I bought my Ingot Silver ST around 5 months ago and just hit 7500 miles on the odometer. So, far my only modifications have been NO-Pistons dead pedal, black mirror caps, all-weather mats, cobb drop in filter, cobb knob, and 15x6.5 Sparco Drift winter tires and wheel, which are on their way from tire rack. I have trolled the forums for several months and always been intigued by the Cobb Accessport and everyone's obbession with using it to tune our already spectacular cars. This is my first ever new car under warranty and I have some reservations about installing the AP tuner. This being said I have no prior knowledge of tuning vehicles and would love to be educated by forum users who appear to be subject matter experts. Is anyone considered the long term repercussions of changing the ECU pattern of the Fiesta ST? How "reserved" is the factory tune and is a claimed 24% increase in torque healthy for this car? Can I expect to drive this car just as many miles with a tune as stock? Is the $650 worth the increases in hp and torque? What are your impressions of the AP tuner overall? Is this the best overall starting point to start modifying this car not for the race track, not for autocross, but merely as a fun daily driver to safely and reliably take me back and forth on my journeys? Any advice would be very much appreciated!
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Cobb Accessport Questions and Concerns
- Thread starter catalyST
- Start date
I will not answer all of your questions but I will answer the ones I feel best able to... the AP is definitely worth the $600 it cost. It opens up the engine in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gear. The whole car seems to become more alive and responds to your foot much better than without the tune. If you doubt whether or not you want to be concerned about your warranty - then I have one word of advice, don't install the AP. It will be hard to go back to the stock car after you have done so. It changes the car that much. It's not a HUGE change, but it is noticeable and significant enough to be missed.
As for as warranty goes, that's a topic for debate. If something happens to your engine, and you have to take it the dealer, do you want to have to worry about whether or not they will look for a tune? If so, don't get it. People will assure you it can't be detected, and that may be the case, but in the end those same people who assure you it can't be detected sure as heck won't be there to pay for the repairs if the dealer does some how figure out you used a tune and decided to decline the repair. Nor will they be there to help you get through the fighting with the dealership that will ensue....it may not ever be an issue, those who assure you it can't be detected may be right, but when the car is kept stock, it's not a concern. When the car is modified, it is a concern. It's up to you decide if you want to be concerned or not.
In regards to the AP being too much for the engine? HIGHLY unlikely. This engine is definitely underrated from the factory. It's more than able to handle quite a bit more power without any internal modifications. This isn't uncommon. Manufacturers design and plan cars for their intended market and try not to provide too much to take away from other cars that offer more and sell at a higher price...they try to keep them within their respected target demography. That doesn't mean the engine isn't capable of much more. It just means the manufacturer did it's best to tune it from the factory so it's within that intended range (in the case of the Fiesta ST, it's the factory tune and small turbo)...short version, it's doubtful and very unlikely a OTS tune or any tune worth it's salt would ever be the real reason this engine decided to give up. You may be unfortunate enough to have a dud, shrug, who knows - but averaged across all the Fiesta ST engines, it's not likely to have ever been the OTS tune.
That's about all I can answer from my opinion and point of view. I personally chose to keep my car stock just because I never want to be in the situation of having to be worried should something happen and I have to take the car in to the dealer...
As for as warranty goes, that's a topic for debate. If something happens to your engine, and you have to take it the dealer, do you want to have to worry about whether or not they will look for a tune? If so, don't get it. People will assure you it can't be detected, and that may be the case, but in the end those same people who assure you it can't be detected sure as heck won't be there to pay for the repairs if the dealer does some how figure out you used a tune and decided to decline the repair. Nor will they be there to help you get through the fighting with the dealership that will ensue....it may not ever be an issue, those who assure you it can't be detected may be right, but when the car is kept stock, it's not a concern. When the car is modified, it is a concern. It's up to you decide if you want to be concerned or not.
In regards to the AP being too much for the engine? HIGHLY unlikely. This engine is definitely underrated from the factory. It's more than able to handle quite a bit more power without any internal modifications. This isn't uncommon. Manufacturers design and plan cars for their intended market and try not to provide too much to take away from other cars that offer more and sell at a higher price...they try to keep them within their respected target demography. That doesn't mean the engine isn't capable of much more. It just means the manufacturer did it's best to tune it from the factory so it's within that intended range (in the case of the Fiesta ST, it's the factory tune and small turbo)...short version, it's doubtful and very unlikely a OTS tune or any tune worth it's salt would ever be the real reason this engine decided to give up. You may be unfortunate enough to have a dud, shrug, who knows - but averaged across all the Fiesta ST engines, it's not likely to have ever been the OTS tune.
That's about all I can answer from my opinion and point of view. I personally chose to keep my car stock just because I never want to be in the situation of having to be worried should something happen and I have to take the car in to the dealer...
catalyst ... all good questions. I have had many performance cars with various levels of tuning and parts and many of the experienced guys I have talked to about the FiST agree on several things: This car is a blast and we could easily live with it stock and be satisfied. However Turbo cars a just too easy to make more delicious safely and cheaply to ignore, hence, there is no way that I can keep this car stock! Now, having gone a bit overboard with cars in the past my goal for this car is to maximize bang for the buck, keep the stock civility intact, and be easily reversible if I have to warranty anything. Surprisingly, I found that intake and exhaust swaps that I did on all my prior cars seem unnecessary for a daily driver FiST. Our take, was that a intercooler upgrade and an AP flash was all that was needed to make us happy. a car with a silver IC and stock IC hoses could probably go unnoticed even at the dealer is my guess. My Fist is only 2 months old and so it's still stock. My last car an Evo 9 had a least $10,000 in mods done to it and was one sweet ride. However, it was a track whore, and blowing that kind a money on a daily driver will not add to your enjoyment of the car and may actually have the opposite effect. I have had to de-tune cars in the past for daily driver duty!
Conclusion: Mods are worth it and generally safe. If I could choose only one mod for this car it would be a Cobb AP with a custom tune. I feel confident that the car will not suffer any long term adverse effects if properly tuned and data logged. A FMIC will enhance the safety and performance of your tune. I plan to keep all stock IC hoses for stealth, lower cost and because I believe they are adequate for a daily driver. You can do those 2 mods and a drop in K&N filter for a grand, and will probably be the happiest $1g you will ever spend on your car!
Conclusion: Mods are worth it and generally safe. If I could choose only one mod for this car it would be a Cobb AP with a custom tune. I feel confident that the car will not suffer any long term adverse effects if properly tuned and data logged. A FMIC will enhance the safety and performance of your tune. I plan to keep all stock IC hoses for stealth, lower cost and because I believe they are adequate for a daily driver. You can do those 2 mods and a drop in K&N filter for a grand, and will probably be the happiest $1g you will ever spend on your car!
