Bark's Bites: To Mod Or Not To Mod

Mark "Bark M." Baruth
by Mark "Bark M." Baruth

I have a confession to make. I’ve never modified any car that I’ve owned. Not a cold air intake. Not an exhaust. Not a single bolt-on. Nothing.

I guess you could make a case that I modified my Mazda RX-8, but all I did was buy Koni Sport shocks (which are considered OEM replacement) and O.Z. Ultraleggera wheels (man, I miss those) to make it a better autocrosser. And I did buy the Trackey software for my Boss 302. But I’ve never done a single thing to a car that would cause a warranty to be violated. And as a “car guy,” I’ve always been completely okay with that.

That is, I was, until I saw an Instagram picture yesterday.

I’ve driven my Focus RS approximately 300 miles in the first week that I’ve owned it (which has equaled three tanks of gas), and so far, I’ve loved every minute of it. I’ve enjoyed all the eyeballs it draws, and all of the questions from people who are seeing one for the first time. It’s fast enough that I can stoplight drag just about any car commonly found on the streets, and I’m getting good grip from the Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires.

But, dammit — I want it to be more bonkers than it is. I am fully aware that the FoRS has a sort of built-in “break-in” mode, and that it will unlock a little more power after the first 2,000 miles or so. I just don’t know if it will be enough to compete with my memories of my Boss 302. I want crazy. I want loud, raucous, and powerful.

And based on the dyno graph shown above, my good friend Matt Farah, along with the folks at Mountune, have found about an extra hundred torx for the low, low cost of $2,800 in parts and labor. Yes, that’s a lot of money for a car that already cost $43,000. But as I discussed my favorite film of all time, Tokyo Drift, with my friends James and Sid on the Reels and Wheels podcast the other night, I started to think that maybe modding cars could be for me, after all. Who didn’t love Han’s RX-7? or D.K.’s 350Z? or even Neela’s RX-8? If fictional teenagers from twelve years ago can modify their cars, why not me?

One of the reasons that I’ve never modded a car is because I’m virtually certain that the folks at Ford (or Mazda, Porsche, etc.) know much more about engineering than I do. I’ve known many people who’ve spent thousands on their cars only to end up making them worse (looking at you, Mustang owners). But damn if this tune doesn’t seem foolproof.

I don’t want to do anything that’s visually noticeable on the FoRS — the Nitrous Blue paint stands out enough for a 38-year-old dad, thanks. But more power? Earlier boost? How could this be a bad thing?

However, I know myself. I rarely do things anything less than 100 percent — sometimes more than 100 percent. I’m legit worried that I’ll end up with something that looks like, well, this:

So maybe I’ll just start with something easy, like a nice high flow induction kit. You know, nothing major. Maybe some RS center caps. Those are tasteful. And I’ll need a set of winter wheels and tires, so why not just have them double as my autocross/track wheels and get some O.Z.s, just like the ones I had on my RX-8?

Shit. Just take my AMEX number and be done with it, Mountune. Just don’t tell me how much it costs, okay? Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

Mark "Bark M." Baruth
Mark "Bark M." Baruth

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  • Kosmo Kosmo on Oct 15, 2016

    I'd at least wait for the "automatic" 2,001 mile power increase.

  • Chris from Cali Chris from Cali on Oct 15, 2016

    I'd say mod away, especially if it builds huge tq/hp numbers on the cheap. My only concern (if I had an RS) would be that trick torque-vectoring rear end... Word is that it has a 350 lb-ft limit. Obviously Matt has put more power/torque down than that, but who knows how long it lasts? I had a fairly modded Evo VIII and it was damn near bulletproof (and a hell of a lot of fun!). Other than that, I've limited modding to wheels/exhaust/intake, etc. Like Bark, I'm always nervous of voiding that priceless warranty. It's the reason I haven't touched my Golf R (another car with big potential, but possibly fragile drivetrain).

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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