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
Phase 0: Damn you, Murphy.
Mean Bean in front of Love Bean, thanks for all the memories, Love Bean!
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.
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!
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:
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.
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.
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
Phase 0: Damn you, Murphy.
Mean Bean in front of Love Bean, thanks for all the memories, Love Bean!
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.
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!
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:
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.
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.