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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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Bought a 2014 Focus ST3 in November and I'm really enjoying it. MyFord Touch is poo poo, and I wish I could replace it with something aftermarket, but everything else about the car is good. I'm considering the accelerator pedal mod and the short shifter plate. Seems there are a couple of companies offering these products, is there one I should pick over another? I read about removing the rev hanging feature via tune up, this is my first entry into caring about a car's performance so would I take this to a private mechanic, or will the dealer shop handle it if I ask during my scheduled maintenance? This is my first manual transmission car, though I learned on a manual when I was a teenager driving my parent's vehicle. Shifting from 2nd to 3rd is my most inconsistent shift. Also, I noticed sometimes that when I'm reversing out of my parking spot, and I push the clutch back in to go to neutral or 1st, the engine stutters a bit. Like, the RPMs drop slightly too far before the car goes back to a normal idle. Is that something to be concerned about or is it normal? Bob A Feet, I wish I knew we were car twinkies before you left Corpus.
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May 17, 2015 22:38
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| # ¿ Apr 24, 2024 03:10 |
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Mcqueen posted:Someone is selling a short shift breedt plate on focusst.com Thanks, I was looking really closely at the Breedt shift arm. I've read some really positive things about it over the replacement plates from Cobb or FSwerks. Though it looks like he sold it pretty quickly today. I'll keep my eyes out for other offers. The Breedt website still shows the 2 part kit (with the replacement shifter knob) as being available. Even though it says for 2013 Focus ST, it'll still work on the 2014 I presume? I didn't think there was any change under the hood between those years.
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May 18, 2015 04:01
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Just ordered up the Breedt short shift arm for my Focus ST. Also ordered metal bushings from Boomba. Looking forward to how this will change my shifting experience.
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May 19, 2015 22:33
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Oh hell yes.
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May 20, 2015 19:47
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I'm going to install my Breedt short shifter arm and Boomba transmission bracket bushings into my Focus ST sometime in the next few days. I've watched a video on the bushings install but didn't see one covering the installation of the arm so I'll be following Breedt's instruction handout for that. Anything I should know about this before breaking into it, anything that might make things easier on myself? The Ferret King fucked around with this message at 04:01 on May 31, 2015 |
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May 31, 2015 03:55
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Yeah, the specifications table in the ST supplement gives different horsepower numbers for 87 and 93 octane. However, later in the manual it states 87 octane is the gas that should be put in it (has a little graphic with the gas pump label with "87" on it). It's kinda stupid.
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Jun 1, 2015 18:58
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I finished installing my Breedt Short Shift Arm and Boomba bracket bushings into the Focus ST today. I think most estimates say this should have taken 1.5-2 hrs. It took me about 4.5. I am not mechanically experienced, so I expect someone who knew more about working on cars could have done this much more quickly. Disassembly wasn't too bad. The horizontally oriented bolt on the transmission cable bracket was a pain to reach, and I didn't have a ratcheting box wrench so it was time consuming for me to keep re-attaching the wrench to the bolt for another turn. The roll pin holding the old shift arm in place was almost impossible to get out. I struck at it for about 45min-1hr with a mallet and toward the very end it finally started moving ever so slightly. A neighbor had a mechanic friend over by their house and he came over and finished removing the pin for me. I'd feel worse about being a pussy, but my neighbor is a body builder and he couldn't get the drat thing out of there either. I think it just took a more experienced hammer-swinger to get it done. There isn't a ton of room to get a good swing going. The shift arm itself was missing a washer (supposed to have 4 with the kit) so I had to make a run to buy more. I now have 24 spares if I decide to add washers to stuff around my house. Installing the new bushings was straight forward. Putting the bracket back in place wasn't a big deal, except that the horizontal bolt took a while to tighten back down again, as I expected it would. Leaning over the car for hours on end was not great on my lower back and legs, I don't envy you guys who do this for a living. Attaching the shifter cables back to their spots on the bracket wasn't easy. For some reason the collars weren't pushing back far enough and I couldn't reliably get a tool on them without slipping. It took a lot of knuckle busting and cursing to get them back into place. The shifter arm installed pretty easily compared to the rest of the process. I tightened everything down and verified that the shifter moved into all the gears properly. The sun set and I was not well equipped to continue work past dark, so I had some trouble getting the intake air box screwed back in. I couldn't see the snap clips that hold the air filter in its proper position so it took longer than necessary to realize I was being a moron and trying to close it up without the filter being secured. When I tightened one of the bolts for the air filter cover, it stripped out the plastic. Oh well, the rest tightened up no problem (and I was more careful to not over torque them). I set the arm for 40% at the stock shifter position. Between that and the new bushings, switching between gears is very snappy. I feel it's a bit more stiff getting it into each gear, but very positive feeling, and I like the shorter throw a lot. It may be in my head, but 5th and 6th gear feel like they're in a different zip code now, laterally, than the first four. I don't know, it's probably just an odd perception thing on my part. I will say, however, that after driving it for only 10 minutes, it already feels completely normal. I don't perceive it as being "short," just "correct." Definitely glad I made this modification. The Ferret King fucked around with this message at 04:22 on Jun 2, 2015 |
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Jun 2, 2015 04:18
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I thought the Car Audio thread would be the more appropriate place for my questions, but since this thread is more focused (heh) on my type of car I'd like to make sure I get opinions from you guys too.The Ferret King posted:2014 Ford Focus ST with the upgraded Sony audio and MyFord Touch (irreplaceable).
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Jun 23, 2015 19:20
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Laranzu posted:MFT. I hated MFT any time I had to interact with it. Mine developed a few nagging squeaks and rattles around 10k. Tiny things about the cockpit that were actually fixed in the 2015 model like the lack of a storage cubby. Then the stuff I can't put into words. For me the MFT is horrid, but I finally wrestled with my personal MP3 collection and got it tagged in a way that doesn't cause MFT to lose it's poo poo. However, I still can't get album art to display consistently. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. I don't like the way you can't turn down the music volume when a call comes in. If you have to leave the car, transfer the call to the phone itself, or hang up, you immediately get blasted by the music you were listening to. Driving wise, I like it alright. For my normal seated position, the steering wheel blocks the turn signal indicators and I don't think it telescopes out far enough. The clutch pedal is way too high. The accelerator pedal is too low. Visibility isn't stellar. The mirrors have blind spot cut outs that face the area I already point my sideview mirrors toward. They're not adjustable and though they show traffic in the adjacent lane within your blind spot, they won't show traffic another lane over. That same traffic is blocked by the middle frame piece of the car, requiring some ducking and dodging to get your eyes to cover all of an area before a merge. It's hidden entire SUVs before. Long distance drives result in some swamp rear end due to the lack of breathability in the leather, yeah. I still love the car though.
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Jun 24, 2015 16:42
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Furthermore, is everyone happy with the stock clutch pedal position on the Focus ST? God it seems high, but I'm a manual newbie.
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Jul 18, 2015 02:43
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Any foreseeable issues with removing the clutch return assist spring on my Focus ST? I got the idea from stupid car forums and it came out with finger pressure. I much prefer the new clutch pedal position and response without that stupid spring in there. I still have it, if it needs to go back in. But I don't want it to. The Ferret King fucked around with this message at 02:42 on Jul 25, 2015 |
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Jul 25, 2015 00:10
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A small minority of people post about having issues with the clutch pedal falling to the floor and losing pressure after removing it. That doesn't seem likely unless there's some other issue with the hydraulic fluid or the clutch. So far I really like it, I think I'll keep it this way
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Jul 27, 2015 00:29
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ilkhan posted:Me? Yes. It was like 15 months ago (and if I could have afforded it at the time I'd be driving one as I recall), but yes. 2014 Focus ST, 2600 @ 70mph
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Jul 29, 2015 02:04
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My gauge tells me 26mpg pretty much constant. I haven't tracked it manually yet.
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Sep 4, 2015 04:13
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The assist spring on the Focus ST provides a bit of resistance in the first half of travel until you push past the middle of the pivot, then becomes an assist spring for the remainder. This creates an inconsistent amount of resistance throughout the travel of the pedal. It also makes the pedal travel really long, in my opinion, and I didn't like it. Some people remove their springs, others replace them with a spring that just lifts the pedal up a bit past where it would fall naturally without spring assistance (owing to concerns about the pedal weight applying enough pressure to partially disengage the clutch), and some modify their springs so there are fewer coils (it's wrapped around a piston sort of thing). I personally don't like the feel of the pedal with the spring in there, the pedal sits too high for my comfort and I much prefer the feeling I get from older cars with heavier clutch pedals that provide a more direct response feel. Leaving the spring in should result in less resistance for some of the pedal travel, you'd have to try it out and see if you found it comfortable.
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Sep 5, 2015 02:50
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Yeah, In addition to the weird resistance on the pedal in the Focus ST, the manual straight up tells you to take the pedal to the floor for every shift. It's a good knee/thigh workout.
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Sep 5, 2015 06:47
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I'm sure I'll be shocked at how long it takes for engine oil to come up to temp, but, how long does it take to come up to temp?
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Sep 19, 2015 10:46
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So the goofy gauges in the ST aren't accurate enough?
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Sep 19, 2015 15:33
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Anyone happen to know the EXACT tag requirements for Myford Touch to recognize album art. I swear, myford touch is cause enough for me to never recommend Ford to anyone ever again (though I may personally buy Ford in the future).
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Sep 21, 2015 00:28
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nuclear_cheetos posted:So after a couple months I've got the 1-2 shift down and figured out how to get 37-40 mpg (35ish if I drive like a hooligan). All in all I'm incredibly impressed with what you get with the Fist and like it so much I'm considering another Ford in the near future. Pretty sure my wife will be happy but I'm cursing the salesman at the Ford dealership for putting the bug in my ear on just how cheap you can get a 15 EB Stang for (went in to look at a Miata for myself and instead found what could be a fun car for the woman so she's not always hauling the Sienna around). By 1-2 shift you mean the shift from 1st to 2nd or what?
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Sep 24, 2015 17:19
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Yeah, it's consistently my worst shift in the Focus ST. The weight shift and deceleration is so quick and prominent. Smoothing out my shifting (for passenger comfort) seems to be somewhat of an art.
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Sep 24, 2015 17:52
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scuz posted:What smoothed out my shifts the most is waiting a short beat after letting off the gas before engaging the clutch. Just working this out in my head here, but you can do that smoothly enough before the engine braking of 1st gear significantly slows you down?
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Sep 24, 2015 17:59
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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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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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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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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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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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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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Previa_fun posted:What. I read a news article about that and wasn't completely convinced of the quote. The guy is from an Armenian family and they have a type of memorial meal/ceremony that has roots in the Armenian Genocide. It involves serving lamb dishes. Wikipedia doesn't say that a "sacrifice" is necessarily a part of this meal preparation. I wonder if there was a language barrier between the family member and the reporter. The news article labeled it a "sacrifice" but it wasn't a direct quote and I can't tell if a lamb was really "sacrificed" or if it was simply killed for food, or if lamb was bought from a market to make the food. Anyway, the whole thing was done as an event of solidarity for the young guy who died because he had health issues. "Animal Sacrifice" makes a great headline though.
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Nov 22, 2015 06:16
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What sort of All Season tires do Focus ST people like? And where should I get them plus the wheels?
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Dec 1, 2015 02:59
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:I run winters, not all seasons in the winter. If you're going to the effort of doing a full changeover, I should think a mild winter tire would work well for you rather than all-seasons. What's your climate like? North Texas stays above freezing for most of the winter. There are sometimes days below 32deg and we get snow/ice once a year or so for a day or two.
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Dec 1, 2015 03:37
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GutBomb posted:All season tires are compromise tires no matter the season. Winter tires aren't just for snow and ice either. Winters in texas WILL break that 60 degree winter tire barrier for a day, or a few days, at a time. Do I just put up with the extra wear for a day, or swap them back out a couple times during those weeks between cold fronts? Second part of my question from before, where's the best place to look for these tires and wheels to mount them to? I presume I want to get another set of wheels so I can swap them out without needing to pay for mounting and balancing each time.
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Dec 1, 2015 12:32
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Anyone have recommendations for performance driving courses in the Dallas/Ft Worth area? I've done some googling but would appreciate goon testimonials. Looking to use my own car and get some instruction.
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Dec 16, 2015 22:00
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Optimus Subprime posted:Yeah I originally didn't think much of the heated steering wheel in my ST, but its been a nice thing to have on cold mornings. Heated what now? After switching to an aluminum shifter knob, it's the coldest thing I have to worry about in the winter. In fact, I might change it back to stock until it warms up a little. The Ferret King fucked around with this message at 23:40 on Jan 26, 2016 |
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Jan 26, 2016 23:38
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Optimus Subprime posted:The ST3 package of the focus ST comes with a heated steering wheel and front seats. It's nice. Maybe that's new? My 2014 doesn't have that. I have heated seats though.
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Jan 26, 2016 23:57
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Dr.Caligari posted:Just wait until the summer, when the sun has heated it up for 8 hours and then you grab it I'm drat near religious about using a sun screen when I park the car. Keeps the belt buckles and shifter from becoming completely hazardous.
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Jan 27, 2016 02:18
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fyodor posted:Please post your recommendations for a sun screen that isn't bullshit. Thanks in advance. I just bought whatever was at O'Reillys. It's the kind that's 2 pieces with a springy wire frame and they fold up into a small circle. Handled South Texas parking lots well enough, and hasn't started to flake or fall apart yet, after a bit over 1 year.
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Jan 27, 2016 04:45
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fyodor posted:I was thinking foil over memory foam because everybody is using memory foam in their products. Mine are a flat gray synthetic fabric. No foil here. Foil probably does better but these fit in the seat back pocket when folded.
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Jan 27, 2016 08:23
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Melthir posted:Wife's FiST arrives tomorrow. Any suggestions on break in oil. None. quote:Owner's Manual p 15
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Feb 6, 2016 19:02
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| # ¿ Apr 24, 2024 03:10 |
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What do you do if they don't sell 93 octane in your state/area?
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Feb 14, 2016 21:52
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