The Festiva as a travel vehicle

[Shin Hayata]

The thread title isn't a question, so much as it is discussion point.

I know, via the frequent "-stiva" gathering threads in Meets and Events, that there's a good number of members that use their Festivas for long-distance work.

The truth is, I don't [yet] consider the car as a travel vehicle for me. I didn't purchase it for this purpose. It's intended for local errands and such. Road trips are done in my Ridgeline when the family is with me. When travelling solo, usually for tent camping, I'll ride one of the motorcycles. Both are proven long-distance machines.

I've spent the past month making the Festiva reliable, primarily by bringing necessary maintenance and parts replacement up to date. I trust the car, but I don't trust myself to not be tired and pissed off after spending a multi-hour trip behind the wheel of this demonstrably small car. I fit, but at 6'4", I don't have a lot of room to stretch. Not fat, just lanky.

I'll consider the idea of extended driving trips in the little Ford, but I have to solve the matter of comfort. The aforementioned truck and motorcycle have really spoiled me.

What are your solutions when using the Festiva for xxx and x,xxx mile/km travel?

[ryanprins13]

Solutions for long distance enjoyment...
Well first you have to like the festiva. you like your truck and motorcycle for road tripping so they are good. some people would never enjoy a festiva period and some wont enjoy long trips. you have to get used to it a bit and see how you like it.
that being said my longest straight shot to date was 12.5hrs, 1100km in the festiva 2 weeks after i bought it through the rocky mountains with an AM radio by myself. stopped twice for gas and ate food i had brought while i was driving. did the trip back a day and a half later. i enjoyed it very much and was very comefortable. my longest drive in anything at all before that was 1.5hr the day before to get new tires for the festiva.
I still find the festiva more comefortable than most vehicles for long distance. i am 3 or 4 inches shorter than you. i found a wedge seat cushion i sit on so that i am sitting higher up. Only adds 2inches but feels like a lot.

The festiva is prefect for tent camping with 2 people. My wife and i did a roughly 2600km over 1.5wks road trip in the festiva for our honeymoon 4 1/2yrs ago. tent camped half the nights and hoteled the other half. packed up and moved almost every day. it was great.

Anyway, now for me what would make a festiva a good roadtrip car is: good radio and music, a way to keep the car cool enough for you weather with a/c or tinted windows or whatever, someone to go with, extra time to explore places.

Other people would add better tires, better suspension, seat swaps, bigger brakes and engine for mountains.
the nice thing with a festiva is you can take it places you wouldnt go with other cars. i have explored mountain cut lines, quad trails, boat launches, open fields...

Check out post #2-4 in this thread for a couple photos of the road trips i did.

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efordfestiva%2Ecom%2Fforums%2Fshowthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D58782&share_tid=58782&share_fid=52837&share_type=t

Moses Build thread
i can add some more of camping with the festiva if you like. i enjoy camping out of it. way nicer than a civic but thats not saying much.

It all depends what makes you happy and comefortable, thats different for everyone and changes for you over time.
Fastivaca did almost an 8000km round trip to madness with his wife and 3 kids in the back.

Hope thats of some help.

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

[Aaronbrook37]

6'11" here. I've slept in the Festiva plenty of times by invert-folding the rear seat and removing the front head rest. If you have EFI seats, you can kinda jam the front headrest that can't be removed into the bottom seat cushion of the rear seat. If you leave a daybag in the passenger footwell, you'll have a full seven feet of extension from dashboard/pillow to the trunk vinyl. The more pillows and foam/padding engineering you can do, the more comfortable you'll end up being.

[Festiver]

6'3 here I've done 18 hr with a 6 hr break for madness x the first mod I'd do is aspire seats my back or butt never hurt the entire way the second mod I'd do is a b6d swap it's a bolt in deal and gets rid of the problem with the b3 barely wanting to do 70 with anywind

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[ryanprins13]

6'11" here. I've slept in the Festiva plenty of times by invert-folding the rear seat and removing the front head rest. If you have EFI seats, you can kinda jam the front headrest that can't be removed into the bottom seat cushion of the rear seat. If you leave a daybag in the passenger footwell, you'll have a full seven feet of extension from dashboard/pillow to the trunk vinyl. The more pillows and foam/padding engineering you can do, the more comfortable you'll end up being.

I have slept in the festiva 3 times. Definatly doable, but not comefortable. I never tried bringing stuff to sleep on though, it was unplanned each time.

6'3 here I've done 18 hr with a 6 hr break for madness x the first mod I'd do is aspire seats my back or butt never hurt the entire way the second mod I'd do is a b6d swap it's a bolt in deal and gets rid of the problem with the b3 barely wanting to do 70 with anywind

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Lol, why does everyome beat on the b3? I have no problem holding 75mph commuting to work, but theres no large hills. It gets from 60 to 90mph quick enough and i did 110mph once with 12in tires. That would have been scary had i been smarter at the time.

With what you said about the seats did you install the aspire ones because the festiva seats made you sore? Or you just like the aspire seats better?

And i dont have a lot of good photos on my phone but heres a couple of our honeymoon road trip.


First one is how we camped. Just a small tent.
Second you can see we had the back seat out and the back was full. We both overpacked like crazy for the week and a half and because we were packing everything up every day we just threw it all into the back pretty messily. The first day it didnt look like there was much in there. And its not that heavily loaded, my wife is just leaning on it.
Third photo is unpacking into a hotel.
Fourth photo- having a toaster was awesome for quick lunches. A small inverter will run a toaster, the pump for a portable shower, air matress pumps... and so on.
5th photo. I dont have a good one of off roading, this was more tame, but exploring in a festiva is great. It will go a lot of places. On one trail I was pushing over 8ft tall saplings and driving over trees that had fallen across the road. It was a blast.


Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

[TominMO]

IMO the best Festiva sleeping arrangement is to have an Aspire seat bottom (more comfortable for sitting on) with an 88 - 89 seatback, so you can remove the headrest. If you then do the rear seat trick, you have about a 6'6" bed, not counting the space in front of the front seat. I use various clothing items, pillows, or cushions to get it pretty level, and with a sleeping bag or blanket I have slept very well several times. It's a steel tent! :-)

Stuff that was normally behind the front seats can be relocated to the front footwells when sleeping. You could also build a shelf, kind of like a larger and sturdier trunk cover, to put stuff on when sleeping, to free up room where your body needs to be. Or have a roof rack container or trailer to put stuff in.

Tint the windows for privacy, and have a sunscreen for the windshield.

This is all for sleeping one or two people. If you are going on a long one-person road trip, you might consider pulling out the front pass. and rear seat, giving lots more room and flexibility for sleeping and storage ideas.

Or just pull the rear seat and make a 6" high platform out of wood to get the rear level with the lowered front seatbacks, and have storage underneath for tools, etc, and a flatter sleeping area. Dense foam pad for comfort.

Cheap clear plastic totes or cardboard boxes in various sizes can be used for organization.

[fastivaca]

As far as comfort goes I would recommend upgrading your seats. I installed a set from a first generation Toyota MR2 in mine. The driver's side has adjustable lumbar and thigh support as well as side bolsters. The headrests are adjustable on both seats. Installing some kind of sound deadener would also contribute to comfort on long distance drives. Check out this link to see the deadener install in my car. The deadener takes out o lot of the "buzziness" of the car making any sound system you have more pleasant to listen to. I would also consider installing air conditioning if you don't already have it. This works especially well if you chose to do the next suggestion.

Although it's relatively expensive compared to the first two, I would suggest an engine swap. Both our big road trips were taken in our B6 swapped Festiva. The B6 is the SOHC 8 valve, 1.6l Mazda engine found in early Mazda 323s. It is a very straightforward swap using the stock transmission, engine mounts and wiring harness (except for the injectors). We used the intake manifold, exhaust manifold, VAF meter, and computer from the donor car on ours. On my daughter's car we installed the B6 but retained the stock Festiva manifolds etc and it ran very well.

On our big trips we averaged 37 miles per US gallon with five of us in the car, mostly interstate speeds and air conditioning going quite a lot of the time. Regardless of any modifications you may or may not make the biggest factor in the enjoyment of a road trip is staying on the road... make that happen by having all your maintenance up to date. That would include oil changed, brakes checked, all other fluids topped up etc.

You can check out our travel adventures by following the link in my signature.

[Dragonhealer]

+1 on a seat upgrade. Haven't tried the MR2 yet, but done all the rest. The best one to date for me is the 91-94 Escort GT. Used the cradle, foam, and cover to rebuild the 90 Festiva bottom, then fitted the Escort Gt seat back complete to the Festiva bottom. Amazingly comfortable and a removable head rest. The best single mod for long distance IMO.

[FestYboy]

^ i agree completely. Did this mod to Scrappy, worth every penny.

[Rick the Quick]

Shin, I made many a trip in my '88 with 5 speed +A/C from Albuquerque to Chicago. It is 1,300 miles each way and I have done it 24 hours a few times. Ran the A/C on one occasion for about 16? hours straight. No problems running 75 with the B3. I was running 13"s with I believe 175/70 Michelins allowing for just a hair over 3,000 rpms @ 75 mph. I did need to use 4th on a few long pulls. It helped to hit them at 80+ when possible that way you would still be doing 65 at the crest. As for seats they were upgaded by the previous owner, not sure what they were out of. Just a lot nicer then the cheap ones in my '93 L model. I found the '88 perfectly comfortable. All it lacked was cruise control. Sounds like you need a seat upgrade and a 5 speed swap to keep the revs down on the highway. I couldn't imagine running 75 with a 4 speed.
rasm

[Festiver]

I have slept in the festiva 3 times. Definatly doable, but not comefortable. I never tried bringing stuff to sleep on though, it was unplanned each time.



Lol, why does everyome beat on the b3? I have no problem holding 75mph commuting to work, but theres no large hills. It gets from 60 to 90mph quick enough and i did 110mph once with 12in tires. That would have been scary had i been smarter at the time.

With what you said about the seats did you install the aspire ones because the festiva seats made you sore? Or you just like the aspire seats better?

And i dont have a lot of good photos on my phone but heres a couple of our honeymoon road trip.


First one is how we camped. Just a small tent.
Second you can see we had the back seat out and the back was full. We both overpacked like crazy for the week and a half and because we were packing everything up every day we just threw it all into the back pretty messily. The first day it didnt look like there was much in there. And its not that heavily loaded, my wife is just leaning on it.
Third photo is unpacking into a hotel.
Fourth photo- having a toaster was awesome for quick lunches. A small inverter will run a toaster, the pump for a portable shower, air matress pumps... and so on.
5th photo. I dont have a good one of off roading, this was more tame, but exploring in a festiva is great. It will go a lot of places. On one trail I was pushing over 8ft tall saplings and driving over trees that had fallen across the road. It was a blast.


Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

That sounds like a pretty fun week and my b3 I loved that engine for its reliability always got me home even running on 2 cylinder when my plug wires went bad but with 240k she only wanted to do 55-60 after that was pushing her though technically all cylinders were dead around 30-40psi lol and she burned so much oil the o2 sensor made it run hella lean the main reason I still got 48mpg on the highway and my seats were blow out so I had an aspire for the suspension swap I did a rail swap and they're so comfy

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[firebush357]

My longest trip in mine was last October for Madness when I made the Trip from Florida to North Carolina. My biggest complaint is that the window crank knob was right were my knee wanted to sit if the the window was all the way down. I'll have to take it off and flip it before the next long trip. I also did a seat swap but I couldn't find any good Escort seats so I ended up using Protege seats, they are much more comfortable than the Festiva seats that were in the car but I've heard that the Escort seats are a lot softer.

[Shin Hayata]

Thanks for the comments.

I'd have guessed that seat upgrades would be a dominant suggestion; your feedback confirms it.

I'm not planning to sleep in the car, but it's good to know that there are solutions that work even for the taller owners.

----------------

On an unrelated topic: Does the curved hose pictured below have a name? It's located between the #4 plug and the distributor. It needs replaced, and the bend is such that I'm unsure if a regular piece of fuel hose wouldn't kink in this installation. Thanks.

Curved hose a.jpgCurved hose b.jpg

[ryanprins13]

Thanks for the comments.

I'd have guessed that seat upgrades would be a dominant suggestion; your feedback confirms it.

I'm not planning to sleep in the car, but it's good to know that there are solutions that work even for the taller owners.

----------------

On an unrelated topic: Does the curved hose pictured below have a name? It's located between the #4 plug and the distributor. It needs replaced, and the bend is such that I'm unsure if a regular piece of fuel hose wouldn't kink in this installation. Thanks.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]20426[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]20427[/ATTACH]

Bypass hose.
Mazda part #

Its a longer hose but the right size and bend. You cut out what you need.

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

[firebush357]

Bypass hose.
Mazda part #

Its a longer hose but the right size and bend. You cut out what you need.

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk

That is good to know, I replaced mine with a universal hose but I was also concerned about the harsh curve kinking but It hasn't given me any problems yet.