2014 Ford Fiesta ST project

44079 Views 126 Replies 27 Participants Last post by twendt, Oct 13, 2015

razorlab

Discussion Starter · Jul 21, 2014

9

So I picked up a 2014 Ford Fiesta ST to play with. There are a bunch of reasons I did this so I'll just make a simple numbered list to help explain why.

1. I wanted a small lightweight car again (It's 27XXlbs)
2. I wanted to learn the Ford ECU
3. I wanted to track a small lightweight car
4. I wanted a small lightweight car that got great gas mileage for my commute

That's about it overall for the reasons. With over 20 years of driving Mitsubishis, Subarus and VW's I never ever ever ever thought I would own a Ford....

For some reason the Focus ST never really intrigued me. After reading all the press about the Fiesta ST, it did intrigue me, I went and test drove a bunch and I totally fell in love with the car. It really feels like something special, a Ford engineering baby.

I still own my current Evo, an Evo 10, for now. It's in a different league for sure, but I didn't buy the Fiesta ST to replace the Evo. So enough about that.

This thread will serve as a place to post my findings as I learn the car, the ECU, etc.

I come from a tuning background. I used to tune Mitsubishis professionally, mainly Evos. Most recently a 2005 Evo 8 MR for 10 years that was my personal project, that I tuned and tracked. It had 500hp on E85. I also had a 2010 Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback Ralliart that I also tweaked and tuned to 400hp on E85. As stated above still have my Evo 10, 400hp, also on E85. You can sense what's coming for the Fiesta ST then.

Initial photos, 100% stock minus upgraded wheels/tires.

2014 Ford Fiesta ST
Options:
Recaro Package
Navigation
Sunroof
"Rado" wheel package (painted wheels and brake calipers)

Wheels replaced with Sparco Assetto Gara 17x7 +42 satin black
Tire replaced with Bridgestone Potenza S-04 205/45/17

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razorlab

Discussion Starter · #41 · Jul 31, 2014

Jeff said:
Does anyone else notice the gear this log was taken in? Numbers will be elevated compared to a real dyno done in 4th (1 to 1 ratio)

Incorrect. 3rd gear will show lower numbers than 4th gear. Either way notice I'm showing DELTA GAINS, the actual numbers don't matter.

I can show you real mustang dyno pulls done in 3rd and 4th gear on the same car, with the same mods if you do not believe me. Torque will be sooner and higher in 4th gear.

RodMoe

· #42 · Jul 31, 2014 (Edited)

Jeff said:
Does anyone else notice the gear this log was taken in? Numbers will be elevated compared to a real dyno done in 4th (1 to 1 ratio)

The vDyno program has a function to put in the cars gear ration and adjust the reading for the info you put in so it is only as good as the data you provide including the frontal profile of your car and weight and lots of other doo dads. But yes it is a 3rd gear pull which is a safer way to gather data and if you compare apples to apples it should be close enough for this project..

razorlab

Discussion Starter · #43 · Jul 31, 2014

Here you go, real dyno, real world. Same car, same mods, same time, same day. 3rd gear and 4th gear.

I personally tuned this car. I was there, operating the vehicle.

Dotted lines are 4th gear, solid are third.

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totusPorcus

· #44 · Jul 31, 2014

CarefreeAZ said:
I was trying to think of a phrase to adequately express what I felt when I first saw the pic of razor's garaged Fiesta...you said it perfectly!

your 'MOTHER OF GOD' comment was spot on. Thats a fiesta R5 which is a purpose built race car that is cheap (200K) when compared to the other purpose built tarmac and gravel rally cars. There an extended vid of a guy driving one on gravel and tarmac. its all wheel drive, sequential dog box, straight cut gears that whine and a restricted (via a plate) 1.6L motor that produces almost 300 hp.

Its the wheels that intrigued me and i was able to find who makes them speedlne (italian)

razorlab

Discussion Starter · #45 · Jul 31, 2014

totusPorcus said:
your 'MOTHER OF GOD' comment was spot on. Thats a fiesta R5 which is a purpose built race car that is cheap (200K) when compared to the other purpose built tarmac and gravel rally cars. There an extended vid of a guy driving one on gravel and tarmac. its all wheel drive, sequential dog box, straight cut gears that whine and a restricted (via a plate) 1.6L motor that produces almost 300 hp.

The curious thing about the Fiesta R5 1.6L is that they are using the Focus ST 2.0L intake manifold.

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razorlab

Discussion Starter · #46 · Jul 31, 2014

All, I'm looking for a used OEM Turbocharger. I believe it's part #CJ5Z6K682D

It's for R&D for a possible internals upgrade, so it's for a good cause.

Keep your eyes open for me, thanks!

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razorlab

Discussion Starter · #47 · Aug 1, 2014

iso100;32692 said:
Curious to see what kind of day-to-day mileage you get when not putting your foot to it at WOT...

Ok here is a small bit of data on MPG. Make sure to look at the DELTA between the numbers and not the numbers themselves since every body drives differently and has different routes with different outside influences. I use the FiST to commute approx 50 miles a day. It's a mix of city and highway and I have fun with the car on occasion.

Last two tanks of 91 octane before switching to Ethanol mix and tuning for it as well.

91 oct - Jul 20, 2014
270 miles - 25.06 mpg

91 oct - Jul 22, 2014
105 miles - 26.24 mpg

------------------

E30 - Jul 27, 2014
236 miles - 24.33 mpg

E45 - Jul 31, 2014
263 miles - 24.44 mpg

So far, if I take the average of the two 91 octane data points and subtract the current E45 data point, it's just a -1.21 MPG difference. Of course I need more E45 data points to really make this valid but it gives us a look.

As you can see, I'm obviously tuning the Ethanol mix for better mileage overall then if I didn't tune with that in mind, hence the E45 having even slightly better MPG than E30. I still think I can get the Ethanol mix tune VERY close to normal gas. The ECU and Ecoboost motor gives me enough control to really make some gains there.

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WScottCross

· #48 · Aug 1, 2014

razorlab said:
I would have to become a Cobb Protuner (again) to sell Cobb maps for profit and I'm not in this to make money.

I will continue to share my findings for sure. I think there isn't an issue with sharing maps either if people are curious to see them. You would need to have Accesstuner Race though.

I also have ATR and understand that I would be using this at my own risk.

razorlab

Discussion Starter · #49 · Aug 1, 2014

Ok, I think it's time to upgrade the FMIC.

4th gear WOT into 5th. Over 20* increase, even with a whole lot of air hitting it at those speeds. Yikes.

Currently looking at Airtec or ATP.

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razorlab

Discussion Starter · #50 · Aug 2, 2014

Well hit my first road block and "ah ha!" moment all in one in continuing to learn the ECU tonight.

I've been having an issue where I keep hitting a ignition timing ceiling and it wouldn't let me run more ignition timing in the midrange and through the top. Well I figure it out. The car ended up running more timing through the midrange and through the top which remarkably gave me another 14whp/14wtq from 4200rpm to 6000rpm. It felt really really strong. That's the good news.

The bad news is now it's running more ignition timing then I would like to run without putting the car on a real dyno to find MBT. Obviously it made more power so I'm not past MBT but I also hate not know what MBT is so I'm going to dial it back until I can get it on a real dyno.

The owner of the dyno I use is out of town for now so I'll have to wait until he gets back in town to get it strapped down and find MBT.

The other good news is I'm really finding my way around the ECU more and more every day.

It's really very cool and powerful compared to what I am used to. Still really excited about it all.

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Cesso

· #51 · Aug 2, 2014

razorlab said:
Well hit my first road block and "ah ha!" moment all in one in continuing to learn the ECU tonight.

I've been having an issue where I keep hitting a ignition timing ceiling and it wouldn't let me run more ignition timing in the midrange and through the top. Well I figure it out. The car ended up running more timing through the midrange and through the top which remarkably gave me another 14whp/14wtq from 4200rpm to 6000rpm. It felt really really strong. That's the good news.

The bad news is now it's running more ignition timing then I would like to run without putting the car on a real dyno to find MBT. Obviously it made more power so I'm not past MBT but I also hate not know what MBT is so I'm going to dial it back until I can get it on a real dyno.

The owner of the dyno I use is out of town for now so I'll have to wait until he gets back in town to get it strapped down and find MBT.

The other good news is I'm really finding my way around the ECU more and more every day. It's really very cool and powerful compared to what I am used to. Still really excited about it all.

I'm thrilled with the possibilities these new direct injected turbocharged engines offer with such an advanced engine computer. Good luck and thank you for exploring what this platform is capable of. I haven't been this excited about a car since my childhood.

razorlab

Discussion Starter · #52 · Aug 5, 2014

New trunk mounted goodies...

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Firesail

· #53 · Aug 5, 2014

razorlab said:
New trunk mounted goodies...

Won't do much good there!

Joe Schmoe

· #54 · Aug 5, 2014 (Edited)

Just a mention of some of the learnings from the 2014 MX5 ECU - be wary of timer based logic built into the ECU when tuning. There are maps that are referenced in that application (an application with lots of ties to Ford) that are invoked that pull fuel during hard running for a given amount of time, something like 20 seconds of open loop running. It's a condition that resets itself only after a specific rest period. No one has figured out the reason behind it but some guess it's to protect the cat. The tuners just zeroed it out, but keep in mind that even though what I describe sounds like how the ECU might treat overboost, watch out for similar logic. It may not show up on a dyno. Lots of logging, including some road course running would show it.

razorlab

Discussion Starter · #55 · Aug 5, 2014

Joe Schmoe said:
Just a mention of some of the learnings from the 2014 MX5 ECU - be wary of timer based logic built into the ECU when tuning. There are maps that are referenced in that application (an application with lots of ties to Ford) that are invoked that pull fuel during hard running for a given amount of time, something like 20 seconds of open loop running. It's a condition that resets itself only after a specific rest period. No one has figured out the reason behind it but some guess it's to protect the cat. The tuners just zeroed it out, but keep in mind that even though what I describe sounds like how the ECU might treat overboost, you watch out for similar logic. It may not show up on a dyno. Lots of logging, including some road course running would show it.

Thanks for the heads up. I believe there are a bunch of timer based fuel enrichment tables but I haven't seen any enleanment, of course that doesn't mean it doesn't exist and just not defined....

I 100% already plan on logging on track.

They finally have flash based tuning for Miatas?

Joe Schmoe

· #56 · Aug 5, 2014

Just the current generation, but modern ECUs are so complex now that no one has defined all the maps or when and how they all are envoked, and may never.

razorlab

Discussion Starter · #57 · Aug 5, 2014

Joe Schmoe said:
Just the current generation, but modern ECUs are so complex now that no one has defined all the maps or when and how they all are envoked, and may never.

Yea. On the Evo 10 ECU, which isn't that complex compared to the MED 17 ECU, we wrote a program that found all actual sets of tables in the ECU which got us to about 419. However, only about 60-80 of those are currently defined and used for tuning the car and it's been out since 2008.

razorlab

Discussion Starter · #58 · Aug 8, 2014

Ok, this is insanity. I ordered an Airtec FMIC from the UK on Wednesday this week.

Today, being Friday, two days later, guess what showed up at 10am?

Auto Specialists in the UK, you rule!

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ryst

· #59 · Aug 8, 2014

Nice! How much was it USD with shipping?

Also those Airtec end caps are straight up sexy.

razorlab

Discussion Starter · #60 · Aug 8, 2014

ryst said:
Nice! How much was it USD with shipping?

Also those Airtec end caps are straight up sexy.

$604.19

Shipping was free, and got here via teleport technology, apparently.

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