Aaron's Slow Focus ST "Build"

A

aaronc7

Greenie N00B Member
Greenie Member
I guess I am bored, so I thought I would make one of these.

Picked up a used 2014 Focus ST3 last summer/early fall and it's been my daily driver ever since. ST3 package, so it has all the bells and whistles-- I figured if it was going to be slow, might as well enjoy the nice Recaro seats and such.

Not too long after purchase, I of course had to start modding. Right off the bat got a AP3 and 'high flow air filter' for turbo noises.

Quickly I noticed how terrible the stock intercooler was. Even just doing a short 2nd gear pull up to redline and letting off, charge air temps would climb something like 40-50+ degrees. Found a lightly used Depo 3.5 intercooler and installed it. Even though it's a cheap one, fitment was great, direct replacement/plug and play and it just works.... charge air temp rise over a full 3rd gear pull was down to single digits.

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My vdyno as it sits now: 3rd gear, 4th would probably be a little higher, but I'm not that brave.

I also installed a Damond OCC for good measure. Valves were not terrible, but could use a good cleaning at 55k miles. Thankfully this car doesn't have an EGR system like the speeds.

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[doublepost=1494968380][/doublepost]OK, well obviously the top end is pretty terrible, so I am just now starting the "BT" build. Used kit / parts when available of course because I'm a cheapass:

- ATP GTX2867R (.64 A/R, IWG) previous owner/shop said it had less than 5k miles on it. It's in decent shape. A little dirty, looks like the guy because had an exhaust leak, but it will clean off. Also I think the guy who ran it before blew his motor on it, but it seems to be in fine shape, spins freely etc.
- New misc fittings from ATP (crush washers, gaskets etc), for good measure. I definitely don't want to be dealing with an exhaust leak.

Still need:

- Catted downpipe
- External BOV (which usually also means a new cold pipe or full charge piping with flange welded on). Tial is popular and not super loud apparently.... been looking into the cheap ebay knockoff lol.
- Maybe a catback. I don't want it being overly loud, but the stock system does have some restrictions and it's damn quiet. I will probably hold off on this one and see how it is with turbo + catted downpipe and then go from there.

Timeline is TBD, I'm constantly looking for good used parts deals right now. My idea is to make a healthy mid 300 whp and have a nice broad powerband. Stock fueling will be the limit (93 octane only), I don't think it's going to be worth it to buy every last bolt on for these goals.

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Been a busy car weekend for me. List of parts installed

ATP GTX2867R kit
CJPP 3" downpipe with high flow cat
Depo charge pipes (with Turbosmart Vee Port Pro BOV eventually)
Depo intake

Day 1: Got the car taken apart, stock turbo removed and ATP GTX2867R kit installed.

Day 2: Was supposed to be an easy day with downpipe reinstall and button the car back up. Turned out to be the downpipe install from hell. The aftermarket downpipe vband flange diameter turned out to be a hair larger than stock and apparently ATP's turbine outlet flange is slightly smaller than stock. The combo = downpipe no fit. I literally spent about all day on this, on and off. I was about to throw in the towel, but I was able to heat up the turbo side and work quickly and the downpipe just barely fit and I quickly snugged the clamp tight. What a nightmare.

Still need to get a blow off valve flange welded onto the cold pipe, but then she is ready to go. Fired the car up for fun and to give myself some sort of feeling of accomplishment after the downpipe fiasco.

Making a mess around the house

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Downpipe

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K03 vs GTX2867R

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Hot side charge pipe

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Cold side charge pipe with bov location

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Fuck you downpipe!!!!!

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Whistle tips installed

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Had a few minor headaches with the charge pipes and intake install (that's what I get for buying cheap parts I guess), but I made it work. I need to order some t bolt clamps for the hot side, then I should be good to go 100%. I'm not sure how you ship a charge pipe kit with too small of clamps (all of them). They do not fit over the silicone couplers once slid over a pipe, and don't even dream of getting the clamp over a rolled end. Intake I had a little bit of a fitment issue, probably due to the BT shifting things around just enough. I cut off the mounting bracket who's only purpose was to get in the way apparently. Fits fine now, I'll just have to make sure its not rubbing up against anything too bad, but no rattles or anything.

But I put the car halfway back together and took it out late last night. The wastegate/low boost slot everything looked good so I let her rip on the 20psi slot. Really everything looked and sounded pretty good. Datalog showed around 35.5 lb/min of air max (28 ish previously on stock turbo). Just want to get my intercooler piping and everything sorted out 100% before I start really getting into datalog revisions so we don't possible have a hardware issue going on at the same time. Should be moving up to 22-24psi max or so, for a nice conservative tune on 93 octane.

I forgot to throw the datalog into vdyno, will do that tonight, but here's a copy of the run if anyone is interested:

http://datazap.me/u/aaronc7/gtx2867r-tune-revision-1?log=0&data=4-8
 
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Here's the vdyno of the quick run I got last night. This is with stock hotside piping and I just remembered I forgot to really snug up my BOV flange bolt, it was just hand tight, so it may have been leaking some as well. Again, this is initial base tune. 3rd gear run, hopefully boost will come up a little quicker as revisions are made. Also I purchased their "BT flash tune", NOT a full $300 custom tune. We'll see if that was the right choice or not.

vs "stage 2" equivalent Strat flash tune on stock turbo, similar conditions and same stretch of road.

http://datazap.me/u/aaronc7/gtx2867r-tune-revision-1?log=0&data=4-8

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Well, I'm back on stock turbo "stage 2" and living that 240whp lyfe.

It's not too bad. I actually prefer this setup on this car.

Will hit 70k miles within the next week or so.

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BNR released a teaser for the ST, supposed to be offering a billet 2871 (s3v3) and billet 3076 (S4v3) that is purely bolt on for a nice price. I hope down the road they consider making a smaller version, like a billet 2860 and I would be very tempted to pick one of those up. I think that would pair really well with the smaller 2.0L motor and pump gas only.
[doublepost=1535203640][/doublepost]Video from about a month ago at a local autocross. I don't claim to be fast or zero prep on the car (kid car seat still installed), just out to have some fun. Although it was florida swampland hot, so that made it not quite as fun for me or the car.

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Well, the slow turbo just got slower.

Went from sea level / 93 octane to 4300ft elevation / 91 octane. Lost about 30hp according to vdyno and confirmed by datalogs (airflow mass).

I guess it's time to go BT for a second time, lol.

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You moved to a log cabin in the woods?

Did you grow a beard?
 
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