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What hot hatch do you own? This poll is closed. |
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| Golf GTI / R / R32 |
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196 | 0.02% |
| Impreza WRX / STi |
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133 | 0.01% |
| Mazdaspeed 3 |
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92 | 0.01% |
| Veloster Turbo |
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20 | 0.00% |
| Focus ST |
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149 | 0.01% |
| Other Hot Hatch |
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230 | 0.02% |
| Elantra GT |
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1000001 | 99.92% |
| Total: | 1000821 votes | ||
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Hey I posted this in the Car buyers thread in Ask/Tell and got directed here. "Just wondering if anyone here has any experience driving a Ford Focus ST? Been looking at upgrading my 2006 Mazda 3 to something a bit sportier. The VW GTI and Golf R are appealing alternatives (although the Golf R is more expensive than I would like to spend on a car upgrade). This is something that will be used as my daily driver and getting around town for work. I need something for transporting skis/bikes/people and also work samples with lots of storage space in the hatch. Realistically I would like to spend between $20-25K Canadian on a used 2014 or 2015 model (if it's a Focus ST, otherwise year isn't as relevant) with a second set of winters. Any thoughts or alternative ideas? I was really hoping Subaru was going to announce a new Impreza hatch this year as well which hasn't happened. I really love the look and styling of the Focus ST and it's definitely pulling me closer over the VW GTI, but I'd love to hear your thoughts. I've considered maybe a small truck also, but I really like the compactness of the newer hatchbacks." Even just from reading the last couple pages there seems to be lots of people driving the Focus or Fiesta STs in here. Maybe I could just get some feedback on your experiences with the car or make some recommendations to alternatives in Canada. Thanks
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Nov 16, 2015 20:29
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I haven't driven a Mk7 Golf but I've been led to believe by those who have that even with the new platform and increased size that it drives and in general feels similar to the Mk5 and Mk6 which I do have experience with. If that is the case, the FoST feels kind of half way between a stock GTI and a "Stage 1" tuned model. Maybe the new GTI's performance pack is a perfect match. The Golf definitely feels more middle-of-the-road, which might be a good thing if you need more of a good daily you can have fun with rather than a fun car you can also daily. The ST cars lean more in the hoon direction both in styling and driving feel where a GTI feels more like Audi-lite. I think the fact that the FoST comes factory with a boost gauge in a dashboard mounted pod says a lot. Both are great cars though, so you'll really have to drive them and think about your own preferences to make a decision, I don't think either is better enough than the other to explicitly say you should get that one.
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Nov 16, 2015 20:59
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IKillForPie posted:Hey I posted this in the Car buyers thread in Ask/Tell and got directed here. I like my Focus ST in Canada. No surprises with the ownership experience; it does what it says on the tin. 2 years in, I still look forward to my commute and I have automotive ADD so that says it all I guess.
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Nov 16, 2015 21:27
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Depending on how long you keep cars and how much driving you do, the 2 cars are going to be a bit different. Personally, I'll stop buying VWs when someone else steps up their game and starts making cars that actually feel nice INSIDE the car. Go drive both.
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Nov 16, 2015 23:16
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Sorry, I should clarify that I have actually test driven the 2015 VW GTI, Ford Focus and Fiesta ST and also ridden inside a 2015 Golf R. I'm wondering more about someone's experience having the car for a longer period of time and just your take on using one as a daily ride. I'm mostly hoping to get some anecdotal evidence of what I already have opinions on and see if anyone has had some bad experiences one way or the other. Also, if anyone has recommendations of cars I might like beyond these two makes.
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Nov 16, 2015 23:39
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I have a 2014 Focus ST and have driven it for almost exactly 1 year now. I have the recaro leather seats and I love them. The steering wheel blocks the turn signal indicators in my preferred seating position. I upgraded to a short throw transmission shifter arm with new transmission cable bushings. I love it. MyFord Touch is complete poo poo but I think that's gone/going away. The windshield angle/finish causes the dash reflection to occupy a good chunk of the bottom of your view. It's not too bad and I normally don't notice. 1st to 2nd is still a tough shift for me. Visibility isn't great. With the rear seat headrests in, the view out the back it pretty limited. I have my side view mirrors angled out as far as I can while keeping a small overlap with the rear view mirror, and there is still a large blind spot on the driver's side if you have traffic more than 1 lane over. The "B" pillar can hide a vehicle as large as an SUV if you don't duck around it. If you're going to dig into the accelerator, expect a lot of wheel hop. It'll spin in 1st and chirp pretty hard after shifting to 2nd. Disclaimer: I am bad at driving aggressively still. The trim finish is ok but you'll have some rattles here and there. I have new speakers in all the doors and usually cruise with moderate to high volume music blaring so I will rarely notice these small squeaks and rattles. The hatch space isn't all that roomy with the cargo top installed. Laying the seats flat and removing the cargo top provides quite a bit of cargo capacity. Trying to remember any other observations I have, but nothing pisses me off too much about the car. I love it. It's comfortable, reasonably quiet compared to my last car, and fun. The display says I get about 26MPG usually.
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Nov 16, 2015 23:57
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IKillForPie posted:Hey I posted this in the Car buyers thread in Ask/Tell and got directed here. Any reason you're not considering a Speed3? 2013 was the last year, is that too old?
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Nov 17, 2015 00:52
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Sigma X posted:For the second time the steering wheel in my FiST has gone off-center. It's several degrees to the left, the same as when the car was delivered; but it was fully-centered after the alignment I had the dealership do. Now after some hard driving and 3500 miles, it's back to chilling out crooked. anyone have this issue before? poo poo job by the dealership tightening the eccentric bolts? I'm just shy of 15k miles on my 2014 FiST and no steering wheel problems here.
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Nov 17, 2015 01:02
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Phy posted:Any reason you're not considering a Speed3? 2013 was the last year, is that too old? Simply put I really, really, really dislike the way it looks. That front grill gives me nightmares.
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Nov 17, 2015 01:06
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IKillForPie posted:Simply put I really, really, really dislike the way it looks. That front grill gives me nightmares. Get a first gen, they are better looking
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Nov 17, 2015 01:13
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Nodoze posted:Get a first gen, they are better looking Is that generally regarded to be true? I've always thought the later ones were the best looking and the first gens were hideous. I know I'm talking about something subjective but I'm just curious if that's the general consensus.
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Nov 17, 2015 02:38
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BlackMK4 posted:Not if you unplug it before you take it in, which takes about five minutes. i mean plugin unit wise/vw tuning in general: plugin: burgertuning neuspeed ecu program: apr
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Nov 17, 2015 02:40
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The Ferret King posted:The windshield angle/finish causes the dash reflection to occupy a good chunk of the bottom of your view. It's not too bad and I normally don't notice. I don't think any of the friends that mocked me for buying a Focus read this thread, so I think I'm safe saying this: If I had known about this loving glare, I wouldn't have bought my Focus. It makes the car significantly less enjoyable at times. It is (mostly) true that you get used to it, but it can be kinda dangerous driving at night on curvy roads with elevation changes and oncoming drivers or streetlamps. During the day it is also annoying, I've turned into the sun and had the glare make it *really* hard to see.
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Nov 17, 2015 02:45
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RIP Paul Walker posted:I don't think any of the friends that mocked me for buying a Focus read this thread, so I think I'm safe saying this: If I had known about this loving glare, I wouldn't have bought my Focus. It makes the car significantly less enjoyable at times. I've read that some folks have had success in putting matte-finish pads on the top of the dash. Like those things meant to hold phones in place or whatever.
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Nov 17, 2015 02:57
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The Ferret King posted:I've read that some folks have had success in putting matte-finish pads on the top of the dash. Like those things meant to hold phones in place or whatever. Ah, are you talking about putting those over the hard plastic over on the passenger side? That's a good idea, but that particular glare doesn't really bother me. What I'm complaining about is seeing the gauge binnacle and everything else directly in front of me at times. Have you noticed that as well?
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Nov 17, 2015 03:03
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IKillForPie posted:Any thoughts or alternative ideas? I was really hoping Subaru was going to announce a new Impreza hatch this year as well which hasn't happened. The new Impreza (sedans and hatchback) is't expected to be out until about this time next year with an official announcement expected at the next NY Auto Show in March. A WRX/STI hatchback is a possibility by Q2 2017.
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Nov 17, 2015 03:09
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RIP Paul Walker posted:Ah, are you talking about putting those over the hard plastic over on the passenger side? That's a good idea, but that particular glare doesn't really bother me. What I'm complaining about is seeing the gauge binnacle and everything else directly in front of me at times. Have you noticed that as well? Yeah definitely, I see it. I think they were talking about putting it over the instrument cluster and gauges.
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Nov 17, 2015 03:27
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The Ferret King posted:Yeah definitely, I see it. I think they were talking about putting it over the instrument cluster and gauges. I don't think I could deal with how that would look... and with how clear the reflection is, I'm highly skeptical that it would do anything but show you something else in the reflection. I would love to be wrong about that...
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Nov 17, 2015 03:45
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MassivelyBuckNegro posted:i mean plugin unit wise/vw tuning in general: BurgerTuning connects to more sensors and is more expandable down the line (there will be O2 sensor control soon). Neuspeed works. APR works, but GIAC makes more power. Tunes will always make more than a plugin unit. Basically a plugin unit + dp = stage 1.5 tune. Stage 2 tune + dp makes a lot more up top over a plugin unit will.
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Nov 17, 2015 04:05
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RIP Paul Walker posted:Ah, are you talking about putting those over the hard plastic over on the passenger side? That's a good idea, but that particular glare doesn't really bother me. What I'm complaining about is seeing the gauge binnacle and everything else directly in front of me at times. Have you noticed that as well? What year do you have? My 15 doesn't have any glare whatsoever.
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Nov 17, 2015 04:12
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The Ferret King posted:1st to 2nd is still a tough shift for me. What makes this shift difficult?
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Nov 17, 2015 04:13
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KidDynamite posted:What makes this shift difficult? Not OP, but I found I had to move the shifter slightly to the left in order to make a clean 1-2 shift. This problem p. much went away with a better rear motor mount (boomba). It also killed 95% of wheel hop. The break in time is rough, though.
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Nov 17, 2015 04:16
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KidDynamite posted:What makes this shift difficult? My bad driving. I'm not sure, I don't know how to fix it. It's just grabby and jerky. It's probably just the greater change in acceleration vs. the less powerful manuals I've driven in the past. The whole car likes to lurch forward and back unless you've completely stopped accelerating before starting your shift. I'm sure it's technique. Mcqueen posted:Not OP, but I found I had to move the shifter slightly to the left in order to make a clean 1-2 shift. I don't think I'm having the same trouble. The shifter goes into gear just fine. The Ferret King fucked around with this message at 04:23 on Nov 17, 2015 |
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Nov 17, 2015 04:17
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fyodor posted:What year do you have? My 15 doesn't have any glare whatsoever. 2015 I did drive a friend's dad's 2014 Titanium and it seemed to have less glare at night. It wouldn't shock me at all if Ford happened to brow-beat their windshield supplier into providing a cheaper product that happened to be manufactured in a way that resulted in an inconsistent product.
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Nov 17, 2015 04:36
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IKillForPie posted:I'm wondering more about someone's experience having the car for a longer period of time and just your take on using one as a daily ride. I'm mostly hoping to get some anecdotal evidence of what I already have opinions on and see if anyone has had some bad experiences one way or the other. I daily a Focus ST, and have almost 21k miles on it in a bit less than 11 months of ownership (took delivery on Christmas Eve last year). I have a 52 mile one-way commute at least 3 days per week (telecommute other days). Still love driving it, and it's not worse than any other manual in stop and go freeway traffic. My only real 'complaint' if you want to call it that, is because of the way it tries to manage the torque steer, it still catches me by surprise sometimes, as it's not as predictable to me as a car that just lets it happen without attempting to tame it. If I hammered it constantly instead of driving reasonably calmly most of the time I'd probably be used to it more, but I'd probably have needed new tires a long time ago, instead of still having the OEM Eagle F1's still on it. 
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Nov 17, 2015 06:21
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KidDynamite posted:What makes this shift difficult? It's a bit of a nanny with rev hang. You can mostly disable it by going into sport mode, but it's still there. It's less noticeable as you get in the higher gears.
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Nov 17, 2015 15:55
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The Locator posted:My only real 'complaint' if you want to call it that, is because of the way it tries to manage the torque steer, it still catches me by surprise sometimes, as it's not as predictable to me as a car that just lets it happen without attempting to tame it. I've noticed the same thing with my Fiesta. If I'm in the normal driving mode and launch hard on anything but the most perfect of surfaces it's a battle to keep the car pointed straight as the computer tries to use the EPAS to counter torque steer but ends up overdoing it and jerking the car in the opposite direction every time the tires slip. Putting it in sport mode seems to disable this "feature" and it just pulls to one side with torque steer like pretty much any other quick FWD. Torque steer compensation is a great idea in theory, but Ford's implementation actually makes things worse IMO.
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Nov 17, 2015 17:26
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We got our first real snowstorm last night. Coming in to work this morning was a blast. AWD in the R with proper winter tires I was able to launch from a stand still on snow to 60mph with no trouble. This car is hilariously fun in the snow. The only issues it had was changing lanes and having to go through the giant slush piles between lanes. I actually made my commute in to work faster than normal because I didn't have to get on the road until 8:30
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Nov 17, 2015 18:18
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howling_mad posted:It's a bit of a nanny with rev hang. You can mostly disable it by going into sport mode, but it's still there. It's less noticeable as you get in the higher gears. I can't blame rev hang entirely. But I'll try more driving in sport/off modes to see if I notice smoother 1st to 2nd shifts. Rev hang seems so silly to me. Who is it helping?
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Nov 18, 2015 03:24
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The Ferret King posted:Rev hang seems so silly to me. Who is it helping? Your children's children.
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Nov 18, 2015 03:52
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veedubfreak posted:We got our first real snowstorm last night. Coming in to work this morning was a blast. AWD in the R with proper winter tires I was able to launch from a stand still on snow to 60mph with no trouble. This car is hilariously fun in the snow. The only issues it had was changing lanes and having to go through the giant slush piles between lanes. I actually made my commute in to work faster than normal because I didn't have to get on the road until 8:30 This sounds awesome and I'm excited for next winter since the RS won't be here in time for this one. The Ferret King posted:I can't blame rev hang entirely. But I'll try more driving in sport/off modes to see if I notice smoother 1st to 2nd shifts. Me the guys that's never daily driven a manual and is buying a Focus RS.
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Nov 18, 2015 04:07
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KidDynamite posted:Me the guys that's never daily driven a manual and is buying a Focus RS. But only for, like, the first month, then you'll be shifting faster than a granny and it's a nuisance.
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Nov 18, 2015 04:16
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The Ferret King posted:But only for, like, the first month, then you'll be shifting faster than a granny and it's a nuisance. Yeah this is definitely true, but then I switch it to sport for daily driving if my rear end can handle it.
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Nov 18, 2015 06:04
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GutBomb posted:Is that generally regarded to be true? I've always thought the later ones were the best looking and the first gens were hideous. I guess it's subjective but the first gen doesn't have the huge smile bumper or the big hood scoop. Also the interior is better IMO if you get a first gen GT
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Nov 18, 2015 06:21
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approaching 700mi in my MY16 Fiesta ST, first oil change @375mi over the weekend. Absolutely, fantastic car and the transmission especially seems to get better and better. Unlike something like a M3 I have no problem cruising along easily at the speed limit as it doesn't object to being driven like a Honda Fit in certain situations and I don't necessarily feel compelled to screw around until I come to and offramp (fasten your seatbelts and secure all baggage) - plus with all the standard infotainment distractions it's completely different from driving my Miata where your only source of entertainment is the driving experience itself. It's been a very impressive and capable car so far, highly recommended. It's an excellent Q-ship too.
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Nov 18, 2015 06:30
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Some might view it as a bad thing, but I love how it draws the least attention of any car I've had and is also probably the quickest. I've had exactly one person ask me about it since owing early '14.
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Nov 18, 2015 12:56
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Dr.Caligari posted:Some might view it as a bad thing, but I love how it draws the least attention of any car I've had and is also probably the quickest. I've had exactly one person ask me about it since owing early '14. The only time anyone even gives me a nod is if they're another VW person. The R is like the stealthiest car on the road around here. I've done so much stupid poo poo only to look up and see a cop and be glad that the car is black and doesn't have all the ricer looking poo poo on it that some other hatches do.
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Nov 18, 2015 17:33
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Oh yeah, I'm not sure even I would recognize a GTI vs an R in the wild
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Nov 19, 2015 00:45
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the only people who notice me in my fost are attractive women who point and laugh at the man driving a "ford focus." 
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Nov 19, 2015 00:55
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fyodor posted:the only people who notice me in my fost are attractive women who point and laugh at the man driving a "ford focus." I gave a thumbs up to someone in a FoST the other day. I try to whenever I see one. 
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Nov 19, 2015 01:01
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