Thanks 
Great story looking forward to more
Great story looking forward to more 
The moment we have all been waiting for
My brother and I had the pleasure yesterday of running 6 30 minute sessions at The Ridge Motorsports Park in Wa. It was Focus ST vs Fiesta ST!
Both cars were on the stock street tires-both have K&N filters-both are using Cobb maps. The Focus was using the 87 map and I was using the 91 map in the Fiesta. We both used 92 octane. My brother was using the 87 map because he's too cheap to fill up on 92 because he commutes. All weight was removed from the cars...but, the focus had a 175 lb passenger all day. Both cars ran in off/off mode.
The track: is a 2.47 mile road course with a 1/2 mile front straight. I have driven 5 road courses and would consider this one technical with lots of elevation change and corners with character.
The drivers: lots of track day-auto x and karting experience.
Weather: 40 deg
Fast Forward: at the end of the day when we were both up to speed the cars were VERY close. No matter who was in front they couldn't pull away.
* the focus could pull a car length down the straight
* the fiesta could catch up under braking
* corner speeds were almost identical. Both cars rotate beautifully!
* the fiesta tires were great for 3 laps and the focus could go 5 laps before they overheated.
* FRUSTRATION: lots of wheel spin in my Fiesta coming out of corners (even in third gear)
* the first thing I'm going to do is mount stickier/wider tires for the summer hpde and autox events.
* the stock brakes amazed me. I could fade them but they lasted twice as long as the tires.
Biggest surprise: I overlayed my fast lap with my fastest lap in my old Evo. The Evo on the track map was 338 to the wheels and running bfg r1's. The fiesta was 7.5 seconds slower BUT the top speed was only 5.5 slower. I NEVER felt like I was under powered.
I think with some track tires I will be able to shave off a few seconds as long as they don't overwhelm the suspension.
A few of the other drivers came up to us and commented on how much they enjoyed seeing the ST's and the two brothers going at it lap after lap. It was an epic day and we had a blast.
Next up: head to head autox
Both cars were on the stock street tires-both have K&N filters-both are using Cobb maps. The Focus was using the 87 map and I was using the 91 map in the Fiesta. We both used 92 octane. My brother was using the 87 map because he's too cheap to fill up on 92 because he commutes. All weight was removed from the cars...but, the focus had a 175 lb passenger all day. Both cars ran in off/off mode.
The track: is a 2.47 mile road course with a 1/2 mile front straight. I have driven 5 road courses and would consider this one technical with lots of elevation change and corners with character.
The drivers: lots of track day-auto x and karting experience.
Weather: 40 deg
Fast Forward: at the end of the day when we were both up to speed the cars were VERY close. No matter who was in front they couldn't pull away.
* the focus could pull a car length down the straight
* the fiesta could catch up under braking
* corner speeds were almost identical. Both cars rotate beautifully!
* the fiesta tires were great for 3 laps and the focus could go 5 laps before they overheated.
* FRUSTRATION: lots of wheel spin in my Fiesta coming out of corners (even in third gear)
* the first thing I'm going to do is mount stickier/wider tires for the summer hpde and autox events.
* the stock brakes amazed me. I could fade them but they lasted twice as long as the tires.
Biggest surprise: I overlayed my fast lap with my fastest lap in my old Evo. The Evo on the track map was 338 to the wheels and running bfg r1's. The fiesta was 7.5 seconds slower BUT the top speed was only 5.5 slower. I NEVER felt like I was under powered.
I think with some track tires I will be able to shave off a few seconds as long as they don't overwhelm the suspension.
A few of the other drivers came up to us and commented on how much they enjoyed seeing the ST's and the two brothers going at it lap after lap. It was an epic day and we had a blast.
Next up: head to head autox
1 - 14 of 14 Posts
Waiting for my brother to upload some gopro video.Thanks
I will post when he does!
Lookin forward to watching this!
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Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
Good observations, and close to what I have seen with both the Focus ST and Fiesta ST on track together. The Focus pulls strong, but kills the brakes. The Fiesta ST can handle much more brake abuse, but the tires get greasy fast. A little big wider foot print would really help the Fiesta ST. The Focus ST has a massive amount of rubber on the ground.
Nice. Hope to get up to Shelton sometime late this year. Might not happen till next year. Car will be landing here in April/May and it'll take me awhile to get it broken in (no commute). My first track day will probably be with the Lotus club at Portland since I know that track well and would rather go out for a first event someplace familiar. Definitely want to get The Ridge though. Which group did you go out with there?
mefisto, I went out with Turn 2. This time of year they watch the weather closely and if they see an opportunity they do a last minute-reduced priced track event. I actually live in Portland and have been going to PIR for ever! Have you tracked ORP? It's still my favorite track. I can hardly wait to get the Fiesta out there.
BRGT350, at the next track event the Focus will be on 245 Rivals and I'll be on the 215 Dunlop Z2's! That should definitely help in the grip department. Then I'll be able to get a better idea of what I need to do for brakes. I've been changing out wheels and pads for track days for 10 years and am hoping to find a pad I can just leave in for the summer. I'm getting lazy in my old age-lol.
BRGT350, at the next track event the Focus will be on 245 Rivals and I'll be on the 215 Dunlop Z2's! That should definitely help in the grip department. Then I'll be able to get a better idea of what I need to do for brakes. I've been changing out wheels and pads for track days for 10 years and am hoping to find a pad I can just leave in for the summer. I'm getting lazy in my old age-lol.
Tell your brother to stop slacking and upload the video already!
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Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk
I live in Redmond, WA. I've been to PIR about 20 times and Pacific Raceways about 30 (it's only an hour from the house), but stopped after selling my track toy in spring 2012 after about 8 years of track days. I have not been to ORP (pretty much opened up as I was phasing out). My only issue with ORP is its location -- middle of nowhere. I should do it, but we'll see. The Ridge is more likely sooner. PIR is a nice safe, easy track and the Lotus club crew is great. A good way to get a feel for how the car differs from my previous FWD track car. Once I get the car, it gets broken in, etc., it'll have been about 3 years since my last track day.mefisto, I went out with Turn 2. This time of year they watch the weather closely and if they see an opportunity they do a last minute-reduced priced track event. I actually live in Portland and have been going to PIR for ever! Have you tracked ORP? It's still my favorite track. I can hardly wait to get the Fiesta out there.
That sounds like a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing. While I would love to try my car out at the local track, Waterford Hills, I'm getting kinda old for that kind of stuff. Definitely plan to run a few autocrosses this year.
Pretty cool! I would have liked to see the passenger out of the car at least a couple of laps, just for the sake of this kind of post. And if the Focus ST had 92 in the tank why not switch to the 91 octane program? The 87 octane program is super tame.
The Focus driver accidentally forgot his AP at home-lol. With regards to the passenger we weren't trying to be scientific just out having some fun.Pretty cool! I would have liked to see the passenger out of the car at least a couple of laps, just for the sake of this kind of post. And if the Focus ST had 92 in the tank why not switch to the 91 octane program? The 87 octane program is super tame.
Our next day out will be in March and we'll try to collect more data and overlay it.
Old? It's usually the "old guys" that really know how to driveThat sounds like a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing. While I would love to try my car out at the local track, Waterford Hills, I'm getting kinda old for that kind of stuff. Definitely plan to run a few autocrosses this year.
1 - 14 of 14 Posts
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