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Jason Haven's 'Mean Bean' - A middle of the road build

JasonHaven

Active member
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Location
Washington
#1
Guess I should finally put one of these together...

About me, and my goals: The FiST is the first car I've actively wanted to own, my previous two cars were a couple of econo cars (Civic DX, Scion xA)... cars that were oddly fun to drive, even with their tame nature, and what I could afford. Life's granted me the ability to finally get something I've long wanted... a lightweight car with some zest to it. Still haven't officially named my FiST, but I'm leaning towards 'Mean Bean', since the previous car was called the Love Bean, and became a bit of a legend among friends for how hearty of a vehicle it was (seriously, the Scion xA is a beast of function). I don't have super lofty goals with the FiST. I want it to be loads of fun, but also last me 10 years as my previous cars have.

I welcome all comments, critiques, and suggestions, as long as you're ok with me not always agreeing, or doing what you suggest :p

Phase 0: Damn you, Murphy.

Mean Bean in front of Love Bean, thanks for all the memories, Love Bean!

11406958_10153322184644318_7048220532839990033_n.jpg

I then took the new hotness out for a drive, and of course a deer kamikazed into my car from out of nowhere. I think I was less than 1000 miles in, and had not made my first car payment yet. The body shop, unfortunately, didn't do the greatest job. They glued a tab back on to one of the headlight housings instead of replacing the housing, and they left a ratchet extension in the bay. My initial experiences with Lindsay Ford have not been positive so far (sales and body shop). I have some warranty work to do, and I'm considering going elsewhere at this point.

11403171_10153383075914318_6232498792917520408_n.jpg

Phase 1: Wheels and tires.

My biggest beef with the FiST was that there were no performance all season option when I bought the car. Second biggest beef was just how harsh the ride was around DC. So the tires and wheels had to go.

I decided on 16" Sparco Assetto Garas (black), and BFG Comp 2 A/Ss. Going down a wheel size has helped the ride quality. The wheels are 5lbs lighter on each corner (making RAAM proud ;)). Went with all season versions of the Comp 2's as reviews said they were really good in dry and wet, and early reviews said they were workable in light snow. Perfect for me... as I have the ability to take public transport if it gets too bad around here. My initial reviews are positive, but the car is beyond my skill level so far, so I wouldn't be able to give an informed review. All I know is, the car handles damned well, and I have absolutely zero complaints!

IMG_5514-small.jpg

151024113602-DSCF6685-Edit.jpg

Phase 2: Initial mods

This place is evil. I never really intended to get into modding, but indirect peer pressure got to me:

- Rally Armor mudflaps
- [MENTION=2905]www.cp-e.com[/MENTION] Intercooler
- [MENTION=555]COBB Tuning[/MENTION] stage 1 (Accessport, RMM, filter)
- [MENTION=3805]Tune+[/MENTION] E-Tune

[MENTION=2728]CP-E Mitch[/MENTION] did the install of everything for me, and did a fantastic job. He then put the car on their Mustang Dyno (apparently reads low?) for some testing of a couple different tunes:

Dyno Chart_1280px.png

Adam's initial tune was already pretty awesome. I'm on revision 2 and am really enjoying the smooth power delivery. I need to do another pull to continue the process!

Took it for Thanksgiving road trip since I didn't have much to do, down the Blue Ridge Parkway (both VA and NC), then over to Tail of the Dragon, and Great Smoky Mountain NP.

IMG_5627 as Smart Object-1.jpg
IMG_5626 as Smart Object-1.jpg
IMG_5614 as Smart Object-1.jpg
IMG_5613 as Smart Object-1.jpg
IMG_5612 as Smart Object-1.jpg

Phase 3: Can't stop, won't stop.

Plans:

- Adam's custom wastegate (already ordered)
- CP-E intake (not ordered yet)
- Denso spark plugs, pre gapped from Adam (not ordered yet)
- An oil catch can need some suggestions here, something easy to empty, since I'm limited on skills, tools, and space
- [MENTION=3178]maperformance[/MENTION] exhaust (probably not until next summer though)

Other things I'd like to do:
- Fiesta badge removal
- Shark fin antenna from Ford
- A front splitter of some sort
- RS style wing?

Yes, I know some of those last things aren't really performance mods, I just like the way they look hah.

Anyways, thanks for reading my stupidly long post, and as I said, feel free to make any comment, critique, or suggestion.
 


C. love

Active member
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rapid city
#2
Lookin good so far. I would suggest some front and rear braces some time, they make a ton of difference and are cheap. Badge removal is cake use some fishing line and off they come. It will help if you heat the badges up with a blow dryer or heat gun or do it on a hot day, which if you are like me another "hot" day wont be happening for another 6 months or so.

Also who gives 2 $h%^'s if some mods you want to do aren't performance based, its your car bro. I dont know what your tastes are but the triple R splitter is pretty subtle or you can get the 1552 cup kit with that one splitter that made for them (I forgot the name of the guy whom makes them) which looks super aggressive and may look good with your RS wing you want. Problem with one aggressive part is you need to make the whole car aggressive or it looks off
 


OP
J

JasonHaven

Active member
Messages
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Location
Washington
Thread Starter #3
I forgot about braces! I've been meaning to ask what's good in that regard... I don't want to go nuts with it, but if there's an easy brace/anti roll or two that improves handling feel, I'm all for it.
 


C. love

Active member
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Location
rapid city
#4
I got the TBperformance traction and torsion bars and they really made a difference. The car now bites in hard; it seems adhesion has greatly increased and to have balanced the chassis more so under-steer is almost non exsistant. The only downside is you have to buy them lol
 


OP
J

JasonHaven

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Washington
Thread Starter #5
Thanks for the suggestions, I'll take a look!

And buying stuff really sucks. :(
 


Messages
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22
Location
bakersfield
#6
I have the damond occ and it was pretty easy to install and has a valve at the bottom for easy draining. i also installed pierce motorsports front and rear strut bars and rear torsion bar over thanksgiving break. all were super easy to install and made driving the car that much more fun. i have the 2 pnt front brace sittin in my garage. havent tackled that yet. anyways, those are some good handling options and pierces customer service was excellent. i emailed questions and had answers before i was able to click send ;) I look forward to seeing what u do next. great build!
 


Messages
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22
Location
bakersfield
#7
oh, and i used a credit card to remove my badge. just move it around a bit until u break contact with the glue. and rub the excess glue off with your fingers or a rag
 


OP
J

JasonHaven

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Location
Washington
Thread Starter #8
Yeah, I live in an apartment, and I'm bald as hell... so no hair dryer, or even if I did have one, I wouldn't have a way to get it to my car haha. I might try your method, or wait until it's hot, or something, I dunno.

And thanks for the brace suggestions!
 


Siestarider

Senior Member
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Location
Stuart
#11
I was about the same place as you mod-wise a year ago when I took a trip to the mountains for fun. Realizing the car was so much better than the driver was shocking, but real.

So I went to a HPDE at a track. 9 track days later I am hooked on driving as fast as the car will go, have to have tracking once a month or get grouchy.

Now that I am a better driver, my mod goals are clear. Make car a little quicker, then learn to drive it again at new limits.

Main limitation for me is stealth, I will not make a mod that stands out (like one of those really cool RS wings), have to be able to sneak around looking like an econobox.
 


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J

JasonHaven

Active member
Messages
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Location
Washington
Thread Starter #12
I was about the same place as you mod-wise a year ago when I took a trip to the mountains for fun. Realizing the car was so much better than the driver was shocking, but real.

So I went to a HPDE at a track. 9 track days later I am hooked on driving as fast as the car will go, have to have tracking once a month or get grouchy.

Now that I am a better driver, my mod goals are clear. Make car a little quicker, then learn to drive it again at new limits.

Main limitation for me is stealth, I will not make a mod that stands out (like one of those really cool RS wings), have to be able to sneak around looking like an econobox.
It is a goal of mine to become a better driver. I need to add the gas pedal spacer to my list, and teach myself how to heel-toe. I'd love to do some track time sometime, but I'd want an instructor along the first couple of times to give me tips etc.

And good point on being stealth, I think in some ways I've avoided attention the few times I speed (I don't often) partially because 'econobox'.
 


OP
J

JasonHaven

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Washington
Thread Starter #13
Side note: I'm reviewing my trip using Automatic's dashboard (Automatic is an OBD dongle that tracks mileage, and does a few other things), and I got 40+mpg at multiple points, including a 33 mile section where I got 49mpg! Average speed during that stretch was only 38mph though haha
 


Kip2MyLou

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Gaithersburg
#14
I also have the black ST and would love to add some appearance mods, I just don't know how they would look on the black, you know. On other colored STs they look good because they accented the car great. But on our black STs, I just don't know.

And on the braces, I have pierce everything (look in my signature) and I can't speak more highly for them. And Jim, the owner, is awesome. Answers every question and great customer service.

And those 16s look great. I'm running 15s at the moment on 195/55s and can't to go 16s next spring, on 205/45 or 205/50. I think they look a lot better than the 15s, especially when on stock height like I'll be running.

And highly recommend the Damond OCC. I'm mechanical dumb to say the least and my brother and me put installed in about 30 minutes. And would have took shorter if I would have read the instructions correctly. Just make sure you feed the tubes through the guided locations. Makes things so much easier later. I haven't drained it yet, I plan on doing it every 5k, with my oil change, but it looks relatively easy to drain.
 


OP
J

JasonHaven

Active member
Messages
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Location
Washington
Thread Starter #15
Alright, been a while since I've updated.

I've done no mods since my initial 'stage 2' package, I did however go back to an OTS tune, as Tune+'s was a little aggressive (but powerful!) for my liking, and I don't really have time/reliable areas to do datalogging to finish up the process.

I've had a couple warranty repairs, all within the last month, at about 2 years and 24,000 miles (though, I kinda wish I knew driving time, vs miles, since a lot of my driving time is in stop and go traffic)

  • Air blend door actuator replaced due to clicking noise under certain air direction settings (basically a gear broke a tooth inside the actuator)
  • Cruise control button lights stopped working which apparently requires the whole switch
  • Brake switch failure causing the 'wrench light' (maintenance light that doesn't throw obd codes apparently) to come on. Brake switch failure only caused cruise control and hill assist to not work. Might have impacted brake lights, but I couldn't confirm (also never had anyone yell at me for non working lights).
  • PCV tube replaced, which was apparently damaged or collapsed some how. I had no indication it was damaged, but they found it when checking things and replaced it.
  • During the process of replacing the blend door actuator, they missed a screw or something, so I had a loud rattle. They took it apart, found it, fixed it.

Hopefully this trend of things breaking stops here, I'd like to keep the car around for a while. Still love driving the thing, but QC/fit and finish leave much to be desired. I can imagine DC isn't easy on stiff 'cheap' cars, though.

Next up:
  • Restart the tuning process with Tune+, or maybe get a Stratified tune?
  • Mountune RS-R brake pads. Apparently have less initial bite, but comparable or better overall braking power, and much less brake dust. Wouldn't mind smoother braking in the city, and definitely wouldn't mind less brake dust.
  • I'd still like to get an exhaust, even if there isn't a huge performance gain. Want a bit more growl.
  • Next year my hope is to have some paint issues fixed, and have the car detailed or whatever.
  • Also next year, probably going to do a transmission/brake fluid change, even though it's before recommended. I just figure I should be a bit more aggressive on fluid changes compared to recommended mileage due to the fact that I have a lot of time driving, but not a lot of miles.
  • When it comes time to replace my tires, I'm thinking of going to 205-50/16 vs 205-45/16 that I have now. The former is slightly bigger than stock, and the latter is slightly smaller than stock in overall tire size. The extra side wall should make the city a bit easier, hopefully not impact handling too much. But I'm probably never going to be taking the thing to 10/10 in corners.
 


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Location
Lewisville
#16
Alright, been a while since I've updated.

I've done no mods since my initial 'stage 2' package, I did however go back to an OTS tune, as Tune+'s was a little aggressive (but powerful!) for my liking, and I don't really have time/reliable areas to do datalogging to finish up the process.

I've had a couple warranty repairs, all within the last month, at about 2 years and 24,000 miles (though, I kinda wish I knew driving time, vs miles, since a lot of my driving time is in stop and go traffic)

  • Air blend door actuator replaced due to clicking noise under certain air direction settings (basically a gear broke a tooth inside the actuator)
  • Cruise control button lights stopped working which apparently requires the whole switch
  • Brake switch failure causing the 'wrench light' (maintenance light that doesn't throw obd codes apparently) to come on. Brake switch failure only caused cruise control and hill assist to not work. Might have impacted brake lights, but I couldn't confirm (also never had anyone yell at me for non working lights).
  • PCV tube replaced, which was apparently damaged or collapsed some how. I had no indication it was damaged, but they found it when checking things and replaced it.
  • During the process of replacing the blend door actuator, they missed a screw or something, so I had a loud rattle. They took it apart, found it, fixed it.

Hopefully this trend of things breaking stops here, I'd like to keep the car around for a while. Still love driving the thing, but QC/fit and finish leave much to be desired. I can imagine DC isn't easy on stiff 'cheap' cars, though.

Next up:
  • Restart the tuning process with Tune+, or maybe get a Stratified tune?
  • Mountune RS-R brake pads. Apparently have less initial bite, but comparable or better overall braking power, and much less brake dust. Wouldn't mind smoother braking in the city, and definitely wouldn't mind less brake dust.
  • I'd still like to get an exhaust, even if there isn't a huge performance gain. Want a bit more growl.
  • Next year my hope is to have some paint issues fixed, and have the car detailed or whatever.
  • Also next year, probably going to do a transmission/brake fluid change, even though it's before recommended. I just figure I should be a bit more aggressive on fluid changes compared to recommended mileage due to the fact that I have a lot of time driving, but not a lot of miles.
  • When it comes time to replace my tires, I'm thinking of going to 205-50/16 vs 205-45/16 that I have now. The former is slightly bigger than stock, and the latter is slightly smaller than stock in overall tire size. The extra side wall should make the city a bit easier, hopefully not impact handling too much. But I'm probably never going to be taking the thing to 10/10 in corners.
In the future if you have any concerns with a tune just drop me an email and let me know what you want to change. I'm open to make whatever changes you would like to make sure the tune suits yours driving style/goals.

And as far as being aggressive, you would be surprised how conservative we are compared to other tuners. We see a lot of logs posted up in the groups with people troubleshooting and we see a lot of aggressive timing tunes out there.
 


OP
J

JasonHaven

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Washington
Thread Starter #17
In the future if you have any concerns with a tune just drop me an email and let me know what you want to change. I'm open to make whatever changes you would like to make sure the tune suits yours driving style/goals.

And as far as being aggressive, you would be surprised how conservative we are compared to other tuners. We see a lot of logs posted up in the groups with people troubleshooting and we see a lot of aggressive timing tunes out there.
Definitely will keep that in mind, I didn't want to be an 'annoying customer', I know you guys have a lot on your plate. As far as 'aggressive' I was talking about feel, vs anything technical (I'm an idiot there). I want to clarify my statement wasn't a complaint about your service or the quality of the tune, they were/are both great, it was just a subjective feeling of sudden donkey kick of (impressive) acceleration that is a lot of fun at times, but also a little rough when dealing with day to day DC traffic haha. Is starting fresh an option for the $250 tune I bought a ways back? Forget if that was lifetime, or a one 'completed' tune process thing.
 


Messages
456
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297
Location
Lewisville
#18
Definitely will keep that in mind, I didn't want to be an 'annoying customer', I know you guys have a lot on your plate. As far as 'aggressive' I was talking about feel, vs anything technical (I'm an idiot there). I want to clarify my statement wasn't a complaint about your service or the quality of the tune, they were/are both great, it was just a subjective feeling of sudden donkey kick of (impressive) acceleration that is a lot of fun at times, but also a little rough when dealing with day to day DC traffic haha. Is starting fresh an option for the $250 tune I bought a ways back? Forget if that was lifetime, or a one 'completed' tune process thing.

An annoying customer tends to not be a good customer honestly. I prefer to be emailed and questions asked it makes sure you are getting exactly what you want and paid for. As far as the $250.00 option, that is the old price but it does cover you as long as you own the vehicle. So if you have changes you want to make to the tune just let me know - tuning@adamtuned.com we will get it squared away.

Based on the amount you paid for the tune, I can venture to guess you are on an older version of our tune that had the throttle pressure ratios changed and was a little over sensitive. Completely changed it since then.
 


OP
J

JasonHaven

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Washington
Thread Starter #19
An annoying customer tends to not be a good customer honestly. I prefer to be emailed and questions asked it makes sure you are getting exactly what you want and paid for. As far as the $250.00 option, that is the old price but it does cover you as long as you own the vehicle. So if you have changes you want to make to the tune just let me know - tuning@adamtuned.com we will get it squared away.

Based on the amount you paid for the tune, I can venture to guess you are on an older version of our tune that had the throttle pressure ratios changed and was a little over sensitive. Completely changed it since then.
Awesome, thank you! I'll be getting in touch in the near future :)
 


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