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Liking, but not loving my car. What single mod "made" the car for you?

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#63
I see you like it ;)

Seconded though. It makes the shifts feel much better.
Is our stock shifter really lacking in any way? In comparison to the BMW that I owned previously, this stock shifter is very solid & precise. I just don't see much that can be improved on but maybe my expectations for a shifter are low...
 


HardBoiledEgg

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#64
Yeah they really low cause stock stick shift BMWs are horrible so of course you will feel this car is fine
 


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#65
On that note, I didn't really have any issues with the stock shifter, but after installing the boomba ultimate kit, it just feels better.
 


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Clint Beastwood

Clint Beastwood

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Thread Starter #66
Oh man you don't want to know what 3 years of depreciation looks like. 2014 owner here and bought new.

But he's kind of on to something - it does sound like the 500 Abarth was the car for you. The FiST is a killer car for those who like it, but just because I like it doesn't mean you will. Same goes for any car; 500, FiST, you name it.
yeah i think i might just pick up another abarth as my weekender and dd the fiesta.
 


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Clint Beastwood

Clint Beastwood

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Thread Starter #67
Is our stock shifter really lacking in any way? In comparison to the BMW that I owned previously, this stock shifter is very solid & precise. I just don't see much that can be improved on but maybe my expectations for a shifter are low...
i kinda feel where the 2-3 shift could use a little refining, but that might just be something that'll loosen up a bit with some miles.
 


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Clint Beastwood

Clint Beastwood

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Thread Starter #68
On that note, I didn't really have any issues with the stock shifter, but after installing the boomba ultimate kit, it just feels better.
makes sense, just refining it a bit can make a huge difference. The ST is worlds better than a lot of current manuals I've driven, lots of rubbery manuals out there at the moment.
 


alexrex20

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#70
Maybe that's the real reason that dude put 4 bullets in his car!!!!
Could be.

On a sidenote, when the news reporter was videoing my car on her Facebook live vid, she described it as a "2017 Ford... car." In that pause I got real excited that she was about to call it a Ford STi on live "tv". That would've almost made it all worth it. :D

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 


M-Sport fan

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#71
On that note, I didn't really have any issues with the stock shifter, but after installing the boomba ultimate kit, it just feels better.
The shift feel, throw, and effortlessly slipping into the next gear was MUCH improved over factory with just the Mountune 30% reduction lever/'plate', and the Boomba under-hood shift cable support bracket bushings.

Eventully, I will install the Boomba handle, and their shifter base bushings as well. ;)
 


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#72
I'm with Msport and many others on this one. The Mountune Quick shift is great (what a clever marketing name...).

It won't really add personality to the car. But it will make it more sharp, which is useful for when you go ahead and add the rmm and the host of other shifting feel improvement mods that we typically hear about. Go ahead and pick your poison lol
 


jmrtsus

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#73
I'm scared of doing a tune now :| maybe it'll change when I get a better sense of how Ford dealers are. I had an F150 lightning for a while but it was OOW, dealership experience was ok, they just wanted to talk about the truck. I'm just wary of rejected warranty claims on my DD. The only reason I've wanted a tune so far was really to get rid of the rev hang, that's pretty infuriating. Even stock the car pops a lot on downshifts, its just really quiet (a gentle "floomp" when decelerating). RMM seems safe tho, that's definitely on the roadmap, I can feel the engine slopping back and forth. It seems to be the trend with vehicles now, I had to do a poly rear mount on my Abarth too, the engine moved so much stock that my intake hose was bouncing off a radiator support bolt.
MOUNTUNE MP-215, W/Ford Warranty, Sound Symposer delete.
 


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#74
For us the mod that made the car (tolerable) was the Ford Performance suspension. It's my wife's DD and that turned the ride quality from punishing to acceptable. You give up some handling ability but the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. The stage 2 COBB tune is nice, but the car was never really short on power and my wife doesn't use the car's full abilities. That said, we'll be selling ours soon. We're tired of Tiny Car Living (TM).
 


Intuit

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#75
Does the mountune... tune get rid of rev hang, or is it still there because of emissions?
I don't use my engine to slow down, just the brakes, as this is what they're designed to do. For my driving and considering it takes the turbo time to spool down, rev hang may be beneficial in my turbo-equipped vehicle. The manual warns against shutting the vehicle off until the engine drops to idle speeds, specifically because of the turbo. Hang may also have a positive impact for turbo lag, which even for this smaller turbo, is SUPER apparent when shifting low. http://www.machinerylubrication.com/Read/29040/lubricant-starvation-dangers
 


jmrtsus

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#76
Does the mountune... tune get rid of rev hang, or is it still there because of emissions?
No it does not.....I am fine with it, it maintains boost and does a little rev matching for shifting, don't think it has to do with emissions. Took a month or so to get used to it, I find the ST trans to be one of the best I have had in over 50 years of driving a manual trans. That includes BMW and Mazda which are also good shifting trans. The MP-215 will cost you more but I travel a lot and want no dealer problems anywhere I may be with service issues, the warranty also includes coverage on the Mountune supplied equipment. I am sure most people never have problems even with non warranted tunes like Cobb. My 2016 with 18K on it has never seen a dealer since I picked it up....and never will if I have a choice.
 


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#77
yeah i think i might just pick up another abarth as my weekender and dd the fiesta.
You have shared with us how much you liked your Abarth since before you bought your FiST, and it seems from your posts that your fondness for the Fiat has not waned, apart from the dealer's inability to repair it. If you do buy another Abarth, I will look forward to hearing your observations as to how it compares to your FiST when you own both, not just when you are remembering your past ownership experience with it. The Abarth was a car I seriously considered before buying the FiST, but the $3k FiST rebate and the spotty Abarth reliability record and dealership network pushed me to FiST. I am interested in your observations though.
 


Intuit

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#78
i kinda feel where the 2-3 shift could use a little refining, but that might just be something that'll loosen up a bit with some miles.
I suspect it's just that larger wall between one and three positions. So that won't really change.

The shifter on my prior vehicle had more durable rods instead of cables. When I bought it, the shifting was tight, quick. Fast forward fifteen years and I could punch a five year old in the knee caps with fifth gear. (slight exaggeration) Restoring that ssuupperr sloppy shifter to near stock tolerances only took two five cent nylon washers (they call "bushings") that would fit on the tip of your finger.

So the other folks who are comparing the shifters on their OLD rides to this new one, might want to compare again, once this newer one, gets some age on it.
 


Plainrt

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#79
You have shared with us how much you liked your Abarth since before you bought your FiST, and it seems from your posts that your fondness for the Fiat has not waned, apart from the dealer's inability to repair it. If you do buy another Abarth, I will look forward to hearing your observations as to how it compares to your FiST when you own both, not just when you are remembering your past ownership experience with it. The Abarth was a car I seriously considered before buying the FiST, but the $3k FiST rebate and the spotty Abarth reliability record and dealership network pushed me to FiST. I am interested in your observations though.


I went from a 500 sport that put 50k miles on to my fist. Only thing I missed on the junk fiat was the stereo. I also drove an abarth. I just don't understand how you can like the abarth all that much. Yes I like how the abarth sounds and looks but rest of car is junk and lacks the performance of the fist and that mini van feel behind the wheel just sucked. Don't know how
Fiat dropped the ball on seating position and shifter etc.
 


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Clint Beastwood

Clint Beastwood

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Thread Starter #80
I went from a 500 sport that put 50k miles on to my fist. Only thing I missed on the junk fiat was the stereo. I also drove an abarth. I just don't understand how you can like the abarth all that much. Yes I like how the abarth sounds and looks but rest of car is junk and lacks the performance of the fist and that mini van feel behind the wheel just sucked. Don't know how
Fiat dropped the ball on seating position and shifter etc.
I kinda liked the weirdness for some reason :shrug:

A little insight into what I wanted from my small fun DD: When I was originally cross shopping the two cars I had recently found out I’d never be able to ride a motorcycle again (with 11 bikes (running and projects)) in the garage. That depressed the heck out of me, as I *love* riding- grandparents rode, parents ride, all family ride. I spent about 2 years in a foul mood without my “pressure relief valve” going through surgeries and physical therapy, and I finally decided I would go shop for the most motorcycle-like car I could find. Test drove a *ton* of cars and wound up at the Miata, st, and Abarth. Wrx’s were too heavy, mustangs too big, 370z was a modern Nissan, brz too slow, etc etc. Between the three finalists, the Abarth was just the most motorcycle-y, no real frills, no sound insulation. I almost went Miata but it’s too impractical- I could still fit a full width rack mount server into the Abarth so it was dd-able. The Abarth was rough, weird and fun enough to fill 80% of that motorcycle shaped hole in my heart. When I say the st lacks character, it’s not that I think it’s a bad car, it just doesn’t scratch that same itch. It’s kinda too smooth and too quiet (great qualities for a car) for what I was looking for. I’ll try some little mods here and there to see if I can make it what I want, because it’s darn close- but if I see a 500 Abarth used for cheap I’ll probably pick that up. Another couple surgeries and I might be blue to ride again, which will mean the st has an easier job :p

tl;dr: the st is too good a car, i liked the Abarth for the things that made it a poorer car than the st, because it was interesting.
 


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