Focus RS 2016 - Some Light Aesthetic Car Hacking

Car hacking with Ford ForScan, adding SYNC3 changes and 5th Driving mode to 2016 Focus RS.

Focus RS 2016 - Some Light Aesthetic Car Hacking

Here comes a post totally off-piste, a bit of light car hacking! Many of you who follow me on twitter will know I currently own and drive a 2016 Ford Focus RS MK3 in bright blue, it's even been on the telly!

It's great fun, but you know what else is fun? Hacking it to enable hidden features and apply other cars' features! Ford cars have many pieces of hacky software around for diagnostics and tweaking, the two main ones are ForScan and UCDS. The first is a freely available piece of software mainly used for diagnostics but can also be leveraged to reprogram modules in the car.  I have played with both ForScan and UCDS, both have their place but this post is all about how to enable similar settings on your 2016-2019 Ford Focus RS.

So far I have enabled a few features by leveraging ForScan:

  • Enabled Custom driving mode (Magical star)
  • Enabled Custom Ford GT Boot Animations & SYNC3 Theme:

I'm also working on some of the other changes to things like climate and all that jazz but starting simple, also enabled car play by mucking around with various settings.

Before diving in, it is assumed that any changes you make to your own car is at YOUR OWN RISK!

With that warning out the way you will need a few things essentially;

  • A Car to tweak, this isn't exclusive to the Focus RS it should work on other focuses.
  • Sync 3 or greater(for the Boot logo stuff and car play)
  • An ELM327 compatible OBDII interface cable, the one I use can be bought on amazon. It is important that it has a HS/MS CAN switch for some of the tweaking.
  • A laptop & a copy of ForScan, which can be downloaded for free here, technically speaking you'll also need an extended licence for ForScan which can be acquired here.

Once you're all downloaded and have the equipment, simply plug in the table to your laptop and the car, then power on the ignition(engine off). Forscan should detect the adapter is connected and prompt you to enable higher speed, also if you've got a HS/MS adapter it'll prompt you to flip the switch.

BACKUP EACH SECTION BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING

Backups are key in case anything goes wrong, better to have a baseline image to flash than a bricked car!

Start by plugging in your OBD adapter and powering on the car but not the ignition, ForScan should run through diagnostic test codes(DTC) which is the yellow triangle on the left of the user interface, once this is done select erase DTCs before starting.

The majority of aesthetic changes (including the boot animations and menu themes) are held in the SYNC computer, which Ford calls the Accessory Protocol Interface Module (APIM), is housed separately from the head unit, called the Audio Control Module (ACM), and interfaces with all vehicle audio sources as well as the high-speed and medium-speed vehicle CAN-buses.

Enabling Custom Ford GT Boot Animations & SYNC3 Theme

The custom sync themes and boot logos are accessed by modifying the APIM, this is accessed via configuration and programming menu within ForScan. Once you've made any changes click write next to the address and this will prompt you to turn the ignition on and off, to see a change to SYNC you'll also need to open and close the driver's side door to prompt a SYNC reboot.

Within the APIM Module Configuration(AS BUILT format) section, all the splash screens are located at the following address:

7D0-02-01 xxxx xCxx xxxx

The  "C" value above is default for the RS boot logo needs to be changed to a "D" to emulate the GT boot screen. This does not change the background itself as this is changed via a different value in the APIM.

Other values you can change it to:

  • B = ST Ford Performance
  • C = RS Ford Performance
  • D = GT Ford Performance
  • 1 = Standard Ford logo
  • 4 = Lincoln Presidential
  • 5 = Raptor Ford
  • 6 = Mustang
  • 7 = GT350
  • 9 = G500 Cobra

To change the SYNC theme, you'll need to navigate to the following address:

7D0-03-01: xxxx 00xx xxxx

The  "00" value above is default for the RS default theme needs to be changed to  "04" to emulate the GT futuristic looking theme.

Other theme options are as follows:

  • 00 = Ford Classics theme
  • 01 = Ford Timeless (default)
  • 04 = Ford GT performance
  • For the Lincoln theme’s first do 7D0-01-02: 8xxx xxxx xxxx
  • 02 = Lincoln Timeless (Gold Theme, Black Icons)
  • 03 = Lincoln Next (Gold Theme, White Icons)


Changing Custom driving mode (Magical star)

To add a 5th driving mode simply navigate to the instrument panel cluster(IPC) section within forscan, shown below:

Once you're in this section you'll need to first backup all of the current settings using the SAVE ALL button. This saves the options to a file on the local machine which you can restore later if need be.

Within the IPC Module Configuration(AS BUILT format) section, modifying options around drive modes can be found at the following address:

720-06-01 E407 AF0B D3

Simply change the E407  value to E47F to enable custom driving options configuration, allowing configurability of engine response, exhaust, dampeners, all wheel drive, electronic stability control and steering feel.

The 5th drive mode shows up after you go to "settings" on the dashboard then "drive mode" the > and you will be able to configure everything that is available for a drive mode.

Other options to change and modify with ForScan to make changes

I've not done all of these but the full table was pulled from a forum which can be read here, all of these settings are applicable to the Mustang GT too.

All FORScan mods that work on the RS are listed below. Each module and change can be confirmed if it has changed or not
Please post any additions you have tried and verified that work. I will add them to this post. When I finish with all the modules. I will post a link to the completed spreadsheet.
This thread will replace my other related thread.

This is the APIM module with "As Built" mods available. As you can see these all have been tested.
I make no claims that these will work for you and will not be responsible for any modification you do. Use at your own risk.

Line number Address Module Value Value Value Function notes
1 7D0-01-01 APIM *xxx xxxx xxxx Removes Sirius from audio sources (decrement your value where the asterisk is by 2; if you have an "A" make it "8", if you have "2" make it "0")
2 7D0-01-02 APIM *xxx xxxx xxxx Sony Sound Processor A=enabled, 2=disabled
3 7D0-01-03 APIM xxxx xxxx xx*x Heated seats Icon on Home screen 2 = enabled (Sync3 only)
4 7D0-01-03 APIM *xxx xxxx xx*x Heated seats and heated steering wheel on home screen 6 = enabled (Sync3 only)
5 7D0-01-05 APIM xxxx xxxx x*xx Heated Sterring Wheel & Heated Seats 3=Heated Seats only, 4=HSW climate screen only, 7=HSW & Heated Seats, 0=None
6 7D0-01-06 APIM xx*x xxxx xxxx Stereo Extended Play Stereo Extended Play: A=off, 2=20mins, 3=30mins, 4=40mins, 5=50mins, 6=60mins (Sync 2 & Sync 3)
7 7D0-01-07 APIM *xxx xxxx xxxx Aux Input & Volumn Knob Display 0=Audio Only & Rotary volume, 8=Audio & Video & Rotary volume, 1=Audio Only & Horizontal volume
8 7D0-01-08 APIM xxxx x*xx xxxx 5=AII not present & IT push button start & Fader enabled, 4=AII not present & IT key start & Fader enabled, 1=AII present & IT push button start & Fader enabled, 0=AII present & IT key start & Fader enabled, 9=AII present & IT push button start & Fader disabled, 8=AII present & IT key start & Fader disabled. (RS Default=5) yes
9 7D0-01-09 APIM xxxx xxxx xxx* Climate Front Zone & HD Radio 3=Dual Zone & HD radio avail, 2=Dual Zone & HD radio not avail, 7=Single Zone & HD radio avail, 6=Single Zone & HD radio not avail
10 7D0-01-10 APIM xxxx xxxx *xxx Radio Tuner Market 2=non RDS Market (NA), 3=RDS Market (EUR,APA,SA) (RS Default 8 = USA)
11 7D0-01-02 APIM xxxx x*xx xxxx Climate controls 3= Adds climate buttton and climte voice conrols
12 7D0-01-02 APIM *xxx xxxx xxxx Brand 0=Ford, 8=Lincoln, C=Configurable Splash Screen
13 7D0-01-02 APIM 0xxx xxxx xxxx Sync3 New Blue Theme Mustang GT Performance boot animation (change all 3 locations)
14 7D0-02-01 APIM xxxx xDxx xxxx
15 7D0-03-01 APIM xxxx x4xx xxxx
16 7D0-01-02 APIM x*xx xxxx xxxx USB2 A=enabled (HMI will be enabled), 2=not enabled (HMI will be not be enabled)
17 7D0-02-01 APIM 5753 xxxx xxxx Allows NAV in motion on Sync 3 v2.2-3.0, viewing text messages & Sirius Travel Link still works. ** 911 assist will be disabled with this enabled ** *Problematic* may or may not work
18 7D0-02-01 APIM x*xx xxxx xxxx Nav in motion 7= turns on Nav in Motion
19 7D0-02-01 APIM xxxx xxx* xxxx Camera views by style 1=sedan, 2=coupe/convertible, 3=truck, 4=SUV/CUV, 5=van, 6=hatchback(RS default)
20 7D0-02-01 APIM xxxx x9xx xxxx Boot screen GT350 boot screen animation ** Sync 3 only ** (Red snake)
21 7D0-02-01 APIM xxxx x7xx xxxx Boot screen GT350 boot screen animation ** Sync 3 only ** (silver snake)
22 7D0-02-01 APIM xxxx x6xx xxxx Boot screen Mustang boot screen animation ** Sync 3 only **
23 7D0-02-01 APIM xxxx x5xx xxxx Boot screen Mustang boot screen animation ** Sync 3 only **
24 7D0-02-01 APIM xxxx x4xx xxxx Boot screen Licoln Presidential boot screen animation ** Sync 3 only **
25 7D0-02-01 APIM xxxx x3xx xxxx Boot screen Lincoln Black Label
26 7D0-02-01 APIM xxxx xBxx xxxx Boot screen ST Ford Performance boot screen animation ** Sync 3 v3.0 **
27 7D0-02-01 APIM xxxx xDxx xxxx Boot screen GT Ford Performance boot screen animation ** Sync 3 v3.0 **
28 7D0-02-01 APIM xxxx x5xx xxxx Boot screen Raptor boot screen amination **Sync3 3.0 only**
29 7D0-02-01 APIM xxxx xExx xxxx Boot screen Contiental
30 7D0-02-02 APIM *xxx xxxx xxxx List Browser 0=NAV & Media, 1=NAV only, 2=none (RS default=0)
31 7D0-02-02 APIM x*xx xxxx xxxx Outside Air Temperature HMI 0=off, 2=on (RS default=2)
32 7D0-02-02 APIM xxxx x*xx xxxx Visual Design Variants 0=Ford Classic, 1=Ford Timeless, 2=Lincoln Timeless, 3=Lincoln Next, 4=Ford New Blue GT
33 7D0-02-01 APIM xxxx xDxx xxxx (change both locations)
34 7D0-03-01 APIM xxxx x2xx xxxx Lincoln Brown Theme Lincoln brown theme (Sync 3) Change both locations)
35 7D0-01-02 APIM 8xxx xxxx xxxx
36 7D0-03-01 APIM xxxx xxx2 xxDD Menu color highlights Changes highlighted menu choice to different colors (Audio, Climate, Phone, Nav, Apps, Settings) from the standard blue
37 7D0-04-01 APIM x*xx xxxx xxxx Audio Player 0=No Media, 1=CD/MP3, 2=CD Changer MP3, 3=DVD MP3, 4=CD Harddrive (RS default=3)
38 7D0-04-01 APIM xx** **xx xxxx Bluetooth Audio Profile Index (RS default = 0100 1301 02F3)
39 7D0-04-01 APIM xxxx xxx* xxxx Climate 0=enable Climate Control Repeater for Dual Climate Control, 1=disable CCR, 2=enable CCR for Single Climate Control, 3=disable CCR, 4=E8 Program (RS default=1)
40 7D0-04-01 APIM xxxx xxxx **xx Bluetooth Pairing Name 2D=Raptor, 0E=F150, 0F=F250, 10=F350, 19=MKZ, 02=Focus, 03=Fusion, 04=C-Max, 06=Mustang, 08=Escape, 09=Edge, 24=Mondeo, 0B=Explorer, 20=Fiesta, 1B=MKC, 2E=Continental, 1C=MKX, 1E=Navigator, 0C=Expedition (RS default=02)
41 7D0-07-01 APIM xxxx **xx xxxx Power Efficiency (RS default=33)
42 7D0-07-01 APIM **xx xxxx xxxx Vehicle Weight (RS default=0E)
43 7D0-07-03 APIM xxxx xx** xxxx Tire Circumference (RS default=67) Adjust when changing tire size