Another New Ride Thread - GR Corolla!

[Silfister]

Regarding the change the oil at 100 - there was an engineer on this site years ago (pelotonracer2) that posted Break-in 101, a four-stage process that he claimed would increase engine life, etc. Part of the first stage was the oil change at 100; according to him it was the best break-in tip he could offer. Again, according to him 70% or more of the new car break-in is achieved during the first 100 miles; ergo, more minuscule metal particles floating around the engine at the time (and the oil filter can only catch so much). If you can review his 101, do so - it still might be somewhere on this site. Expertise - he claimed to have torn down numerous engines for testing and had hand-built engines for racing. When I bought my little beast new back in late 2014, I followed his four- stage 101 almost to a "T" as my little monster is only primarily a weekend driver. I've got over 18k miles on her now with absolutely no problems. Does following 101 work? I don't know - maybe time will tell, but for me it certainly hasn't hurt. When I changed the oil (and filter) at 98 miles, I did notice quite a few particles in the drained oil. BTW, he also recommends changing the oil & filter after 500-600 miles as well (which I did).

 

[TDavis]

similar to the premium for the Focus RS vs regular Focus at the time. Cars are similar in concept, execution, and pricing model. Too different from the Fiesta to be really comparable.

True. When I was in the market and looking at the FiST is when the FoRS came out, at that time it was basically the same, $45k for a Focus. I liked the FiST better anyway, especially after looking at reviews and such.

I would love a GR Corolla. Even more, the Yaris. I have no car payment so that also helps lol

 

[CSM]

Does the vehicle reflect the price to be double a FiST? Cuz yikes. I understand all the stuff with it but thats still too rich for my blood for a Corolla

I think that is for people to decide individually. To me, it is a very special car that I've been wanting for a while, fits well within my budget, and I think it will retain relatively good value over the years.

 

[our guile]

there was an engineer on this site years ago (pelotonracer2) that posted Break-in 101

He was active when I first joined, sadly he moved on several years ago. He was a cool guy, super knowledgeable. I followed his Break-in 101 thread too and haven't had any engine issues either. Certainly anecdotal, but oil and filter changes are pretty cheap and his advice makes sense to me.

 

[our guile]

This is the thread: https://www.fiestastforum.com/threads/drivetrain-break-in-101.1659/

And holy crap he was active in June.

@pelotonracer2 you still here?

 

[pelotonracer2]

This is the thread: https://www.fiestastforum.com/threads/drivetrain-break-in-101.1659/

And holy crap he was active in June.

@pelotonracer2 you still here?

Barely. I sold my 2014 FiST a couple years ago, got into an Explorer ST but just recently purchased this:

 

[pelotonracer2]

Regarding the change the oil at 100 - there was an engineer on this site years ago (pelotonracer2) that posted Break-in 101, a four-stage process that he claimed would increase engine life, etc. Part of the first stage was the oil change at 100; according to him it was the best break-in tip he could offer. Again, according to him 70% or more of the new car break-in is achieved during the first 100 miles; ergo, more minuscule metal particles floating around the engine at the time (and the oil filter can only catch so much). If you can review his 101, do so - it still might be somewhere on this site. Expertise - he claimed to have torn down numerous engines for testing and had hand-built engines for racing. When I bought my little beast new back in late 2014, I followed his four- stage 101 almost to a "T" as my little monster is only primarily a weekend driver. I've got over 18k miles on her now with absolutely no problems. Does following 101 work? I don't know - maybe time will tell, but for me it certainly hasn't hurt. When I changed the oil (and filter) at 98 miles, I did notice quite a few particles in the drained oil. BTW, he also recommends changing the oil & filter after 500-600 miles as well (which I did).

There are people here that are approaching 150,000+ miles on their Fiesta STs that followed my advice and have had zero mechanical issues on stock or modified vehicles. With that said, I did blow a headgasket on my '14 but it was more of a tuning and heat issue. I broke in my 2021 Explorer ST like the above and never had any drivetrain issues after 41,000 miles.

If you are planning on keeping a vehicle a long time, follow my break-in procedures. If not, it probably won't matter short term but... you will get less friction induced heat and wear, more power, better fuel economy AND better longevity over the life of your car. Friction and heat related wear also effects transmission and transaxles, not just the engine. Letting everything wear in evenly creates less heat and friction, more power and less problems over a longer stretch of time.

 

[our guile]

Barely. I sold my 2014 FiST a couple years ago, got into an Explorer ST but just recently purchased this: View attachment 57148

Welcome back!

 

[ronmcdon]

adjusted for inflation, I believe a lot of cars priced at 30-ish in the mid to early 2000s are now closer to the mid $50k price range. thats not even taking into account outrageous Adm.

but yeah sucks that things are so expensive these days and seemingly everything, even used cars could be at least $10k cheaper to feel right.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Barely. I sold my 2014 FiST a couple years ago, got into an Explorer ST but just recently purchased this: View attachment 57148

Are those the Titans from your last FiST?

 

[tri-pedaler]

Yeeaahhhh. With factory crash bolts (which are legal for street class), people were getting -3 degrees camber up front. It was slaughtering people in DS.

It'll get destroyed in BS

Yeah that’s unfortunate. New CTR is in BS too it looks like (FK8 still in DS).

Crash bolts don’t apply to the FiST in HS, right?

 

[CSM]

Yeah that’s unfortunate. New CTR is in BS too it looks like (FK8 still in DS).

Crash bolts don’t apply to the FiST in HS, right?

New CTR may have been bumped to DS, or at least a proposal to do so. They're not as fast as originally thought due to tire width limitations.

The crash bolt rule applies for all cars in street. As long as it's in the factory service manual, it's legal. I've never ran my fist in HS so I'm not sure what the ideal setup is to gain max front camber

 

[TDavis]

There are people here that are approaching 150,000+ miles on their Fiesta STs that followed my advice and have had zero mechanical issues on stock or modified vehicles. With that said, I did blow a headgasket on my '14 but it was more of a tuning and heat issue. I broke in my 2021 Explorer ST like the above and never had any drivetrain issues after 41,000 miles.

If you are planning on keeping a vehicle a long time, follow my break-in procedures. If not, it probably won't matter short term but... you will get less friction induced heat and wear, more power, better fuel economy AND better longevity over the life of your car. Friction and heat related wear also effects transmission and transaxles, not just the engine. Letting everything wear in evenly creates less heat and friction, more power and less problems over a longer stretch of time.

Hopefully I got a long life to live. I didn't change my oil at 100 miles but changed it at 1200, then 3k, then 5k, and do it every 3k

 

[tri-pedaler]

New CTR may have been bumped to DS, or at least a proposal to do so. They're not as fast as originally thought due to tire width limitations.

The crash bolt rule applies for all cars in street. As long as it's in the factory service manual, it's legal. I've never ran my fist in HS so I'm not sure what the ideal setup is to gain max front camber

Whoa, that could be a game changer. I’ll dig into it but I thought the ST didn’t have crash bolts in the service manual. You definitely have more experience here - sounds promising.

Do you think you’ll run the GRC at National tour events next year? I know you mentioned missing Grissom/Peru

 

[rallytaff]

Hopefully I got a long life to live. I didn't change my oil at 100 miles but changed it at 1200, then 3k, then 5k, and do it every 3k

Change my oil and filter every 8,000. Have only used fully synthetic in all my cars since the mid 80's with no problems. Over 105,000 and counting. Runs like clockwork.

 

[BoostedST17]

Congrats on the new ride!

167,000 miles on my 17' FiST, I bought it used with no clue how the previous owner treated it for the first 7k miles. My car sees redline every day, has overheated multiple times back when it was on the oem radiator but it's still going strong. I change the oil every 5kish miles, (Penzoil platinum full synthetic 5w-30 in the summer and 5w-20 in the winter) paired with a motorcraft fl400 filter. I suspect the stock turbo may be on its way out so I guess it's time to slap an S280 Turbo and send it to the moon.

I am satisfied and a bit surprised with how the oem engine has survived these last 7 years.

 

[CSM]

Whoa, that could be a game changer. I’ll dig into it but I thought the ST didn’t have crash bolts in the service manual. You definitely have more experience here - sounds promising.

Do you think you’ll run the GRC at National tour events next year? I know you mentioned missing Grissom/Peru

Oh god no. GRC is my daily and I doubt I'll really race it much. I'll do my Miata for fun locals and SSC car for the big national events.

 

[Dialcaliper]

New CTR may have been bumped to DS, or at least a proposal to do so. They're not as fast as originally thought due to tire width limitations.

The crash bolt rule applies for all cars in street. As long as it's in the factory service manual, it's legal. I've never ran my fist in HS so I'm not sure what the ideal setup is to gain max front camber

Sadly no, no Fiesta (or Mazda 2) platform car has factory camber adjustment.

Unfortunately, the rule is written as "Adjustment range provided by the factory, or method as allowed in the service manual". The Fiesta service manual only has provisions for toe adjustment, and while there are a range of alignment specs, they specifically say "Nominal setting (reference only) no adjustment", so you're pretty much out of luck - The best you can do is shift the suspension bolts within the range of hole-slop and still stay in H-Street

You could probably getaway with bashing on things with a hammer to achieve anything within the factory alignment specs which technically allow for up to -2.43deg in the front and -1.89deg in the rear, but I'm not sure how you would get there and still stay in the "spirit" of the rules.

The situation in D-Street is that cars like the GR86/BRZ have a listing in the service manual for adding "factory" crash bolts that you can get from Toyota/Subaru in order to bring alignment back in spec. Because of this, it seems like some "local" rules have allowed for adding "factory crash bolts" only in D-street, but so far as I can tell the actual SCCA Solo rules do not include this provision for any Street class (at least not for 2023).

 

[Mega ST]

Nice purchase and good deal. I Would def be tempted at that price point.

 

[CSM]

A good friend is coming to look at my Fiesta later this week. Time to clean it up and prep it for sale!

Fun fact - I paid about $26k for the FiST in 2014. That's about $33,500 in today's money. Inflation is wild, phew. That really puts it into perspective how good of a value the Elantra N is, hah!