Damn razor, you're really going all out on this car. What drove you to get the Airtec over the alternatives?
2014 Ford Fiesta ST project
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.
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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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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
9
61 - 80 of 127 Posts
Ok, spent all day installing stuff today. Wilwood brake kit and the Bilstein coilovers.
I can't drive the car yet because I need to set the ride heights and bleed the brakes still. The Wilwood calipers have the smallest and cutest little bleed screws I have ever seen, they are almost half the size of a 9mm wrench so I need to go buy a new wrench for that and the Bilstein coilovers where set low as hell out of the box. The pictures below are even with me turning up the fronts about 3 turns from factory before installing too.
The car as it sits in the photos is 2" lower in the front and about 1" lower in the rear. Going to raise the front obviously. Over all the installs went smooth, I just took my time.
Wilwood GT rotors vs. Stock Fiesta ST rotors:
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DP6 caliper:
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Cute lil' bleeder screws:
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Bilsteins and Wilwood BBK:
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Looks like lots of room if I wanted to down to 16" wheels:
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Way too low in front:
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I can't drive the car yet because I need to set the ride heights and bleed the brakes still. The Wilwood calipers have the smallest and cutest little bleed screws I have ever seen, they are almost half the size of a 9mm wrench so I need to go buy a new wrench for that and the Bilstein coilovers where set low as hell out of the box. The pictures below are even with me turning up the fronts about 3 turns from factory before installing too.
The car as it sits in the photos is 2" lower in the front and about 1" lower in the rear. Going to raise the front obviously. Over all the installs went smooth, I just took my time.
Wilwood GT rotors vs. Stock Fiesta ST rotors:
DP6 caliper:
Cute lil' bleeder screws:
Bilsteins and Wilwood BBK:
Looks like lots of room if I wanted to down to 16" wheels:
Way too low in front:
9
As an update. I didn't have time to finish the car up this weekend so I won't be able to touch it again until next weekend. Need to bleed the brakes, set the ride height and get an alignment before I drive it again.
Driving my Evo 10 this week. Haven't driven it in over a month, about the same time I've had the Fiesta. It sure is a sledgehammer compared to the FiST, but the FiST feels like a go kart compared.
btw, the bleeder screws on the Wilwood calipers are 1/4".
Driving my Evo 10 this week. Haven't driven it in over a month, about the same time I've had the Fiesta. It sure is a sledgehammer compared to the FiST, but the FiST feels like a go kart compared.
btw, the bleeder screws on the Wilwood calipers are 1/4".
Installed the Airtec FMIC today.
Fit great, easy install. There are only three things you have to remove to get it to fit perfect and that is three bolts underneath that would otherwise hit the core and eventually wear through it. So wonder no more, this FMIC fits USDM Fiestas no problem!
Comparison:
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OEM:
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Airtec:
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Tight fit but fits perfect:
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With the bumper cover on, it looks exactly like stock, which is exactly what I wanted.
Fit great, easy install. There are only three things you have to remove to get it to fit perfect and that is three bolts underneath that would otherwise hit the core and eventually wear through it. So wonder no more, this FMIC fits USDM Fiestas no problem!
Comparison:
OEM:
Airtec:
Tight fit but fits perfect:
With the bumper cover on, it looks exactly like stock, which is exactly what I wanted.
7
Datalogs!
Look! A intercooler that works! Happy to have this on the car. Works great.
Here are two datalogs, OEM FMIC vs AIRTEC FMIC. It was the closest to the same temp log I could find. It was a couple degrees cooler for the OEM FMIC log and as you can see, the AIRTEC still kicks its ass.
Red is AIRTEC, green is OEM.
Starting temp OEM: 77F
Ending temp OEM: 99F
Temp increase: 22F
Starting temp AIRTEC: 79F
Ending temp AIRTEC: 83F
Temp increase:4F
Ambient temp for both logs - Approx 70-74F
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Look! A intercooler that works! Happy to have this on the car. Works great.
Here are two datalogs, OEM FMIC vs AIRTEC FMIC. It was the closest to the same temp log I could find. It was a couple degrees cooler for the OEM FMIC log and as you can see, the AIRTEC still kicks its ass.
Red is AIRTEC, green is OEM.
Starting temp OEM: 77F
Ending temp OEM: 99F
Temp increase: 22F
Starting temp AIRTEC: 79F
Ending temp AIRTEC: 83F
Temp increase:4F
Ambient temp for both logs - Approx 70-74F
61 - 80 of 127 Posts
