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Alberta FiST - Mods - Driving Impressions - Plans

Messages
65
Likes
4
Location
Calgary
#1
Hey Guys,

We in Alberta have a unique set of needs from our cars.
The inclement weather, the straight flat roads, the general lack of racetracks in our province, etc.

What have you noticed about your car that you like the most?

What would you like to improve / change?

Have you found an area where the car is lacking?

What are your plans?
 


OP
Slimer
Messages
65
Likes
4
Location
Calgary
Thread Starter #2
First, I love the FiST.
But i have noticed that it rides a bit too stiff for my liking. Guys rocking coilovers have less impact coming through the car than we do.
Of course with that said, I am very happy that Ford is producing a car that is this focused and "hardcore" out of the box.

I went to an autocross and ordered a Steeda rear sway bar immediately as i wanted to dial out a bit of the low speed understeer.
I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Pierce Motorsports Lower Tie Bar and Strut Brace as i hear they tighten up the front end in a big way.
I have also ordered a set of H&R springs. They are more in line with the FiST's damping as it is overly tight for the coils out of the factory.
I have added a Magnaflow muffler that i welded in myself and will be cutting out the resonator and replacing it with a test pipe as it restricts the sound a lot.
I have ordered a Dead Hook Motorsports Sound Symposer Delete because its just way too much with an exhaust on the car.
I have the Ford Dealer Tire warranty so ill be keeping the Potenza's on as they will be replacing my first set for free. I find the Potenzas ok for the street but they are not sticky enough for the track IMO.
I will also be leaving the brakes alone as the extended service plan replaces them for free until 100,000km. Also, i think the factory brakes are a strong area of the car.
I will be adding Dyna-Mat to the spare tire area as the exhaust noise isnt fazed by the tin between the muffler and me ;)
I want to add a boost gauge and will do a write up on that plan and its execution.
I will be getting tint done this spring as well (does anyone know a good place to go?)

I decided to get the Chassis sorted out on mine before i added any power. I intend to go with the Cobb Stage III ProTune and a Garrett GTX2860R turbo.

http://www.atpturbo.com/root/releases/images/release040314/ATP_FIESTA_ST_GTX2867R_310WHP.JPG
http://www.atpturbo.com/mm5/merchan...tp&Product_Code=ATP-FIE-009&Category_Code=FIE

Also i think that our cars desperately need an LSD. There are a few write ups on this forum regarding them. I drive my car hard all the time if im honest and i blew off a set of tires in about 10,000km partly because of wheelspin out of corners and partly because if you drive the car hard you are tiptoeing on the front tires a lot and burning them up. An LSD would help half of this problem and FINALLY LET ME PUT THE POWER DOWN!!! [wink]

Im sure there are some things im forgetting but i wanted to get the conversation started.
 


Messages
127
Likes
36
Location
Prince George
#3
While I'm one province to the west, I have some observations about our car:

- I live in Prince George, which gets a lot of snow. This is my second winter in the car, and it does pretty well! Sometimes slow to get rolling; I have a tougher time finding the optimal throttle level to avoid wheelspin.

- I love the look of the car on lower springs, but since this is my DD, I need to keep some level of practicality, and think that it would be a bad idea to lower the car due to our winters.

- heated seats are great. I wish we had a heated steering wheel.

- I've been waiting so long for Rally Armour mud flaps. If I'd have known that it was going to take one-and-a-half winters before they release theirs, I would have gone with RokBlokz September 2013..

Current modifications: leather shift boot and arm rest cover from RedLine Goods, shorty antenna from eBay, mountune short shift kit. Tint, Fiesta de-badge.

Upcoming modifications: moutune high flow induction hose (waiting at home), wing riser kit from Boomba Racing (en route), shifter base bushing from Boomba Racing (en route), shifter cable bracket bushings from Boomba Racing (en route), oval weighted shift knob from Boomba Racing (en route).

Wishlist: Cobb catback exhaust (waiting for spring 2015 - if mountune don't have theirs released to compare, I am going Cobb), mountune FMIC. mountune MP215.
 


OP
Slimer
Messages
65
Likes
4
Location
Calgary
Thread Starter #4
This is my second winter in the car, and it does pretty well! Sometimes slow to get rolling; I have a tougher time finding the optimal throttle level to avoid wheelspin.
LOL I have the same issue!
What tire / rim combo are you running?

Also thanks for joining in on the conversation, I certainly hope folks from all over join in ;)
 


Messages
69
Likes
5
Location
Toronto
#5
Do either of you have the Accesport with stage 1 installed? I have it installed on my car now and the only concern I have ever had is with the tune and how it will respond to extreme cold. Would either of you know if it can cause problems.

As of now the coldest has been -20 and everything seemed fine though it did sound a bit different at idle.
 


Messages
221
Likes
16
Location
south shore, montreal
#6
Hi slimer, are you sure about the tire warranty? When i ask the dealer about it he told me it was only the mouting, balancing and rotation not the tire itself that was waranty?? Nice post by the way
 


OP
Slimer
Messages
65
Likes
4
Location
Calgary
Thread Starter #7
Hi slimer, are you sure about the tire warranty? When i ask the dealer about it he told me it was only the mouting, balancing and rotation not the tire itself that was waranty?? Nice post by the way
My Dealer, (the nice team at Northstar Ford in Calgary) have a DEALER backed offer where you can burn through as many sets as you can in the first year and they will replace them. I read the contract and it has very little around Terms and Conditions and mentions nothing about abuse.

So, I will get 1 free set of Potenzas replaced for free. Im hard on tires but im not doing brake stands for fun.
 


OP
Slimer
Messages
65
Likes
4
Location
Calgary
Thread Starter #8
Do either of you have the Accesport with stage 1 installed? I have it installed on my car now and the only concern I have ever had is with the tune and how it will respond to extreme cold. Would either of you know if it can cause problems.

As of now the coldest has been -20 and everything seemed fine though it did sound a bit different at idle.
I dont have any ECU mods yet. But i can sy that my car will fire up at -30 and then after 2 minutes die. I refire it and it runs fine after that.
In my experience the 1.6 Turbo doesnt enjoy cold starts below -15. With that said, it runs like a champ as long as it stays warm. The only thing it does otherwise is idle high if you are stuck in traffic and its quite cold out.
 


Messages
127
Likes
36
Location
Prince George
#9
LOL I have the same issue!
What tire / rim combo are you running?

Also thanks for joining in on the conversation, I certainly hope folks from all over join in ;)

I'm using Bridgestone Blizzaks on steel wheels.

I haven't done anything to my ECU, either, although when I do it'll likely be the mtune from mountune with their MP215.

I had heater blower issues but that was fixed by warranty-approved TSB by Ford.

No issues starting up in the cold, no shutdowns after ignition, etc.
 


Messages
14
Likes
1
Location
Edmonton
#12
Yeah, I was told once I switched my winters back on that the summers will likely only have one more season on them. Two seasons.
The stock tires have a 140 tread wear, so based on regular rotating and proper pressures, the tires are only rated to last about 16,000 km. Any type of spirited driving would see that number decrease. (calculation was 1.4x7200 miles... http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=48 )
I have no doubt that I will wear through most of the tread on the cheap-o winter tires before spring. I am fine with replacing the winters after 1 or 2 seasons, there is really nothing that compares to a fresh set of winter tires, the rubber seems much stickier.
 


Messages
127
Likes
36
Location
Prince George
#13
The stock tires have a 140 tread wear, so based on regular rotating and proper pressures, the tires are only rated to last about 16,000 km. Any type of spirited driving would see that number decrease. (calculation was 1.4x7200 miles... http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=48 )
I have no doubt that I will wear through most of the tread on the cheap-o winter tires before spring. I am fine with replacing the winters after 1 or 2 seasons, there is really nothing that compares to a fresh set of winter tires, the rubber seems much stickier.
Thanks for that tool, I wasn't aware of that formula. That sounds just about right! I just passed 18,000km total, and drive it way less in the winter. At the end of next summer it will likely have around 16,000 km of summer use.

Cool.
 


OP
Slimer
Messages
65
Likes
4
Location
Calgary
Thread Starter #14
The stock tires have a 140 tread wear, so based on regular rotating and proper pressures, the tires are only rated to last about 16,000 km. Any type of spirited driving would see that number decrease. (calculation was 1.4x7200 miles... http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=48 )
So whats interesting about that calculation is that manufacturers create that rating on their own with no sanctioning body to regulate them.
In fact, some manufacturers have increase the treadwear to make sure their tires are available for competition within certain regulations.
I recently was reading on this.... if only i could remember where.... if i find it i will post the link.
 


Messages
167
Likes
56
Location
Sherwood Park
#15
Picked my car up today, drove it 4 KM's to my garage and it will sit until April. I have a company car so will let the Alberta roads beat it up this winter and save the FIST for the warm months.
Kills me a bit not to be driving it, but happy I don't have to submit it to rock chip hell this winter.
So mods will be getting the MP 215 I already have installed this spring, full 3M (as we never totally gravel free even in the summer).

That will be about it for me. Will be keeping this car pretty stock as I have suffered 'mod remorse' on other cars and determined not to go down that road again.
 


Messages
14
Likes
1
Location
Edmonton
#16
Picked my car up today, drove it 4 KM's to my garage and it will sit until April. I have a company car so will let the Alberta roads beat it up this winter and save the FIST for the warm months.
Kills me a bit not to be driving it, but happy I don't have to submit it to rock chip hell this winter.
So mods will be getting the MP 215 I already have installed this spring, full 3M (as we never totally gravel free even in the summer).

That will be about it for me. Will be keeping this car pretty stock as I have suffered 'mod remorse' on other cars and determined not to go down that road again.
Good to hear you finally got your car. Keep us up to speed on your MP215 purchase and install, I am very interested in the upgrade myself. I would most likely purchase and get it installed at SP Ford.
 


Messages
384
Likes
135
Location
Calgary
#17
My winter mod is a heated garage, haha

Basically my FiST is parked until the spring, and at that time I will pick up some new wheels and tires for autocross. Aside from that, no changes to the car so I can stay in H-Street this year.

I did order the short shifter, but it will stay in the box as it is apparently an illegal mod for autoX, lol
 


OP
Slimer
Messages
65
Likes
4
Location
Calgary
Thread Starter #18
Phreak, if your class allows it, look into a sway bar. You wont regret it.
 


Messages
221
Likes
16
Location
south shore, montreal
#19
My winter mod is a heated garage, haha

Basically my FiST is parked until the spring, and at that time I will pick up some new wheels and tires for autocross. Aside from that, no changes to the car so I can stay in H-Street this year.

I did order the short shifter, but it will stay in the box as it is apparently an illegal mod for autoX, lol
what brand of short shidter? and do you want to sell it?
 


Messages
384
Likes
135
Location
Calgary
#20
It is a Boomba adapter

If you are local you can buy it from me, I paid 119.60 USD including shipping (so like 140$ CAD).

I will put it in at some point, but I don't want to screw up my classification for autocross this summer, so maybe in the Fall.
 


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