Should I really be launching the FiST?

[Based]

I've been playing around with launch control and also slipping the clutch for launching at various RPM and I am kind of worried that I am gonna break the car lol. Is it a common failure point on these cars that the axles, transmission, or something else breaks when launching it?

 

[Hijinx]

To be honest, on street tires, it's not the best idea.


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[Based]

To be honest, on street tires, it's not the best idea.


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It's bad on street tires? I thought it would be less wear on everything because they spin so much more

 

[neeqness]

Been hearing the rear motor mount is the weak link on this one. Should upgrade it before you start seriously launching it.

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[Hijinx]

It's bad on street tires? I thought it would be less wear on everything because they spin so much more

Street tires are less forgiving than slicks. The slicks softer sidewall absorbs the shock much better.


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[Based]

Street tires are less forgiving than slicks. The slicks softer sidewall absorbs the shock much better.


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Oh ok.

Well I will stop launching then because I don't want to break something

 

[Hijinx]

It's bad on street tires? I thought it would be less wear on everything because they spin so much more

Street tires are less forgiving than slicks. The slicks softer sidewall absorbs the shock much better.


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[MS67]

Street tires are less forgiving than slicks. The slicks softer sidewall absorbs the shock much better.


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Lol. Not sure if serious...

 

[Truth in Ruin]

If you're launching on street tires- you should lower the psi in the front tires; it'll increase your footprint, and it will help with what Hijinx said ^^^

 

[jmrtsus]

Common logic says it is not "good" for your car, Ford did not design the ST for drag racing. As can be seen on this forum it can and is done often. But we also see multiple suppliers of aftermarket parts to enable this. Should you do this in a stock FiST? Not if you plan on keeping the car! I'm sorry, but I do not see the reason to buy a stock 96 ci engined front wheel drive car designed for road performance and treat it like drag racing vehicle.

The FiST is superb at what it was designed for so it seems to me if street racing is the goal a late model Camaro or Mustang would be a better and less expensive choice. My designated FiST mechanic (son) builds GM LS engines and stuffs them in his street racing Trans-Am........I don't understand HIS desire for straight line acceleration either! But it does make for lively discussions while wrenchin'! And, this poor misguided child wants to run the TOTD with me in my MP-215 FiST and him in his 6.2L wallowing whale! For those like me that are concerned, I do make him wash the GM germs off his hands before touching my FiFi!

 

[Hijinx]

Common logic says it is not "good" for your car, Ford did not design the ST for drag racing. As can be seen on this forum it can and is done often. But we also see multiple suppliers of aftermarket parts to enable this. Should you do this in a stock FiST? Not if you plan on keeping the car! I'm sorry, but I do not see the reason to buy a stock 96 ci engined front wheel drive car designed for road performance and treat it like drag racing vehicle.

The FiST is superb at what it was designed for so it seems to me if street racing is the goal a late model Camaro or Mustang would be a better and less expensive choice. My designated FiST mechanic (son) builds GM LS engines and stuffs them in his street racing Trans-Am........I don't understand HIS desire for straight line acceleration either! But it does make for lively discussions while wrenchin'! And, this poor misguided child wants to run the TOTD with me in my MP-215 FiST and him in his 6.2L wallowing whale! For those like me that are concerned, I do make him wash the GM germs off his hands before touching my FiFi!

Interesting logic here... It's not "designed" for straight line speed. Yet, the stock drivetrain can handle enough power to run an 11.7 @ 119mph. I wonder if most people understand that increasing power doesn't change suspension geometry.


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[MS67]

Interesting logic here... It's not "designed" for straight line speed. Yet, the stock drivetrain can handle enough power to run an 11.7 @ 119mph. I wonder if most people understand that increasing power doesn't change suspension geometry.


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Here, let me state the obvious! A front wheel drive, open-diff setup is not ideal for drag racing, considering what other options are available.

 

[Based]

Interesting logic here... It's not "designed" for straight line speed. Yet, the stock drivetrain can handle enough power to run an 11.7 @ 119mph. I wonder if most people understand that increasing power doesn't change suspension geometry.


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hmm good point. If the stock drivetrain can handle like 300whp then I don't think I damaged my car any just from a few launched yesterday. I'm still not gonna do it anymore but I do feel better.

 

[Hijinx]

Lol. Not sure if serious...

Here, let me state the obvious! A front wheel drive, open-diff setup is not ideal for drag racing, considering what other options are available.

I have you on my ignore list, but unfortunately, Tapatalk shows me you've commented and gives me a choice to view or not. With that said, I don't know what I did to you, but I hope you can move past it one day.


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[Joker328]

hmm good point. If the stock drivetrain can handle like 300whp then I don't think I damaged my car any just from a few launched yesterday. I'm still not gonna do it anymore but I do feel better.

Dude, don't make decisions about how to drive your car based on a sample size of "some guy on a forum." Just use your head. If you consider that Ford is trying to minimize overall costs, it makes sense that they would engineer the car to be just sturdy enough that they don't have a high number of warranty repairs under normal to slightly abusive conditions without over-engineering to the point that it adds excessive cost to what is essentially the cheapest performance money can buy. Across any model, there is going to be variation, and you will get some cars that can handle way more than what the car was designed for and others that will handle less. For example, there are people with essentially stock power who have had to have their transmissions replaced, while others, as Hijinx said, are successfully putting out 300 whp.

The trouble is there is no way to know whether your car is one of the former or the latter. If you are asking whether repeatedly launching your car is going to cause a major part failure in your drive train, nobody can tell you that. If the question is whether launching the car repeatedly will increase the risk of an already weak/defective part failing, or accelerate the rate at which it fails, the answer is almost assuredly yes. It's up to you whether to take that chance. At the same time, the impact of one or two launches is likely to be minimal so don't worry that you destroyed your car or anything.

 

[jmrtsus]

Interesting logic here... It's not "designed" for straight line speed. Yet, the stock drivetrain can handle enough power to run an 11.7 @ 119mph. I wonder if most people understand that increasing power doesn't change suspension geometry.


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HiJinx, you missed the the part of my statement that the CAR was not designed for that......I said nothing about the drive train.

I do not believe any FiST will run an 11.7 on stock tires, suspension, motor mounts....blah, blah, blah! A car that does that will have a long list of mods NOT including the driveline, maybe. I would think they added positraction to the driveline and a racing clutch. Do you really want to promote driving a stock car like that? I think you are doing a disservice to those that interpret your comments to suggest that this is OK to do this on a stock car. How many posts have I seen on broken/new motor mounts just this week? Again, Ford did not design the Fiesta ST CAR as a drag car.

I am all for horsepower when you can use it, but on the mountain roads of East TN my Mountune ST has all the power it takes to scare the &%#$ out of me on some of our no guard rail cliftside curves. And after a 4500 mile trip I can say it also has all the acceleration I need for passing on two-lane highways and cruises nicely at 85. So we all love our FiSTs but we need to keep it real. Winding it up and dropping the clutch on a stock ST is not a good idea for long term reliability.

 

[Hijinx]

HiJinx, you missed the the part of my statement that the CAR was not designed for that......I said nothing about the drive train.

I do not believe any FiST will run an 11.7 on stock tires, suspension, motor mounts....blah, blah, blah! A car that does that will have a long list of mods NOT including the driveline, maybe. I would think they added positraction to the driveline and a racing clutch. Do you really want to promote driving a stock car like that? I think you are doing a disservice to those that interpret your comments to suggest that this is OK to do this on a stock car. How many posts have I seen on broken/new motor mounts just this week? Again, Ford did not design the Fiesta ST CAR as a drag car.

I am all for horsepower when you can use it, but on the mountain roads of East TN my Mountune ST has all the power it takes to scare the &%#$ out of me on some of our no guard rail cliftside curves. And after a 4500 mile trip I can say it also has all the acceleration I need for passing on two-lane highways and cruises nicely at 85. So we all love our FiSTs but we need to keep it real. Winding it up and dropping the clutch on a stock ST is not a good idea for long term reliability.

The right big turbo kit, extra fuel, intercooler, slicks, a RMM, tune and some weight reduction will put you in the 11s. With a good driver it's really that easy. The 11.7 car is stock motor, stock transmission car.


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[jmrtsus]

Exactly my point.....NOT A STOCK ST!!!!!

I am not is the least bit disagreeing that the FiST can be made to do that. I am simply saying that launching a STOCK car like John Force is not a good thing to do to your car. Big difference in stock and modified.

 

[Hijinx]

Exactly my point.....NOT A STOCK ST!!!!!

I am not is the least bit disagreeing that the FiST can be made to do that. I am simply saying that launching a STOCK car like John Force is not a good thing to do to your car. Big difference in stock and modified.

I see where your coming from. Obviously, you're not going to run an 11.7 on a stock car. However, I'd like to point to the current stock turbo record of 13.3@102mph. Intercooler, tune and slicks. Revs to the top and dumps the clutch. Like I've said, slicks make a huge difference on the shock the drivetrain experiences. That was my whole point of entering this thread.


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[Based]

Would getting my motor mounts (sides and RMM) and my transmission mount filled help it any? In terms of damaging something during launches.