MK7 Ford Fiesta ST (Van)

[RS Grant]

Little bit of background, I'd been running my Transit Connect for the past 3-4 years (longest I've ever kept a vehicle!) and had no real plans to move it on.. however, after picking up an E92 M3 and deciding that it won't see the winter salt/crap on the roads, I was less happy about the prospect of tooling around exclusively in my Transit Connect with it's 75ps engine and billy basic interior (no electrics, no AC, no support in seats etc..) for a portion of the year.

Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr
Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr

Once I decide that it's time for a car to go then it's very difficult for me to come back from that, so I'd started to look at upgrading the Connect with something like a VW Caddy; however for the age, specification and condition I wanted, they were a fair old hike in price over the value of my own van and not something which I was feeling too comfortable about paying out for, so I was a little stuck about what to do... until I spoke to one of my friends (the person who I bought the Connect off actually!) that told me he had just decided to move on his Fiesta ST which he'd been using to commute in, he had already paid to have the rear windows removed and van panels sprayed and fitted in their place, it still ran a full interior front and back, so the cogs started turning in my head!

I knew you could get a Fiesta Van, so there must be conversion parts available for those, meaning that I should be able to remove the rear seats and retrofit the flat van floor in it's place... ok it would never be as spacious or practical as the Connect, however it would transport the dogs around and be practical enough to chuck bags/shopping/etc in too...... so a part exchange deal was done and the wee Fiesta was mine!!

Here are the details:

Fiesta ST-2

Cruise Control
Style Pack (Darker standard alloys, illuminated sill plates and painted brake calipers)
Mountune MP215 Package Fitted (now redundant.. see below!)


Engine Modifications:

Turbo Technics S242 Hybrid Turbo
Airtec Stage 3 Intercooler
Turbosmart Recirculation Valve
Revo Intake & Heat Shield
mongoose Downpipe
Milltek Resonated CAT-back Exhaust
Revo Stage 3 Remap (Estimated c300bhp & 300lbft)


Misc. Modifications:

Graham Goode Racing Shortshift
Graham Goode Racing Mount Upgrade
Eibach Sportline Lowering Springs
Standard Discs with EBC Yellowstuff Pads Front & Back


Exterior Modifications:

17" Bola Alloys & 205/40/17 Pirelli P-Zero Nero
Maxton Design Rear Spoiler Lip
Maxton Design Front Splitter
Van Panels (Professionally Sprayed & Fitted)


When I first got the car it was covered in signwriting and absolutely hanging with road grime and dirt.. not a good time of year to keep your car looking good though!

Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr

During the clean up:

by RS Grant, on Flickr
by RS Grant, on Flickr

Then I broke out the trusty Diva hairdryer... unsure whether it'd last the journey, which all told took over 4 hours to remove everything!!

by RS Grant, on Flickr

Now here are some various pictures that I've taken over the past few days with the car:

by RS Grant, on Flickr
by RS Grant, on Flickr
by RS Grant, on Flickr
by RS Grant, on Flickr
by RS Grant, on Flickr
by RS Grant, on Flickr
by RS Grant, on Flickr

First impressions are very good, with traction control off (I've only had cold/greasy roads to test yet) then it'll spin the wheels instantly in 2nd gear and some of 3rd gear if you're lead footed and don't modulate your throttle input. But providing it has grip then it will pull very well indeed, I'm sure it's got the ability to at the very least worry, if not humble, some quite quick cars!! That said, given it's not buzzing too high in 6th gear on the motorway then it can also return decent MPG as well, this was my average through an 85% average speed camera infested trip home of ~80 miles:

Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr

It's also got DAB radio, cruise control and the warmest/fastest heated seats on the planet.

So there we go, something a little different and probably won't appeal to some of you guys who think turning a wee hot hatch into a van is absolute sacrilege but it'll hopefully suit me down to the ground.

[Croutons]

That looks cool!

As does your connect to be fair!

Nice to see something a little different.

[GTIAlex]

Show us in the back then

[Butter Face]

GTIAlex said:

Show us in the back then

Yeah this. As I suppose it’s actually just a hatch with stickers on the rear windows rather than a van?

Looks cool though and I bet it goes like a rocket.

[Beedub]

seems like a real shame to actually remove the windows from a perfectly good ST and put the van panels in..... Why not just have a one way sticker over the windows so it can be still comfortable in the back and mimic the van look....

i saw the original eBay add for this and tbh i just didn't get it...... Especially as its not actually a van and has the interior intact as per your normal ST. I know your plan is to strip the interior and make the VAN but........ the back seats fold totally flat, and i mean flat with the rear bench folded forward, the load space is vast for such a small car, and lastly the rear seat setup is so nice in this car.

Great choice of engine mods however, this will absolutely fly.

Edited by Beedub on Thursday 7th December 19:56

[RS Grant]

It is definitely genuine Ford metal panels which have been sprayed and fitted by a bodyshop, it's not stickers/vinyl/paint over the original glass.

Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr

That's the only photo I've got at the moment, it shows the rear seats in there currently and I absolutely agree that the way it stands is pretty ridiculous since it's neither one things nor the other... however, the plan is to remove the rear seats and retrofit the flat floor from a Fiesta Van, as per these photos:




It's definitely not going to be up everyones street and it might seem a little silly having a 300bhp van.. but it drives extremely well, good specification, has plenty of power to have fun with, shouldn't cost the earth to run and with the rear set out as a van it'll be pretty practical too.

[Beedub]

RS Grant said:

It is definitely genuine Ford metal panels which have been sprayed and fitted by a bodyshop, it's not stickers/vinyl/paint over the original glass.

Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr

That's the only photo I've got at the moment, it shows the rear seats in there currently and I absolutely agree that the way it stands is pretty ridiculous since it's neither one things nor the other... however, the plan is to remove the rear seats and retrofit the flat floor from a Fiesta Van, as per these photos:




It's definitely not going to be up everyones street and it might seem a little silly having a 300bhp van.. but it drives extremely well, good specification, has plenty of power to have fun with, shouldn't cost the earth to run and with the rear set out as a van it'll be pretty practical too.

for sure i can tell those panels are the real deal never doubted that .... and i agree as it currently stands with the interior is very silly. i Do see what your going for here just think its a real shame as these are such good Hothatches..... They are also VERY handy on load space as per my previous post as the rear seats fold totally flat, , i think you could have easily gotten 85% of when you wanted by leaving the bench folded..... Then if you ever need the seats you can fold them back up in a jiffy.

Your original vehicle was more suited to your planned use, but again each to their own.

Dont get this one im afraid.

[RS Grant]

Beedub said:

I know your plan is to strip the interior and make the VAN but........ the back seats fold totally flat, and i mean flat with the rear bench folded forward, the load space is vast for such a small car, and lastly the rear seat setup is so nice in this car.

Edited by Beedub on Thursday 7th December 19:56

You'd posted as I was replying... I will investigate the practicality with the seats folded flat, legroom in the front has me almost at the end of the rails so I'm not sure I can accomodate the chunky rear bench being folded vertical behind me.

[GTIAlex]

Ive got an ST and can assure you the load space is OK with the rear seats folded but no where near van like, so I say go for it if you need a van seems like a great option.

Think I saw this for sale on facebook a few months back.

[Jimmy Recard]

I don't get how a Caddy would be an upgrade - I had one and I'd say it's on a par with your Transit or an Astravan.

Still, that's a very cool van. Rare, but I think there was a ZR 160 version of the MG ZR Express. That would've been good fun

[Master Bean]

I will love this even more once the rear is converted.

[J4CKO]

Sod the back seats, its what is at the front that interests me, a 300 bhp Fiesta makes me happy, was driving my sons on Saturday and loved it, its fairly brisk but it is clear its not really taxing the chassis much, Ford nailed the hot hatch with this car, whilst the bigger stuff has gone more like the house trained version of the Rally Reps of old, this is the nearest to the original hot hatch recipe.

I do quite fancy one, the things that put me are off are its a bit jiggy and we already have two Fiestas, I would like to get one and add more power but three Fiestas on the drive would just look weird and I have a ropey old TT to sort out.

[RS Grant]

GTIAlex said:

Ive got an ST and can assure you the load space is OK with the rear seats folded but no where near van like, so I say go for it if you need a van seems like a great option.

Yeah with the rear seats folded, it makes for a fairly practical wee car... however it doesn't have a completely flat floor, which is something that I liked about the Connect because it meant that my dogs could stand/lie down easily, so a seat removal is on the cards for the Fiesta.

Jimmy Recard said:

I don't get how a Caddy would be an upgrade - I had one and I'd say it's on a par with your Transit or an Astravan.

A newer Caddy wouldn't have been an upgrade in space/practicality; however, the lack of creature comforts in the Connect wouldn't make it enjoyable to use regularly and from an age point of view rust will become an issue on even a lightly used Connect like mine. Plus I could live with the engine being a bit rough and ready, but the lack of any power wasn't great for anything other than buzzing around town; on a dual carriageway or stuck behind something on a single lane A or B road then there was no chance of making progress or overtaking it unless you were blessed with a very, very long straight and very, very light traffic conditions!

[RS Grant]

Master Bean said:

I will love this even more once the rear is converted.

Thanks, me too!!

J4CKO said:

Sod the back seats, its what is at the front that interests me, a 300 bhp Fiesta makes me happy, was driving my sons on Saturday and loved it, its fairly brisk but it is clear its not really taxing the chassis much, Ford nailed the hot hatch with this car, whilst the bigger stuff has gone more like the house trained version of the Rally Reps of old, this is the nearest to the original hot hatch recipe.

I do quite fancy one, the things that put me are off are its a bit jiggy and we already have two Fiestas, I would like to get one and add more power but three Fiestas on the drive would just look weird and I have a ropey old TT to sort out.

I agree, the standard Fiesta ST that I've driven previously have had standard suspension and it's hard and jiggly round town and the Eibach springs go some way to sort this, but it's not what you'd call smooth!! They have always impressed me with the way they get down the road and definitely feel quite old school blend of a lightweight car, good dollop of power (but not tooooo much) and great chassis. I'm very impressed with this one so far.

[RS Grant]

Re: the interior and the rear panels, this is how the car currently sits:

Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr
Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr
Untitled by RS Grant, on Flickr

..this isn't bad and will be fairly practical, however I really want/need a flat floor for my dogs to stand/lie down on when I take them out, so it's not going to be suitable for me.. hence the plan to remove the rear seats and retrofit the flat rear floor & associated parts from a Fiesta van to the car. Here are the pictures I posted above again, as it'll be easier to see the difference between the setups in the same post:



or:

[abucd4]

Beedub said:

seems like a real shame to actually remove the windows from a perfectly good ST and put the van panels in..... Why not just have a one way sticker over the windows so it can be still comfortable in the back and mimic the van look....

i saw the original eBay add for this and tbh i just didn't get it...... Especially as its not actually a van and has the interior intact as per your normal ST. I know your plan is to strip the interior and make the VAN but........ the back seats fold totally flat, and i mean flat with the rear bench folded forward, the load space is vast for such a small car, and lastly the rear seat setup is so nice in this car.

Great choice of engine mods however, this will absolutely fly.

Edited by Beedub on Thursday 7th December 19:56

...the rear bench folds up?!

I’ve been folding the backrest onto the bench on mine for over a year not realising! It always felt like to was gonna break when I tried to lift the bench.

Gonna have a go now

[RS Grant]

Little bit of an update, unfortunately the Fiesta isn't winning me over.. there are certain things which I'm struggling to get to grips with and put out of my head!

Firstly, the engine response. Worth saying from the start that I'm not saying I'm some kind of cutting edge next-gen superhuman racing driver.. but I do like to fumble around and do some heel/toe stuff when I'm out for a quick drive down some empty back roads, do I do it well, probably not but I don't really care, it puts a smile on my face and that's the main thing!

I also admit that I've been a little spoilt by my other car having very sharp engine response (an E92 M3 that I drove in sharp throttle setting >90% of the time) so the Fiesta has got a tough act to follow on this front. However, the speed at which the car will come down the revs is surprisingly slow and the response that you get when you prod the pedal is surprisingly delayed, this isn't turbo lag that I'm talking about, I'm well aware of what that feels like... this is actual throttle response, it's along the same lines as my sisters old MK7 Golf R with the DSG gearbox, that had a terrible throttle lag. It appears that I can buy/fit a DTUK Pedal Box as per the solution to the dead travel on Golf R DSG cars, but that isn't going to make the engine rev any faster, therefore so far I've been reluctant to spend the money on this.

Secondly, the seating position. I'm not especially tall at 6ft1 and I've not got abnormally small legs/long back, but I like to feel like I'm sitting in a car and not on a car. It's one of my big gripes with new cars which increasingly seem to thrust you higher in the air than they used to?! The new Focus RS is a prime example, with the optional Recaro shell seats, you sit almost comically high in that car?! I believe there are now aftermarket lowered seat rails available to sort this, but as standard, I found it had a pretty unacceptable seating position. On the subject of aftermarket seat rails, there doesn't seem to be any options available to lower the standard seats in the Fiesta currently? I don't want to change the seats because they are fantastically comfortable, look good and the seat heating will be very welcome when the Scottish summer kicks off... so switching into aftermarket seats isn't an (expensive!) option that I'm willing to try.

These things may sound like First World Problems and I suppose they are really. Some of you guys reading this may think I'm being ridiculous; but they matter to me and take the shine off the car to the point of possibly sticking the Fiesta up for sale in the near future. It's a shame because it's very fast, handles well, the seats are very comfy, it's well specified and it doesn't cost much to run... but there doesn't seem to be a remedy for my issues without a little bit of a gamble and a fair bit more time and expense.

[Mr Tidy]

RS Grant said:

Secondly, the seating position. I'm not especially tall at 6ft1 and I've not got abnormally small legs/long back, but I like to feel like I'm sitting in a car and not on a car.

I've always had that problem with smaller Fords, especially older ones like the Fiestas my Mum had years ago where there was no seat height adjustment. The rails lowered the seat a bit as you moved it back, but nowhere near enough - especially if there was a sunroof!

But given how unique your car is and how much of it you do like, I'd be tempted to try the lower seat rails before I gave up - after all, what other options do you have?

[tjrundy]

@RS Grant,

I'm thinking of doing something similar to you, but more to increase the loadbay to carry sporting gear.

I'm proposing to take a stock ST-3 remove the rear seats and fit the bulkhead and flat floor with tiedowns. I wondered if you had ever looked at the bulkhead / floor (I noticed from the photos that it hadn't been done), and how many parts you needed to make that conversion?

Did you get the part numbers from Ford Etis?

Cheers,

Tom.

[bungz]

Make a quick transit connect.

That's the solution

Loved the couple I had went everywhere in them and you could fit a decent amount in the back ( unlike the new ones which are all cabin with a stupid bulkhead that sticks into the load area).