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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
Great story looking forward to more 
