Focus st-3 bluefin
Discussion
I have just bought an 08 focus ST3 and love it and am now looking at making a few mods to the car. I have been looking at adding a bluefin ecu mod and full stainless exhaust has anyone had any issues with reliability or other concerns with doing this or any other ideas of sensible mods?? Any help or ideas appreciated 
Stainless exhaust wont make any real difference to the performance of the car. Will sound better, but the restriction is within the cat and downpipe. Not that you cant get a serious hike in power without changing the system by remapping. Remapping will make a difference but you really need to change the intercooler to make it work properly. The intercooler is quite small and will not take all the heat out to keep the iat's down on the car, especially in the warmer months. Bluefin is just as reasonable as the rest, but probably best to change the intercooler at the same time.
Congratulations on your purchase! It is a brilliant machine. I was lucky enough to run an ST for three and a half years and then an RS for two. I put the Bluefin upgrade on the ST when it was about a year old.
These engines are lovely in standard form but the major areas where improvements can be made are the intercooler to get more cold air in (you will notice the car in standard spec has much more power on a cold day), the air filter and the exhaust down-pipe. The basic thing with the Bluefin remap is that it turns up the boost, so more of the boost is available more of the time, but there is much less finesse when the boost comes in and the drop in torque at higher revs is more pronounced, so you lose some of the lovely elastic feel of the ST. Whether or not you regard this as an improvement is a matter of taste - clearly, Ford could have supplied the car like that, but their sense, I suspect, was that people would prefer to have the wide band of constant torque rather than a big hit with a fade out.
Mountune are, in my view, the guys to talk to if you want more. They worked with Ford on the RS and the RS500 and are generally well regarded which helps residuals. They can link their work with the Ford warranty and are also on the ABI database, helping you insure the car once it is upgraded. They do an MP260 upgrade with a new intercooler, air filter and remap which is worth the extra money over a basic remap if you can afford it. This improves the air flow into the engine and releases the top end of the rev range.
If you want more there is the MP290 kit which has the new down-pipe, cat and exhaust and a further remap to get the best out of the new parts. You're starting to get into Focus RS money by going there, though.
Good luck with the car and enjoy!
These engines are lovely in standard form but the major areas where improvements can be made are the intercooler to get more cold air in (you will notice the car in standard spec has much more power on a cold day), the air filter and the exhaust down-pipe. The basic thing with the Bluefin remap is that it turns up the boost, so more of the boost is available more of the time, but there is much less finesse when the boost comes in and the drop in torque at higher revs is more pronounced, so you lose some of the lovely elastic feel of the ST. Whether or not you regard this as an improvement is a matter of taste - clearly, Ford could have supplied the car like that, but their sense, I suspect, was that people would prefer to have the wide band of constant torque rather than a big hit with a fade out.
Mountune are, in my view, the guys to talk to if you want more. They worked with Ford on the RS and the RS500 and are generally well regarded which helps residuals. They can link their work with the Ford warranty and are also on the ABI database, helping you insure the car once it is upgraded. They do an MP260 upgrade with a new intercooler, air filter and remap which is worth the extra money over a basic remap if you can afford it. This improves the air flow into the engine and releases the top end of the rev range.
If you want more there is the MP290 kit which has the new down-pipe, cat and exhaust and a further remap to get the best out of the new parts. You're starting to get into Focus RS money by going there, though.
Good luck with the car and enjoy!
Edited by Oso on Saturday 5th May 19:28
As everyone else has said it is best to get some breathing mods as well as the remap ie intercooler, air filter but saying that there are plenty of members on focusstoc that are running bluefin stage 2 and dreamscience units on completely standard cars with no problems.
And exhaust wise its the cat that is most restrictive so get a sports cat on there and an upgraded downpipe to get the heat away, if you shop around and look out on ebay you can get all of this for the price of Mountune, yes Mountune is good but imo if your car is out of warranty its not worth it
And if you're not already on there get yourself over to focusstoc.com some very knowledgeable people over there with all the answers to any question you could think of, plus if you join up as a fully paid member you get access to all the discount codes and group buys and if you're planning on modding your st you'll recoop your money back and more in your first purchase
Oh and btw demontweeks are currently doing the bluefin handset at £300 or £320 with k&n panel filter
And exhaust wise its the cat that is most restrictive so get a sports cat on there and an upgraded downpipe to get the heat away, if you shop around and look out on ebay you can get all of this for the price of Mountune, yes Mountune is good but imo if your car is out of warranty its not worth it
And if you're not already on there get yourself over to focusstoc.com some very knowledgeable people over there with all the answers to any question you could think of, plus if you join up as a fully paid member you get access to all the discount codes and group buys and if you're planning on modding your st you'll recoop your money back and more in your first purchase
Oh and btw demontweeks are currently doing the bluefin handset at £300 or £320 with k&n panel filter
I bought a Dreamscience system. Really nicely made, looked great too. But the over run droning just made our ears bleed. Tried accoustically matting the floors and under the seats, but had to change it. Put the Ferrita system on the from Kalmar Union and am very happy with it. Also fitted a sportscat ad downpipe, which made a slight increase in noise but not enough to make people question it inside the cabin.
I am running a late 2009 ST-3 with just a Bluefin upgrade.
You will notice the difference immediately especially in 1st and 2nd, as they are restricted from the factory. It’s nice coming out of a 2nd gear corner and having the car trying to spin its wheels instead of plodding along like an asthmatic fat child till you hit 3rd gear and it decides to pulls like a get a move on!!
You do notice on a warm day that the car can run out of puff quicker than a cold day, but being a company car still in warranty I will put up with it.
The other good thing with the Bluefin is that it is you can remove it before it goes to the garage for any work and can’t be seen by Fords computers.( Well my hasn’t so far!!!)
The only problems I have had has been slight clutch slip when in high gears and getting a move on before the car is fully warmed up, but once warmed up it goes away.
The quickest way to make it quicker would be to put a PH smiley on the back though.
You will notice the difference immediately especially in 1st and 2nd, as they are restricted from the factory. It’s nice coming out of a 2nd gear corner and having the car trying to spin its wheels instead of plodding along like an asthmatic fat child till you hit 3rd gear and it decides to pulls like a get a move on!!
You do notice on a warm day that the car can run out of puff quicker than a cold day, but being a company car still in warranty I will put up with it.
The other good thing with the Bluefin is that it is you can remove it before it goes to the garage for any work and can’t be seen by Fords computers.( Well my hasn’t so far!!!)
The only problems I have had has been slight clutch slip when in high gears and getting a move on before the car is fully warmed up, but once warmed up it goes away.
The quickest way to make it quicker would be to put a PH smiley on the back though.
clumsen said:
The other good thing with the Bluefin is that it is you can remove it before it goes to the garage for any work and can’t be seen by Fords computers.( Well my hasn’t so far!!!)
The only problems I have had has been slight clutch slip when in high gears and getting a move on before the car is fully warmed up, but once warmed up it goes away.
My ST isnt in warrenty but I just left my Dreamscience map on. Its only about mins or so on the laptop to swap the maps over anyway. The only problems I have had has been slight clutch slip when in high gears and getting a move on before the car is fully warmed up, but once warmed up it goes away.
I havent had clutch slip on mine, but it seems 50/50 wether you get it.
Just to add. There is JW Racing who now do ST tunes. You can have a handset or one shot deals.
I have just done my girlfriends car and im very impressed! We went for the stage 2.
We upgraded the intercooler, changed some exhaust parts and it flies! The car is much smoother, keener but still as calm as standard around town.
The one shot tune was £300. Obviously you need to add intercooler and exhaust parts onto that.
Its JW Racing i use for my mk2 RS, so i trust them.
I have just done my girlfriends car and im very impressed! We went for the stage 2.
We upgraded the intercooler, changed some exhaust parts and it flies! The car is much smoother, keener but still as calm as standard around town.
The one shot tune was £300. Obviously you need to add intercooler and exhaust parts onto that.
Its JW Racing i use for my mk2 RS, so i trust them.
I think I'm goin to go for the Collins performance stage 1 remap havIng spoken to a few guys that have this they all rave about how good it is and no issues with clutch slip or any other reliability problems then nxt on the list is gonna be uprated intercooler and exhaust later this yr or early nxt. Thanks for all ur help and advice all cheers )
then nxt on the list is gonna be uprated intercooler and exhaust later this yr or early nxt. Thanks for all ur help and advice all cheers )Interesting thread, I love the ST's - I am a mark 1 focus owner but previously I have had several Volvo T5's and a V70R. My first T5 was somewhere in the early noughties and at that time I used HLM in Bromsgrove to tune my cars (http://www.hlmtuning.co.uk/). They remapped 3 of my T5's and a Fabia vRS some years later that went on to win the 2005 tuner GP drag strip challenge in the diesel class beating super chips 530d, so they know what they are doing. I recently went out in my friends 300hp Volvo V50 T5, the car that the ST is based on. 220hp standard IIRC - the car in question, fresh out of HLM's workshop, has the addition of down pipe, sports cat, full off the shelf system, ram air induction kit, lovely new bespoke intercooler and remap. They are worth a call for comparison and if you don't wish to follow the masses.
Good luck though, once you start tuning it never stops...
Good luck though, once you start tuning it never stops...
Gassing Station | Ford | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff