2014 Ford Fiesta ST project

[razorlab]

Project updates:

E30 tuning

E45 tuning

Wilwood front brake upgrade and Bilstein coilovers install

Airtec FMIC upgrade

Airtec FMIC data

Airtec FMIC upgrade additional logging data

E30 Track tune

BC Coilover review

Track tires and wheels

Thunderhill Track day #1 in the FiST

Track day data

Thunderhill track day #2 10-26-2014

Ethanol % hardware 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.

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

 

[razorlab]

So I've been learning the ECU. Using COBB Accessport with Race Tuner software.

It's very complex. Very very, VERY. Still a bunch to learn and figure out but so far the car is making pretty good gains but I think I might have it tapped out 100% stock. Pushing it more than this made it very cranky and inconsistent so I'll probably pull it back a little until I upgrade the FMIC and get some more flow modifications.

91 oct.

 

[koozy]

Nice, looking forward to your progress and updates.

 

[MOFiST]

Nice work! Solid gains there! Nice tidy wheels you have as well.

 

[envyist]

Nice work! Solid gains there! Nice tidy wheels you have as well.

This^ and thank you for sharing your results they look very solid. Imo the more people with experience who tweak/tune this car the better off those of us interested in gaining more performance will be. Curious to your driving impressions now that you've had it for a while? Also what is your mod path/plan?

 

[iso100]

Good stuff! I'm having trouble reading your dyno though.

The dotted lines are boost, right? If so, it seems the blue isn't getting boost.

And, if dotted is boost, then solid must be AFR. Seems really odd that the stock (blue) AFR is so lean at 13.3:1 for so much of the rev range. Perhaps I'm reading it wrong?

 

[Sourskittle]

Cobb wrote in a thread once that ford makes it run that lean from the factory for mileage/emissions. Cobb adds fuel for a bit of cooling to help with extra heat from adding extra timing. But that is an old thread that I can't even remember what it was about.

I'm friends with one of the guys that had a pre-production "fiesta movement" car, and Ford told him the car was tuned for max fuel mileage, and had power left in the ecu.

Looks good Razor, where are you located ?

 

[airjor13]

Looking Good!

 

[razorlab]

Dotted lines are boost and solid are AFR. Blue AFR is stock and red is mine. Stock AFR is around 12.7 until 5400.

Blue dotted boost is stock and red is mine.

Same with HP/TQ. Blue solid (hp) and dotted (tq) is stock, red is mine.

Good stuff! I'm having trouble reading your dyno though.

The dotted lines are boost, right? If so, it seems the blue isn't getting boost.

And, if dotted is boost, then solid must be AFR. Seems really odd that the stock (blue) AFR is so lean at 13.3:1 for so much of the rev range. Perhaps I'm reading it wrong?

 

[razorlab]

So I'm running the car a little leaner now at cruise and light throttle. From 14.7 to 14.9.

Surprisingly, on my morning commute today, my MPG went from around 29 to 30.5 which is pretty damn good. Should be interesting to see what the full tank averages out to be.

 

[ryst]

Count me in as super excited someone on the forums is tuning with Accesstuner.

I assume your tune is based on the Cobb Stage 1, how much were you able to gain over the Cobb tune? Are you tuning on a Dyno or just logged street pulls?

 

[Kip2MyLou]

I about to buy new tires for my car and was wondering why you went from the stock 40 to 45? And why you choose to keep the stock 205 and not go beefer with a 215 or maybe 225? I heard the car handles better with 215s and 225s, unless I'm not understanding the facts. Ha.

 

[razorlab]

I about to buy new tires for my car and was wondering why you went from the stock 40 to 45? And why you choose to keep the stock 205 and not go beefer with a 215 or maybe 225? I heard the car handles better with 215s and 225s, unless I'm not understanding the facts. Ha.

Purely because I wanted S04's for daily tires and they don't come in 205/40/17 and I wasn't sure if 215's would fit.

 

[razorlab]

Count me in as super excited someone on the forums is tuning with Accesstuner.

I assume your tune is based on the Cobb Stage 1, how much were you able to gain over the Cobb tune? Are you tuning on a Dyno or just logged street pulls?

COBB Stage 1, like you can see in dyno charts already shared online, basically tapers down to stock after the low and midrange gains. Perfectly fine for a OTS map but obviously gains to be made from custom tuning. I also tuned out a bunch of low end torque from COBB stage 1 because I like traction.

 

[razorlab]

Bilstein Coilovers showed up today. Currently trunk mounted.

 

[razorlab]

Put in some E85 on the way home today, now the real fun starts.

 

[ryst]

Are you able to see injector duty cycle with Accesstuner (from the logs) ? I figure that's a big step on the way to an E85 tune. Also woo hoo for e85 tunes!

 

[razorlab]

Are you able to see injector duty cycle with Accesstuner (from the logs) ? I figure that's a big step on the way to an E85 tune. Also woo hoo for e85 tunes!

Yup, PW per injector, among many other things:

https://cobb.app.box.com/ford-monitor-list

 

[razorlab]

Welp, this little guy is seriously waking up with Ethanol!

I logged a bit on my commute to work this morning after tweaking the tune a little bit last night. Got the LTFT/STFT back in line and adding some timing. Feels like a proper turbocharged car now. Can't wait to do more tweaking.

Here is a log with a brief 3rd gear WOT to around 5,200 rpm or so:

http://datazap.me/u/razorlab/fist-e...1-12-13-14-15-18&solo=2-4-9-13-15&zoom=89-139

Good news is the HPFP looks like it's keeping up no problem at E30 level so far.

 

[razorlab]

LTFT/STFT still in line. Car feels much stronger with Ethanol (not a surprise).

I'll get some power numbers up this weekend.

This little guy loves Ethanol