So I was away for Labor Day weekend visiting my best friends, while I was gone, stuff for the RS was rollin' in !

Audio system and accessories are here:
- Maestro harness
- Speaker baffles
- Speaker mounts
- Infinity Kappas (long time car audio guy, but this is the first time I've ever bought *anything* Infinity, I'm very intrigued by the 2 ohm impedance that these components are)
- CoolTech phone mount (talked about in this thread, here is the product link)

Misc
- Set of Rally Armor flaps
- Set of these white/yellow switchable fog lamps discussed in this thread
- RS fill-in decals for the wing (i'll make a post about this after this one, here is the thread that I read about them at)
- And a decal with my favorite line from Firefly to put on the back glass tucked up under the wing


*** the picture of the fog light output is just the stock bulbs, i took one for reference for after I install the new ones ***

So I pretty much have ALL the stuff I need for my stereo system build except for the most important part, the Rockford DSR-1, which I am anxiously awaiting it to be released!

There are a few more things coming this week or next:
- an 18" rim a friend of mine sent me to see if it'll clear the front brake before committing to buy them
- the Cool Tech RDU cooling shroud
- Velossa ram air intake system

I'll be thinking back and forth today about pulling the trigger on an exhaust system that I've been eying that I can get for $614 shipped.... we'll see what happens I guess


.

 

Ordered a set of these:

Focus Mk3 RS Rear Spoiler RS Inlay - PAIR / DMB Graphics Ltd

I'm liking how they look. Very easy install and great quality stuff

 

Welcome, and awesome start to your car so far!

 

Put the fogs in during my lunch break, they're these ones: http://a.co/5o7V9u9

They default to "white" when the headlight system is turned on, but you can use the foglight switch to turn them off and when they come back on they'll be yellow. No, there is no way to set yellow as the default, ah well.

For install, I followed this thread: http://www.focusrs.org/forum/32-focus-rs-lighting/34369-how-fog-light-bulb-install.html, it took 10 mins total. Make sure to pay attention to the polarity, both OEM harnesses have a black or black with colored traced wire on the 2 wire plug, that's negative and should be matched up accordingly. Will need to do some night time pictures once it gets dark

Also mounted my CoolTech phone mount, works great for my iPhone 7+

And lastly today, I tackled the issue of no garage door opener capability in the car (made a post here in electronics forum)

 

Few more items arrived today:

My buddies @ NextLevel Motoring sent me an 18x8.75 XXR 527 wheel in bronze to check fitment on the car, with the front caliper potentially requiring the need for a small spacer. We'll see later on as the my car is currently at the window tinting shop, so i'll give it a try later on today

Also for the second day in a row received an item from CoolTech, this time their RDU cooling shroud. At some point I will go on track with this car, this will hopefully help, even if just a little bit. I'd LOVE to have a third item from CoolTech but it'll have to wait so I can save up my pennies! (their $1100+ oil cooler setup)

 

Few more items arrived today:

My buddies @ NextLevel Motoring sent me an 18x8.75 XXR 527 wheel in bronze to check fitment on the car, with the front caliper potentially requiring the need for a small spacer. We'll see later on as the my car is currently at the window tinting shop, so i'll give it a try later on today


View attachment 212954



Also for the second day in a row received an item from CoolTech, this time their RDU cooling shroud. At some point I will go on track with this car, this will hopefully help, even if just a little bit. I'd LOVE to have a third item from CoolTech but it'll have to wait so I can save up my pennies! (their $1100+ oil cooler setup)

Oh baby, those are sweet. Do you know what they weigh?

 

Looking great! Would you happen to have been apart of Team Integra or the 8th Gen civic forums in the past? There was a guy on one of the two with the same exact name; can't remember which forum though. Seeing what you've done already makes me want to go spend some money...lol.

 

That's me, I'm the guy who helped-start/owned/sold/still-kinda-run TI.... I also bought a 2000 Civic last year and was on that forum for a bit (sold that car a few months back)

 

In the craziness that is my normal day, I did get some time to test fit the rim I received today. While the rims and tires (these Continentals in size 245/40/18 on order) will stick out a little further than I'd prefer, they will fit and have PLENTY of clearance for the brake calipers, which was a concern.

 

In the craziness that is my normal day, I did get some time to test fit the rim I received today. While the rims and tires (these Continentals in size 245/40/18 on order) will stick out a little further than I'd prefer, they will fit and have PLENTY of clearance for the brake calipers, which was a concern.


View attachment 213338


View attachment 213346

Where did you get those blue lug nuts from? They look amazing

 

Hurricane Irma has come and gone... it took some work to squeeeeze both my cars into my garage but was able to make it happen and still have room to open beer fridge

Rest of the bronze rims will be here tomorrow, tires for them are waiting at the shop, new exhaust arrived yesterday and hoping to get that in within next few weeks!

 

Hurricane Irma has come and gone... it took some work to squeeeeze both my cars into my garage but was able to make it happen and still have room to open beer fridge

Rest of the bronze rims will be here tomorrow, tires for them are waiting at the shop, new exhaust arrived yesterday and hoping to get that in within next few weeks!


View attachment 216234

My wife would have made me leave more room for the cars and less for the beer...but it's good to see that you've got your priorities straight!

 

Well, was away out west for 8 days, came home last night and have/had a bunch of RS stuff waiting for me

Easy stuff first:


DMB gel decal for the Start button

Someone on this forum was making these Build Number plates, I ordered one the day I picked up the car, finally got it in (i knew it'd take a while as they are made to order obviously)

Also had noticed that my car lacked a passenger side cargo light, apparently this happens now and then, someone on the forum was nice enough to pull out his light and get the part number (AM51-13A756-AA). Searched eBay for that number, got a hit, ordered and put in, works perfect

And at the tire shop, my new XXR wheels were mated to the Continental Extreme Contact tires I ordered, picked them up a bit ago, hope to have time to put these, along with my Rally Armor flaps, on the car today

I have an MBRP Black exhaust system here in the garage that arrived the day before Irma hit here in Florida, hopefully find time this weekend for that install, and soon will be mapping out how to arrange the stereo stuff i'll be putting in (two Rockford Fosgate Power Series amps, my 15 farad cap, and two shallow mount 10"s). I also at some point need to finish installing the rest of the Infinity Kappas in the doors

 

Nice RS and I like what you're doing so far! I'll be at Lake Nona Cars and Coffee on Saturday October 7 @ 8am if you want to stop by and chat RS mods.

 

I've got nothing planned that day as it stands, maybe i'll come out that way!

 

Spent my lunch break installing the passenger side stuff (wheels + the Rally Armor flaps). I had ordered a set of black lugs to use as well, I wasn't liking the ones i got that are a different shade of blue than the brake calipers

 

So after driving around a bit with the new shoes, the TPMS sensors came on and wouldn't go off. Went back to tire shop this morning and watched their guy there use some handheld scanner tool to teach the car the new TPMS sensors, was a pretty neat process to watch.

Took a few more pictures of the new rims and tires, I'm thinking now about some Mountune springs now, the "pogo effect" really does make me nauseous when I drive the car more than 20 mins at a time (and i did check to make sure the front spring spacers were indeed removed by the dealer).

I also ordered the Curt hitch and harness for the car so I can get my bicycle rack on the car, I need to start getting back on that horse.

 

So today I received the final piece needed to do a full blown stereo install, the just released Rockford Fosgate DSR1 processor. It will take the data signal from the Sync 3 radio and convert them into unprocessed audio signal for use with my own amps and my own speakers (previously mentioned Infinity Kappas in all 4 doors, two 10" Rockford shallow mount subs).

My general game plan is to all out replace the RS's foam-based hatch storage unit with my own made of MDF. It'll measure 40" wide by 28" tall by 6.25" high (just an inch higher than the stock stuff). This will give me:
- 1.4 sq foot sealed enclosure for the two subs (right at recommended volume)
- Mounting for the two amps
- Hoping to be able to hinge the half that the amps will take up and have a 4" high space under the amps to store some stuff (tow hook, tire iron, wheels keys, towels, etc)

I also have a 10 farad Batcap that is relatively compact, I'm hoping to mount this under the passenger seat, this will shorten the length of 1/0 gauge wire I need to run, then it'll be two runs of 4ga wire to each amp from there.

General layout with my scribbles for calculations... my cat isn't impressed lol

Made using this neat (and free!) online tool: https://www.tinkercad.com

 

.

In anticipation of pulling the stock hatch storage thing, this morning I completely disconnected the "FENG", wow, that thing made that much noise??!! I feel a bit disappointed by the car, all that racket was FAKE. I do have the MBRP exhaust to put on, looking at doing this next Saturday when I have some car friends here at house for weekend. I need more noise!

In the mail I received a few items:
- The Stubby Jr Antenna for Ford Focus 2008-2018
- And while still waiting for my Velossa Tech ram intake, I picked up a white gel decal from DMB Graphics for the RS logo on the airbox

And finally I had a few minutes to spare this morning, so I also removed the "Focus" badge from the back hatch.


Next Sat will be fun, going to a Cars & Coffee and then have to rush back home to have 3-5 friends over to hang out and then we'll be putting on the exhaust, Cooltech RDU shroud, trailer hitch, and maybe some springs if i can find a set that are stiffer than stock but DON'T lower the car (this is proving a challenge to find, even the black Mountune set is too low)

*EDIT/NOTE* on the antenna switch: i ended up going back to the factory antenna because the stubby one did NOT receive HD Radio signal well at all


Before:

After:

 

doe the antenna effect reception? simple screw in ?

GZ

 

Simple screw in install.... I can’t really comment on signal strength as the two stations I listen to are pretty local and strong. But I wouldn’t make the change unless you expect anything but a drop in reception, even if it’s just a little


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

.

Received today in the mail:

Extra screw in tow hook with intent of a rear tow hook for the track. Strange that Ford provided the threaded hole for this but no access to it !:

Rear Tow Hook provision anyone?

And two items from Your Little CNC Shop:

- Better license plate plate holder (my install is detailed on this thread)

- Gas pedal spacer: I'm not going to install that until *after* RSAA though. I don't want to get used to the new height and then get on track in their cars w/o it.

 

Out at an Orlando area Cars and Coffee

 

Lots of work on the RS accomplished over the weekend, had 3 friends stay here at house from Friday night through Sunday and 4 others here almost all day on Saturday. Everyone participated in various add ons to the RS and got my other car fully up and running to boot!


My RS the night before in the driveway

Saturday morning was spent at Cars & Coffee (pictures in last post) where I got to meet member Twizzty, great to talk to him and I got some great insight on a few RS things.

When I got home, got the cooler ready for guests

Mailman came and delivered a set of blue interior lights that member @seniorgeek has available (i'll install these later when I get rolling on the audio system)

One of the big ticket items installed was an MBSP Black Series Cat Back Exhaust System (Part # S4203BLK) that I picked up with the top notch help of @Donald@GotExhaust

Install was straight forward, probably spent just as much time lining it all up as the actual install. I haven't gotten to driven the car but for 15-20 miles so far, but I love the sound so far ! Highly recommended !

 

I had run across this thread while searching for solutions to adding a rear tow hook to the car for track days, and followed it. Little nerve racking, but just a little bit. Still need to pick up a rubber stopper to cover the hole while the hook is not in.

Spent some time getting the 1/0 power cable for the upcoming stereo system while we had the car apart. Tough wire to run because of it's size, but was able to get from battery into the fender through a stock location (easy to access with battery and tray out). Then it runs inside the fender (but protected by the fender liner). Expanded an OEM hole and used a rubber snap in grommet, then drilled a hole to get inside the car, again using a rubber snap in grommet to protect the wire.

 

Last part of the update, three more things added to car this weekend:

Cooltech RDU shroud:

Curt hitch setup so I could take my bicycle places

And lastly a Velossa Ram Air with the optional block off plate for the top of the airbox

Quite a long weekend of turning wrenches, but it's coming along ! Next up: audio

 

Back on jack stands today as it was driving me crazy not having a set of Steeda jack rails. I ordered them Monday, they were here Tuesday, and today I put them on.

NOT A FAN that the underside panels don't seem to want to go back on without some serious modification, I'll save that battle for another day. But I really don't like how there are some pretty flimsy-metal lines running down the passenger side sitting there exposed to stuff flying up at it from underneath.

Used tin snips to trim off 2" of the underside panels, they went back on with all clips and bolts intact!

Also bought an Accessport from another member


.

 

NOT A FAN that the underside panels don't seem to want to go back on without some serious modification, I'll save that battle for another day. But I really don't like how there are some pretty flimsy-metal lines running down the passenger side sitting there exposed to stuff flying up at it from underneath.
.

I am curious about the difficulties that you had getting these back on and what mods you did to get them on easier. I work on these types of pieces and I am always looking for ways to improve them.

Also wondering what you meant about the flimsy exposed metal. Is that the weld flange for the body? The jack points are on this weld flange.

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 

Audio system = underway!

Pulled out the center console (what a pain in the ass) as well as the front seats and finished running my 1/0 gauge power wire to under the passenger seat. There I mounted my Alumapro 15 farad cap (an older version of this) and then from there ran 4 gauge wire to the hatch. Also ran with that the ribbon cable for my Rockford amp's bass control as well as a 15 foot USB-A to USB-mini cable from the hatch to the glove box area so I could manage the Rockford DSR1 from the front of the car.

While I had the console out, I also ran a lightning cable inside the console so I didn't have a bunch of loose cabling around the seating area. There's plenty of slack on the cable on the phone side where i could pull a few feet out (and tuck it back in) if need be.

And for good measure, got my Cobb Accessport in yesterday and married it to the car. Got a great deal on this from another member on this forum. I'm looking forward to the a-pilar mount that I ordered to get here on Tuesday

 

.

Adios Sony amp and crappy woofer

Frame of new box/amp-rack

Some progress. On the left is 1.3 cubic feet for the two 10"s, on the right will be the amps on a hinged panel with storage for stuff underneath... more pics to come! I'm in rain delay right now

 

.

Few things received today

After shopping for an hour on choices to hold the Accessport, the ProClip one that CJ Ponyparts sells seemed to be the best choice... it was pricey, but it's solid

Another package received today

What's in the box? It's Ford part # G1FZ-8005-A .. a new radiator :-(

Had a mishap happen weekend before last during the Velossa Ram Air install, and yada yada yada, I needed a new radiator... expensive sucker :-(

Car is draining the fluid now, a buddy of mine is coming over after work tomorrow to assist with the install.

I haven't had much luck finding an RS-specific install of the radiator, but did find this Mishimoto ST radiator install video. Other than the "active flaps" i hope it's the same, at least similar enough to follow