Tim's Molten Orange TURBOST (pic heavy?)

[twolf]

This is gonna be a wordy thread. That's how I do it. Not everything is gonna be about #MAWDZ and if you don't like that, this isn't the thread for you. I like to talk. I like to ramble. That said, here we goooo!

So, it all started in December 2014… I was driving home from work at 11 at night and I pulled up to a light in my 1990 Miata. As I came to a stop… the charging light flickered on for a brief second and the RPMs dropped to zero. Long story short, it was the IAC. Knowing I had to get to work in the morning, I frantically got in touch with my Miata parts guy (who lives an hour away) and asked him to put an IAC on his front porch for me before he went to sleep and I sent him some cash. I found a ride to his house and picked up the IAC and (just my luck) went home in the rain… and decided I was so tired I should just wait till morning to install it.

So, I woke up in the morning and ventured out into the freezing rain to get it fixed up and get myself to work. On the Miata, in order to install the IAC, the crossover tube from the intake must come out, as well as the throttle body. Easy enough job, just a little bit of a PITA because of the various coolant/vacuum hoses that have to be blindly unplugged then re-attached when you reinstall… all said and done, 1.5 hours. At this point I decided I’d ask my parents to drive my Jeep down to my dorm so I’d have another vehicle to get me to work in case the Miata broke down again. That way, fixing it wouldn’t be so desperate.

This was just the last straw in a string of small dumb things happening that, as a fulltime student/worker, pissed me off and caused me unnecessary stress. So, I decided to look into leasing a car. Yada yada yada, keep your opinions about leasing out of /this/ thread. I figured I’d just get a reliable (but somewhat fun) car that would get me to/from work AND have a warranty. Sooo, I started looking into various cars. BRZs, Fiat 500 Abarths, Fiestas, Mazdaspeed Miatas (yeah I know those can’t be leased or have a warranty… but….)
I already knew about the Fiesta, being a huge fan of Matt Farah’s, so I was pretty sure it was the main contender. It’s basically the cheapest, has the nicest interior for the price, and is pretty decked out with little gadgets in base form. Keyless Entry, MFT, hill assist, just the random creature comforts that I wasn’t used to, coming from a 1990 Miata… lol.

 

[twolf]

I happened to have a friend from the Miata forums in my area that bought one for his wife… when he heard I was considering buying one, he asked for my number and told me to come over to his house and take theirs for a drive after work. It was a 2014 PB without Recaros.

There happens to be a dealership right next to my school that had SEVERAL Fiestas/Foci STs. I was, at this point, set on Molten Orange.

I heard bad things about this dealership, though, and based on the way the salesman texted me when he found out I bought through another dealer—I’m more than glad I didn’t buy from them.

Sooo, the day after that picture was taken, I decided to go down to another dealership (recommended to me by the friend from before) and talk to them about ordering my own Fiesta and getting the monthly payment down to what I wanted to pay given my down payment etc. To my surprise, within 5 minutes of arriving they had me sitting in an OW FiST with Recaros & moonroof doing 2nd gear pulls down the street. Haha. I’m very happy that they took me (a 20 year old) seriously enough to let me take a test drive, no questions asked. Other dealerships would see me walking around the parking lot looking at cars and no salesman would even come outside to talk.

To my surprise (again) they told me there was a base (minus Rado wheels) Molten Orange FiST at a nearby dealer that they could get for me. Today. Today? I did a double take at this point. I wasn’t ready to buy. I hadn’t sold my old car. I hadn’t taken my mods off of my old car to sell yet. I didn’t have the full amount I wanted to put down yet because I hadn’t sold my car. I *really* wanted Recaros, but when he was giving me the papers that are a table with the monthly payment for lease term vs down payment, adding Recaros would make my monthly payment go up $60!! 60*36 = $2160… yup… I didn’t think making the payment go up by nearly 40% for some seats was worth it so I went for the base model with Rados and Molten Orange… Huge regret Aaaaaaand they told me to cut them a check for the amount I wanted to put down and they’d wait 30 days to cash it. This kinda made me uncomfortable, because selling a Miata in January isn’t the easiest thing to do. It all worked out fine, though.

When the car pulled up to the dealer I told my salesman to go to the back and make sure they don’t detail the car or put any stickers on it and then had him go to the gas station with me to MAKE SURE it was filled up with 93, not 87. Then I took her home!

Shortly after getting it home I realized that this was the same Fiesta I was looking at before, at the bad dealership. Funny how things go.

Coming from a 25 year old vehicle I was blown away. Creature comforts. A radio that doesn’t sound horrible (it’s not even that good, but compared to a Miata it is!) No key to get in it! No key to start it! Wow! This thing is perfect. I have no need to mod it.

 

[twolf]

Sooo, let’s see... first mod… sorta. I got a custom plate.

Then I noticed the dealer installed scratch and dent special. They offered to fix this when I told them but after I showed it to their body shop manager they got quiet. Oh well. My fault for not noticing it when I took delivery.

Around this time someone hooked me up with the local ST club! They had a meet that I didn’t make due to work… but here’s a pic.

Then I just drove it for a while.

Found a friend…

Rally carrrrr!

Then I wanted to get some unique ST inlays and I missed all of the gay jokes I used to get in the Miata so I got these…

Then I took it on the ToTD!!! This was the best! I took the Miata on the tail but it doesn’t compare.

At some point in those pictures, I got a RMM (great mod), Injen Intake/MBRP Exhaust, Cobb AP (custom 93oct/e30/e40 tunes) and a Turbosmart BOV.
I also got some much less sticky rubber (because I’m a dumbass who waited too long to rotate my tires and the front ones were basically bald by the time I hit 6k so I didn’t wanna throw them on the back and have the car breaking the rear loose around every turn) and I’ve actually gotta say, it made the car more fun.
Toyo Extensa HP for anyone curious. The load rating is 84 but the speed rating is only V (aka 149mph, lol. Plenty.)

 

[imcfarland93]

Super awesome thread so far! i just got my TB Fiesta ST a few weeks ago, the got it from another dealership as my dealer did a swap with them. they had 2 on the lot i could choose from, Molten orange and the Tuxedo Black. both non recaro but had MFT and i went with black because my dad was already uneasy about the insurance on a turbo car let alone a bright ass orange one lmao. the orange is sweet though. was ingen your first choice? and how do you like the quality of the intake?

 

[twolf]

I'll probably post a review of every mod I've done thus far, Injen was my first choice--I wanted loud sound. IT's not the best heat wise though.

 

[imcfarland93]

thats what ive been hearing but i cant help but love the Red inlet tube you can get, got my eyes set on that one lol

 

[twolf]

Any guesses on numbers?

 

[imcfarland93]

210hp 230tq?

 

[twolf]

202hp, 266tq. I need to go back for some e30 pulls.

 

[konatodd]

MAybe I missed it, but what do you have done to the car. Nice ride BTW.

 

[Dr.Claw]

Woot! Car looks good.

 

[twolf]

Thanks, Claw Man!

 

[twolf]

So, this is the part where I give my thoughts/insight into the few mods I’ve done to the car.

The first thing I did to the car was around 2,000 miles. I now have ~22,000. Of course, it was the Cobb rear motor mount.

Here’s the deal. If you don’t have the Cobb RMM, go to your vendor of choice and BUY ONE! I can’t even begin to say how much of a difference this made on my car. Before, I’d get wheel hop, clunking from the engine bumping into the firewall, missed shifts, etc. Now, I don’t get any of those. Even ~20,000 miles later, it hasn’t gotten squishy or anything. The extra vibration at idle is completely tolerable and, in my opinion, nice. It’s just enough to let you know that the car is still alive under there.

It is definitely a mod that changes the entire feel of the car.

As far as the install goes, it was very easy. If you can change your oil—wait, actually, no. If you have a pulse and can read instructions, you can install your own RMM. Don’t pay anyone to do it. The only little gripe I had was that the instructions say to just tap the bracket off of the old RMM and it’ll fall off. This wasn’t really the case with mine, I had to beat the ever living shit out of it to get it off. But I’m also a weakling, so your mileage may vary.

This isn’t gonna void your warranty. Just do it. You’ll thank me. Back before I did it, I saw all of the people on the forums ranting about how great it was… but I didn’t really take it to heart. Then I did it myself… and thought, “wow, I should have listened.” So yeah, just do yourself a favor and do it…

 

[twolf]

The next mod I made was my intake and exhaust. I really, really wasn't planning doing anything but the RMM--I did say the car was perfect stock...

But then some guy in a Fiesta with an exhaust passed me. And, as things usually go, I ended up on Youtube... fucking Youtube. I talked to my buddy Brian Tyson @ JST Performance... Brian is a very convincing man... I refer to him as my drug dealer. By the time my conversation was over, I had an Injen intake & MBRP catback coming to my house--rush shipped, of course.

The intake and exhaust showed up and I called my brother outside to be my "hand me the 10mm socket" boy, and made short work of the intake. I can't say I remember much about the intake install, which is another way of saying it went on without a hitch. I took the car for a test drive around the block before setting to work on the exhaust, and... WOW. What a great sound. I was giggling like a fool before I made it to the end of my street, and even took my mom for a ride to see what she had to say. "It's so weird, Tim, it sounds like a space ship...." LOL. Turbo noises: check.

We pulled the car up on the ramps and let everything cool down (kidding, but you should definitely do that....) before grabbing the Sawzall and getting to work. This is the exact point where my luck ran out. When we were unbolting the stock exhaust from the downpipe, one of the nuts just started spinning endlessly. Stripped the threads off of the stud, although we were hoping it was just the nut. Yay. So, we got the grinder and attempted to make a relief cut in the nut and split it, hoping that the nut stripped and not the stud... aaaand it was the stud. Tried drilling it out, the drill did nothing. Those studs are super hard, and the downpipe has a flex joint so it's hard to hold still. I drove it around the block once we got the exhaust removed for shits and giggles, and our cars sound hilarious with no exhaust. So many vibrations in the cabin, so much drone.

Aaaanyway, I could not extract the stud, so I took it to my buddies at the "muffler" shop and they removed it for free... lift and oxy-acetylene torches are nice to have... Tried to pay them, but they wouldn't have it. Left the shop and drove by home depot to pick up a bolt, lock nut (I actually wonder if the plastic in the nut has melted by now...) and washer and then went home and installed the exhaust. I've gotta say, the MBRP exhaust isn't the best fit. The part where the exhaust goes above the mid-chassis brace isn't centered, which can cause the exhaust to smack into the brace, OR in some cases, REST on the brace and cause a godawful vibration and knocking sound inside of the car. Honestly, I fixed this by zip-tying the exhaust hangers in order to hold the entire exhaust up higher. Not ideal, but I'm too cheap to buy the Cobb exhaust hangers and not entirely sure they would fix the problem anyway. The real fix is to take it to my muffler shop and have them re-weld the hangers on the exhaust in better places. MBRP could have a better fit and finish. I also want to have them remove the slip joints in favor of v-bands, and give me a straight section for the resonator so I can swap between the two. Sometimes, I do feel like the car is a little bit quiet. Other than that though, the MBRP has a greeeeeeat tone and only drones a *tiny* bit at 3-4k RPMs, and only if you're at a certain throttle position.

 

[Strife]

Good to know about the fitment on that MBRP exhaust. I think I'll fork out the extra cash for COBB or Mountune.

 

[twolf]

I should note that I do think it's got a better sound than the Cobb. I haven't heard the Mountune though.

 

[twolf]

So after my intake/exhaust, my next mod was the Turbosmart BOV. I love it. Love, love, love it. It's loud, yeah, but I'm a 20 year old. It makes me smile all the time, I find myself driving with the windows down all the time just to hear it more, etc. Easy install, would definitely recommend.

After that came my most important mod... that I definitely did in the complete wrong order. I got an AP! The company who sells me all of my mods, JST Performance, became a Cobb dealer. One of my friends talked me into getting an AP, and I'm glad I did. Brian at JST offered me a package deal if I bought a tune from him, so I decided to go out on a limb and give him a shot. I was the first Fiesta he tuned, and everything is GREAT. He set me up with 5 way map switching, including an Eco map, 93 tune, e30, and e40 maps. The difference in driveability is CRAZY, the difference in power is definitely something you can feel, I'm 110% happy with the tune itself.

However, his customer service is where he truly shines, in my opinion. My friend owns a performance shop, and offered to let me do pretty much unlimited pulls for $20... so I went down there, strapped the car down, got it into 3rd gear to do a pull.... and bam! LC wouldn't let the car rev past ~3000 because the rear wheels weren't moving, obviously. I decided I would text Brian and let him know, but given that it was 7:30 at night, I wasn't expecting a reply. I uninstalled the AP to do a stock run, and got a text from Brian saying the fixed map was in my email. Sure enough, he fixed it and I got to do a pull!

202hp and 266ft/lb on 93 octane, no power adding mods. I'd say that's pretty damn good.. This was also a very early revision, and like I said, I was his first Fiesta so we were still working things out. I need to get back to the dyno on e30, because THAT is something that I can definitely feel in the butt-dyno.

Whenever I have any questions about these cars, I ask Brian. He has treated me super well, he even came out to a local mod day to hang out, took my car for a drive, and then modified the tune right then and there! Oh, and he also holds the world record for the fastest stock turbo Focus ST.

Anyway, next... I went to Import Showdown, and ran a VERY good time for a car with no IC/Downpipe and horrible 360 treadwear tires... I raced against a stage 3 MO FiST and his best time was like a 14.8... mine was a 14.5.

Excuse my dirty fingernails...

Car on left, obviously...

I was quite proud, since I'd only ever done 2 1/4 mile runs before this day. Again, shitty tires. E30. Intake/Exhaust/BOV/RMM. Tuned by JST Performance.

Then I was driving home from Import Showdown with my Fiance in the passenger seat. I was driving behind a buddy who has a FoST and my mom was behind me...

Deer are stupid. I was actively looking for deer because it was dusk... and I still never saw him till he was 1" from my headlight... So, that's shitty. I couldn't open the door... Had to drive 3 hours home with no driver headlight or mirror... Did $6,600 worth of damage. It's currently sitting at Magnum Collision, a shop that works on mainly exotics... Estimated completion by December 11th... Import Showdown was November 15, so you do the math...

I'm posting this post mainly because I seriously miss this car, and I can't wait to get it back.

Thanks for reading...

 

[C. love]

I have to disagree with the poor fitment on the MBRP mine fits great but I will admit it took some time adjusting it. Also I love the color man looks great and your build thread and excitement actually make me want to do a build thread so keep up the good work

 

[twolf]

Alright, I need this in my life.

 

[JPGC]

Alright, I need this in my life.

What are the wheel and tire specs....? I like the beefy look