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Post by Travis "Zombie" Mihm on Jan 13, 2016 8:22:28 GMT -5
Since I can't EFFING CONTRIBUTE MUCH IN THE IRACING PART OF THE TEAM... I figured I'd start a build thread to keep you guys in the loop on what I have going on for this summer. I sold my sim rig in February ish of 2015, when my dog got sick and I couldn't cover the costs. That was a real eye opener for me financially, and since all of my college loans would go into repayment that summer I decided I needed to come up with a game plan to combat the large shitsack of debt I was in lol. I have been away from iRacing about a full year now, and while my plan to get a rig ready by Thanksgiving wildly failed, I've made progress in other areas. First was my credit. When my dog got sick, I immediately tried to get a credit card or a personal loan, and was denied. By everyone. Everywhere. Turns out, if you have nothing on your credit history but three loans/bills in collections, people don't want to give you any money. My score was around 530. No bueno. So I started working more, contacting bill collectors, and getting things paid off. By August I'd made some progress, and in September I picked up that '08 F250 Superduty. Needed a work truck, needed installments on my credit history, so I bought a truck. This last Saturday at the start of January, I was moving a car and trailer for my brother, and the trans slipped in first gear. That was the last straw with the truck. I have a new job as an auto mechanic, so I didn't really need a truck. Plus, she needed a $2500 emissions removal to get any decent diesel economy (13mpg gets old quick), $1100 in tires, a $900 diff rebuild because my rear limited-slip diff had a bit more than "limited" slip haha. Add on a transmission rebuild, and I said fuck it. I sold my MR2 in Florida a while back, and it really bummed me out that now I didn't have iRacing OR a race car. I'd been shopping for something sporty, fuel efficient, and new where the upgrade potential was great but there was still a bit of "mystery" to the chassis. I ended up looking at John Works Coopers, newer Civic Si's... Then I found the Focus ST. I read more and more and more, and found a few people criticizing the Focus. They were Fiesta ST owners. I'd never heard of the Fiesta, but was immediately put off by the name and the looks of the base Fiesta. I have a beard. I can't drive a "Fiestaaaaaaa".... Then I drove one. I drove the Fiesta ST and then the Focus ST. And then I drove the Fiesta ST again because my salesman and I had so much fun in it that we convinced each other that "for scientific testing, of course", we had to confirm our suspicions. I traded my truck in that night and went home with my 2014 Performance Blue Fiesta ST. Here's a few grainy, shitty pictures from post-wash but pre-wax with my gay Focus rims and winter tire setup on it. Specs to come. 2016011895164645 by Travis Mihm, on Flickr 2016011895164701 by Travis Mihm, on Flickr And as soon as I can find a damn FLASH DRIVE I will have this as my touch screen background. Best upgrade ever. Wallpapers. MFTPunisher by Travis Mihm, on Flickr I've put snow tires up front and all seasons out back, and I'll put my Potenzas back on when the snow goes away to start autocrossing and going to track days. All I need to do is pick up a decent Snell helmet and come March/April I should be wheelin' it. I'm sure I'll get into a few things over the summer, but this will be my daily driver under warranty, so if I do anything to it, it will be minimal. I did find a nail in one of my rear tires... I'm going to patch it and run it as it shouldn't be a problem, but I'm still not entirely confident in putting a patch on lo-pro rubber and autocrossing on it.
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Post by Bryan "x4 contact " de Bruyn on Jan 14, 2016 10:59:57 GMT -5
Welcome to the "fast" ford family T. I know you gonna love that little racer. If you want to drool about even more ford stuff just google for "Ford Fair". Or "fast ford magazine' performance ford magazine" and a new world will open up for ya. just get a bilstein suspension kit, drexler diff, and if you're power hungry , a blowerkit and off you go. though that will hurt the wallet again... and again... and so on I'm afraid.
This year I will be visiting the Ford Fair again at Silverstone after too many years not being able to go. I'll take my camera along and shoot some pics off all the fiesta frenzy.
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Post by Joseph Cardamone on Jan 14, 2016 16:06:25 GMT -5
Welcome to the "fast" ford family T. I know you gonna love that little racer. If you want to drool about even more ford stuff just google for "Ford Fair". Or "fast ford magazine' performance ford magazine" and a new world will open up for ya. just get a bilstein suspension kit, drexler diff, and if you're power hungry , a blowerkit and off you go. though that will hurt the wallet again... and again... and so on I'm afraid. This year I will be visiting the Ford Fair again at Silverstone after too many years not being able to go. I'll take my camera along and shoot some pics off all the fiesta frenzy. Bryan I had so much respect for you until you got excited about driving a Ford. Oh the shame of it all
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Post by Travis "Zombie" Mihm on Jan 14, 2016 16:10:15 GMT -5
I can't imagine adding very much power to this car and retaining its balance. I'd need stickier front tires than the Potenzas, and for such a light car that's sayin' something!
My plans are to keep it fairly stock for the duration of my warranty. Only cosmetic and bolt on stuff. I'll probably end up with a Cobb AccessPort tuner, but more as a monitor than a tuner. Right now the focus is spending an absolute shit ton of money on seat time seat time seat time. Differentials are expensive, but I really want a decent LSD. Quaife diffs are easily obtainable around here. Suspension go-fast stuff will probably be held off until next year. Basically, all of the big ticket items will probably happen AFTER I get back on iRacing and after my warranty expires. I'll do bolt-on exhaust soon though. This car sounds so good stock, a catless DP and good cat-back exhaust should really wake it up.
I've heard lots of concerns about cooling/overheating issues during track days. I think it's mostly on mildly upgraded cars, not very many people with stock ST's have said much about it but there ARE a few. Oil cooler and upgraded radiator may be one of those big-ticket items. We'll see this summer, I plan on going to Gingerman Raceway a few times and flogging on it there for 20 minutes at a time.
-Travis
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Post by Bryan "x4 contact " de Bruyn on Jan 15, 2016 0:08:19 GMT -5
If your in warranty, it's problably better to keep tuning a bit on a low profile. Got myself a quaife diff for my roadlegal track car. Something i definitely recommend as as it put you on rails through curves. though the drexler diff gets some good reviews too. will snag up some pics later to share, first work now.
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Post by Bryan "x4 contact " de Bruyn on Jan 15, 2016 0:09:43 GMT -5
Welcome to the "fast" ford family T. I know you gonna love that little racer. If you want to drool about even more ford stuff just google for "Ford Fair". Or "fast ford magazine' performance ford magazine" and a new world will open up for ya. just get a bilstein suspension kit, drexler diff, and if you're power hungry , a blowerkit and off you go. though that will hurt the wallet again... and again... and so on I'm afraid. This year I will be visiting the Ford Fair again at Silverstone after too many years not being able to go. I'll take my camera along and shoot some pics off all the fiesta frenzy. Bryan I had so much respect for you until you got excited about driving a Ford. Oh the shame of it all I still like you, so I forgive you for bashing Ford
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Post by Joseph Cardamone on Jan 15, 2016 0:27:58 GMT -5
Bryan I had so much respect for you until you got excited about driving a Ford. Oh the shame of it all I still like you, so I forgive you for bashing Ford Lol only big balls understand ?
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Post by Bryan "x4 contact " de Bruyn on Jan 15, 2016 10:08:11 GMT -5
I can't imagine adding very much power to this car and retaining its balance. I'd need stickier front tires than the Potenzas, and for such a light car that's sayin' something! My plans are to keep it fairly stock for the duration of my warranty. Only cosmetic and bolt on stuff. I'll probably end up with a Cobb AccessPort tuner, but more as a monitor than a tuner. Right now the focus is spending an absolute shit ton of money on seat time seat time seat time. Differentials are expensive, but I really want a decent LSD. Quaife diffs are easily obtainable around here. Suspension go-fast stuff will probably be held off until next year. Basically, all of the big ticket items will probably happen AFTER I get back on iRacing and after my warranty expires. I'll do bolt-on exhaust soon though. This car sounds so good stock, a catless DP and good cat-back exhaust should really wake it up. I've heard lots of concerns about cooling/overheating issues during track days. I think it's mostly on mildly upgraded cars, not very many people with stock ST's have said much about it but there ARE a few. Oil cooler and upgraded radiator may be one of those big-ticket items. We'll see this summer, I plan on going to Gingerman Raceway a few times and flogging on it there for 20 minutes at a time. -Travis Over in the UK is where the big high powered Fiesta's are. FWD turbocharged or even a RWD conversion with cossie power, it's all there . About overheating, sometimes it helps with adding ducts (don't know the exact word here) for keeping things cool. One thing to consider if you're pretty serious about trackdays is upgrading the front stoppers. No fun doing trackdays and needing cooling down every few laps , because they're smoking hot and fading like crazy. For me , after the addition of the Quaife ATB , the transition to a 4-piston frontbrake system was the best step up for doing trackdays.
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Post by Bryan "x4 contact " de Bruyn on Jan 16, 2016 5:16:49 GMT -5
Hopefully getting the fundings for overhauling my engine this year , so I can do a few trackdays later this year. I sure miss doing them... Better brakes and pads a must attending trackdays HiSpec 4-pots , 280mm rotors with RedStuff EBC pads.
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Joel Hafner
Addict
Black Desert Cobra
https://goo.gl/i4muoL
Posts: 760
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Post by Joel Hafner on Jan 16, 2016 7:13:17 GMT -5
Is the first picture from Zolder?
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Post by Bryan "x4 contact " de Bruyn on Jan 16, 2016 18:12:08 GMT -5
Is the first picture from Zolder? Yep, It is Joel. Sort of my home track at only a 40-45 min drive. Zandvoort is about a 2.5 -3 hour drive and the Ring about a 1.5 hour drive. And the above car has been doing some laps on all 3.
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Joel Hafner
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Black Desert Cobra
https://goo.gl/i4muoL
Posts: 760
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Post by Joel Hafner on Jan 16, 2016 19:28:07 GMT -5
Is the first picture from Zolder? Yep, It is Joel. Sort of my home track at only a 40-45 min drive. Zandvoort is about a 2.5 -3 hour drive and the Ring about a 1.5 hour drive. And the above car has been doing some laps on all 3. Awesome, very cool I wish I lived in a reasonable country where racing wasn't against the law lol (seriously what the fuck)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2016 23:25:09 GMT -5
Lol I'd love to compare tracks but my current car has not seen anywhere near as impressive tracks as yours have, Bryan "x4 contact " de Bruyn. Zolder seems really nice to drive on Irl. And Zandy as well. Nords doesnt even need to say anything about because.. Well.. It's Nords. Needless to clarify, but Im jealous of you:P Also, what car is that? Mondeo?
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Post by Bryan "x4 contact " de Bruyn on Jan 17, 2016 7:44:23 GMT -5
Lol I'd love to compare tracks but my current car has not seen anywhere near as impressive tracks as yours have, Bryan "x4 contact " de Bruyn . Zolder seems really nice to drive on Irl. And Zandy as well. Nords doesnt even need to say anything about because.. Well.. It's Nords. Needless to clarify, but Im jealous of you:P Also, what car is that? Mondeo? Zolder is killing for your brakepads, had one trackday there with 2 sessions for an hour with about 4mm of pad thickness. Last session noticing some grinding noises and went back pit. Pad thickness gone so was braking iron against the rotor. Zandvoort less killing and more high speed corners compared to Zolder. The Ring is total awesomeness and done about 5 laps there. The last lap being a frightening one when I almost lost control and binning my car into the armco. Yeah, and my track worthy car is an 98 Ford Escort Estate, 1.8 16v with about a 132bhp, standard it should be about 115bhp. Upper and lower strut braces in front. Bilstein shocks front and gaz shocks in the back. 4 pots brakes at the front with 280 mm rotors (240mm sliding calipers standard) and focus discbrakes rear (drums standard). And the usual as sports exhaust and air filter. It's a fun car now which can surprise some faster cars, but shure could need some serious increase in power for some real fun.
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Post by Bryan "x4 contact " de Bruyn on Jan 17, 2016 17:24:32 GMT -5
Hey Travis,
Show some pics of that ST. Getting a bit offtopic here, wasn't suppose to.
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Post by Travis "Zombie" Mihm on Jan 18, 2016 7:31:30 GMT -5
I'm working on it. Today at work I'm going to probably have some time to pull it in and wash it AGAIN (Fuck Michigan... just... fuck it), and then con the other service tech to take some pictures with his good camera haha.
I love the Escort. I got to hoon a buddy's SVT Escort and it was a hell of a lot of fun. How much does your Estate weigh when it's all said and done? I'm probably going to run to the hog farm this week and run my car over the truck scales there; they're actually quite precise, I figured they'd get within a hundred pounds or so but my brother said that since they're so concerned with efficiency it's actually more like +/- 10lbs. Curious to know what it weighs with a full tank and a fat guy in the driver's seat. I've already found that Ford underrated them from the factory. 2014's are supposed to make 198/202 at the crank as per Ford's specs. But Edmunds.com did a few dyno runs on one and they got 184whp/221wtq. What was impressive to me was that the little bastard made over 200 ft-lbs of torque from 2000 to 4300 rpm, and then makes peak horsepower at 5200. The review said that they were impressed by how consistent the Fiesta was, considering they had a 2013 Focus ST on the dyno as well and the numbers varied wildly from run to run with it.
-Travis
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Post by Bryan "x4 contact " de Bruyn on Jan 19, 2016 1:39:38 GMT -5
It can vary, but in general the power and torque figures are a bit underrated of the RS's. The Escort weighs in at 1100kg. Interiorwise only exchanged the standard front seats for a set recaro's from an Escort RS2000. So with me and a full tank you're talking about a 1270kg total I guess.
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Post by Travis "Zombie" Mihm on Jan 19, 2016 7:17:54 GMT -5
2800lbs ish, not bad at all for a wagon.
-Travis
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Post by Bryan "x4 contact " de Bruyn on Jan 19, 2016 10:24:23 GMT -5
Nice ST Travis, Didn't even saw you got the 2014 ST. It's a tiny hothatch, but got approved by the likes of Top Gear in a hot hatch shootout. It wasn't the numbero uno in the field. But the handling with an outstanding power put down through the wheels made it a fine drivers car for the twisties. So I assume it should do well at a track.
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Post by Travis "Zombie" Mihm on Jan 20, 2016 12:36:16 GMT -5
I looked at that Top Gear shootout (S20E1) about a million times haha. It seems interesting to me that they state the Fiesta ST as 170 horsepower. Was this an earlier model that you guys got across the pond? IIRC 2014 is the first year for the FiST in the US and it was rated at 197hp. But yeah, Hammond sure loved the FiST more.
-Travis
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