttle oversteer. It's hilariously fun.

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 14:52

Wow, 12.4 gallons is far from generous...

My SHO averages about 21mpg, but I think I get 19.5 gallons and honestly, I'd like more, haha. But damn. 12.4. I've heard this complaint from Escape owners too (gas tank is too small).

Sounds like you generally are very happy with your purchase though! Glad to hear. Seems in general a lot of people I know are happy with their new Ford products.

-I wish I had instaMPG too
-Haven't had anyone in an SHO wave at me yet (have only seen old or boring people so far, lol)

Tip: if you lock your keys in the car, I think the car won't auto unlock due to proximity, it will know the keys are in the car and it does this as a theft deterrent. I thought at one point I was a dumbass for having my spare in the car for a while after having first bought the car, but maybe I wasn't, haven't tried my luck.

Brian Silvestro > Audi-os, amigos
04/23/2014 at 14:53

Came here to say this, ingenious actually.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 14:56

Cool write-up. I'm always interested to hear about the Focus ST as its probably the closest competitor to my WRX. One thing i'm having a hard time getting used to is how the car cuts power to the windows as soon as i take the key out. My old ride used to give me some time to finish rolling up the windows when I pulled into the driveway. Also I've never spun the tires. Did you have to do any snow driving? That was the deal breaker for me and after the winter we had i'm glad I had the AWD.

Garrett Davis > Saracen
04/23/2014 at 14:58

Of course! Like I said above, it's hilarious and perfectly controllable with the throttle. Just give it some gas once you've rotated the amount needed, and it pulls right out. I never thought a FWD car could be so tail happy.

Garrett Davis > Manuél Ferrari
04/23/2014 at 15:00

They actually recommend driving it "dynamically" within the first ~4k miles, meaning they want you to show it the full range of RPMs in order to seat the rings correctly. I'm not complaining ;)

Thank you!

Garrett Davis > OPPOsaurus WRX
04/23/2014 at 15:02

No snow down here in sunny SoCal, but from any winter driving I've done in the past, I have to say that FWD is definitely second best to AWD in the snow. Lots of weight over the drive wheels and if you do break traction, at least it isn't going to swing the rear around.

From what I'm reading, the ST twins make great winter cars. Of course not as good as the WRX, but still pretty good.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 15:05

my tank is ~16 gallons which was a big switch from 24 but damn 12 is small

Cable > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 15:07

I know how you feel about the small gas tank. My civic hatchback is supposedly 13 gallons but reads E at 10-11 gallons meaning I have to fill up after anywhere from 250-300ish miles :/ Good write up though!

jariten1781 > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 15:17

You can turn off the annoying shift light in the FoST? I don't think you can in the FiST...at least I haven't found it yet. Flashing lights in the cluster bug the crap out of me.

Slow4o > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 15:24

When I auto-xed one the lift oversteer took me COMPLETELY by surprise and I ended up taking out some cones. So not used to that since my current SVT Focus can't rotate at all. I'm amazed how easy it is to rotate that car.

feather-throttle-not-hair > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 15:31

Good review. Not terribly interested in the car, but I really like how you broke it down. Are those the non-Recaro seats or the Recaro ones? Also i'm surprised people wave, i guess folks with ST's are just really good at immediately recognizing other ST's as being more than just a standard Focus?

sefeing, actually bought an E46 > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 15:32

I've got a 2013, and don't have a play/pause on my steering wheel. ALSO- Now us in the United States can finally disable the damn little shift light, and enable the windows up/down with the key fob (Global windows). Look at the Electronics section of FocusST.org. It's the first sticky. I did it this morning, and it was real easy. It's intimidating as f'ing hell, but there's not much you can screw with other than those two settings at this point.

I have a 2013 Tux Black (like yours) ST2 package (not like yours.). Got it a month ago as a leftover of the 2013's, at a decent price. I LOVE the damn car, minus the tiny gas tank. Already hit a pothole and bent a rim though, so be careful there. Luckily I got one used in great condition off FST.org. I'm mega jealous of your HID's though. Coming from a Mazda3 GT with HID's back to Halogens is an adjustment.

Edit: link to how to do the windows thingy and disable the shift light. http://www.focusst.org/forum/focus-st…

And yeah, you're gonna be putting a ton of mileage on the car, just like I did. It's so damn much fun to drive.

dogisbadob > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 15:33

Too bad about the mandatory My Ford Touch and smaller gas tank we get over here. Supposedly the Euro models are available without the fancy infotainment shit and have a larger gas tank. The good news is that your ST has a full size spare instead of the donut they get over there

NotUnlessRoundIsFunny > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 15:36

Great review, thanks!

You hit my two greatest annoyances with MyFord Touch on the head: touchscreen is slow to respond (worse, it seems inconsistently unresponsive, so you can't teach yourself how long to wait for a response) and your passenger can't enter an address while you're moving. At least you can call up previous destinations, so that's something, but still...

Garrett Davis > dogisbadob
04/23/2014 at 15:50

Ah, true, I forgot to mention the full size spare! Unfortunatly it's on a steelie, and isn't a match Goodyear Eagle F1 asymmetric, but it's better than a donut.

Battery Tender Unnecessary > NotUnlessRoundIsFunny
04/23/2014 at 15:51

Weird. I keep hearing about slow MyFord Touch but it's fast and responsive in the '14 Fiesta ST I just picked up, basically instant. I wonder if they changed the hardware or if it's a different software revision. A common tread is that the Focus and some other models are awful but I have nothing but good things to say about the one in mine.

Garrett Davis > sefeing, actually bought an E46
04/23/2014 at 15:56

Awesome, thanks for the link! I'm not sure how useful that will be, but I'm going to tear into that tonight just for the hell of it. I love things like this.

I saw a few threads on that forum about retrofitting HIDs to the ST2's and below. A company is selling some pretty decent replacements with wiring for a pretty good price.

Garrett Davis > feather-throttle-not-hair
04/23/2014 at 15:59

Yes, they are the Recaros. The standard seats have much less bolstering:

Kinja'd!!!

And yeah, other ST owners definitely have a keen eye for other STs. I find myself being able to pick them out in the corner of my eye pretty easily now, whereas before I really took notice, I had to really do a double take to see.

Garrett Davis > Battery Tender Unnecessary
04/23/2014 at 16:04

That's interesting. Maybe they put an updated chip in the Fiesta, because typing in an address in the Focus can be excruciating. You're never quite sure if it registered a touch or not since some come up instantly and others take over a second to show. I think this has to do with how it recalculates the number of options on the fly as you enter in more of the address.

I really wanted to go with the Fiesta, but it was just too cramped for what I needed it for. The Fiesta is where Ford got the ST right for sure.

Garrett Davis > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
04/23/2014 at 16:05

Awesome, how do you like your SHO? I never see them on the street, I'm worried Ford will discontinue them soon.

Garrett Davis > William Byrd
04/23/2014 at 16:07

Very nice! I'm trying to convince my mom to buy a Fusion. I took my Focus over to her place after I bought it, and I'm pretty sure I can sway her if I tell her she can get the same engine in a Fusion. I totally forgot about that.

Thank you!

Garrett Davis > jariten1781
04/23/2014 at 16:09

You can turn it off deep in the settings on the Focus, but only from that screen in the gauge cluster. I'm pretty sure the Fiesta has the same options, but it's integrated into the MFT display.

Stupidru > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 16:14

Great write up! This is particularly interesting for me since I'm considering this to be my first non-Subaru car ever. My 03 Impreza Outback Sport is... um... not fun. There. I said it. I used to be an AWD snob, but I'm slowly learning that a proper set of tires will get you almost anywhere.

Have you tried to stuff the car full yet? What were you able to get in?

Thanks!

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 16:20

roughly 10% of Taurus sales are SHO's, so that's roughly 8000 sold in 2013. So I'm not sure if that's enough or not.

I do like the car very much. It's very comfortable and the power is awesome. I will soon be doing a tune + catless downpipes on it too, so I should be around the 450 horsepower mark.

Believe it or not I also considered the ST (new), but saw what price a used SHO was going for and had to have it, haha. I had admired them ever since I learned about them from my dads brochure that he got when he ended up buying his 97 Taurus GL, lol.

Manuél Ferrari > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 16:23

Oh that's great! I've never bought a sporty car brand new so I dunno how hard it is to keep yourself from revving it up too much. That's good that you didn't have to wait.

What part of SoCal are you in?

I liked how you were honest in your review and dished the details on the good, the bad and the in between. It's funny how some people buy a car and then immediately think it's the best car ever made and that it can do no wrong and all other cars are stupid.

I know what you mean about the gear ratios. My 6MT is exactly the same way. 4th and 5th are super close together and 5th and 6th are too. I'm revving way too high in 6th when cruising in the fast lane. I don't understand why there isn't more space in between gears 4-6, especially between 5 and 6. Is it because our cars want to be race cars? Does it really help you on the track to have the higher gears that close together? I haven't tracked my car yet but I highly doubt I'd ever hit a straight that was long enough to use 6th gear.

Garrett Davis > Stupidru
04/23/2014 at 16:30

I fit two half stack guitar amps, two guitars and a bass (in cases), a few boxes, and two passengers just this past weekend. The seats fold down nice and flat, and the 60/40 split is nice. You can fit a surprising amount of stuff in the back of these, which makes sense, since it's still a Focus.

I will say that acceleration definitely was not the same with all that loaded, though. Certainly not struggling, but I definitely felt the difference.

Also, FWD is second best in the snow. Food for thought.

Garrett Davis > Manuél Ferrari
04/23/2014 at 16:36

I'm in San Diego. Thanks! I agree completely, I can't stand reading reviews of anything where people have nothing but the most amazing things to say about it, because they are just so enamored with their new toy that nothing could possibly be wrong with it. That goes for just about anything, really.

What's funny is that if we're talking track use, 4th gear tops out at 119 MPH, which is plenty for most any track barring a few with particularly long straights. 4th is also just slightly under direct drive, which I thought was a little strange. Fifth needs to be a bit above where it is now, and 6th needs to be a straight cruising gear — even though mathematically 6th still tops out at 179 MPH, which is much more than the car is capable of.

Kinja'd!!!

Garrett Davis > Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs
04/23/2014 at 16:37

Awesome! Well be sure to post up here when you do some upgrades. Oppo needs some SHO coverage!

Garrett Davis > OPPOsaurus WRX
04/23/2014 at 16:46

16 would be just right in this car. What kind of mileage do you get in your WRX?

Yowen - not necessarily not spaghetti and meatballs > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 16:56

Heck yeah! I would've already done the upgrades (the downpipes are sitting my apt). But taxes KILLED me this year. So I need to recover from those a bit, haha.

RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 16:59

Been on the 210E near Pasadena recently? I got buzzed by a black Focus ST recently.

Garrett Davis > RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire
04/23/2014 at 17:09

Nope. I've taken it to LA, but only around the 5 and 405 so far.

jkm7680 > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 17:12

Sounds good! All I'd do is take the Focus badge off the back, and maybe some other small stuff.

RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 17:22

Ah. Not many Focus STs around at all, and each time I see one I'm sorely tempted to go check them out again. Glad you like the car.

Any issues with the turning radius?

Garrett Davis > jkm7680
04/23/2014 at 17:23

Yeah, I've seen a few who have done that on the forums and have been thinking about it. Looks very clean that way.

Snarkspeed > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 17:23

Nice real-world review and agreed on all counts. I have put 5k miles on my no-options silver one so far with no issues, and I'm very happy with the car too.

The small gas tank is by far my biggest gripe, I put 1900 miles on mine in a week last month and filling it up every 3.5 hours/275 miles during fast interstate stretches was truly annoying.

I would like an instant-mpg readout and a digital speed display in the middle as well (my old '12 GTI had that and I looked at it far more than I looked at the speedo.) Obviously the technology is there - see the cruise-control speed display @ top right of the same screen - so it shouldn't be too difficult.

I've had no problem with running a cable out the front of the center console under the armrest, maybe the base model cars are different?

I love the stealth/sleeper factor as well - only true enthusiasts and other ST owners know what it is, to the rest of the world it's just another Focus.

Oh, the way I got around the brake dust issue was to spend $24 at Home Depot on matte black Plasti-Dip...

jkm7680 > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 17:24

Yeah, I believe that K-roll Porsche Tamer might have done it.

K-Roll-PorscheTamer > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 17:25

I didn't know you could turn off the shift light?? How??

Garrett Davis > jkm7680
04/23/2014 at 17:26

Interesting. I'm also thinking about plasti-dipping the wheels black. A lot of people frown upon it, but with good prep, people have gotten surprisingly good results.

Snarkspeed > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 17:28

Kinja'd!!!

I thought mine was pretty useless in a few inches of VA snow the other month. Summer tires of course, and the power delivery would yank the car to the right pretty easily. Then again maybe not driving it like a hoon would be helpful...

Garrett Davis > Snarkspeed
04/23/2014 at 17:31

You can actually get a digital speedometer readout. While holding the OK button on the steering wheel, push the ignition on (foot off the clutch, you don't want to start the car), and hold the OK button for 20+ seconds to enter a dealer diagnostics menu. Scroll up and you can get to the digital speedo. It's not a practical solution at all, but it is there.

The cable issue is only on the ST3. We have a slightly different center console arrangement, and there is no slot for the cable.

Do you have any pictures of your plsati-dip job? I've been considering doing the same to mine.

Garrett Davis > RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire
04/23/2014 at 17:33

Ah, that's a big one I completely forgot. Yes, the turning radius is hilariously wide — I'm talking pick up truck wide. It's not a huge deal, and the trade off is having that super quick steering with only 1.8 turns lock to lock. Still, it's pretty strange.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 17:33

around 23 mpg with 50/50 town/hiway driving and a 500 lb right foot

Snarkspeed > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 17:39

Thank you very much, I will try that shortly! Hopefully that feature isn't locked out on my poor base model car. Then again it couldn't be worse than needing a VCDS cable and a laptop to do basically anything similar to my old GTI, lol.

The plasti-dip job was surprisingly easy. Took a bunch of masking tape, newspaper, and index cards to get it right. I did 3-4 coats with 30+ minutes in between and it's holding up great. I don't have any pics of the process but here's the finished product:

Kinja'd!!!

Haven't had to clean any brake dust since. :-)

Garrett Davis > OPPOsaurus WRX
04/23/2014 at 17:39

That's actually not too bad. Better than I thought. What year?

Garrett Davis > Snarkspeed
04/23/2014 at 17:41

Great picture.

Yeah, its funny they sell them with these dedicated summer tires up in areas that get so much snow.

Garrett Davis > Snarkspeed
04/23/2014 at 17:44

That looks great! I'll definitely be doing this now.

The diagnostic mode is on all Focus's as far as I've read, so you should be good to go!

sefeing, actually bought an E46 > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 17:46

Nice haha. I'm looking forward to it for the summers. I'm usually parked pretty close to work, so before I leave, I can lower all the windows before I get into the boiling hot car. (NY).

Edit: is your's a 2013? Looks like you've got the 2013 Steering wheel. the 2014 did away with the voice control paddle and switched to a button (where the mode button is). From what I can see in that interior shot, you've got the voice control paddle, and in that same location is the phone controls as well as home and info buttons. 2014 did away within the info an home buttons and moved the phone controls to the same as the track forward and back buttons.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 17:50

'14 with 3000 miles. I picked it up with 18

OPPOsaurus WRX > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 17:51

Yea it caught me of guard, especially after draining the bank to buy it.

Garrett Davis > sefeing, actually bought an E46
04/23/2014 at 17:52

That interior shot is not mine, there is a link to the thread where I got it right below the picture. I should make that a bit more clear in my post. Mine is a 2014, and the other pictures are mine.

That change to the steering wheel controls is a little bit annoying. They took away the pause/play buttons in order to combine those controls, which is what I would probably use those controls for the most.

jkm7680 > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 17:56

Yeah, With the proper application Plasti Dip on wheels actually doesn't look half bad.

MUGENJIBZ > OPPOsaurus WRX
04/23/2014 at 18:21

Wow 23 mpg mixed? I have a '13 Hatch with 11k on it and I don't feel like I've ever achieved that mileage with 50/50 driving. The best I've ever seen was 27 on a road trip, and that was milking it for everything that its got. I'm regularly in the teens with a 75/25 commute, mostly highway...

michael bleggi > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 18:41

few questions. HOW DO YOU TURN THE SHIFT LIGHT OFF????? but yeah, i love my leather seats, and i hate the recaros. and could you possibly explain more about the engine mount/wheel hop correlation?

Manuél Ferrari > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 18:53

Cool, I'm in North OC.

Looking at the specific ratios is interesting. I guess the car companies don't want us to have to wait too long to hit max speed? Like that's ever going to happen, haha.

Garrett Davis > michael bleggi
04/23/2014 at 19:10

I could have sworn there was a way to turn the shift light off in the settings, but now I'm Googling around and can't find it. I'll double check once I get off work.

I'm surprised you don't like the Recaros. What is it you don't like? Too tight?

The problem with the wheel hop is that the rear engine mount has a lot of give to it in order to soak up any vibrations from the engine. The problem is that when you start spinning your tires off the line, this allows too much flex and the wheels are allowed to hop up and down as they struggle for grip. A lot of companies offer aftermarket replacements, but the best and cheapest solution seems to be to use the rear engine mount from the electric Focus — which you can order from any dealer for pretty cheap. This one has much less flex, and seems to solve the problem just as well as any of the aftermarket solutions.

Garrett Davis > Manuél Ferrari
04/23/2014 at 19:16

Oh ok awesome! It would be cool to do a SoCal Oppo meet up.

I would love to ask some engineers why they chose the ratios they did. They must have had good reason, but I can't see it right now.

michael bleggi > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 19:23

the back support was funky. Anything more than a 50 mile trip and i found myself sitting on my feet with cruise control on. My back always hurt afterwards. and I'm 19 haha. Thanks though, that shift light drives me and my ADHD crazy. i've searched pretty hard and couldn't find anything, maybe i'm overlooking something simple.

I'll totally look in to that. any downsides to the engine mounts? (vibrations or what not)

michael bleggi > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 19:23

the back support was funky. Anything more than a 50 mile trip and i found myself sitting on my feet with cruise control on. My back always hurt afterwards. and I'm 19 haha. I traded them for heated ones. Thanks though, that shift light drives me and my ADHD crazy. i've searched pretty hard and couldn't find anything, maybe i'm overlooking something simple.

I'll totally look in to that. any downsides to the engine mounts? (vibrations or what not)

Garrett Davis > michael bleggi
04/23/2014 at 19:26

Weird. I took mine on a ~150 mile trip and I was nice very comfortable the whole way. I love being able to sit completely back, have my shoulders and sides hugged by the seats, and actually use the head rest for the whole trip.

According to the forums, you'll hardly notice a difference in vibration with the new mount. Anyone who did notice it, just said that's how a performance car should feel when you rev it, haha.

Snarkspeed > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 19:35

Sooo the diag mode... I got into it, it says "test" then I can scroll up and down to get various values for stuff, but I couldn't figure out where the speedo display was, and/or how to actually change anything. Is there a link you can point me to? Thanks again!

Trevor Mohr > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 20:29

Nice review! I have had my GTI since Feb. 24th, and I already have 1100 miles on it. The car has been on nothing but pothole-free scenic backroads on weekends haha. I need to cool it too. The seats look amazing without the colored inserts.

Garrett Davis > Snarkspeed
04/23/2014 at 20:51

Here, I recorded the process:

Bandit > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 20:58

Kinja'd!!!

I like this photo! Did you do this with a fish eye lens or in photoshop by stitching stuff together?

Garrett Davis > Bandit
04/23/2014 at 21:00

I wish I could say that photo was mine, but it's a shot I pulled from here . I put a link below the picture in the article.

Nuts that it was done with an iPhone in panorama mode. I'll have to try it for myself.

Snarkspeed > Garrett Davis
04/23/2014 at 22:24

Copy that, thanks. I can get it to do that... or at least I saw that when I was sitting in the driveway going 0 mph... but I don't want to have to go through all that every time I start the car just to have a digital speed readout, lol. It needs to default to that automatically when the car is started. Much like it could do in my '12 GTI and my '10 Golf TDI before that. Big ol' digital speed display right in the middle. Admittedly a minor gripe! :-)

feather-throttle-not-hair > Garrett Davis
04/24/2014 at 00:55

Oh man, wow. Your seats are way nicer looking and are probably way more comfortable.

It's funny how owning a car trains your eyes. There was a hood bump on 07-08 350Z's that the previous three years didn't have. It really bugged me. But after a while, I kind of realized that almost nobody else see's or notices it.

Garrett Davis > Snarkspeed
04/24/2014 at 01:03

Yeah, of course. It's totally a work around to make sure everything lines up. Not meant for every day use.

Garrett Davis > feather-throttle-not-hair
04/24/2014 at 01:11

Yeah, the Recaros are extremely high quality. There was an article on here about the Recaro factory in Michigan a few months back. It shows just how much detail and care are put into each one, and totally justifies how much they cost. For instance, I had no idea they were all hand stitched.

http://detroit.jalopnik.com/heres-how-a-sm…

PS9 > Garrett Davis
04/24/2014 at 03:52

Kinja'd!!!

This is what my old 3800 Firebird got.

-60 HP.

+About 700lb. :(

NotUnlessRoundIsFunny > Battery Tender Unnecessary
04/24/2014 at 09:01

I know, it's weird. This one is in a Fusion, and overall it works well once you get into it (though there are a few things I still wish had hard buttons). Mostly I like it, just wish it was more consistently responsive. Like you said, maybe the Fiesta ST has a newer rev or something?

sefeing, actually bought an E46 > Garrett Davis
04/24/2014 at 09:25

oh I see. Just as a heads up, I DO have a 2013, with the extra buttons. There is no play/pause anywhere on the wheel, so you're not missing out. The extra buttons are dedicated phone buttons and home/ info for SYNC. Where your voice button is, is a mode button for me. My voice button is a paddle, similar to the cruise control. I noticed you had your front plate on at first, but then removed it. Was this tough to do?

GTI MkVII > Trevor Mohr
04/24/2014 at 09:31

Congrats on the GTI! Have always loved them and hope to grab a MkVII when they're available soon! Did you go for the manual or DSG? And what kind of gas mileage have you been seeing?

Trevor Mohr > GTI MkVII
04/24/2014 at 10:11

They're great cars. I got a DSG, which is an amazing transmission, but I would still love a full manual transmission. It's my first car, and I'm very grateful to own it, but my parents just wouldn't budge. On the bright side, the manual mode is quite responsive, shift times are very fast. If an auto at all, a DSG is the best way to go. My next car will be a stick though. I was very interested in the Focus ST, both are great cars. I test drove it, and was a complete blast! :)

I'm averaging about 27.5 mpgs as of now, not bad. The GTI also has a small fuel tank, only 14.5 gallons.

Anyways, I highly recommend one. Great cars, definitely fun to drive. I must say, the ST had a bit more kick haha! Both are great cars over all.

GTI MkVII > Trevor Mohr
04/24/2014 at 10:44

I've been looking at the DSG myself. Seems like the perfect middle ground between comfort and performance. Test drove a DSG MkV a little while back and walked away very impressed. That kind of mileage is actually pretty decent (and almost exactly what I've been getting in my 97 Civic around town), so thats really good news. Thats certainly an amazing first car! I wish I was that fortunate haha. Can't complain though, my Civic has been nothing but reliable for the past 6 years.

I do like the ST's, but not sure if I could bring myself to own one - a little too "immature" for my tastes compared to the GTI. Certainly respect it though.

Thanks for the info! Looking forward to getting some solid details and pricing from the VW dealer soon. Cheers!

grungie* > Garrett Davis
04/24/2014 at 10:58

I'll just leave this here.... http://www.focusst.org/forum/west-wes…

Trevor Mohr > GTI MkVII
04/24/2014 at 11:00

Thanks, and I wish you the best of luck on the VW! The Focus is an awesome car, it's a blast to drive. The GTI is much more subtle and not as flashy. As for the civic, you can't go wrong. Great cars, very reliable. I personally like the older ones for some reason, but I like all older Hondas. The days of the S2000 and Prelude are gone, sadly.. I have some info on Mk7 pricing from the forums, this may help a bit:

http://www.golfmk6.com/forums/showthr…

benji > Garrett Davis
04/24/2014 at 11:05

5th is for the autobahn duh!, but seriously, I have the same problem with my FocusST I never get to use 5th.

GTI MkVII > Trevor Mohr
04/24/2014 at 11:16

Thanks! Yeah, my Civic has been great and I love it to death. Sure, it's getting old, the paint has seen better days, and its way down on power and creature comforts haha. But its still a peppy fun little car.

I've already got some of that info from the VW Vortex forums. Just hoping to see some financing details and if I can put a deposit/order in for the color, trim, and options I'd like. Dealers are expecting the cars towards the end of may or beginning of June, so I want to get all my homework out of the way!

Trevor Mohr > GTI MkVII
04/24/2014 at 11:19

Nice! You are looking forward to a GTI it seems. :)

Garrett Davis > grungie*
04/24/2014 at 11:20

Oh nice! Thanks for sharing! That's seriously just a few exits up the freeway from me.

GTI MkVII > Trevor Mohr
04/24/2014 at 11:24

Indeed. I've wanted one since the MkV came out (which was before I even had my license haha). Really like the MkVI as well, but just couldn't afford it while I was finishing high school and then going to college. But now that I'm graduated and working full time, it's a feasible option now. Very excited.

Garrett Davis > sefeing, actually bought an E46
04/24/2014 at 11:25

Ah, OK. I just looked at a picture. For some reason I thought that with the extra paddles there was a pause button in the center of the audio controls, but I see now that it is just an OK button. Strange.

The front plate couldn't be easier to remove. It's two bolts holding the plate one, then two bolts holding the bracket underneath. All four can be taken off with wither a socket or a flat head screwdriver.

grungie* > Garrett Davis
04/24/2014 at 11:27

Nice! Super awesome group of guys the first time around. We all enjoyed it so much that I decided to keep it going as a monthly thing. Hope to see you there! TB FTW!

cazzyodo > Garrett Davis
04/24/2014 at 11:28

Great overview and I agree with absolutely everything you said.

3 and a half hours in the seats, though, and it starts to wear on you...but that only happened once for me.

Break dust...yeah.

Gas tank size is obnoxious.

Even in the red I somehow fly under the radar...only one person has even picked up that it's not a regular Focus.

I don't even use Sync haha.

I love the keyless entry.

Have fun!

cazzyodo > Garrett Davis
04/24/2014 at 11:31

In regards to the ST in the snow, freaking beast. Threw winter tires on and had no issues whatsoever...passed plenty of Subies, too. (apparently nobody in the northeast gets snow tires?)

Trevor Mohr > GTI MkVII
04/24/2014 at 11:34

I'm paying for gas and working very hard for it. Did not just come easy to me, but I'm very grateful. I plan on keeping my Mk6 for a very long time, through college and beyond. I was in 7th grade when the Mk6 first came out in 2010, and I had to go to the dealership to check it out. Sitting in it was just a magical thing. I had always loved GTI's, but that moment really set it home. Since then, I had been motivated to get one. Have you seen my review on the car?

Garrett Davis > cazzyodo
04/24/2014 at 11:34

Thank you! Yeah, I think just about any seat will wear on you after 3-4 hours.

GTI MkVII > Trevor Mohr
04/24/2014 at 11:55

That's awesome - kudos to you for getting it all to work out. That outlook will help you all throughout life. I had the same experience as you - always admired them from afar and then finally got to poke around one at the auto show. Then test drove one for fun and was absolutely sold.

Don't think I have seen your review - would love to give it a read.

WhiskeyGolf > Garrett Davis
04/24/2014 at 12:02

Good to know I can expect about the same MPG in a turbo 4 as my inline 5 with 80 fewer HP... Strange that Ford fitted such a small tank, as I would expect a bare minimum of 50 L (13.4 gal)

Garrett Davis > WhiskeyGolf
04/24/2014 at 12:08

According to Ford and the forums, these get better mileage once you've broken them in after ~4k miles. Other guys are averaging up over 26-27 with some miles on. Plus, I have not been easy with the gas pedal ;)

The tiny tank is a serious oversight. It may work fine on the 40mpg engine, but it is ridiculous on this car.

Giles007 > Garrett Davis
04/24/2014 at 12:39

I've had mine for two winters now (up in Canada) and I can honestly say that it's a GREAT winter vehicle. If you think the oversteer is fun in the summer, get out in the snow (with winter tires of course)! Honestly, it makes you feel like a rally driver.

Here's a pic from last week:

Kinja'd!!!

suss6052 > Garrett Davis
04/24/2014 at 12:51

On cars with the basic sync system the ok or mode button on the MFT cars acted like a play/pause button.

WhiskeyGolf > Garrett Davis
04/24/2014 at 13:41

Have you done a full tank of highway only? I'd be curious what your current range is under ideal conditions.

Manuél Ferrari > Garrett Davis
04/24/2014 at 13:46

We should totally organize that!

Have you driven Ortega Hwy before? I've done it a few times and it was pretty fun. One time I got lucky and there was no traffic

Garrett Davis > Manuél Ferrari
04/24/2014 at 14:03

I have not, sounds cool though. I want to find the canyons The Smoking Tire does all their shoots at. That would be cool.

Also, I'm 100% for organizing a meet!