[Shotamidget]

So the fiesta ST has some ungodly body roll to it.. Especially when there is wind... Lots of it. I live in Anchorage, Alaska right by the brooks range. There are wind shoots that come down and blow ever living crud out of my little party. Makes the car roll super hard, and it feels like the car is about to flip or fly away with the wind.. anything that can prevent, or make that roll go away. I'd assume it's a lot of suspension dialing, what about strut bars, and frame braces? any ideas? I have no clue what I"m talking about right now as I have no experience with suspension or why cars body roll like that, so someone with knowledge please chime in.

 

[EvoNiner]

I must say this is a first, they need to stiffen the ride because of wind! Not performance induced body roll, but the wind.

How fast of wind speeds are we talking about here?


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[WScottCross]

Strut tower braces significantly reduced the body roll in my 2011 SES. I haven't seen any for the ST yet. The 2011 version definitely won't fit because of the intake hose routing in the ST.

 

[peoples1234]

Perhaps there is a misnomer of sorts going on here. The FiST definitely does not have excessive body roll. It might be subject to being blown around on the roads by cross winds due to the hatchback profile, but I haven't noticed that yet.

 

[RodMoe]

Perhaps there is a misnomer of sorts going on here. The FiST definitely does not have excessive body roll. It might be subject to being blown around on the roads by cross winds due to the hatchback profile, but I haven't noticed that yet.

It is tall of sorts and light so a stiff crosswind will be felt .. Not as bad as our 4x4 tow rig and 28 ft. enclosed hauler but it can move the lil car .. Only roll I have seen so far is when it comes up on three legs during AutoX event or Track day spirited cornering..

 

[Sekred]

Have you got the moon roof open, if so take that conical cap off so you can close it.

 

[Shotamidget]

The winds exceed 80mph when they are at full tilt... These are funneled wind shoots coming off the mountains.. It's weird you'll get no wind then this GIANT gust.. then no wind... THEN WHAMMO! The car does have some give to it, but with the wind it's almost not safe to drive up here when those shoots are going.. especially on ice.. the car slides on the road. I have studded blizzaks as well on the car. I have no windows down, and at 4 degrees I wont have the moon roof open either haha.

My experiences with auto x so far in the car is quite fun. Going a little excessive around turns on the road is fun. What I'm trying to get at right now is.. Is there anything to stiffen the car up a bit more so my anal retentive OCD can be laid to rest? I don't want ford racing crap.

 

[reddog99]

I think your phrase, "not safe to drive" sums it up. If a vehicle with semi-racing suspension, such as the ST, feels unsafe to drive because of environmental conditions, then DON'T DRIVE! Nothing you can do to the suspension will change the fact that an 80 mph side-wind is unsafe in most any car. Installing stiffer springs or whatever isn't going to change the surface area of the vehicle. Either slow down or don't drive.

 

[peoples1234]

Yea, I can't think of any vehicle that would not be affected by a random 80 MPH crosswind gust. I know some body profiles are worse than others, but 80 MPH will blow anything around.

 

[BRGT350]

80mph crosswinds!! Holy crap, that is insane! I wish I had my equation handy that takes wind speed, area, and spits out a force output.

Stiffening a suspension is more apt to reduce the warning the car gives you before losing traction. On ice or snow with 80mph winds, the stiff suspension would just cause the entire car to blow sideways. There isn't enough traction to overcome the side force. Your only options are to reduce the cross wind speed or reduce the cross section of the car. Staying away from the wind would remove it from the equation, and driving with the windows down would reduce the cross section.

As for strut tower braces, they have nothing to do with body roll, sway bars (anti-roll, anti-sway, ect.) do change the body roll. The rigidity of the Fiesta chassis is such that there is almost no gain in strength or reduction in flexing due to the addition of a strut tower brace. The car, more so with stock tires, can't produce enough lateral grip to distort the chassis to the point a small diameter tube connecting the strut towers will do anything. There is way more flex in the brace than in the chassis. A triangle shaped brace that ties to the firewall could add some rigidity, but not enough to feel.

 

[BRGT350]

Doing some rough calcs, it comes out to around 1300 pounds worth of force on the side of the Fiesta. That is basically .50g lateral. Given the snow and ice, it is amazing that thing is even staying on the road surface. I don't know what the maxium lateral g the ST can do on snow/ice with studded snow tires, but I would bet it isn't more than .5g.

 

[Smokin]

Even so, in 40 mph winds here in Kansas I noticed it's more sensitive than my GTI. Don't know the reason why except maybe the narrower track.
I thought it was alignment but that checked ok....

 

[Shotamidget]

yeah it's no joke up here.. you'll get like this BRUTAL cross wind then it's gone.. it's an instant thing then gone... It's literally a funneled shoot targeted at one specific location. It's super interesting and super sketchy.. I was going 40mph and got hit by a cross wind and my fiesta was shaking something fierce.. Then I was actually going the speed limit on the Glen hiway and got hit by a cross wind and my traction control was going insane and the car started swaying sideways.. It was super scary.

 

[Autonomous]

I think you are noticing how a 2700 lbs hatchback is affected by hurricane-force winds. I feel a 20-30 mph gust here and there on pavement and it is attention-grabbing. It was the same with my 2000 Celica, a fun and light car.

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[mamiata1]

I think you need to drive south of the cross winds to some place warmer and find a nice place to live. Seattle is nice.

 

[Slowclimb]

Wind speed of 75 mph or greater will pick you up or blow you off your feet.

 

[Shotamidget]

I'm from Texas but there is no work there. Came to Alaska got good work in 3 days.. I'm a bit skiddish when it comes to new places haha. Besides... I like the tuna here.

 

[Sil3nt611]

Alaska really isn't a place I'd think of when looking for a job, but ok. haha. It depends where you look in Texas and what you're looking for. There's plenty of IT jobs in Austin, but not a whole lot in Waco (which is what I'm looking for as an example).