Text: Wooley X Corrin Tyson    Photos: Jonathan Walker   Issue 43

Focus ST 1

If you own a Fiesta ST or Focus ST/RS, this guy Brian Tyson is your secret-weapon. A game changer. He works under the name – JST Performance, or JSTUNED. Remember those names, because they’re not going to beat you to death on social media, fighting for ‘top spot on the newsfeed’. This guy is not the 21st-century self-promoting type… he’s word-of-mouth. Old school in that respect. He’s peaceful, humble, picture-shy. A driver. He lives on 30 acres out in the middle of nowhere Dublin, Georgia. But on that simple-life property, Brian has a dyno… and a nationwide reputation.

Fiesta ST 1

As soon as I got my Fiesta ST (FiST), Brian Tyson’s name began coming up virally amongst friends. I decided to go check him out, and he pulled an additional 40whp and 68wtq over my COBB Stage 3 tune on the Fiesta. Ask any ricer and he’ll tell you, that’s good investing!

If you’re an ST/RS owner and can make the drive to middle Georgia, it’s worth the experience. But if you live outside of driving-range & it’s just not in the cards, have no fear. With all the features that the amazing Cobb Accessport offers, Brian Tyson is literally able to communicate with & tune your car remotely from his computer in GA – by reading, sending, and adjusting maps on your Accessport. A few open 3rd gear pulls, and a few emails back & forth dialing things in – is all it will take. 

Focus ST 4

As for this car pictured – this is Brian Tyson’s 2015 Ford Focus ST. He bought the car almost brand new, but wrecked & salvage titled. The car had been crunched hard in the rear/passenger. But that was probably going to be okay for Brian’s intentions – a bit of a gamble, but good odds for being savable from a visual inspection. Plus it put him at the right starting point, budget-wise, for a wild track build without being ‘held back’ by a nice, new, pristine chassis.

The car got a couple tweaks on the chassis-puller, and checked out ok. The rear/passenger suspension pieces needed to be replaced, as did the rear quarter panel, rear bumper, and passenger-side doors. At this point, the car was still not pretty, but it was complete again… and able to drive straight & true under it’s own power. Next step: lighten the chassis.

Focus ST 7

For anyone who has never stripped/gutted a project car… it’s one of the most therapeutic things you can do honestly. Plus – every pound outta there, equals more performance. And it’s free! This ST happened to be a top-of-the-line model with all the bells & whistles… so there was plenty of weight to be removed. Brian & his wife, Corrin, set a lofty goal to get 800lbs out of the ST. First is the easy/obvious stuff: OEM seating, A/C, stereo components, airbags, carpet, sound deadening, etc. The glass in the rear hatch had been shattered in the previous accident, so Brian replaced the hatch-glass, and the rear door-glass with Lexan. But then, you get to a point where finding additional pounds gets trickier. They went through the wiring harness, and started clipping out any/all wiring that was no longer necessary. Structural impact beams were scaled away form the front & rear doors. Framing behind the hood was cut out. Headlights were gutted. And the dash is just an empty shell of its original self… only retained to meet class requirements. Here is a list of removed weight (down to the pound), as well as weight added back in for safety/performance, but to summarize, the result is a super-lean 2750lbs with driver & fluids.

Focus ST 6

WEIGHT REMOVED (not all… but most)

ST3 leather front driver’s seat – 53lbs

ST3 leather front passenger’s seat – 48lbs

ST3 leather rear seat assembly – 71lbs

OEM seat belts/brackets – 24lbs

ST3 heated steering wheel – 5.9lbs

Gutted OEM dashboard & dash airbag – 44.2lbs

Headunit & climate control – 11.2lbs

Glovebox & owner’s manual – 6.7lbs

Interior door panels (x4) – 19.8lbs

Door window glass (x4) – 28lbs

Door window motors (x4) – 13.5lbs

Door speakers & wire – 12.8lbs

Gutted metal from doors (x4) – 28lbs

OEM subwoofer & amp – 13lbs

Center console & brackets – 8.5lbs

Hatchback interior panels – 7.2lbs

Headliner, dome lights, & visors – 11.2lbs

Overhead airbags – 7.2lbs

Sunroof assembly – 28lbs

Carpet – 25lbs

Floormats – 3.4lbs

Spare tire cover/floor – 7.9lbs

Spare tire – 51lbs

Jack & tools – 6.4lbs

Hatch wiper assembly – 2.4lbs

Gut rear hatch – 14lbs

Unneeded wire removal – 26lbs

Gut headlights – 13.8lbs

OEM wheels & tires – 208lbs

Rear crash bar – 12.2lbs

Gutted OEM hood – 8lbs

Rear fender liners – 12lbs

OEM exhaust 47.3lbs

OEM downpipe – 12.7lbs

OWM intercooler core – 6.2lbs

Windshield washer tank with fluid – 17lbs

OEM battery – 31lbs

A/C condenser & lines – 22lbs

OEM springs & shocks – 49.2lbs

Focus ST 11

WEIGHT ADDED BACK IN

Sparco Grid Grip driver’s seat – +16lbs

Sparco Print XL passenger seat – +18lbs

Seat brackets (x2) – +16lbs

BridgeMoto safety harnesses (x2) – +16lbs

Sparco steering wheel & mount – +3.20lbs

Lexan windows – +4lbs

Sunroof fill panel – +1lb

Autopower roll bar – +63lbs

Option Lab wheels & Maxxis tires – +180lbs

Custom exhaust – +14lbs

Aftermarket catless downpipe – +7lbs

JST & Mishimoto intercooler kit – +18lbs

Mishimoto oil cooler – +7.8lbs

Race battery – +7.3lbs

Fortune Auto coilovers – +41.4lbs

Focus ST 10

SUSPENSION

The JST ST is running Fortune Auto 510-Series coilovers with SPC rear camber arms, Fortune Auto front end-links, and a COBB rear sway bar. If you are not familiar with the 510 series coilovers, they differ slightly from the more common 500-Series, in that they include a higher range of customization for your particular application, as well as their “motorsports tuned digressive valving”. Brian chose to go with 8k front and 6k rear settings in order to help offset the huge amount of weight shaved from the rear of the car.

Focus ST 2

WHEELS / TIRES / BRAKES

The wheels are made by Option Lab. They are 18×9.5 +35. And they’re paired with a grippy set of Maxxis RC1s in 275/35/18. The brake are stock rotors with Hawk pads & stainless steel lines.

Focus ST 9

EXTERIOR

The ST was actually wrapped in-house in the garage by Brian’s wife, Corrin. No – she has never wrapped a car before. But yes – she is incredibly patient & calculated. In fact, any blemishes in the wrap is pretty much Brian’s doing lol.

The wing is from Rally Innovations. (Note: the same wing is also available for the Fiesta ST as well.)

The mirrors are APR with custom-cut brackets for the ST… more so installed to reduce drag, than anything else. The fenders & quarters have been rolled, pulled, and beaten to fit the 9.5-wide Option Labs with 275 Maxxis tires. And JST/Brian has a custom designed front & rear diffuser in the works, which will be finalized & on the car by the time this magazine is released. Brain also has a custom cage planned to replace the bolt-in Autopower roll bar.

Focus ST 8

POWAAAAA!!!

As mentioned, Brian Tyson tunes on the COBB Accessport, so his ST naturally runs the COBB Accessport… with his custom JST Performance tune on top of it.

It’s got his JST Performance intercooler kit, which uses a Mishimoto core. It’s also got a Focus RS intake, with a COBB drop-in filter. The exhaust includes an MBRP catless downpipe, with 3” piping & a custom dump.

Brian’s using a Mountune balance-shaft-delete & windage tray. The balance-shaft-delete reduces rotating mass on the engine, allowing it to have a quicker response. However, without the balance shaft, it is possible to get oil starvation in hard-driving situations. So the windage tray ensures that does not happen.

The ST runs a JST Performance oil cooler setup, with Mishimoto core & catch can. It also runs an E35 ethanol/fuel blend – kind of a pain – but STs love ethanol.

The new turbo is a Garrett GTX2971, chosen by Brian because it offers similar spool to 2867… but with an extra 50-60 hp headroom.

Interestingly, Brian’s also still running a stock clutch. Although, the OEM torque vectoring setup has been disabled, and a mechanical MFactory diff has been installed. Admittedly, the clutch is next on the list to be modified, nevertheless, it’s impressive that the OEM setup was able handle the abuse/power without any issues so far.

This is no drag car, but it ran 11.9s on a whim at the strip, and that was with a slipping clutch & the old Garrett 2867 turbo.  

Focus ST 3