Upgraded to LED headlights

One of the HID bulbs I used back in 2019 burned out, so with newer LED technology I upgraded to a new set of D3S LEDs.  OPP ULITE D3S Led Headlight Bulbs, 3RD-Gen 100% Plug & Play, Canbus Error Free, 6000K White 70W 8600LM Headlights Bulb, Replace OEM Xenon Bulb

The process to remove the headlights is really simple, 2 screws with I believe T-25 bits.  Then tug on the housing and it comes forward.  

You can see the old HID bulb on the right, and the replacement LED on the left

Remove the collar from the HID and position it correctly on the new LED bulb

Just align the square hole with the square spot on the LED and it slides right in place

Plug the LED into the HID harness

Simply tuck the extra wire/connector inside the headlight

The results are pretty awesome!  The 6000k offers a blue-white light and these are much brighter than the HID setup!

Highly recommended!!!

It's always a good time to change your cabin filter!

 After all the fires this past summer in NorCal, I decided to check the cabin air filters in our cars.  All I can say is O-M-G that's NASTY!  You can get a cheap $10 filter like the FD920 Cabin Air Filter for Ford Focus, or upgrade to a nice HEPA based one like the PureFlow HEPA Cabin Air Filter PC6174HX 

Whatever you do - just do it!  Look at our old filter compared to the new one! Seriously disgusting!

If you don't know how, it's a really simple process on the Focus family.  You just need one torx bit and everything else is pretty much hand driven.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE it made - honestly, I'm not sure how the A/C or heat worked previously with how clogged the old filter was.  Make sure you do it!!

Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 - great option for performance all-season tires!

 Our Michelin Pilot Sport 4s finally were at about 2/32nds and had to be retired at 32k of usage, so at least they met the warranty lifetime of 30k!  My wife is about to start a new job where there may be more 'weather' to deal with so we opted for the Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4s to replace them with.  The tire is excellent, great ride quality and the grip is darn good!  

These tires have a 50% upgrade in warranty to 45K so that's a benefit as well for longevity.  Only 54K on our 2016 FoST and loving it!

Here's a review from Tire Rack on performance All-Season tires

Overall, we stuck with the 245/40R18 size for a little width gain from the stock 235 size.  We've been really pleased with them so far!

Upgraded to Diode Dynamics SLF LED Fog Lights

The guys at Diode Dynamics are awesome - not only do they have great products, they stand behind them!  We recently had one of our older LED bulbs die out, so we did an RMA and since they no longer produced those lights, they sent us the latest SLF model LED - and wow are they great!

 

 

here's one of the new LEDs - excellent packaging and plugs right into the fog light socket!

Here's the simple removal/install process... I used to think you had to pull the bumper off these cars, but if you carefully use a flat screwdriver - it pops the fog light fascia off the bumper and all you need is a Torx-30 screwdriver to remove 3 screws!

 

Old LED on top, new setup on the bottom - very slick setup!

the trick to the front section coming off was to put a thin screwdriver in between the bumper and the fascia section for the foglight, you have to check a few locations but once you press down and pop the clips, pull toward the front of the car and it will pop out.

carefully popping off the fascia exposes the lens and 3 screws

3 simple screws and the lens comes right out 

just unplug the old bulb, and add the new LED - and screw/snap it all back together

Light output is excellent and now we have fogs again!  Highly recommended! 

Replacing the D3S HID bulbs in the Ford Focus ST

One of our ST's headlights went out last week, huge difference in light output when one of your HIDs goes out...  So I was on the hunt for a good D3S (the size) replacement...

The stock HID ballast in the ST3 are Osram 35W, so that's already good (as compared to older 25W versions)  There are the usual HID replacement parts, and boy can they be expensive!

One of the top rated bulbs is the OSRAM XENARC Night Breaker Laser D3S rated at 4600K

  

But holy smokes, $170+ for a pair of bulbs!  Surely there must be something better!  I was determined to find a GOOD set of HID for cheaper, and has great light output!

I found the RCP - D3S6 - (A Pair) D3S/ D3R 6000K Xenon HID Replacement Bulb Diamond White Metal Stents Base 12V Car Headlight Lamps Head Lights 35W for a whopping $27

If you know the HID Kelvin color chart, 4.6K from the Osram is a decent HID coloring (as shown below) to see well, if you go too low you're yellow (good for fog lights), and if you go too high - well, you turn into ricer purple, heck I've even seen some guys go to 30,000K and it's HULK green!

Here's the replacement process I used... took me about 20 minutes to do both sides:

    

only 2 screws need to be removed, arrows below

once the screws are out, gently rock the headlight around - you'll know when it comes free - just don't forget to pull the plug that connects to the light - there's a small clip underneath, the tab slides away from the headlight and the clip should pull right out - on the bottom of the headlight you'll see the HID igniter (note the 35W)

pull the rubber cover off the back of the headlight where the HID is located, pretty easy two little tabs available - just give them a tug...  then you'll see the internals where the bulb is connected

I used a flat screwdriver to gently pop off the plug - note the orientation of the bulb

To remove the bulb, there's a twist-lock tab between the bulb and the headlight socket - twist it counter-clockwise (only about a 1/2 in. is all that's needed) and the bulb comes out EASILY.

Here's the OEM HID bulb with the twist-lock collar attached, has a blue igniter - it's an OSRAM XENARC D3S HID Xenon Headlight bulb 66340 - 4.3K color - actually a pretty nice OEM bulb!  About $48/side.

 

NOTE: DO NOT TOUCH THE NEW BULB WITH YOUR HANDS, USE GLOVES!

You have to remove that black twist-lock connector - it's just pressure fit and slides off with a little wiggling.  Note the orientation of the collar as it can fit on the new bulb in a few different angles.  If you can see in the photo above, the open left side of the collar aligns with the plug on the HID bulb.

Below, you can seee the new RCP D3S6 D3S/ D3R 6000K Xenon HID Replacement Bulb has a white ignitor and I've attached the collar.

 

Here's the new bulb installed - just reverse the process and you're done!

Definitely a whiter light than OEM (6K vs 4.3K)

I'll have to do some night pics but so far these lights have not dissapointed at all for only $13 per bulb!  Enjoy!

mounted the DVC Kicker (finally)

I finally got a free afternoon to put the Kicker sub back into the car - it's been so 'empty' without this low-end sound...  but ran out of time, still need to run the power wire to the amp!

Dynamat the hatch and swapping subs in the FoST

In the process of continual tweaking on our vehicles, I figured it was time to tackle the audio in the Focus ST.  Not that it's horrible, but OEM can ALWAYS be improved by changing up components...

The first step was to help remove some of the 'noise' from the hatch area - getting some Dynamat and Noico was my first step in the process (and relatively simple to be honest)

The first part was to disassemble the hatch to get to the metal

      

Pulling out the carpet and spare tire is relatively simple... 

You have to disconnect the subwoofer as well - a simple unclip and 3 nuts to loosen the cabinet

There are 2 bolts on the bottomYou'll notice the 3rd bolt is a bit hidden, so check below...

Here's a good view of the whole area covered with some Dynamat, and the Noico - both are relatively the same, and really help knock down the noise/sound from vibrations, etc...

Next I had to remove the old Sony Subwoofer - dang, it looks puny next to the Kicker sub!

  

The trim ring (.5" deep) is important because the Kicker Sub is a little deeper than the Sony Sub...
I used some sealant between the spacer and the cabinet.

Next I had to add some of the sound deadener to seal off the hole behind the old Sony Subwoofer, and stuffed some PolyFil into the cabinet.

     

You can see how I wired the subwoofer in series, this allows the amp to run 300W @ 1Ohm and this subwoofer is built to accept this!

You can see the result of the config here... next I will post when it's hooked up!

Focus ST T-Shirts n-stuff

I've started designing some shirts and stuff for the ST crew - simple design, based on the newer body style '15-up What do you think?

https://www.redbubble.com/people/Toadster88/portfolio

Michelin Pilot Sport 4S are Installed

Finally got the appointment to have the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires installed - a little wider than stock by 10mm, and 1/2 aspect ratio smaller (40 vs 45) - which doesn't affect the speedometer, etc...

The techs at America's Tire loved the ST and said I would absolutely love the Sport 4S tires - they're super high rated, and knowingly so since they're the successor to the insanely popular Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires...

OEM size of the Goodyear Eagle F1s are 235/45R18 which are a bargain compared to the Michelin rubber, to be honest, less than 1/2 the price!!

 
 Just check the specs!   👀

We will see about how long these tires last :)  LOL

I'm sure they'll take a few miles to break in as the outer skin wears through - but I'm very impressed with the noise on the road and they feel VERY plush for an aspect ratio of 40!

Even though pricey - I give them 👍👍

Ordered a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4S - install pending

Our ST has chewed up the OEM tires, took only 23k miles... but what do you expect from a little rocket that you throw around corners.  I'm surprised they lasted this long!  😆

I've had the Michelin Pilot Super Sport (PSS) on my AMG E55 and even on our 2011 Mazda MX-5 - the handling and grip is amazing!  So I looked for those as a replacement - and found them for $149/ea at America's Tire - alas they're an older set of PSS that they're discounting due to age, and they're being phased out...

So we ordered a new set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S which is the successor to the ever popular PSS.

We had to go up 10mm in width to fit the Focus @ 245/40R18 (OEM is 235/40R18)

Install is pending this week... feedback to come!

Ford Sync 3 version 3.0 18025 is out!

It's official now, if you waited for the Ford update - it's now available at http://owner.ford.com

What most Apple CarPlay folks are waiting for is the integration of Waze

Also, if you're pre-2017 you'll need the USB upgrade in the center console to work with the Apple CarPlay or Android Auto features for ~ $60 and it's a simple update!