Ford Fiesta Mk7 ST-2 & Past car history

Ford Fiesta Mk7 ST-2 & Past car history

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Mike1990

Original Poster:

962 posts

130 months

Tuesday 3rd September 2013
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Hello there fellow PH car guys. It's about time i introduced myself on here, real car Enthusiasts place.

I just love Fast Hatchbacks, ever since my old man had the Rover Metro GTi back in the 90's they all have that DNA that make's them ooze appeal, the affordability, there's a type for all matter of taste's whether it's the bottom of the pile thrill's Fiat Panda 100BHP or the Sport's/Supercar slaying Mercedes A45 AMG, i just love them, reading about them, comparing them etc, etc... So i thought i'd say hello here and show you my history, and my current drive, now i'am only 22, so it's not the biggest selection or even the most special, just a section i've had since i first started driving,

Started with Ford's Fiesta Mk5 Zetec S, remember seeing these in the showroom's when they first appeared way back in 2000, sat there in that stunning Imperial Blue, i knew i would have one when i got my Pink Card,







Last few picture's before it was sold, Wearing 12.5mm Rear Axle Spacer's,



It went through quite a few changes in my time, noticeably Rear Disk Brake Setup, G-Max 40mm Lowering Shock and Spring Kit and Ford Logo Mud Flap's spend a good time exploring B-Road's and learning how to drive more advanced. Spent a mint keeping it good as possible on Maintenance related thing's and keeping it OEM+ and fitting Interior Upgrade's from the 'Ghia' Models', very fun car, proper good starter Hot Hatch as 'EVO' basically said. Fun, light, Chassis Adjustable and just enough power,

After that i moved onto what i think was the next step up after a narrowing it down from a selection of Hatches. Ford Fiesta ST150, was everything the Zetec S was, but more improved, more modern, but lacked the 'Raw' feeling which was what i expected, but i didn't matter i loved it!,so much more of a car the Magazine's credited it for, had some serious fun with it, it was very potent in the twisty B-Road's where it's low down grunt could scrabble it's way out tight twist's and turns with ease, something that my mate's then Honda Civic Type-R (EP3) could not do without dropping out of the screaming V-Tec,even on the longer stuff the ST was firmly stuck to it's rear, until the 4th Gear Onwards, something he was very surprised with,







Loved it. But it had to go due to personal matter's,

Next came the Renaultsport Clio 172, it's a car i've always admired, like the old Zetec S, just alot faster with the 'Raw' feeling and having a good blast in my mate's well sorted 182 i knew i had to get one, but with limited money it was hard to get the 'Right' one, after searching i found one, '53' Plate Iceberg Silver 172, with 85k showing and with big pile of receipts and Bill's that totaled up to around 3k, i knew this car has been driven, tracked and enjoyed, it had that feeling to it, but it drove well and true with no nasty knock's and bang's and the Engine pulled strong, very strong compared to a few i've been in. Also the Interior was like brand new, very well kept.

Ran it for 6 enjoyable Month's, did the usual thing's, many Back Road blasts and drives out, just for the sake of it.









Very grippy! wasn't as 'Fun' as i thought it would have been still had the buzzing feel about, big engine in a small light car, very characterful car, but it would later go on the give me left Ankle troubles which resulted in getting traded in for my current Hot Hatch, more so doing 45 Mile's a day commute to work and back, the..

Vauxhall Astra VXR, many reason's why i choose this against some more established car's in the same price and performance bracket, it looks fantastic, Interior is a nice place to be and it actually good on fuel and it's nice to drive, but in terms of driving, it's different to what i'am used to, the Turbo Engine for starters' it requires a different approach to driving and it's got that Character that the Clio had, that buz factor. It's a right handful to drive on a tight twisty B-Road but along the more flowing B-Road's it's more at home there, which i personally love, it's fun, and it can Handle rather well for quite heavy hatchback, million time's better the people who read thing's on the internet believe, EVO Magazine rated it rather well in the Hot Hatch group Test, putting it ahead of the Honda Civic Type-R (FN2).







Well that's a brief overview of what i've been driving, i'll keep this updated accordingly. Thank's, Mike smile

Edited by Mike1990 on Sunday 14th February 15:26

selym

9,539 posts

170 months

Tuesday 3rd September 2013
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Can't complain at any of those Mike!

Mouse1903

839 posts

152 months

Tuesday 3rd September 2013
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All nice, especially the ZS. I really wanted one but ended up getting a Mk5 Polo GTI as my first car instead. Having driven a 1.25 Mk5 Fiesta I knew that the ZS would be good. A future classic imo, imperial blue or red are the best colours

Mike1990

Original Poster:

962 posts

130 months

Wednesday 4th September 2013
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Mouse1903 said:
All nice, especially the ZS. I really wanted one but ended up getting a Mk5 Polo GTI as my first car instead. Having driven a 1.25 Mk5 Fiesta I knew that the ZS would be good. A future classic imo, imperial blue or red are the best colours
Most defiantly a future Classic, but there at that age now where 95% are rust buckets and need slight restoration to make them mint. Such a fun car to drive, the slick iB5 Gear Box is a joy to use, I'd 100% have another one.

Chris Jay

243 posts

128 months

Wednesday 4th September 2013
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Nice write up and good selection of cars there. I had a Fiesta ST 150, great little car on the twisty B roads.

martin mrt

3,768 posts

200 months

Wednesday 4th September 2013
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Cracking write up, and a great selection of cars.

I have always liked that Zetec S Fiestas

AuthurDaley

566 posts

206 months

Wednesday 4th September 2013
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Very nice selection, kept cosmetically standard like they should be smile

Mike1990

Original Poster:

962 posts

130 months

Wednesday 4th September 2013
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AuthurDaley said:
Very nice selection, kept cosmetically standard like they should be smile
I'am into the whole OE/OEM/OEM+ look with my cars, spending money on the maintenance side of things and replacing worn item's, and upgrading certain parts of the car to make it better than strandard but keep drivability and try to keep originality feeling. It's quite satisfying.

Mike1990

Original Poster:

962 posts

130 months

Wednesday 4th September 2013
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Chris Jay said:
Nice write up and good selection of cars there. I had a Fiesta ST 150, great little car on the twisty B roads.
I kinda not regret not going for the MR200 kit for the ST, as people say it totally transforms the car and makes it like what Ford should have done from factory. But always had it in my mind the low end grunt would be sacrificed and i loved that aspect of it. Made the whole car 'feel' faster than it actually was, mine ran in the OE Spec Pirelli P-Zero Nero's that a personally rate highly.

spats

838 posts

154 months

Wednesday 4th September 2013
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Nice cars there.

We had a Zetec S in the same colour and I always felt the rear wheels were a little lost in the arches. The frotns were great but the rears needed a little something.

The VXR is a great car, not owned one but driven on track and few times and the wifes Vectra B was converted to run the older Z20LET engine which runs a VXR turbo amoung other mods and its great fun on the road. The Z engines are fun!

Out of all the VXR's Ive driven the Astra felt the best.

Baryonyx

17,990 posts

158 months

Wednesday 4th September 2013
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Love the Fiesta Zetec S, a much better car than the Fiesta ST. I had a Zetec S as my first car, but I lost the invoice with the registration so I have no way of knowing if it's even still on the road. Probably not.

Mike1990

Original Poster:

962 posts

130 months

Saturday 7th September 2013
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spats said:
Nice cars there.

We had a Zetec S in the same colour and I always felt the rear wheels were a little lost in the arches. The frotns were great but the rears needed a little something.

The VXR is a great car, not owned one but driven on track and few times and the wifes Vectra B was converted to run the older Z20LET engine which runs a VXR turbo among other mods and its great fun on the road. The Z engines are fun!

Out of all the VXR's Ive driven the Astra felt the best.
Rear's just needed simple 12.5mm Axle Spacer's and these where sold buy Ford i believe, well the ones i bought where Genuine Ford, simple yet effective mod, also made the rear a little more stable, under braking and cornering.

The Astra has surprised me, it really is a great car IMO, still loving it 3 Month's on!

Mike1990

Original Poster:

962 posts

130 months

Tuesday 8th October 2013
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Long overdue little update. My current Mileage is now on a '31600' and i'am averaging 34MPG and around 350 Miles to a tank before the Fuel light come's on, very impressed with this if i'am honest, miles better than what i thought it would be. I'am a sucker for this type of 'Geeky' readings. Strangely satisfying

Anyway's Finally got around to purchasing a Brand New Toyosport 2.5" Precat-Decat Pipe after my mate saw one for sale on here and gave the head's up,





Then we to went my mate's garage and made a start of fitting my Precat-Decat,



All came out nice and easy, but went to Vauxhall for some replacement Stud and Nut's to be on the safe side as one was buggered.



All went smoothly enough, just a bit of blowing but, quick tighten up and some exhaust paste and all is good. liking the extra audible noise from the front and the few pop's and bang's i've had, the Turbo seem's the pull more and the extra noise. Overall very pleased!, just need a full system and a map now, just a few pictures,







i've noticed some gain's. My average MPG has gone up 1-2 MPG on my usual drive to work and back, obviously it's a VXR fuel figures shouldn't matter but it's nice to know.

Also done a few little 'Mod's and Upgrade's' just to improve things a little,

  • De-Restricted Airbox with ITG Panel Filter
  • Vauxhall Insignia 'Mist' Washer Jet's
  • Team Heko Window Deflectors
Edited by Mike1990 on Tuesday 8th October 16:20

Mike1990

Original Poster:

962 posts

130 months

Saturday 2nd August 2014
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Nothing really to report as such but fitted a Cobrasport's 2.5" Sport's Cat which I kept on for a few month's, which gave the VXR a few pop's and bang's but in turn it brought the engine light one and every couple of week's it would jump into limp mode and overfuel like mad! I even tried the trusty rear lambda spacer but even that didn't cure it! so i put my standard Pre-Cat and Cat back on along with new genuine V Clamp, i actually prefer the standard system! sounds like darth vader on full chat, such a characterful sound for a 4 pot! and it even seem's quicker. Prior to this i had it dyno'd at RS Tuning, it ran 246 BHP and around 250 Torques.

But this past month or so has seen 2x Maxxis MA-Z1 Tyres fitted to the front along with tracking and alignment at ATS at '43439' miles, Oil & Filter change at miles. Also this week had the Cambelt and Waterpump changed, this was done at '45505' Miles, I'am still loving it, I've covered over 20k+ in little over 12 months and it's been 100% reliable, most weekends it get's a good blast along the b-road's which is where i spent most of my time biggrin


ST150HB

446 posts

148 months

Saturday 2nd August 2014
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Good history there, loved my ST when I had it and agree with all of your comments on it.

Enjoy the VXR!

Mike1990

Original Poster:

962 posts

130 months

Thursday 7th August 2014
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ST150HB said:
Good history there, loved my ST when I had it and agree with all of your comments on it.

Enjoy the VXR!
Glad you enjoyed the ST, the fact it's the underdog in the hot hatch world make's it better than people will believe that's one of the main reason's i love this VXR so much!


Paraicj

502 posts

140 months

Thursday 7th August 2014
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That precat-decat pipe is a gorgeous-looking piece of work.

Prohibit

13 posts

141 months

Thursday 7th August 2014
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Nice history and write up. I owned my Astra VXR for 2 years and sold it a few months ago. One of the things I loved most about it was the colour and reflections of the 'arden blue' paint. Seemed to turn heads everywhere.

Like you've mentioned, the interior was a nice place to be and people always seemed to be surprised by it considering it's a Vauxhall. Mine had full heated leather, built in sat nav, cruise control, auto lights and wipers and xenons. My old Subaru that I own now is totally different!



Mike1990

Original Poster:

962 posts

130 months

Saturday 9th August 2014
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Paraicj said:
That precat-decat pipe is a gorgeous-looking piece of work.
For a 'budget' brand it surprised just how well it was made!

Mike1990

Original Poster:

962 posts

130 months

Saturday 9th August 2014
quotequote all
Prohibit said:
Nice history and write up. I owned my Astra VXR for 2 years and sold it a few months ago. One of the things I loved most about it was the colour and reflections of the 'arden blue' paint. Seemed to turn heads everywhere.

Like you've mentioned, the interior was a nice place to be and people always seemed to be surprised by it considering it's a Vauxhall. Mine had full heated leather, built in sat nav, cruise control, auto lights and wipers and xenons. My old Subaru that I own now is totally different!

100% agree! Arden Blue is the best colour for these VXR's, even though it's common as muck, but there's obviously a reason.

Even the Corsa D's have a really good solid interior, i wish that mine would have had some goodies but mileage and condition swung it for me and the fact it was 15 minutes from my house biggrin

All i've got it Cruise control and the optional 19" Alloy's.