[cinderbike]

Hey everyone, I took delivery of my factory ordered Fiesta ST on September 27th, ordered the car June 28th. My dealer told me it was the first retail sale of a Fiesta ST in the state of Nevada. I've done a few cosmetic mods - no parts yet - so have a bit of a backlog of photos to post. These are from the day I picked the car up, about 5 weeks ago:







And my first 'mod':

The plate came with stainless screws, I went to Home Depot and picked up another set for the front (I hate rust!).

 

[cinderbike]

October 9th

Switched out the boring default MyFordTouch wallpaper for one I whipped up in Photoshop. Looks much better now:

MyFordTouch by cinderbike, on Flickr

On Sunday I scotchgarded the interior of my car. I had to mask off the leather of the Recaros since you don't want this stuff on leather. I also did all the carpeting and the rear cargo area:

Untitled by cinderbike, on Flickr

Untitled by cinderbike, on Flickr

 

[cinderbike]

October 10th

My all-weather ST mats were waiting for me when I got home from work so I threw them in tonight.


ST mats by cinderbike, on Flickr

Here's a comparison shot with the mats that came with the ST.

ST mat vs. OEM mat comparison by cinderbike, on Flickr

These should be great for all the mud and snow coming soon.

 

[cinderbike]

October 28th

I bought a set of winter wheels/tires yesterday from Tire Rack. After some back and forth on the SVT hotline, I went with the recommended size from the ST supplement (195/45 16). Unfortunately, the only winter tire in this size is the Pirelli Snow Control II - a performance snow tire. The ice traction isn't as good as say, a Blizzak, but the snow is pretty sporadic here, it's mostly the temperature (20 and below) that necessitates snow tires. Mounted on a set of 16x7 Sparco wheels:


Sparcos by cinderbike, on Flickr

I didn't get the TPMS sensors. $200 seems like a waste just so you don't get a dash light. And worst case scenario, if it drives me crazy, I can still get a set on eBay and have the valves replaced for less than what Tire Rack would've charged me.

PS: One of the few things that are awesome about living in Northern Nevada is all of the distribution centers. I can avoid shipping for pretty much every major website, especially the car places (Summit, TireRack, etc.).


Snow Tires by cinderbike, on Flickr

The ride is less harsh, but still firm. Nice compromise, especially for winter tires. And good timing, as I woke up to 1/2" of snow this morning!

 

[cinderbike]

And finally, catching up to today (last night):

One thing I don't like about the Fiesta ST is the weird raised cargo floor. Ford, for whatever reason, chose to raise the floor a good 6" above the 2011-2013 version to fit the full-size spare, leaving a huge gap of wasted space below it. On top of that, the area is unfinished, so wiring, paint, and the gap under the seats is all exposed. Well yesterday, I got sick of having things slide under the seats, so I followed what a few others have done and picked up a foam 'swim noodle' from the dollar store and cut it to fit in the gap under the seats. I also picked up a roll of non-slip material (usually used in drawers etc.) to keep stuff from sliding around and help protect the paint:

Before:


After:

 

[focusedintntions]

very nice setup! I like what you did with the under tray.

 

[Pelotonracer2]

16's don't look too shabby, Is that wheel available in 17" as well?

 

[Pelotonracer2]

October 28th

I bought a set of winter wheels/tires yesterday from Tire Rack. After some back and forth on the SVT hotline, I went with the recommended size from the ST supplement (195/45 16). Unfortunately, the only winter tire in this size is the Pirelli Snow Control II - a performance snow tire. The ice traction isn't as good as say, a Blizzak, but the snow is pretty sporadic here, it's mostly the temperature (20 and below) that necessitates snow tires. Mounted on a set of 16x7 Sparco wheels:


Sparcos by cinderbike, on Flickr

I didn't get the TPMS sensors. $200 seems like a waste just so you don't get a dash light. And worst case scenario, if it drives me crazy, I can still get a set on eBay and have the valves replaced for less than what Tire Rack would've charged me.

PS: One of the few things that are awesome about living in Northern Nevada is all of the distribution centers. I can avoid shipping for pretty much every major website, especially the car places (Summit, TireRack, etc.).


Snow Tires by cinderbike, on Flickr

The ride is less harsh, but still firm. Nice compromise, especially for winter tires. And good timing, as I woke up to 1/2" of snow this morning!

Since the car is new, you CAN reuse your TPMS sensors *IF* they will fit the new wheels. Sometimes they won't. I had that issue with my 18x8 Konig Deceptions on my MS3. Discount Tire used OEM style TPMS sensors and they did not seal right. I reused the new ones they put in there when I needed new tires. Discount Tire sells the TPMS kits for a LOT less than Tire Rack.

 

[cinderbike]

Installed the cargo liner a couple of weeks ago. It is a thick textured plastic, similar to truckbed liners and way better than the flimsy rubber one I had in my Accord.

It will not work with the load floor in the lower position.


Cargo liner by cinderbike, on Flickr

So far I like it.

 

[justinsane]

Where'd you get those floor mats? Look great!

 

[Maximum]

Do you know if you can get those all weather mats for RHD vehicles in Australia? I know the boot liner will be the same but I haven't found anywhere in Australia that stocks them.

Looking nice! Black wheels on the Blue looks hot!

 

[shmi]

October 9th

Switched out the boring default MyFordTouch wallpaper for one I whipped up in Photoshop. Looks much better now:

Hey would you mind sharing the background picture file? I like it!

 

[focusedintntions]

Hey would you mind sharing the background picture file? I like it!

Google around for it. I've downloaded into mine back in early oct. There's a great tumbler account that has MFT wallpapers

 

[Maximum]

Kinda sucks we dont get the big screen and Nav here in Australia. It brings the interior up alot.

 

[shmi]

Google around for it. I've downloaded into mine back in early oct. There's a great tumbler account that has MFT wallpapers

Cool, thanks

 

[canadian_commerce]

Great thread. Thanks for the tips on the MFT wallpapers and the info on your winter set up.

 

[cinderbike]

Wow, a year since my last post already. Not much happened this year, as I was busy with other things. My poor FiST got into a couple unfortunate parking lot incidents over the summer so next year I will be getting some bodywork done, but to hold me over I did some interior upgrades last night:

I bought some bling for the handbrake since swapping over the Euro one isn't cost-effective or easy to do, as well as installed my armrest cover from RedlineGoods.



I am very impressed with the quality and the color is a near perfect match but the nappa leather is somewhat smoother than I would have hoped for, I'm going to contact them and see if they have something with more grain like the samples I ordered awhile back.

A word of advice on the install: there are some retainer clips that are used to help secure the front end; these will not fit when the thicker leather is installed over the OEM armrest. It looks like on the installation guide (I believe a forum member on here wrote it) they just tightened it down and bent the clips, I chose to remove the slots on the armrest, as it's an easier/cheaper part to replace than the bottom half.

Before:

After:

Before I did this I could not get the front half to seat properly.

I will eventually get around to upgrading the shift boot, but I really only plan on taking apart the center stack once so I will wait and do that when I install Boomba's short shifter.

 

[cinderbike]

Hey would you mind sharing the background picture file? I like it!

Sure! I actually made a few of them (including an RS one, because race car):
https://flic.kr/s/aHskyYS6ja

What have I been up to? I got the car tinted last week (40% all around)... also swapped my chrome lug nuts to black for the winter wheels as I think it looks better:

Should hopefully start doing some more performance-oriented mods soon - also looking to source the ST200 two-tone wheels as those would be PERFECT for the look I am going for.