2 years old but still fearsome!

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  • #133272

    rainydays
    Participant

    Luxembourg

    Posts: 576

    My adventure with the Focus starts in 2003 when I got my license. So you can imagine I am a big fan of the brand as I always loved the driving experience. I had petrols, diesels, and then more petrols. I have been the proud owner of a 2017 NB RS for 2 years now and while there have been frustrating moments with the car, I never lost faith in my dealership.

    The first time I sat in this RS was when I was given the keys to drive away with it. I did a blind purchase because I had a very good feeling about the car. I was aware of the possible head gasket issue so when I signed the contract the dealership agreed to fix it without any questions should I be concerned.

     

    DELIVERY:

    The car was fully decked except the moon roof. I am not a big fan of said feature and I particularly dislike the added weight it brings. At the end of the day this is performance car so the lighter the better. The Recaro bucket seats were great but the little nag with the rails being a tad high for my taste is not something that truly bothers me.  As the temperatures were already low and with the mandatory winter tire requirement in Luxembourg, the car had the beautiful 18 inch Ford wheels. The forged ones were put in storage by my dealer for spring.



    Nitrous Blue Dyno Tuned @ 600 NM | Wagner Tuning – Competition IC | REVO Carbon CAI 

    HJS 200 Cell Sportkat Remus Cat-back | SS Black Chrome Tailpipes

    Fischer-Hydraulik SS Brake Lines | Endless RF 650 Brake Fluid | Endless ME20 Pads F+R (squeak king)

    Rotors: TSP XG150 – DBA 5000 T3 SLOT | DBA 4000 T3 SLOT | Suspension: MR – KW Clubsport 2 way with H&R ARB F+R

    • This topic was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by rainydays.
    #133274

    rainydays
    Participant

    Luxembourg

    Posts: 576

    First wash:

     

    My best mate who is a detailing guru gave me a quick seal for the winter as the car sits mainly outside. It was quite cold but he took the time to seal it up while I was acting as beer support :).

     

     

    First Snow with the RS

    I had the opportunity to test the 4wd and , of course, the magic Drift button :). I loved it. My first time driving a rwd bias 4wd system. It was working hard to keep me from sliding left and right when I was testing the engineering masterpiece. When I went hooligan mode, I was like a kid on X-mas Eve!

     

     



    Nitrous Blue Dyno Tuned @ 600 NM | Wagner Tuning – Competition IC | REVO Carbon CAI 

    HJS 200 Cell Sportkat Remus Cat-back | SS Black Chrome Tailpipes

    Fischer-Hydraulik SS Brake Lines | Endless RF 650 Brake Fluid | Endless ME20 Pads F+R (squeak king)

    Rotors: TSP XG150 – DBA 5000 T3 SLOT | DBA 4000 T3 SLOT | Suspension: MR – KW Clubsport 2 way with H&R ARB F+R

    #133276

    rainydays
    Participant

    Luxembourg

    Posts: 576

    With the car slowly breaking in, I started to do my homework on what could be if I pull the trigger. My first mod for the car was a simple one. I just needed more RS eye candy on the inside as I found it was missing a bit. So without further ado, I purchased a beautiful carbon gear shift knob. I was aware that more could be done with the gear lever but my priorities were elsewhere. I was Focused on breaking the car in so I can put my plan in motion.

     

    Ford Performance Carbon Gear-Shift Knob. 



    Nitrous Blue Dyno Tuned @ 600 NM | Wagner Tuning – Competition IC | REVO Carbon CAI 

    HJS 200 Cell Sportkat Remus Cat-back | SS Black Chrome Tailpipes

    Fischer-Hydraulik SS Brake Lines | Endless RF 650 Brake Fluid | Endless ME20 Pads F+R (squeak king)

    Rotors: TSP XG150 – DBA 5000 T3 SLOT | DBA 4000 T3 SLOT | Suspension: MR – KW Clubsport 2 way with H&R ARB F+R

    #133277

    walker-steve77
    Participant

    UK - England

    Posts: 208

    Great post! ??



    Nitrous Blue, Lux Pack, Blue Brembo Brake Calipers, SYNC 3, Black Forged Alloys & Door Edge Protectors

    Stage 1 + many extras

    #133279

    rainydays
    Participant

    Luxembourg

    Posts: 576

    February 2018

    This was an interesting period for the car. I just got notice that the car would be recalled due to the bad head gasket. I was a bit annoyed but did not have a choice. My dealer had no experience with such extensive maintenance. As I made it clear that the car needs to be fixed, they went the extra mile. Bear in mind that my car did not have any problems with coolant vanishing or engine problems. I was simply a good customer who obeyed what the manufacturer stated. I delivered the car and started to panic as I got home. I read on forums the many horror stories and I tried my best to give my mechanic the time he needed to fix it.

     

    4 business days later

    *pop the champagne* Celebrations, car was fixed, power was there, mechanic did an amazing job given it was his first time. He also had help from Saarlouis to make sure all was in good order. I was advised to break it in again for 500 km and not exceed 3000 rpm. Should something go wrong, damage would be minimal.

     

    More bling!

    How can Ford not give a proper dead pedal?? After combing the internet left and right, I found a very nice guy in Poland who took my design suggestions in consideration and made something custom for my RS.

     



    Nitrous Blue Dyno Tuned @ 600 NM | Wagner Tuning – Competition IC | REVO Carbon CAI 

    HJS 200 Cell Sportkat Remus Cat-back | SS Black Chrome Tailpipes

    Fischer-Hydraulik SS Brake Lines | Endless RF 650 Brake Fluid | Endless ME20 Pads F+R (squeak king)

    Rotors: TSP XG150 – DBA 5000 T3 SLOT | DBA 4000 T3 SLOT | Suspension: MR – KW Clubsport 2 way with H&R ARB F+R

    #133286

    rainydays
    Participant

    Luxembourg

    Posts: 576

    Spring 2018 arrived.

    It was time for the brand new SuperSports to come on. The car was completely transformed. It had so much feedback and control I was surprised. I did have an unpleasant experience with it on a bumpy road where the car veered on its own without me expecting it. I think this feature is called pool drift compensation so it was a good wake up call. From that moment forward, I was awake at the wheel when accelerating.

     

     

    Unpleasant surprise

    As this was a daily driver, you can imagine that sometimes I was not very gracious with getting in and out of the car. I noticed that slowly some barely visible scuff marks showed up on the driver’s seat. I instantly took measures and spared no expense. Got some seat covers which I still have in the car to this day. They are perfect apart from the fact that when I go on a more spirited drive my bum slides left and right. For track days these are removed to make sure I don’t do the monkey in high G corners.

    Not the best picture but I cannot find a better one at the moment :(.

     



    Nitrous Blue Dyno Tuned @ 600 NM | Wagner Tuning – Competition IC | REVO Carbon CAI 

    HJS 200 Cell Sportkat Remus Cat-back | SS Black Chrome Tailpipes

    Fischer-Hydraulik SS Brake Lines | Endless RF 650 Brake Fluid | Endless ME20 Pads F+R (squeak king)

    Rotors: TSP XG150 – DBA 5000 T3 SLOT | DBA 4000 T3 SLOT | Suspension: MR – KW Clubsport 2 way with H&R ARB F+R

    • This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by rainydays.
    #133289

    rainydays
    Participant

    Luxembourg

    Posts: 576

    SUMMER 2018

    Rather uneventful. Went to a few tracks with my buddy but I was a passenger in his M2 as my car was still breaking in. Apart from that we had a few drives on twisties to break mine in. I enjoyed the RS a lot and was very happy I got this and not something else.

    August knocks on my door. 

    This is were the unpleasant part of my ownership experience starts. I went to work one day and found some oil on my parking place. I originally assumed it was from someone else but I looked under my car and it was definitely from me.



    Nitrous Blue Dyno Tuned @ 600 NM | Wagner Tuning – Competition IC | REVO Carbon CAI 

    HJS 200 Cell Sportkat Remus Cat-back | SS Black Chrome Tailpipes

    Fischer-Hydraulik SS Brake Lines | Endless RF 650 Brake Fluid | Endless ME20 Pads F+R (squeak king)

    Rotors: TSP XG150 – DBA 5000 T3 SLOT | DBA 4000 T3 SLOT | Suspension: MR – KW Clubsport 2 way with H&R ARB F+R

    #133300

    rainydays
    Participant

    Luxembourg

    Posts: 576

    August – End of September 2018

    Dealership went above and beyond. They tried everything to diagnose the problem. My mechanic spent hours looking for the leak and it was not identified the first time. I had to drive the car after every fix. It was like test driving a product before launch on the market :).

    Our work was a success. We found what was going on. The reason ? The car was only leaking at high speeds when the oil pump was flexing its muscles. This was the moment when my SuperCar GT 5w-50 would reach a level of viscosity that would find the nearest dodgy seal and would leak.  I had a 1cm seal leak under my Turbo Air Intake inlet. It was so tough to see because the OEM cold air intake was blocking it. So my mechanic opened the engine and replaced everything he could find, including the timing case seal.

    He executed the head gasket procedure again. Car has done 20.000 km ever since and it is no longer leaking. I will not point fingers at my mechanic as we worked on the recall with what was given. The second procedure had different items from Saarlouis. It worked fine for 6 months and then it started leaking. Frustrating but with cooperation and patience, we solved it. We also have a gentleman’s accord where I check the oil levels twice a week and once a month I drop by the dealership to have a quick inspection. No appointment needed.

    From all the driving and testing on the autobahn, the car got extremely dirty. So I decided to spoil it and took it back to my detailing buddy. We spent a full day to decontaminate and gave it a one stage polish and did the winter seal again.

     



    Nitrous Blue Dyno Tuned @ 600 NM | Wagner Tuning – Competition IC | REVO Carbon CAI 

    HJS 200 Cell Sportkat Remus Cat-back | SS Black Chrome Tailpipes

    Fischer-Hydraulik SS Brake Lines | Endless RF 650 Brake Fluid | Endless ME20 Pads F+R (squeak king)

    Rotors: TSP XG150 – DBA 5000 T3 SLOT | DBA 4000 T3 SLOT | Suspension: MR – KW Clubsport 2 way with H&R ARB F+R

    #133301

    rainydays
    Participant

    Luxembourg

    Posts: 576

    OCTOBER 2018

    This is my favorite ownership period. After working hard to save some cash, I managed to get some items on the car.



    Nitrous Blue Dyno Tuned @ 600 NM | Wagner Tuning – Competition IC | REVO Carbon CAI 

    HJS 200 Cell Sportkat Remus Cat-back | SS Black Chrome Tailpipes

    Fischer-Hydraulik SS Brake Lines | Endless RF 650 Brake Fluid | Endless ME20 Pads F+R (squeak king)

    Rotors: TSP XG150 – DBA 5000 T3 SLOT | DBA 4000 T3 SLOT | Suspension: MR – KW Clubsport 2 way with H&R ARB F+R

    #133302

    rainydays
    Participant

    Luxembourg

    Posts: 576

    Once the parts were installed, it was time to take care of a few things. While the RS from factory is an amazing car, I could feel some limits during periods where the ambient was quite high. For example, on back to back pulls, due to heat soak, the car would have a small hesitation as the Stock IC would not give the ECU what it expected. In addition, I combined this with a EUR VI Downpipe from HJS and a nice Remus exhaust. I had this on my car before they started to offer it as a Ford Performance Option.

     

    ITS TUNING TIME</b>

     

    This was a very tough day. The tuner did 12-14 revisions before finalizing the tune. He was adjusting things on the fly and once he got results close to what he wanted he went on the street to data log. He checked for throttle inputs, delays, etc. With real world data he want back on the dyno and continue. The car performed admirably and the result was compared to a Mountune M400. I think it was one of the high end tunes offered by Mountune at the time. It was noted that the Mountune one , executed via handset and street data logging, had boost values outside of the safe range and some parameters over tuned.

     



    Nitrous Blue Dyno Tuned @ 600 NM | Wagner Tuning – Competition IC | REVO Carbon CAI 

    HJS 200 Cell Sportkat Remus Cat-back | SS Black Chrome Tailpipes

    Fischer-Hydraulik SS Brake Lines | Endless RF 650 Brake Fluid | Endless ME20 Pads F+R (squeak king)

    Rotors: TSP XG150 – DBA 5000 T3 SLOT | DBA 4000 T3 SLOT | Suspension: MR – KW Clubsport 2 way with H&R ARB F+R

    • This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by rainydays.
    #133307

    rainydays
    Participant

    Luxembourg

    Posts: 576

    With the car tuned and the new exhaust, I was very happy. Well for 10 minutes at least. After 10 minutes in sport mode, I wanted to bang my head against the wall. The Fake Engine Noise combined with the soon to be broken in REMUS was killing me. I started digging online what could be done about it. I finally found the solution so I scheduled my car for an intervention. Between 2500 rpm and 3000 rpm  my brain almost exploded. The car had amplified inverted noises in the cabin making my life very difficult. It was easy to drive above 3000 but that would make me way above the speed limits. I went to the dealership and asked for help because I was closing to going crazy.

     

     

    With the FENG disabled, the car would not longer try to kill me. I admit that even to this day it is rather loud but the trick is to use the 3500-6000 rev range as the Remus becomes more metallic and less growly. Perfect exhaust for Autobahn cruising and Track days.



    Nitrous Blue Dyno Tuned @ 600 NM | Wagner Tuning – Competition IC | REVO Carbon CAI 

    HJS 200 Cell Sportkat Remus Cat-back | SS Black Chrome Tailpipes

    Fischer-Hydraulik SS Brake Lines | Endless RF 650 Brake Fluid | Endless ME20 Pads F+R (squeak king)

    Rotors: TSP XG150 – DBA 5000 T3 SLOT | DBA 4000 T3 SLOT | Suspension: MR – KW Clubsport 2 way with H&R ARB F+R

    #133308

    rainydays
    Participant

    Luxembourg

    Posts: 576

    …and it’s Christmas again!

     

    2018 nearing completion and I was a hooligan again. Shame on me! I chose a parking lot next to my house and decided to give a ago. Drift mode, no drift mode, all modes were tested.

     

    We are now January-February 2019.

    Time for my yearly maintenance and as I did some changes to the car I had to react accordingly. Having said that, I decided to give Mountune products a test. I ordered some items from them and funny story. The front disks were perfect for my car but the rear disks that arrived had a problem. When I saw this, I called Mountune and a very suspicious chap questioned my reasoning for not having the right rear disks. I started laughing and said ‘ if in the next 5 minutes the disk no longer has 4 holes but 5 and will grow in size then you have sent me the right one’. The guy cracked up on the phone and instantly did the necessary. I got the right disks in two days. Excellent customer service from them!

     

     

     

    With great power comes … the need for better stopping distance

    I needed some pads to match these new disks. I decided to go hard core and purchased Front and Rear Endless ME-20. Because one does not only buy Racing pads, my wallet suffered another blow by paying for new brake fluid and stainless steel lines. At the same time I decided to order 1 step colder spark plugs as my Tuner recommended it. The stainless steel line brand is the one used by BMW on their CS models. Porsche and AMG uses them so I was in good hands. I originally wanted Goodridge Brake lines but they did not have anything in stock. I had to wait 2 months for them to give me something. HEL was another option but I had a bad experience with them in the past so I am still out of 120 pounds because they never helped me fix my issue on my previous car.

     



    Nitrous Blue Dyno Tuned @ 600 NM | Wagner Tuning – Competition IC | REVO Carbon CAI 

    HJS 200 Cell Sportkat Remus Cat-back | SS Black Chrome Tailpipes

    Fischer-Hydraulik SS Brake Lines | Endless RF 650 Brake Fluid | Endless ME20 Pads F+R (squeak king)

    Rotors: TSP XG150 – DBA 5000 T3 SLOT | DBA 4000 T3 SLOT | Suspension: MR – KW Clubsport 2 way with H&R ARB F+R

    #133309

    rainydays
    Participant

    Luxembourg

    Posts: 576

    With the DHL guy harassing me before my maintenance, I finally got all the packages! My mechanic had his hands full that day.

    MAINTENANCE TIME

    The proper Rear Disks. Size does matter! 🙂

    You can see what impact salt and other winter factors have on a daily driver :(.

     

     

     

    PROPER BED IN PROCEDURE

     

     

    I will admit, I think the quality of the EBC disks is not matching the pads. They are a lower tier and I noticed that due to the excess dust from the pads, once the grooves get full, the pad will spread that excess dust and heat it up under braking. This will create an even harder contact patch between the pads and the disks and braking from high speed will show some heat traces. These go away after a bit of driving but I was not expecting the grooves to fill up so quick from these pads. Next brake disks will be floating J-Grooved because they are more efficient on semi-metallic pads.

     



    Nitrous Blue Dyno Tuned @ 600 NM | Wagner Tuning – Competition IC | REVO Carbon CAI 

    HJS 200 Cell Sportkat Remus Cat-back | SS Black Chrome Tailpipes

    Fischer-Hydraulik SS Brake Lines | Endless RF 650 Brake Fluid | Endless ME20 Pads F+R (squeak king)

    Rotors: TSP XG150 – DBA 5000 T3 SLOT | DBA 4000 T3 SLOT | Suspension: MR – KW Clubsport 2 way with H&R ARB F+R

    #133310

    rainydays
    Participant

    Luxembourg

    Posts: 576

    Spring to Autumn 2019

    Amazing ownership experience. The car has such a stopping power, it makes you slam your head against the dash. The pads, fluid, and lines are a match made in heaven. The squeak makes me smile every time. It is so loud people turn their heads. At work, when I go to -3 to park, I go down hill and tap the brakes a bit. The sound they make in the garage can be heard on all levels.

    The RMM is perfect. A bit rough in the beginning, I will admit. It was vibrating a lot, especially at idle with the aircon on. As time went by things changed and now I cannot fathom not having it.

    Funny situation. I picked up my significant other from work and went out to dinner. She put her stuff in the boot, closed it, and got in the car. When we got at the restaurant we could no longer open the boot. I kind of panicked as wallets were in there *haha*. Before I decided to fold the seats I tried the key and it worked. The boot release button had a an issue. So I took it to the dealership and they fixed it.

    In addition, the famous clutch squeak pedal issue happened to me. I double clutch since I was 18 so you can imagine that I use the pedal two times more per down shift than the average Joe. My dealership tried to fix it a few times and then they replaced the pedal assembly. It no longer squeaks but in some positions you can hear something. As long as it is not squeaking as before I am fine with it. As a performance car certain items are not really comfort oriented.

     

    As a responsible driver I like to stay on my toes. Therefore, I did a few training sessions this year.

    Now that i started to use the car as intended, I needed to replace the shoes. My daily driver shoes are Michelin PS4S.

     

     



    Nitrous Blue Dyno Tuned @ 600 NM | Wagner Tuning – Competition IC | REVO Carbon CAI 

    HJS 200 Cell Sportkat Remus Cat-back | SS Black Chrome Tailpipes

    Fischer-Hydraulik SS Brake Lines | Endless RF 650 Brake Fluid | Endless ME20 Pads F+R (squeak king)

    Rotors: TSP XG150 – DBA 5000 T3 SLOT | DBA 4000 T3 SLOT | Suspension: MR – KW Clubsport 2 way with H&R ARB F+R

    • This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by rainydays.
    • This reply was modified 4 years, 4 months ago by rainydays.
    #133320

    rainydays
    Participant

    Luxembourg

    Posts: 576

    @walker.steve77

     

    Thanks for the feedback ! I still have my latest entry which I will do later today. I am truly lucky to be able to enjoy and afford this hobby of mine.



    Nitrous Blue Dyno Tuned @ 600 NM | Wagner Tuning – Competition IC | REVO Carbon CAI 

    HJS 200 Cell Sportkat Remus Cat-back | SS Black Chrome Tailpipes

    Fischer-Hydraulik SS Brake Lines | Endless RF 650 Brake Fluid | Endless ME20 Pads F+R (squeak king)

    Rotors: TSP XG150 – DBA 5000 T3 SLOT | DBA 4000 T3 SLOT | Suspension: MR – KW Clubsport 2 way with H&R ARB F+R

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