Discussion
MC Bodge said:
J4CKO said:
And, people want to race you, a 66 plate Polo GTI, didn't bother with that, but then had a McLaren something or other appear behind me, moved over and let him through then attached myself to his bumper, as much as you can when you are giving away 400 bhp 
In the McLaren forum there is a post about somebody in a Fiesta trying to race them 
I was once driving my father in law's MGBGT with enthusiasm when a McLaren convertible (the domnstrator from the Knutsford dealer) came tearing past me. He needed to brake very hard for the next bend and his air brake lifted. I'd love to say that I caught him nder braking and nipped past at the apex, but I didn't.
Thats more like it !
It no longer feels held back, a good bit quicker but its not spiky. Traction (it is dry today) is not an issue and it pulls harder and longer than it did before, certainly matches or exceeds my expectations. I would say its enough for now, glad I went with this package initially, will wait a few months to see if I stick or twist.
Car feels miles better now with the short shift, torque mount and the CP2E package. With the ITG indiction kit it does make some juvenile dump valve noises but if you arent in the mood or in town and dont want to look a tit you can drive round it. its unchanged when you are just ambling. It also feels sort of robust, hard to explain, the stumble on part throttle has gone thankfully and it just feels like it will do it all day long without complaint.
Was made to feel very welcome by the two chaps working at Collins in the garage, even with me badgering them with daft questions, fountain of knowledge they were happy to provide, let me have a nosey in their dyno cell which is very impressive. What really impressed me was the thoroughness, copper slip on fasteners before they go back, took the car out and data logged it before scanning the results before they pronounced it as fit for me to take, they noticed a manifold bolt was loose and that it was blowing and fixed that free of charge, might have been the cause of the stumble/fluttering I mentioned.
I went for a black intercooler with red writing, my thinking is if I dont like it I can spray over it, I dont want the car to look too obviously modified but you cant really see the writing unless you look for it through the grille. Went for the stage 3 intercooler so I dont have to have the stage 1 normally supplied removed and spend another £500 odd if I go further, plus it looks cool.
Havent put any Collins badges on, they gave me a selection and said its up to me, think I will keep it as stealthy as possible, obviously thats stealthy in the context of a bright red Fiesta ST that makes silly whoosh noises.
Security getting beefed up even further but will keep the details quiet on that I think, multi layered is my approach, dont just rely on one or two things.
Bloody love this silly little car !
It no longer feels held back, a good bit quicker but its not spiky. Traction (it is dry today) is not an issue and it pulls harder and longer than it did before, certainly matches or exceeds my expectations. I would say its enough for now, glad I went with this package initially, will wait a few months to see if I stick or twist.
Car feels miles better now with the short shift, torque mount and the CP2E package. With the ITG indiction kit it does make some juvenile dump valve noises but if you arent in the mood or in town and dont want to look a tit you can drive round it. its unchanged when you are just ambling. It also feels sort of robust, hard to explain, the stumble on part throttle has gone thankfully and it just feels like it will do it all day long without complaint.
Was made to feel very welcome by the two chaps working at Collins in the garage, even with me badgering them with daft questions, fountain of knowledge they were happy to provide, let me have a nosey in their dyno cell which is very impressive. What really impressed me was the thoroughness, copper slip on fasteners before they go back, took the car out and data logged it before scanning the results before they pronounced it as fit for me to take, they noticed a manifold bolt was loose and that it was blowing and fixed that free of charge, might have been the cause of the stumble/fluttering I mentioned.
I went for a black intercooler with red writing, my thinking is if I dont like it I can spray over it, I dont want the car to look too obviously modified but you cant really see the writing unless you look for it through the grille. Went for the stage 3 intercooler so I dont have to have the stage 1 normally supplied removed and spend another £500 odd if I go further, plus it looks cool.
Havent put any Collins badges on, they gave me a selection and said its up to me, think I will keep it as stealthy as possible, obviously thats stealthy in the context of a bright red Fiesta ST that makes silly whoosh noises.
Security getting beefed up even further but will keep the details quiet on that I think, multi layered is my approach, dont just rely on one or two things.
Bloody love this silly little car !
Edited by J4CKO on Wednesday 19th May 16:55
The chap doing the spannering said he only really gets problems putting the front back on if they have had a knock.
The exhaust, Autosol is what you want, metal polish and a bit of elbow grease.
The IC came out exactly how I wanted it, my only concern is the cacophony of Pstts and tsschh type noises it now makes, as unlike when you are 20, you feel a bit of a tit at 50 when your car does that. Dont want to have to revert to a standard airbox but will see how I go, open to any suggestions, with added system pressure and an aftermarket filter it is inevitable but could do with toning it down a bit.
The exhaust, Autosol is what you want, metal polish and a bit of elbow grease.
The IC came out exactly how I wanted it, my only concern is the cacophony of Pstts and tsschh type noises it now makes, as unlike when you are 20, you feel a bit of a tit at 50 when your car does that. Dont want to have to revert to a standard airbox but will see how I go, open to any suggestions, with added system pressure and an aftermarket filter it is inevitable but could do with toning it down a bit.
HazzaT said:
What exhaust did you go for? I've had the Milltek on my Mk8 for a couple of weeks now and it's fantastic, stupid to say but it's a sound that feels like it should be coming from a bigger engine. You get a mechanical bark that sounds a bit like an M3 when you lift off the throttle sometimes
Mountune, my son got it SH a while back, does the job, needs new rubbers though.cerb4.5lee said:
J4CKO said:
The exhaust, Autosol is what you want, metal polish and a bit of elbow grease.
It is great to see someone else who uses Autosol! 
Chrome exhaust tips always polish up lovely with it I reckon.
Have got used to the whooshy noises and have decided I can live with them.
Its actually quite quick now, not mega quick in the scheme of things but it piles speed on pretty effectively, amazingly smooth as well for a pretty boosty 4 pot of 1600 cc, and the ride is really half decent when at speed, just a bit stiff around town.
Its actually quite quick now, not mega quick in the scheme of things but it piles speed on pretty effectively, amazingly smooth as well for a pretty boosty 4 pot of 1600 cc, and the ride is really half decent when at speed, just a bit stiff around town.
mooseracer said:
J4CKO said:
Just talked myself into stage 5, sod it, lets do this....
Will book it in Monday,
That escalated quickly Will book it in Monday,
Saturday night lubrication talking? It'll be brilliant mind, of course you should do it!
But will be doing something else with it.
Need to sort the brakes before it has any more power, they are fine but the front have a lip and I need to change the fluid so might do new disks and some Yellowstuff pads first.
Also need to change insurers as Admiral do allow mods but only up to a power increase of 25 %, stage 4/5 would go over that by some margin, so will move it to Brentacre, Flux or similar. Though they allow them they don't replace them if it gets nicked, you just get standard 2015 ST money, not that plus 4 grands worth of mods.
mooseracer said:
J4CKO said:
Might be
But will be doing something else with it.
Need to sort the brakes before it has any more power, they are fine but the front have a lip and I need to change the fluid so might do new disks and some Yellowstuff pads first.
Also need to change insurers as Admiral do allow mods but only up to a power increase of 25 %, stage 4/5 would go over that by some margin, so will move it to Brentacre, Flux or similar. Though they allow them they don't replace them if it gets nicked, you just get standard 2015 ST money, not that plus 4 grands worth of mods.
I could never quite bring myself to pull the trigger on "stage 4". All my suspension, bushes etc were bought with the intention of going for a different turbo but I wouldn't have wanted to do it without also getting a LSD fitted and suddenly it becomes pretty serious (for me) money - and I've been bitten before by going too far with FWD cars....300bhp Citroen AX anyone....although by all accounts the Fiesta handles it well.But will be doing something else with it.
Need to sort the brakes before it has any more power, they are fine but the front have a lip and I need to change the fluid so might do new disks and some Yellowstuff pads first.
Also need to change insurers as Admiral do allow mods but only up to a power increase of 25 %, stage 4/5 would go over that by some margin, so will move it to Brentacre, Flux or similar. Though they allow them they don't replace them if it gets nicked, you just get standard 2015 ST money, not that plus 4 grands worth of mods.
Have a recovery beer and hit "BUY" I reckon
Its getting done one way or another, just need to sort a more suitable insurer, but will ring Collins tomorrow and get it booked in.
Hmm, just been out, thinking stage 5 might be beer induced overkill and 300 bhp will be more than enough at stage 4.
It feels pretty rapid now, feels quicker than the BMW, obviously isn't but the noise, having to change gear and the fact you are ragging it to death makes it feel faster. It still piles speed on but not in that effortless manner the BMW had.
It goads you into going quicker, on B roads it feels like a little rally car. Its faster than I am, am re learning heel and toeing.
Upset someone in a Merc GL Something, if you insist on driving in the right hand lane on an empty dual carriageway, maybe expect knobheads in small noisy red cars not to wait.
It feels pretty rapid now, feels quicker than the BMW, obviously isn't but the noise, having to change gear and the fact you are ragging it to death makes it feel faster. It still piles speed on but not in that effortless manner the BMW had.
It goads you into going quicker, on B roads it feels like a little rally car. Its faster than I am, am re learning heel and toeing.
Upset someone in a Merc GL Something, if you insist on driving in the right hand lane on an empty dual carriageway, maybe expect knobheads in small noisy red cars not to wait.
Its booked in for the CP4 upgrade, which will give it around 300 bhp. Bottled it on the CP5 as think its probably overkill for what I want plus its another £800. Its pretty good on the current level but I just want it to take that step up, shouldn't affect the drivability either. Plus I think its well within the comfort zone of the engine and Collins major on safety/smoothness with their maps.
Have got a quote from Adrian S flux for it when its done and that was ok (£396) Admiral don't want to insure it once past that level of power. Didnt have my son on it though, he said that will add quite a bit to it so he might not be happy if he isnt on it, will see nearer the time on that one, he can make a contribution, he uses it when he comes home from Scotland and he gets a lift off his colleague so doesnt have a car and nicks mine.
Did 250 miles or so over the weekend, wife not that keen on riding in it due to the jiggliness, but it is quite happy, despite lots of stop start and some extended stretches at 85/90 it still did 41 mpg.
Round town it does make you drive like a saint as otherwise, it makes too much noise and you look a right knob.
Going to order some disks and pads soon, prob will go with oem disks and Yellowstuff pads, was looking at the Ferodo DS2500s but they are like £160 for a set of fronts, not sure I can justify that.
Have got a quote from Adrian S flux for it when its done and that was ok (£396) Admiral don't want to insure it once past that level of power. Didnt have my son on it though, he said that will add quite a bit to it so he might not be happy if he isnt on it, will see nearer the time on that one, he can make a contribution, he uses it when he comes home from Scotland and he gets a lift off his colleague so doesnt have a car and nicks mine.
Did 250 miles or so over the weekend, wife not that keen on riding in it due to the jiggliness, but it is quite happy, despite lots of stop start and some extended stretches at 85/90 it still did 41 mpg.
Round town it does make you drive like a saint as otherwise, it makes too much noise and you look a right knob.
Going to order some disks and pads soon, prob will go with oem disks and Yellowstuff pads, was looking at the Ferodo DS2500s but they are like £160 for a set of fronts, not sure I can justify that.
RC1807 said:
Mine's standard and scrabbles for grip... 300bhp will be pretty loony!
Good luck.
(My S-Max 2.5T was 365bhp / 525Nm. That left 11's on the road through the gears )
Its funny, not had any traction issues to speak of at 240 bhp, I think its mapped fairly conservatively and it has Pilot Sport 4's on. Plus its fairly warm, it just hooks up and goes, amazing really as loads of older cars with that power in fwd were pretty unruly.Good luck.
(My S-Max 2.5T was 365bhp / 525Nm. That left 11's on the road through the gears
)300 bhp in a little 1150/1200 ish kilo Fiesta does seem loony, though if you talk to the FB group its pretty middle of the road, plenty running 360 plus which I think is probably, for me, a step too far. Plus they tend to festoon their cars in cosmetic mods, nothing against that but I want mine to look pretty much standard.
Scobblelotcher said:
J4CKO said:
RC1807 said:
Mine's standard and scrabbles for grip... 300bhp will be pretty loony!
Good luck.
(My S-Max 2.5T was 365bhp / 525Nm. That left 11's on the road through the gears )
Its funny, not had any traction issues to speak of at 240 bhp, I think its mapped fairly conservatively and it has Pilot Sport 4's on. Plus its fairly warm, it just hooks up and goes, amazing really as loads of older cars with that power in fwd were pretty unruly.Good luck.
(My S-Max 2.5T was 365bhp / 525Nm. That left 11's on the road through the gears
)300 bhp in a little 1150/1200 ish kilo Fiesta does seem loony, though if you talk to the FB group its pretty middle of the road, plenty running 360 plus which I think is probably, for me, a step too far. Plus they tend to festoon their cars in cosmetic mods, nothing against that but I want mine to look pretty much standard.
Incidentally my old Impreza weighed about the same and made 394bhp but I found it to be exciting over 350bhp (probably because it had AWD and handled lots of power with ease). I also kept my car looking totally standard and even had the front mount intercooler coloured black to make it difficult to spot. The only thing I did that I didn't really like (at the recommendation of the engine builder) was to fit a larger exhaust which annoyed me as it droned on part throttle and was far too loud for me. The M135i/M140i pull off the trick of providing lots of comfort, they are quiet but can sound great and be fast when required and then go back to GT car when tootling around.
Ultimately I think all cars have a sweet spot and turning past that can result in poor reliability, heavy use of fuel and consumables and poor comfort (which is ok if it's not your day-to-day car). In my experience many tune past the sweet spot and then find their cars difficult/painful to maintain/use and sell before long. I have no idea where the sweet spot is with the Fiesta but am keen to see how you get on with tuning it further!
Its fairly long legged, not like the M135i was, and that is a more comfortable car but it will sit at 90 at 3 and a bit thousand RPM, its a bit noisy.
Interestingly my wife didnt complain once about feeling sick, my old CLS used to set her off, air suspension and a very torquey, quiet V8 seemed a bad combination so the busy ride and racket seem to avoid that problem.
Am hoping it retains the stock feel but more of it, even as standard they are quite grunty low down, the 280 is apparently a smidge more laggy than standard but the 270 hits the sweet spot, the chap at Collins says he personally prefers the CP4.
Its easy to get caught up in big numbers but dont want something thats a pain in the arse, running on the ragged edge, take a step back and have a think, 300 bhp from 1.6 litres in a Fiesta should be plenty.
HazzaT said:
Colonel D said:
This is the first time I've heard of stage 4/5 upgrades for a Fiesta. What power would it be, and what has to be changed in order to stop the engine going boom?
It really depends on the package/company. Usually the Mk7 gets to about 360-380bhp before needing to beef up the internals, but past 300 you need better fuelling which covers the jump from a stage 3 kit to stage 4I am not into "stages", used to work with a guy who rattled on about them all the time, not just 1,2,3 4 etc, but fractions as well "My Octavia VS was Stage 2.75 but I wanted to take it to Stage 3.5 but I sold it and bought my Insignia diesel, that's Stage 3.14"
They are just convenient shorthand to group together a certain set of mods
1 is a remap only (220 ish bhp)
2 is a remap plus exhaust, induction and stage 1 intercooler upgrade (230 ish bhp)
2E is what I have, as Stage 2 but a different Actuator (basically a stiffer spring) for the turbo (240 ish bhp)
3 Doesnt exist in Collins list nowadays but was their 270 bhp package with an upgraded turbo.
4 is everything in 2, Stage 3 (full height) intercooler, plus a sports cat (or decat at if you are naughty, im not, sports cat) and a Turbo Technics 270 turbo, about 300 ish bhp
5, as per 4 plus higher capacity injectors and a TT 280 turbo (about 340 bhp)
Obviously they have a different map at each level.
There is too much focus on peak bhp in the Fiesta ST tuning, its typically a lot of younger enthusiasts who go for the most BHP quoted and aggressive mapping. I think I haven't seen traction issues as its mapped conservatively with no torque spike to overcome the grip of the tyres.
Its not perhaps as cheap as people think to do this well, I will have spent £3800 or so to get it to 300 bhp and not done any brake or suspension modifications yet, just the tuning, a quick shift and engine stabiliser. It already had some Mountune lowering springs and a Mountune exhaust.
MC Bodge said:
J4CKO said:
Indeed, apparently, folklore has it that the engine in these was developed for a cancelled RS Fiesta so the internals are pretty stout for the output in the ST. They arent forged but they do seem to cope with a lot more power before needing to be.
I am not into "stages", used to work with a guy who rattled on about them all the time, not just 1,2,3 4 etc, but fractions as well "My Octavia VS was Stage 2.75 but I wanted to take it to Stage 3.5 but I sold it and bought my Insignia diesel, that's Stage 3.14"
They are just convenient shorthand to group together a certain set of mods
1 is a remap only (220 ish bhp)
2 is a remap plus exhaust, induction and stage 1 intercooler upgrade (230 ish bhp)
2E is what I have, as Stage 2 but a different Actuator (basically a stiffer spring) for the turbo (240 ish bhp)
3 Doesnt exist in Collins list nowadays but was their 270 bhp package with an upgraded turbo.
4 is everything in 2, Stage 3 (full height) intercooler, plus a sports cat (or decat at if you are naughty, im not, sports cat) and a Turbo Technics 270 turbo, about 300 ish bhp
5, as per 4 plus higher capacity injectors and a TT 280 turbo (about 340 bhp)
Obviously they have a different map at each level.
There is too much focus on peak bhp in the Fiesta ST tuning, its typically a lot of younger enthusiasts who go for the most BHP quoted and aggressive mapping. I think I haven't seen traction issues as its mapped conservatively with no torque spike to overcome the grip of the tyres.
Its not perhaps as cheap as people think to do this well, I will have spent £3800 or so to get it to 300 bhp and not done any brake or suspension modifications yet, just the tuning, a quick shift and engine stabiliser. It already had some Mountune lowering springs and a Mountune exhaust.
That's interesting, thanks. I hadn't realised that it was quite involved or expensive. In my mind, and without any justification(!), I'd assumed that the Stage 4 output required only the work of Stage 2.I am not into "stages", used to work with a guy who rattled on about them all the time, not just 1,2,3 4 etc, but fractions as well "My Octavia VS was Stage 2.75 but I wanted to take it to Stage 3.5 but I sold it and bought my Insignia diesel, that's Stage 3.14"
They are just convenient shorthand to group together a certain set of mods
1 is a remap only (220 ish bhp)
2 is a remap plus exhaust, induction and stage 1 intercooler upgrade (230 ish bhp)
2E is what I have, as Stage 2 but a different Actuator (basically a stiffer spring) for the turbo (240 ish bhp)
3 Doesnt exist in Collins list nowadays but was their 270 bhp package with an upgraded turbo.
4 is everything in 2, Stage 3 (full height) intercooler, plus a sports cat (or decat at if you are naughty, im not, sports cat) and a Turbo Technics 270 turbo, about 300 ish bhp
5, as per 4 plus higher capacity injectors and a TT 280 turbo (about 340 bhp)
Obviously they have a different map at each level.
There is too much focus on peak bhp in the Fiesta ST tuning, its typically a lot of younger enthusiasts who go for the most BHP quoted and aggressive mapping. I think I haven't seen traction issues as its mapped conservatively with no torque spike to overcome the grip of the tyres.
Its not perhaps as cheap as people think to do this well, I will have spent £3800 or so to get it to 300 bhp and not done any brake or suspension modifications yet, just the tuning, a quick shift and engine stabiliser. It already had some Mountune lowering springs and a Mountune exhaust.
It will be interesting to find out what your thoughts are when the work is done.
I am a lot happier in this than the BMW, its not perfect but its closer to what I like in a car, its just getting chance to actually use the performance as everytime you get some straight road a Qashqai appears doing 43 mph, or a white van in the right hand lane on an otherwise empty road.
It is a car I will just take out to drive for the sake of it.
Colonel D said:
J4CKO said:
Yeah, 25th its booked in. It should be quick enough now and it does move quite well, just might as well do it now.
I am a lot happier in this than the BMW, its not perfect but its closer to what I like in a car, its just getting chance to actually use the performance as everytime you get some straight road a Qashqai appears doing 43 mph, or a white van in the right hand lane on an otherwise empty road.
It is a car I will just take out to drive for the sake of it.
I'm still shocked thinking about a Fiesta with that much power. The cost isn't as expensive as I thought it would be, brake upgrade might be a good idea next.I am a lot happier in this than the BMW, its not perfect but its closer to what I like in a car, its just getting chance to actually use the performance as everytime you get some straight road a Qashqai appears doing 43 mph, or a white van in the right hand lane on an otherwise empty road.
It is a car I will just take out to drive for the sake of it.
Am looking at brakes, the pads are fine on the front, were done by Ford not that long ago but there is more of a lip on the disk than I would like so will change them, just deciding on which brand, will change the fluid as well as cant vouch for when it was last done.
Then, will have a break and just drive it for a bit and not spend any more money, my youngest passed his test yesterday so I need to sort him out some wheels, plus we need a new bathroom.
I can get pretty much what I want but think have spent enough for now before I get to any suspension changes, I would like to Polybush it which is more a time and effort thing, possibly a set of coilovers but decent ones are £800, bit much as yet.
Have got a "Symposer Delete" thing coming, £12.50 and apparently cuts some of the racket coming into the cabin, will try it and see if it helps with all the whooshing, fluttering and gurgling which is fun but grates a bit on a longer journey.
Its funny, my son and his mates are all stepping up out of ST's, my eldest has a Golf R and his mate just got a 2018 S4.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff