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The GTA is back on the road. Exhaust video inside.

Thirdgen89GTA

Aka "That Focus RS Guy"
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Sep 19, 2010
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Rockford
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Bill
I like the way that things put together. Sounds great

Much thanks, one always wants to be told their car sounds good.

But man, that cam found EVERY RATTLE there could be. The T-top is screaming at me for some lube. The back exhaust is touching the body somewhere so I can hear it.

The exhaust itself is remarkably quiet inside the car. Its really easy to have a conversation at idle. The wind and road noise from the UMI Roto-joints though makes conversations at highway speeds a bit hard. Alot of the road vibration is transmitted to the interior. I need to pull all the carpets and put a layer of sound deadening throughout the car on every surface. Something for the future.
 

Thirdgen89GTA

Aka "That Focus RS Guy"
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Sep 19, 2010
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Rockford
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Bill
While taking my nephew for a ride in the GTA, my mom recorded this brief clip of the car. I think it sounds epic. I would love to hear a clip of the car when I'm on it from outside of it. Cause inside, it sounds so good when its finally allowed to run.

I continue to be amazed at just how simple things can make such a difference as I'm tuning. I wasn't happy with the plugs I purchased and have using. I bought a different set, same heat range, but different type and the engine responds so much better and seemed to rev faster in the upper engine speeds while having a smoother idle. I also worked on the throttle body and stepped up the Air Bleed hole a bit, and backed off the throttle stop more so the IAC had to do more work. Made such a difference in how smooth it is at idle. It no longer races as much as it used to when coasting to a stop in and out of gear.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2aCqRJljT4
 

Thirdgen89GTA

Aka "That Focus RS Guy"
TCG Premium
Sep 19, 2010
19,297
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Rockford
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Bill
Currently shipping to me:
  • Founders Caster Camber Plates
  • Founders Adjustable TQ Arm (Wanted the Unbalanced Engineering decoupled torque arm, but they don't make it anymore :tear:)
  • Founders LCA relocation brackets
  • Vogtland linear rate lowering springs (not sure how much it will lower it, but considering I can fit a knife hand between the tire and the fender its tall. 27.5" all around)
  • Globalwest Del-A-Lum front A-arm bushings
  • Spohn steering rebuild parts + bump steer kit
  • Astrovan Universal steering joint retrofit to get rid of the Rag Joint. Plus its not a rag joint eliminator, so the joint will still be able to flex when needed.

I'm looking at a set of Corbeau TRS seats. Guy in Wisconsin has them in his bird. They look like they should offer good support, retain reclining, and shouldn't be too horrid on longer trips.
20466975791_0c86a4d331_b.jpg



The Panhard and rear LCAs are already UMI Rotojoint adjustables, first thing I did when I installed them was match them up with the stock pieces then loctite them. I don't know if I'll adjust the length, most people don't need it, but I wanted the adjustability in the car since I was already spending the money on the parts.
 

Thirdgen89GTA

Aka "That Focus RS Guy"
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Sep 19, 2010
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Rockford
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Bill
Weak.. why aren't you taking that thing on the tour. .. I'm the only third gen in it

Can't afford to go. :(

I even considered taking the Focus ST in its stead. But I still can't afford to go. I have't gotten a solid estimate on the new fuel economy since the latest round of tuning changes, but the last around was only about 15mpg average with about 50% of that being highway. So its still rich.

Yea, that's a cool ass car. Can't wait for you to post up some track videos of it.

I can't wait for it to be READY to hit the track. I still have things I need to take care of for the reliability of it. I worry about the cooling system. And I am considering investing in an Accusump setup to maintain oil pressure in case I starve the pan. Plus it would be nice to have it pre-oil the engine before every start, that could be pretty bad ass.

The car is still an open wound as far as my wallet is concerned. I had to re-wire the fan harness as one of the junctions corroded and had started to cause a nasty voltage drop in the car. I re-did it so the grounding path doesn't go through the chassis wiring, and instead just returns to the battery since it was right there. The voltage jumped up about 1.5-2v. I've always had low voltage in the car, 14.5v @ alternator, but only reading 13v on the gauge. Thirdgens are notorious for drops due to the thin gauge of the factory wiring.

I probably need to replace the main fusebox power and grounds with 10 gauge wiring to eliminate the drop.

So many things to fix on a 27yr old car.
 

Thirdgen89GTA

Aka "That Focus RS Guy"
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Sep 19, 2010
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Rockford
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Bill
Man, that sucks. Now I'm sad because it's not looking like it's going to see track time in the near future :tear:

In truth if I changed the brake fluid, and went to more aggressive pads I could track the car. I might have to back off if engine temps become a problem, but I could always do a cool down lap.

But before I do, I would like to make sure the fuel/timing tables are right and not getting any undue knock.

I have adopted a more patient stance with the car. When its ready, it will be a blast on track. I want to be able to flog it session after session and not have to worry about overheating. A nicer aftermarket radiator could make that happen. but as its extreme overkill on the street I haven't invested in it.

I've mostly just been replacing 27yr old parts as I go. the Tie-rods, center link, drag link, ball joints, and bushings up front are all original. With the new steering box thats in there, I can feel every bit of slop the steering.

It will never be a show car, but one day it will show people a good time on track. Its always going to have rock chips, dings, and defects.
 

10sec

I haz dat teddy bear smile.
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Jul 26, 2008
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5,812
I used to care a lot about rock chips getting in my car, and rubber marks all over the front. I've gotten over that, I track the car too much to care about that. It's still dent free, not a single dent in the car at all, so I would probably kill whoever puts the first dent in it, but I'm over the rock chips. I even take it off road every once in a while. YOLO.

20150809_144902_zpsfuphxojt.jpg
 

Thirdgen89GTA

Aka "That Focus RS Guy"
TCG Premium
Sep 19, 2010
19,297
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Rockford
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Bill
I didn't go offroading, but someone did in my car before i owned it. The rocker panels are slightly pushed up even though the car is straight.

Previous owners so awesome. They off-roaded it, cracked the block in half by overheating it, had a bad transmission, E-brake was busted, interior was hacked. Could go on and on about the reasons my 20yr old self never should have bought the car. It should have been gutted and turned into a pure race car 10yrs ago, or parted out.

Oh well, learning experience, and now too deep in the hole. Might as well keep digging till I come out in China.
 

Smokinhot

3-man rules!!!!
Jul 4, 2007
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IM me if you wanna know more ;)
The car is fairly quiet for a nearly 11:1 compression engine with no cats, no resonator, and just a SLP 2otL muffler.

But Drivethru's still hate me. :)
Yep same here :rofl: 11:1, 111lsa cam, no cats/res, into a single in dual out MagnaFlow muffler. Quiet enough for me, but loud enough to say FUCK YOU! lol
 
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