The 2017 FORD FOCUS ST PROJECT
DISCONTINUED
In 2018, Ford Motor Company decided to put all their efforts into trucks and SUV's here in the US because apparently, every single person in this country needs to tow airplanes, go off-roading and climb mountains. At least that's my understanding. Because of these hillbillies and faux-adventurists, they've discontinued all of their cars save for the legendary Mustang, and for some reason the Fusion. Which is strange because I haven't seen a fusion on the road in forever. And it's also strange because there's a huge push for fuel-efficient vehicles in this country so why not build only trucks wtf.
I'm a sucker for hatchbacks. Look at the cars on this site alone - all hatchbacks. So to my dismay, when it was announced they were also discontinuing the Ford Focus hatchback, I was really disappointed. Not because I'm a gigantic Ford fan or anything - I don't have a huge loyalty to automakers by any means, but what this really meant is that now, there was one less option in the market for a fun hatchback. Subaru got rid of their hatchback version of the STI years ago which shook up the Subaru fanboys, and at the same time nobody else really makes a fun hatch.
LAST OF ITS BREED
Ford still continues to manufacture this car overseas, which is even more annoying because there are also several other hatchbacks being made internationally that we can't get here either. Thanks a lot, hillbillies.
When the announcement was made, my interest in these cars was instantly renewed. I started looking around to see what was left in different dealership inventories and to my surprise, not only were there a few left out there, but even better there were insane price cuts and discounts making it super affordable and also a no-brainer in my mind. I always buy my cars on holidays, so in May of 2018, I bought a brand new 2017 Focus ST2 for just over 20K - more than 10K under sticker price.
NO CAR SHOULD BE 100% STOCK
No car should ever be 100% stock. When you leave the grocery store and see 3 cars - literally identical to yours - you should be ashamed of yourself. Get your key fob out and start mashing buttons to see which one lights up. Boring car number two - that one is yours. It's annoying. Cars also aren't status symbols anymore. I mean to some people they are, but lets be honest, only to douchebags. If you buy a car because you want people to think you have money or that you're sophisticated, get a life.
I remember going through the whole sales pitch of 'Can I share with you some information about Ford's extended warranty plan?" No thanks. I am going to void that shit before I even get home. Plus, I am so over-confident I think I can fix damn near anything. And know what? I voided the warranty on that car 30 minutes after I got home, and before I broke 10 miles on the odometer.
CJ PONY PARTS
If you are a Ford enthusiast, you're probably familiar with CJPonyParts, especially if you like to modify your cars, and see most all of your modification options in one place. After I took delivery of the car, I drove home and on my front porch was the K&N Typhoon intake kit that I'd ordered a couple of days earlier in anticipation of getting the car. I know - it's a stupid small bolt-on mod, not a big deal at all, but one thing I will say about a cold air intake on a turbocharged car is that it sounds cool. Let's not concern ourselves with performance numbers, who cares - it sounds cool. That one is for me.
Also, in the mailbox were hydraulic hood struts and a symposer delete kit.
The hood struts were bought out of principal. One thing I noticed during the test drive and inspection is that the stock setup is a hood that you have to use a steel rod for like it's 1969. What the hell is that about? Even my Z hood stays open without a stupid stick holding it up. These were easy to bolt on, and keeps that damned stick out of my way when I'm dicking around with the engine.
The sound symposer. Probably the dumbest thing Ford did with this car. What the sound symposer does is take engine noise from the intake manifold and pumps it into the cabin to make you feel like your driving a faster, more rumbly car. The Focus is for children, and this is one of the reasons why. I don't need that, so I took it out.
VINYLWORKS
Putting some relatively inexpensive bolt-ons under the hood is great and all, but still - the outside looks like all the other Foci. Focus's. Focuses... I wanted it to look different. Every year. So I toyed with a few different vinyl ideas and ran the one season at a time before peeling them off in late fall. The only thing I'd have wrapped in vinyl during the winters were the side skirts and hood, and the only reason for that was to protect the paint in those two highly-susceptible areas.
I used to use Photoshop to mockup some of these ideas to see what it'd look like, but I discovered that in Sony's Gran Turismo game you could design vector graphics, upload them, and apply them to your in-game car, which just so happened to include the 2017 Focus ST! I threw a few ideas together, cut/plotted them and turned them into reality.
Over the first year of ownership, I also fitted the car with Konig Oversteer wheels, and the more sporty and aggressive Focus RS spoiler, which was wrapped in carbon fiber and red 3M vinyl.
LOOKS QUICK
At this point I'm happy with how it looks - it's not for everyone, and yes I'm too old for it but don't care. I like it. Now it's time to actually put some time into the performance piece.
Enter: Mountune
Instead of mish-mashing a bunch of random performance parts together, I picked up the (now discontinued) Mountune MR300 performance kit. This consisted of:
COBB Accessport w/ Mountune customized tuning
Mountune Intake
Roll restrictor/Rear Motor Mount
I install this kit every spring, and remove it every fall. People think it's crazy to do that but I figure, if I wreck the car in the wintertime, with a little luck I'll be able to get another one and still use the kit in the summer. Worst case, I can sell it to another lucky Focus ST owner.
The kit makes a huge difference. Everything about the car feels different when you have it installed and tuned, and it's just a blast to drive. Is it fast? Probably not by today's standards, but man is it a joy to drive.
