New FiST Owner! Already ordered whoosh FMIC. What mods next?

[alexm1397]

Hey! I just bought a '17 Fiesta ST, with 4,100miles on the clock basically brand new. I am absolutely in love with the car, I've always been a 90's honda/acura guy until now.
Anyways I ordered a Whoosh FMIC and a Cobb rear motor mount after talking to some fellow ST owners. I have read that our little engines are good for around 385 whp and 425 tq, correct me if im wrong but I want to eventually make around 300whp. I have a daily driver but I want to make sure its reliable. I want to be able to take weekend road trips and still get to work monday, actually thats the reason I bought this over a Miata (backseat space). I am looking at a cobb accessport next. I am thinking about a custom 93 tune from stratified. I would jump to e85 but i'm too lazy for an e30 blend.
I guess what problems should I look out for and what should I do next on my road to a reliable 300hp?? Thanks!

 

[D1JL]

Dave

 

[Flaco]

Welcome, you've got a good plan. There is plenty of info here just do a search and read on. You can amuse yourself for hours and hours.

 

[XanRules]

300whp will require an upgraded turbo. You should definitely get a tune, you would be astounded at how much it wakes the car up and how sandbagged the motor is from the factory. Next "no brainer" mods imo would be a short shift plate/adapter and powerflex motor and transmission mount bushings. Intakes are very minimal power adders on these cars, exhaust is not restrictive until you start pushing a lot more air through a bigger turbo than stock.

 

[DieselMech]

Add step colder plugs to your list as well Denso ITV22 or NGK 6510 gapped to .026 in. Even just a flash tune will do wonders for your car


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[DieselMech]

Also forgot to mention, look into doing a drain and fill for your trans. Not uncommon for these to come under filled. Personally recommend ravenol or BG synchro shift. Car needs approximately 2.1 liters, literally takes less time than an oil change.


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[Spork1569]

Also forgot to mention, look into doing a drain and fill for your trans. Not uncommon for these to come under filled. Personally recommend ravenol or BG synchro shift. Car needs approximately 2.1 liters, literally takes less time than an oil change.


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Agreed, one of the cheaper mods you can feel almost immediately. Do the shift plate and bushings if you're willing to disassemble your car a little, the shift feeling is like night and day.

I would prioritize an Accessport and Upgraded turbo if that's your end goal for HP. Like others have said there's a ton of info to read up around here and a lot of knowledgeable people that were once in your shoes.

Lastly to OP welcome to the forums and it's a great looking ride. I have a shadow black '16 without the black wheels but love the way they look.

 

[FocusedSlayer]

Welcome aboard , very very very helpful people here and it's a great place to stay BROKE almost all the time

 

[Dpro]

Congrats and Welcome.

 

[John9851]

Welcome !!!!!!!

 

[ron@whoosh]

Hey! I just bought a '17 Fiesta ST, with 4,100miles on the clock basically brand new. I am absolutely in love with the car, I've always been a 90's honda/acura guy until now.
Anyways I ordered a Whoosh FMIC and a Cobb rear motor mount after talking to some fellow ST owners. I have read that our little engines are good for around 385 whp and 425 tq, correct me if im wrong but I want to eventually make around 300whp. I have a daily driver but I want to make sure its reliable. I want to be able to take weekend road trips and still get to work monday, actually thats the reason I bought this over a Miata (backseat space). I am looking at a cobb accessport next. I am thinking about a custom 93 tune from stratified. I would jump to e85 but i'm too lazy for an e30 blend.
I guess what problems should I look out for and what should I do next on my road to a reliable 300hp?? Thanks!

congrats on the new ride and thank you for the purchase!
if you want to discuss your mod path ro 300whp, please give me a call to discuss 6103342158

385whp is pushing it on the stock equipment. 350-360whp is really the "safe" zone before things start breaking
300whp can be had with just a hybrid or alternate turbo upgrade with a few bolt ons
the COBB accessport is needed with custom tuning to reach the numbers you want. I'd suggest Tune Plus, JST, or Dizzy Tuning for quick turn around and best results
Straight e85 is not possible on the Fiesta. Even with aux fuel kits added the most we typically use is e50. Stock fuel system e30 is all you need to get the most power out of your Fiesta.

 

[OneFord]

Stock fuel system e30 is all you need to get the most power out of your Fiesta.

So without an AUX fuel system you can run an e30 tune on the stocker? What gains would one see on a full Cobb S3 bolt-on with Whoosh hybrid running e30 over 93 tune?

 

[alexm1397]

Ordered powerflex upper engine and tranny inserts, and the arp bolt kit from whoosh. Ive been reading up on oil catch cans and I think that may come before my cobbAP. I read that the 16+ has better seperation but an occ would still help yes? Looking at the damand kit, with vta? (vent to atmosphere?)

My FiST only has 4k miles but i really want to take the best care of it i can to make sure she lasts lol. My first non-rust bucket 😅😂

 

[alexm1397]

congrats on the new ride and thank you for the purchase!
....
Straight e85 is not possible on the Fiesta. Even with aux fuel kits added the most we typically use is e50. Stock fuel system e30 is all you need to get the most power out of your Fiesta.

Also thanks everyone for such a warm welcome.
Just curious why is it we cant run straight e85? Is the stock fuel system really enough for e30? I dont want to run the fuel pump at say 95% max cap and burn it up down the road. I plan on taking the slow, safe an expensive route to get to 300whp!

 

[DieselMech]

Ordered powerflex upper engine and tranny inserts, and the arp bolt kit from whoosh. Ive been reading up on oil catch cans and I think that may come before my cobbAP. I read that the 16+ has better seperation but an occ would still help yes? Looking at the damand kit, with vta? (vent to atmosphere?)

My FiST only has 4k miles but i really want to take the best care of it i can to make sure she lasts lol. My first non-rust bucket [emoji28][emoji23]

I’ve used Damond parts before and they are good quality, no need with a stock turbo to goo vta imo


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[Xaendeau]

Also thanks everyone for such a warm welcome.
Just curious why is it we cant run straight e85? Is the stock fuel system really enough for e30? I dont want to run the fuel pump at say 95% max cap and burn it up down the road. I plan on taking the slow, safe an expensive route to get to 300whp!

OEM fueling is capped out somewhere around 315 Wheel HP on 93 octane. We have two primary fuel pumps. The first is the low pressure fuel pump in the gas tank. That is like every other vehicle, fuel psi is like under 100 psi. We have a secondary high pressure fuel pump that is driven off the cam shaft on top of the motor. That fuel pump can put out something like 2500-3000 psi. For E85 you need something like 30%+ more flow.

There isn't much benefits to be had running past around ~45% ethanol on this platform. People have tuned and dynoed from 20% ethanol all the way up to straight E85. You need aux port or thorttle body injection past 315 wheel HP on 93. That limit is lower on ethanol. Also with a large enough turbo and port injection, the engine is perfectly stable on 93 octane to nuke itself from sheer thermal stress around 400 HP. Safe zone for this motor is sub-365 wheel HP. Once you start getting into the high 300s and into 400+ HP the motor is going to need pistons, they tend to fail first. Not bad for an OEM 1.6L motor...it is actually quite nuts.

The direct injection works a little differently than port injected motors. On my Fiesta, I've got a small aftermarket turbo that is pushing 26 psi at redline and puts out around 300 wheel HP on this tiny 1.6L motor in cool weather. Direct injection runs better high boost than port injected motors. They just knock...less from what I've seen in tuning vehicles. Another vehicle I'm working on right now is port injected and limited on 93 octane to around 330 HP at around 22-23 psi. It is a 15% larger motor than the fiesta and is running lower compression 8.5:1 forged pistons instead of 10:1 factory cast in the Fiesta ST. Has a much lower power limit, despite larger displacement and lower compression pistons. The Fiesta survives longer with a higher power output on worse internals.

Direct injection is just magic.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

Someone needs to slap a second engine/transaxle into the back of a fist for a twin turbo 3.2 liter 8 cylinder all wheel drive fist

 

[Xaendeau]

Ordered powerflex upper engine and tranny inserts, and the arp bolt kit from whoosh. Ive been reading up on oil catch cans and I think that may come before my cobbAP. I read that the 16+ has better seperation but an occ would still help yes? Looking at the damand kit, with vta? (vent to atmosphere?)

My FiST only has 4k miles but i really want to take the best care of it i can to make sure she lasts lol. My first non-rust bucket 😅😂

In most performance communities, the general consensus is that the most important job of a catch can is to catch atomized oil vapors and combustion byproducts to prevent them from getting into the combustion chamber. These atomized vapors have a low octane, which means they can encourage knock. This is what a catch can does. This is a fact. Another fact is that the Fiesta ST doe not have any real knock issues, catch can or not. Some platforms are knock limited. Fiesta is fueling limited, then limited by having non-forged pistons above 350 wheel HP.

Here is where people start to disagree. We have two PCV pipes and once CCV pipe. If you want to get most the oil, you would have to run three catch cans in those locations. That is not feasible to the majority of owners. I am a scientist by trade, but right now I'm working as a mechanic and as an automotive performance..."consultant" right now. Been doing mechanic stuff on and off to put myself through college for around 6 years. I am under the philosophy that redline a day, keeps the mechanic away. I haven't added any catch cans because I don't see the point in this particular platform with this particular motor. However, I did add an oil cap valve cover breather with a check valve to vent excess crank case that I'd see under pressure under 25-26 psi of boost. I have not seen any evidence that shows that catch cans stop carbon build up on the back of intake valves. Some oil film will always sneak past.

You know what does work to prevent carbon buildup on the intake valves? Driving the hell out of your car. Running a water/methanol injection kit. Adding aftermarket port or throttle body AUX fuel injection. Doing proper maintenance on your car and running good oil as well. I'm driving one of the higher miles Fiesta ST with an aftermarket turbo out there. I've got to do my timing belt servicing soon. Once the oil warms up after about 10 minutes of driving, my fiancee and I tend to drive the hell out of the car. We don't have any carbon buildup issues, I've checked with a boroscope. The engine still has great compression last time we did a compression check. We are running water/alcohol injection using methanol, ethanol, or isopropol...just kinda depends what we have access to that month. After running a water/alcohol kit, we have even less carbon build up issues. I just don't see any yet. However, I will probably take the intake off again and check the intake valves when my car is down for the timing belt. It isn't just me though. Other major performance vendors have come to similar conclusions.

http://stratifiedauto.com/blog/understanding-your-pcv-system-upgrades-and-catch-cans/
"A. They do not stop carbon buildup on the back of valves in DI (direct injected cars). We have seen this time and time again and this is because some oil film still makes its way past the catch cans just like it does past the OEM catch cans. Further, flow reversion during engine operation still brings in oil over the valves. The most effective methods at preventing carbon buildup are: 1. Using high quality oils (some are being designed for DI operation specifically), 2. changing the oil often, 3. driving the cars hard to maintain high valve temperatures (yes having fun!) 4. and if possible running secondary injection across the intake valves which washes them clean and which more and more OEMs are starting to use."

Now I will be the first to admit, I have tons of oil in the intake system and intercooler. If I go on a road trip after about 5-10 hours on cruise control I'll get some water/oil condensate mixture in the bottom of my massive intercooler. If I go into full boost, above 4.5k RPM it will actually blow through the intercooler and run it through the motor. I've logged this event and it doesn't seen causes knock or harm. It just seems like the motor hesitates for a moment and then I don't have any issues for at least another 5-10 hours.