Gentlemen, I have finally been able to trade in the Prius that I had before. I absolutely hated that car, but when you drive 200 miles a day, a prius is about the only option. No longer driving that far everyday, so I traded it in for a 2014 Ford Focus ST. I absolutely LOVE this car. I am married (but going through a divorce) and have 2 kids, so having something fast that is still family friendly is a must. I also didn't want to compromise my fuel economy too much. This car fills all of my needs perfectly. It is the perfect size, gets around 32mpg when I'm not pushing it too hard, and can still keep up with WRX's and EVO's so long as its from a rolling start.
This thing is an absolute beast on a back country road or a track. I had watched countless youtube videos about how well it handled and how everyone loved the steering feel. They were not kidding. It is point and go. I have pushed it hard on some back roads and it just keeps asking for more. The best stock clutch I have ever felt. It handles the power beautifully with no slippage or feeling like it wants to explode from the pressure. The ST models only come with a 6 speed.
As for the stereo, it is horrible!! I got the ST1 level because I don't like the Recaro seats and wasn't going to pay for the Sony system just to pull it all out later. The system in the ST1 has no depth, no midbass whatsoever, is overly bright and has no soundstage presence. It is also not loud at all. When using the Bluetooth on a phone call I have to turn it all the way up just to hear it.
Only performance mods for now is a JBR 530 gram weighted shift knob and a Cobb short shift plate. I'll eventually add a short shifter as well and replace the shifter bushings. The stock shifter is excellent but can always be improved on. I love the feel of a short shift that really locks into place. I also replaced all of the interior lighting with LED's. I will take some pics of that tonight.
I will be ordering some 3M carbon fiber wrap and doing the roof, and some of the interior trim pieces.
Next on the performance list will be a set of Garageline 20mm spacers on the front and 25mm on the rear. Gives the car a really nice aggressive stance. I'll add a set of small mudflaps as well to keep from the tires kicking anything up and scratching the car. When I install these I will also be installing a set of Eibach Pro-Kit lowering springs.
But, first on the chopping block will be the stereo.
I purchased a set of Audison AV K6 components last week, but came across the deal on crutchfield and couldn't pass it up. I have wanted to try the Pioneer Stage 4 3 way set for a long time but didn't want to pay that much. Right now they are having a sell that if you buy the 2 way components you get the 2 5/8" TS-S062PRS mid-ranges for free. So I pulled the trigger on them yesterday. So the Audisons will be up for sale very soon.
Headunit-Stock unit
Processor-Looking for a JBL MS-8
Front Speakers- Pioneer Stage 4 TS-C172PRS 6 3/4" comps and 2 5/8" TS-S062PRS mids (ran active of course!!!)
Rear Speakers-None, will be disconnecting the stock rears.
Subs-Planning on two Alpine Type R 8" D4 subs as of now. Been told these are amazing for SQ and have pretty decent output. The car being a hatch, I don't need to much. I'm not a basshead. I will be removing the factory spare tire and fiberglassing these into the floor. Will be building a false floor with plexi to go over these and the amps and processor
Amps-Planning on going with two of the Kenwood XR900-5's. They sell them refurbished from saletronics. Heard pretty good things about them on DIYMA. Will run one amp with the 60x4 on the tweets and midranges, and then the sub channel of course to one sub. The second amp I will bridge giving the midbasses 150w each.
Wiring-Will be running all NVX. I was extremely pleased the last time I used them. Great build quality and was easily on par with the Knu 0 gauge that I had. So they had an open box 0 gauge wire kit. Got that, some of their RCA's, though I will need to change them out. I was originally planning on just running an AC LC2i in the front dash. So now I just need shorter RCA's. Will be running NVX 12 gauge speaker wire as well.
Sound Deadening- Also picked up 80sq ft of the NVX deadener. The reviews seemed pretty good on it. I will give a review of it when done. Should be getting it in the mail today and I will start on the doors. Eventually I will hit up sounddeadenershowdown and get some of their stuff to finish everything up. The car is already pretty quiet, so all of this will probably be overkill; but oh well.
Here is a quick pic of when I first got it. I will wash it today and take some more pics tonight. Had a bad Crohns flare last week and went into this week. Finally feeling a little better today but took the rest of the week off.
This thing is an absolute beast on a back country road or a track. I had watched countless youtube videos about how well it handled and how everyone loved the steering feel. They were not kidding. It is point and go. I have pushed it hard on some back roads and it just keeps asking for more. The best stock clutch I have ever felt. It handles the power beautifully with no slippage or feeling like it wants to explode from the pressure. The ST models only come with a 6 speed.
As for the stereo, it is horrible!! I got the ST1 level because I don't like the Recaro seats and wasn't going to pay for the Sony system just to pull it all out later. The system in the ST1 has no depth, no midbass whatsoever, is overly bright and has no soundstage presence. It is also not loud at all. When using the Bluetooth on a phone call I have to turn it all the way up just to hear it.
Only performance mods for now is a JBR 530 gram weighted shift knob and a Cobb short shift plate. I'll eventually add a short shifter as well and replace the shifter bushings. The stock shifter is excellent but can always be improved on. I love the feel of a short shift that really locks into place. I also replaced all of the interior lighting with LED's. I will take some pics of that tonight.
I will be ordering some 3M carbon fiber wrap and doing the roof, and some of the interior trim pieces.
Next on the performance list will be a set of Garageline 20mm spacers on the front and 25mm on the rear. Gives the car a really nice aggressive stance. I'll add a set of small mudflaps as well to keep from the tires kicking anything up and scratching the car. When I install these I will also be installing a set of Eibach Pro-Kit lowering springs.
But, first on the chopping block will be the stereo.
I purchased a set of Audison AV K6 components last week, but came across the deal on crutchfield and couldn't pass it up. I have wanted to try the Pioneer Stage 4 3 way set for a long time but didn't want to pay that much. Right now they are having a sell that if you buy the 2 way components you get the 2 5/8" TS-S062PRS mid-ranges for free. So I pulled the trigger on them yesterday. So the Audisons will be up for sale very soon.
Headunit-Stock unit
Processor-Looking for a JBL MS-8
Front Speakers- Pioneer Stage 4 TS-C172PRS 6 3/4" comps and 2 5/8" TS-S062PRS mids (ran active of course!!!)
Rear Speakers-None, will be disconnecting the stock rears.
Subs-Planning on two Alpine Type R 8" D4 subs as of now. Been told these are amazing for SQ and have pretty decent output. The car being a hatch, I don't need to much. I'm not a basshead. I will be removing the factory spare tire and fiberglassing these into the floor. Will be building a false floor with plexi to go over these and the amps and processor
Amps-Planning on going with two of the Kenwood XR900-5's. They sell them refurbished from saletronics. Heard pretty good things about them on DIYMA. Will run one amp with the 60x4 on the tweets and midranges, and then the sub channel of course to one sub. The second amp I will bridge giving the midbasses 150w each.
Wiring-Will be running all NVX. I was extremely pleased the last time I used them. Great build quality and was easily on par with the Knu 0 gauge that I had. So they had an open box 0 gauge wire kit. Got that, some of their RCA's, though I will need to change them out. I was originally planning on just running an AC LC2i in the front dash. So now I just need shorter RCA's. Will be running NVX 12 gauge speaker wire as well.
Sound Deadening- Also picked up 80sq ft of the NVX deadener. The reviews seemed pretty good on it. I will give a review of it when done. Should be getting it in the mail today and I will start on the doors. Eventually I will hit up sounddeadenershowdown and get some of their stuff to finish everything up. The car is already pretty quiet, so all of this will probably be overkill; but oh well.
Here is a quick pic of when I first got it. I will wash it today and take some more pics tonight. Had a bad Crohns flare last week and went into this week. Finally feeling a little better today but took the rest of the week off.
