- Hot hatches have exploded in popularity over the course
of the last decade or so.
The idea of getting a four cylinder turbocharged hatchback
with a manual transmission is something that sounds good
to pretty much any car enthusiast out there.
Unfortunately, here in the United States we seem
to get the short end of the stick
and has a really bad record of missing out
on a lot of these performance based hatchbacks
for whatever reason.
We just don't normally get them.
However, in 2012, late 2012 specifically,
we were finally graced, finally, with the Ford Focus ST.
And even though it was no RS just yet, these cars exploded
in popularity for the younger car enthusiast audience
and quickly became a direct competitor
with cars like the Volkswagen GTI.
Today we will continue
to see Focus STs be the go-to platform
for those lookin' for something fun,
relatively quick, and functional for everyday use.
So whether you're looking
at getting into a Ford Focus ST,
or have just picked one up on a search around
for some modifications due to it,
you've found yourself in the right spot.
As today we're gonna be going over everything you need to do
to your Ford Focus ST.
(soft upbeat music)
Of course, before we go ahead and dive
into all the fun stuff
and start talkin' about all the cool parts and whatnot
that you can do to make these cars faster, sound cooler,
or look the best, we should first go over a little overview
of what the Ford Focus ST actually is.
Stuff you should know
before jumping straight into modifications.
Any weird quirks that they might have,
or anything that is just an absolute must do.
First things first, Ford Focus ST saw it's introduction
to the U.S. market, like you said,
in 2012 for the 2013 model year.
Packin' a two liter turbo charge four cylinder engine
under the hood, providing about 252 horsepower
to the front wheels.
Not bad for a little egg of a car,
and they're all manual which is kinda neat.
Available in three trim levels, ST1, ST2, and ST3.
Main differences being the addition
of the moon roof in the ST2 and ST3 packages,
and a much better interior when compared
to the ST1.
The ST3 package also saw some nice carbon pieces as well.
It's in the form of a boost gauge, trim, bezel,
some door handle inserts, an e-brake cover,
and a shift knob.
Also came with Recaro seats which is pretty neat.
Overall, car is pretty dang reliable
when it comes to lookin' at doin' basic bolt downs
and a tune, and they hold up pretty well.
However, anything further than that,
like an upgraded turbo or things like that,
is where things start to get a little bit hairy.
Just keep up with maintenance
and you should be golden.
Right out of the gate there are some things
that we do recommend doing pretty much right away
to help ease the mind a little bit.
From the factory, Ford had this lovely idea
to get some extra miles per gallon on the highway.
And how do they do that you might ask, well,
they have a little shutter thing that blocks off air
to the inner cooler that makes the car more aerodynamic
at high speeds.
I mean, I get it, but at the same time I don't get it.
Just delete that as soon as possible.
It is garbage, you don't want it.
While you're at it,
the stock inner cooler really isn't anything
to write home about anyway,
so you can benefit pretty nicely from an upgrade
to your inner cooler while you're in there.
With all that outta the way, let's get into some details
of what we would recommend doing to these cars.
First, we'll start off with some good old wheels, tire,
and suspension, since that's what we're really good at.
Fitment Industries. You didn't put it together?
What are people running for these cars?
What fits? And then move into some performance stuff.
How can you waken these cars up a little bit?
Put a little pep in their step.
And then wrappin' up with anything else
that we would recommend as far as exterior,
or maybe just driveability.
New set of wheels can really make
or break the look of your car.
It's the best or worst thing that you can do
depending on how you do it,
so let's make sure you do it right the first time
so you don't avoid lookin' kinda silly.
First thing you need to know is your bolt pattern.
Now, unfortunately this is where the Focus ST has one
of its major downfalls.
They chose a stupid ass bolt pattern for this car.
5 by 108 is what you're going to be wanna be lookin' for.
Not a popular bolt pattern by any means,
which unfortunately also means wheel options are going
to be somewhat limited.
However, you still have some great options just choose from
and here are three that we would recommend.
We knew that the Focus ST crowd needed some love
on the wheel side of things,
so when we were makin' our own wheels, ANOVIA wheels,
we wanted to make sure we offered something
for them specifically.
The ANOVIA Kinetic was our answer.
Five spoke directional wheel done the right way
with a left and a right side.
Designed to clear the brakes of not only the ST,
but even the Ford Focus RS.
The Kinetic provides the perfect fitment
for these platforms as well,
not to mention the finishes
that they come in look pretty dang good
with the Rodin bronze and Raven black finishes.
These wheels are extremely lightweight,
meanin' that they're good for track use
or anything else that you wantin' to do with 'em,
but they're also super strong.
Rotiform actually recently came on board
with a new wheel available in 5 by 108 as well,
the Rotiform KB1 six spoke wheel
with a turbo fan outer design that looks absolutely killer.
Design and partnership with Mr. Ken Block himself.
Ken Block, K B one, yeah.
Looks really good on these cars,
the only thing is that you're gonna have to be comfortable
with running a 19 inch wheel setup
because they only come in 19 inch diameters for some reason.
The third wheel we would recommend is a very popular wheel,
not only among the Ford Focus crowd,
but a lot of different car platforms as well.
And one that we talk about quite often
because it deserves it; Enkei NT03.
A multi spoke wheel design with that outer ring
on the spokes makes it look really nice.
It's like a nice OEM plus feel that adds to these cars.
Enkei, obviously a really well known, respected name
in the wheel industry,
and the NT03 features all the same properties
that make wheels like the RPF1 so popular and so good.
For sizing, something like an 18 by 8 1/2 plus 40,
or to a 18 by 9 1/2 plus 38,
is roughly where you're going to want to stick around.
When you get a new set of wheels,
more than likely you're gonna need to get your hands
on a new set of tires as well.
If you're lookin' for more affordable option tire
like the Nitto Neo Gen
is going to be kinda the best of both worlds.
They stretch good. They perform well.
It's a decent tire for most seasons.
A Falken FK10, a little more performance side of things,
a little higher cost.
And then topping out
with the Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4.
Really the best of everything out there;
all season tire, a high performance tire.
Michelin does a good job on their stuff,
so I would recommend that one.
No matter which way you go about it,
even though we would recommend
probably getting some suspension first
'cuz you can always benefit from suspension
even on stock wheels and tires,
you're gonna wanna upgrade your suspension
and you can go three different routes here.
You can get somethin' like lowering springs,
it's the cheapest option to go,
it's one of the easiest.
You can get a set of springs, swap 'em out,
you get a nice little drop in ride height,
you get to maintain all the factory stuff
as far as your suspension goes.
Otherwise you wanna spend a little bit more money,
really dial in that fitment, get a little bit lower,
get some more performance out of things,
adjustability as far as damping and all that,
you can go with a coil over setup.
BC racing made some perfect coil over setup
for these cars that works really, really good,
and we really recommend it
for pretty much any aftermarket setup out there.
Now, if you wanna really go balls to walls
and stunt on us people,
you can go get some Airlift performance air suspension.
By far one of the easiest setups to go to
as far as air suspension
when it comes to pretty much any car out there nowadays,
and the Ford Focus ST is no different.
Airlift makes a fantastic kit that's super easy to install.
They got instruction manuals that are super easy
to follow specifically catered to that car
and you'll literally see pictures of your car
while you're working on it, makes it super nice and easy.
And of course it comes with everything you need.
Moving on the performance side
of things is where these cars really tend to shine.
Ford made it pretty straightforward
with a four cylinder turbocharge platform.
So things like your simple bolt ons
and tune will really awaken these cars up quite a bit
and make them an absolute blast to drive.
When looking at bolt on modifications,
typically you're looking and talking about things
like an intake, a downpipe, and an aftermarket exhaust,
and to wrap everything up, a tune to go along with it.
All these are great things to do to these cars
to unlock some extra power by getting more air in,
and more air out as effectively as possible.
As we mentioned earlier,
an upgraded inner cooler is a great to do as well.
After market support for these cars,
pretty decent, not gonna lie,
and they get the Cobb treatment for sure.
They got hit heavily by Cobb parts
from inner coolers, to intakes, to even the exhaust
and of course the tune to wrap everything up.
Makes it incredibly easy to match everything together
and gives peace of mind knowing
that the off the shelf tune that you have for your car
is made for those parts that you put on the car.
They're specified for those specific parts,
it gets the most out of them.
Other brands to look into that we would recommend
for these cars include Mountune, Boomba Racing,
Turbosmart and Injen.
They make all some great parts
that you can piece together everything that you want
to get it performing like you want,
or even sounding like you want.
Any other modifications really come down to,
really what you're looking to do with the car,
or really what trim level you got,
or anything that you wanna really personalize with.
These cars are, not gonna lie,
pretty soft looking from the factory.
There's no doubt about it.
There's a reason why people call them
the little eggs that they are.
So, some arrow pieces definitely go a long way
on these cars, kinda help fill out those edges a little bit
and make 'em look a little more aggressive,
especially with a lower ride height.
Maybe a little bit of a bigger wing
on there really helps fill these cars out,
and honestly, looks really good in our opinion.
So, if you have a Ford Focus ST,
what modification are you looking forward to?
Let us know down in the comments below,
and of course, if you need some wheels, tires, or suspension
for your Ford Focus ST or anything else you might have,
you know where to go, fitmentindustries.com.
You can check out that link below,
but I'm Gels from Fitment Industries.
Thank you guys so much for watchin'.
We'll see you in the next one. Peace.