Fiesta ST stage 3 build

[Dylanaledhall]

griffin dai said:

All good thanks, hung over after Christmas but all good!

Looking forward to seeing the car, sounds like it’ll be a ripper. You just need Dad to pull his finger out with the RS now (keep telling him, think seeing my Saab blowing up put him off)

Haha, yeah, hopefully he'll tune the RS soon. Still absolutely gutted about your Saab, I was reading your whole forum literally a day or 2 ago. It felt rapid to be fair, just sad it ended the way it did

As for my car, yeah it weighs around 1080kg so with hopefully 330bhp ish bhp and around 320lb/ft of torque it should be alright in a straight line. I'll take you out for a rip when it's done hopefully

[Dylanaledhall]

TheJimi said:

Is the steering nicer than the the non ST models?

I had an ecoboost ST-Line hire car recently, brand new, and it was one of the worst cars I've driven in terms of steering. Way, way too sensitive and sod all feedback.

Admittedly, I do think It needed the geo looked at, but that wouldn't solve the aspect of over-assistance.

Hi there, I hope someone else in this thread can help cause I've had basically no experience in any other fiesta other than my own. I did used to have a Zetec S before my ST but my Zetec S was from 2007 so not exactly comparable.

As for the steering in the ST it is quite light at slower speeds but really becomes much heavier the faster you go ( in my experience) The car is keen to turn but I wouldn't call it too sensitive. I think the lack of feed-back is due to electronic assisted power steering instead of hydraulic. It's not just these cars, it's the same in Golf Rs, Focus RSs etc.

Sorry about the lack of help, I hope someone here will be able to elaborate on this

[Dylanaledhall]

griffin dai said:

330 will be pretty manic I think mine was around 360ish & 470/480ish ft/lbs but was a fair bit heavier.

LSD is a good shout and might be worth fitting the same time as an upgrade clutch, had the Quaife ATB on mine made a huge difference, could really get the power down, but there’s also a Wavetrac diff that’s meant to be awesome (wish I fitted that but didn’t know about it until a few months later) clutch I fitted the CG Racing 777 kit but not sure what’s available for the ST (probably loads!)

Yeah I'll definitely look at either a quaife LSD or a Kaaz LSD ( apparently very good) just to try and limit the slip. Up until I go to an LSD the clutch should be fine as Fiesta STs come with an AP racing clutch as standard and can hold roughly 350bhp so I'm told. Pumaspeed have loads of uprated clutches available so I'll purchase when closer to the time.

I really hope you get another v6 Saab, was such a sleeper and sounded amazing

[Dylanaledhall]

Scobblelotcher said:

I’ve owner a M135i (and driven several M140i’s) and it’s a decent car with an amazing motor. It is what I’d term an 8/10ths car. Once you go over that you find it’s flaws and they tend to become unhinged which is why many have unexpectedly left the road, I’ve always viewed this as it’s more of a GT car with the thumping engine and auto box (which most have) than an all out performance car. Don’t get me wrong in performance terms, the Fiesta isn’t a match but the ST is designed to be a drivers car whereas the M135i/40i cars are designed to be a compromise of performance and comfort which they do very well.

These cars respond very well to tunning but again suffer limitations of the chassis/suspension.

Hi there, seems you have quite a bit of knowledge around the topic As for the putting power down yes, if you don't have a good set of tires or an LSD you will spin until 2nd gear. When mapped properly, with an LSD and good tires you can get virtually no spin even in first gear. Even still, FWD cars certainly do better on a roll than from a launch. For example if you compare a Cupra 280 and a Golf R, they both have the same engine and if you launched both, the Cupra wouldn't see what direction the Golf went. However, from a roll, the Cupra is a faster car down to less weight and drive train loss.

A YouTuber known as Officially Gassed put an upgraded turbo onto his Fiesta and he had R888r tires and he had no spin even in first gear ( and that was without an LSD). So I think if you invest properly into traction, spinning shouldn't be a huge issue.

As for the M135i/M140i I know many have said it's more of a gt car than a b-road / track car. However, I'd be looking at getting an M135/M140 by the time I'm 25 so hopefully as I start to grow up . While on this topic I would also like to try a Golf R, many say they're a bit dull to drive until you take them to stage 2 (410-420 bhp). I definitely want to drive one to see what it's like.

Thanks

[Dylanaledhall]

Kaveney said:

Hi there mate like Macron said I run one as my track so let me know if you need any info as I have done a fair few upgrades to the car .

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=18...

Hi there,
Yes I had a read of your forum and your attention to detail is immense. As much as I'd love to turn my ST into a track weapon it's my only car so I need it to be practical and if I binned it into a barrier I wouldn't have a second car .

Yeah I probably will be asking for help as I still want to do decent upgrades . Brakes is something very high up on my list. Compared to my old Zetec S the brakes on the ST are like shooting anchors out of the back. But still, they were only designed to stop a car with 180-200bhp so I'll upgrade to a Big Brake Kit before I go to stage 3.

Thanks for reading

[Dylanaledhall]

Scobblelotcher said:

I watch Offically Gassed, Jamie is good fun, shame he sold his Fiesta.

As for the Cupra vs Golf R comparison the R will leave the Cupra about 8 times out of 10 unless they both happen to be on an excellent road surface. Across a typically British road the R is far better suited at suddenly getting the power down and as soon as they both meet a typically B road, the poor Cupra may as well just give up.

As soon as you’re going to high(er) power applications even with decent tires and an LSD, AWD cars still have significant advantages even if they are lesser powerful but I would argue many FWD and RWD cars are often better drivers cars. My M135i was often fun but not that fast (it had the best tires and a LSD) against AWD cars. My 17 year old Impreza I owned at the same time was simply in a different league to it as was my Evo I previously owned in the vast majority of conditions. The Impreza understeered like crazy near the limit in its factory standard setup however thicker ARB’s and a few other changes gave it a more fun neutral balance.

I’ve owned lots of other tuned FWD cars that were also fun but prone to scrabbling around in less than perfect conditions. One of my other favourites was my tuned Honda Civic Type R (EP3) which had an amazing gearbox/engine combo and with a straight through exhaust, cold air intake and kpro, I loved it’s manic attitude even if it was very antisocial over 6k. My friend at the time had a supercharged version making 330bhp (mine was about 240ish) but both again were traction limited in a lot of conditions.

I’m not trying to persuade you into doing anything else but maybe recommending you to focus on handling and braking before power so you can get the best from the car and if you want a lot of power an AWD platform is more suitable than trying to manage a FWD car.

I’ve spent a month in a Golf R and although I do really like them as they just do everything so well, they are not drivers cars. I think the downside of many AWD cars like Impreza’s and Golf R’s is they are just so competent they feel slightly underwhelming and the Golf also feels pretty dead from a steering perspective.

Anyway, let us know how you get on, all pics, videos and technical details welcomed! ??

Edited by Scobblelotcher on Saturday 2nd January 10:57

100% agree with everything you say, I do like Golf Rs for their ability to just take off no matter the conditions or road surface. However, there is a bit of me that enjoys fighting for grip ( although won't be as fast as an AWD car) like you say, RWD and FWD tend to be the better driver's cars and take a bit more effort to get the best out of them.

Before I bought my ST I was fancying an EP3 and turbocharging it. The only thing that put me was the fact they are a bit old now, although they are amazingly reliable ( I've seen some at over 200k on the clock and still going strong) I just was cautious of how many things I'd need to change on an EP3 at that age to make sure it could handle the extra power. Never driven one but would have loved to.

And as for the method of doing this, the chassis on an ST is ok from standard to be honest. I am definitely thinking of brakes before stage 3 though. Although some people only upgrade the pads, I'd rather be safe and have way more stopping power. I may drop the car on lowering springs ( not against coil overs I just don't see the point for my day to day, if I was taking my car on track I 100% would but I'm not looking at building a track car yet)

[Dylanaledhall]

Leicester Loyal said:

Will be keeping a close eye on this, just bought myself a Fiesta ST a few weeks ago, although stage 1 is the furthest I'd take it I reckon.

Looking forward to future updates OP.

Hi there, really glad you've taken the time to read and yes I will be keeping everyone one here up to date on everything I'm doing to the car.

To be honest these cars are fantastic straight out of the box. My father who owns a mk3 Focus RS even likes how the car is in standard form. Stage 1 is a perfect little upgrade if you are fancying more straight line performance. Apparently with a stage 1 they do get a decent chunk of torque low down which will definitely make it more punchy. Have you decided on who will tune it for you?

Thanks

[Dylanaledhall]

Leicester Loyal said:

I haven't even drove it yet buddy, but I won't bore you with that story, should hopefully be on the road by next week. I'll probably end up driving it as standard for at least a few months before even looking into stage 1, but it's definitely something that I might do one day. I've come from a Clio 182 so the inside of it feels so modern, even though it's only 8 years newer.

Oh haha, I'm sure you'll love it, I do think STs are the modern day clio 182 so I do hope it lives up to expectation

[Dylanaledhall]

Macron said:

What does the manifold spacer do out of interest?

Impressive list nonetheless!

I was impressed by his list too, massive respect to the dude. I will wait for him to get back to answer your question but I think a manifold spacer may have something to do with increased air volume put through the manifold itself. I'm unsure myself so I'll wait for him to get back to you on that as I'm also interested

[Dylanaledhall]

Terry Tibbs said:

I’ve not driven a standard Fiesta, but the steering on the ST is good. Weights up nicely at speed and although it doesn’t have the greatest feedback you always know what’s going on and it’s very accurate, you can put the car exactly where you want it.

100% agree, I don't have any complaints about the steering. It's no Lotus Elise so you're not going to get the most feedback, but I think it's the same story with most modern cars these days

[Dylanaledhall]

J4CKO said:

Just been out in my sons one, think I do prefer it to the BMW, the ride and seats were better than I remembered, just needs more power.

Genuinely supprised by that Glad you enjoy it

Edited by Dylanaledhall on Sunday 3rd January 19:46

[Dylanaledhall]

mooseracer said:

Allegedly it improves low end torque.

If I'm honest the spec of mine is silly given that I am still using the standard turbo as that is a limiting factor - they just will not go higher than 245ish - but I had plans for a replacement until you know what happened and I no longer do much mileage in it. It is quick as it stands albeit with a little bit of lag that it never had as standard.

The best money I spent on it was on the bushes - the way it sticks now is brilliant, yet still reasonably compliant with the Mountune branded suspension.

I'm just down the road from Sabre and the temptation for bigger turbo + injectors is very much still with me!

I think you should go for it, you've spent so much on some modifications I didn't know even existed for the ST so I think you're set for bigger power. The only things STs need to deal with the bigger power( apart from the performance mods) is the suspension and brakes but it seems you're already set . If you ever do go bigger power, please let me know, would love to know how you get on

[Dylanaledhall]

So Guys, bit of an update. The car is booked in to get the R-sport intercooler, sports cat and cat-back fitted on Tuesday. It is being carried out by Performance Tuning SW in Bridgend. Car is being remapped at the same time and hopefully we will see roughly 230-240bhp. Might add some overrun if we can but not overly fussed if it costs bhp which some people find it can take away up to 10bhp.
I will have photos and an update for you guys soon.
Cheers

[Dylanaledhall]

Macron said:

Fast work, great they can do it during lockdown, can’t wait to see the results!

Yeah I contacted a few companies close to me. The company I'm using are the closest to me and have done lots of work on STs before so I'm quite confident in them

[Dylanaledhall]

WCZ said:

the mp215 kit isn't great imo, I switched to cp2 after a couple of years and it's a big improvement. the short shift kit is nice too. both are mods that when fitted I thought 'this is how the car should have came'

Hi there. The company that's tuning my car are putting a Collins stage 2 map on for me, I think it's something like stage 2E or something, not too sure. I think my next mods will be both a lower engine mount and a short shifter, nice to see that you feel that the short shifter is necessary. Not sure if you've seen the coolwerx shifters but they're so expensive

[Dylanaledhall]

griffin dai said:

Did you give Sabre a call? Just heard he’s had some cancellations due to lockdown.

Looking forward to seeing it when it’s done

Edited by griffin dai on Thursday 7th January 20:19

I would have, it's just I don't want to risk travelling too far and getting a fine due to restrictions. If Sabre are happy to do a stage 3 build in future them I'll definitely give them a visit

[Dylanaledhall]

griffin dai said:

I’m sure he will

I’m taking my next one there, load everything in the boot, drop it off and collect it a few weeks later!

[Dylanaledhall]

Westyrs said:

SABRE are superb. Had my focus RS mapped there and the transformation was massive. Fun drive home...

Hi there, what Mk RS do you have and do you mind me asking what kind of gains you saw?

Thanks

[Dylanaledhall]

Westyrs said:

Hi,

No probs. MK1 FRS, went from 270bhp to 350bhp but had a new manifold and turbo plus a map.

Ah nice, always liked the mk1 my dad has a Mk3 and I'm trying to persuade him to put a map on it

[Dylanaledhall]

Westyrs said:

Get it done!

Trust me I'm trying