New guy on the block, looking for recommendations!

[doritoboy100]

Hello everyone!

I just scooped a 2018 Ford Fiesta ST, and I want to wake it up and make it a very fun little daily.

I would like to stick with stock turbo and fuel system for now, however I will plan to upgrade this eventually for a stage 2 (turbo) and 3 (fuel) build.

I have been told both the Intercooler and Radiator are subpar for even OEM, as well as the rear motor mount, is there anything else that should be upgraded to improve the vehicle's reliability?

From you guy's experience, what brands are recommended for the following items?

1. Radiator, (Is it recommended to also get the upgraded "Race" thermostat that opens at 160?)
2. Radiator hoses,
3. Intercooler,
4. Intercooler plumbing,
5. Intake, (Is a drop in filter enough for stock turbo, or will a Short ram or full cold air perform better before the turbo upgrade? It might make more sense to go ahead and prepare for the future, right?)
6. Exhaust, (Cat back only? or downpipe as well? or should downpipe only be done with the turbo upgrade?) (And is 3" functional for stock turbo, same situation, prepare for the future lol)
7. Rear motor mount,
8. Suspension, (I keep seeing Bilstein B6 shocks/struts, but is there a specific spring that is recommended as well? I do not want to lower it as it sits perfectly IMO now. Is there a coilover set that is better than the B6 + springs?) (Other that struts and springs, are there other suspension components that require upgrading? I keep seeing sway bars on websites, are the OEM sway bars not good?)
9. Brakes,
10. Tuning, (I have been advised to get the Cobb Motorsports Access-port for tuning, but not to use the rest of their products as they do not perform as well as similar price point or cheaper brands, and that their rear motor mount's fail prematurely due to rigidity.)
11. Wheels/tires. (I have read people saying they go down to 15s for more sidewall, which would definitely be more comfortable for daily driving, is there a specific size/offset that you recommend?)

Thank you guys in advance! I will continue reading through other's builds on this site and see what I can scrounge up.

 

[daloonie]

1. Radiator is only needed if you track the car hard at stock or stock tuned in warmer climates. When you go bigger turbo, an upgrade is a very good idea. I have no real oppinion on the thermostat.
2. Radiator hoses are cosmetic. If they're not worn, cracked etc and are keeping dry, don't bother.
3. Yes, the intake temps will improve with a good intercooler. Size depends on if you want to futureproof for big turbo. I know people on here are happy with Whoosh products https://whoosh-motorsports.myshopif...ta-st-v2-whoosh-brand-front-mount-intercooler
A full height intercooler is not needed on stock turbo and I doubt at all when below 350-400whp.
4. More noise, more flow, yes please. Hot side you remove the resonator which gives you more turbo noises. The cold side can be had with or without sound symposer take-off delete. I would recommend at least a hot side upgrade.
5. Drop in filter is a good start. The airbox has good flow and good protection against the elements. An ST200 upgrade is a possibility, but imho not needed.
6. Turbo back is preferable for big turbo. Stock cat is 2.5" and most aftermarket cat-back's are 3". For specific sounds there are many videos with sounds of the different cat-/turbo-back exhausts. It's a personal choice how much noise you want and what brand.
7. Depends on how much NVH you are willing to put up with. I use the Powerflex bushes in the stock mount and the NVH increase was minimal if even noticeable. It improved wheelhop.
8. Drive it as it is, if you want to change then change. But feel out the stock setup first before making a change.
9. Pads and fluid if you track it. I use EBC Yellow stuff and stock size rotors and they stop very well. Not as immidiate as stock ford pads, but more bite under heavier braking. This is my experience.
10. Hard to say, others more local to you will have more informed oppinions.
11. 15's are so small. I bet 16's would be an easier choice in both tires and rims. 16x8 ET35-40 should do you fine with 215/45r16 or 205/45r16. Around 20-25mm more poke which should give you a good flush fit.

 

[Dpro]

1. Alabama hmm , I would say do the radiator, stock has plastic end tanks and those suck. It’s not crazy priced either unless you buy a Mishimoto or a Mountune not on sale. Look around Whoosh sells their own version.
2.
Intake is on you I run a COBB carb legal 3 inch the biggest on the market. I also have a larger turbo . Stock with an upgraded filter is fine . The crossover pipe is were you can gain a little. Whoosh has their own. Though not much to be gained beyond hearing more engine/turbo sounds.
3. Intercooler is wise because the stock one heat soaks after pushing it in about 10-15 mintues of spirited driving and takes another 15-20 to cool down. You will gain back power lost by upgrading. A Whoosh is an affordable way to go. Unless you find a deal on a used one. Whoosh V1 is ideal for stock upgrade and can be used with a hybrid or turbo upgrade as well though some move to the Whoosh V3 which is larger.
4 Hot side pipe is a good one to do and you can pick up used ones for like $40 cheap and easy and you will start hearing the Turbo and BPV more.

5 . RMM and passenger side mount and possible drivers mount , forgot Powerflex they suck ,most people that run them initially wind up swapping them out for a better product down the road. So many companies make RMM it all depends on what you want to spend and amount of NVH you might get or be able to tolerate . I run the much respected VibraTechnics on all of mine they are an upgraded rubber vs urethane that most companies use. . First off though the two most important to do though are RMM as the stock one is wimpy and lets your engine jump back under loads. The passenger side one helps if you have a tune and more as the stock one was never designed to handle more than stock. It helps mitigate TQ steer a bit.
6. Exhaust main reason for doing exhaust is the minute you eliminate the sound symposer with stock exhaust the car is dead quite like you can’t hear the exhaust at all. 😂 Some people go ghetto and cut out the stock resonator of course that will usually cause a drone. Exhausts are like go cheap get a drone type setup. Spend some money get a nice flowing drone less setup that sounds really good and makes the car sound business. Performance wise you don’t really gain things . It does not stop most of us . Its really personal preference thing.
7. Brakes are dependent on you read up on them and learn I drove on factory pads for awhile before going down the upgrade path.
8. Suspension and tires , stock suspension is over damped going to 16’s with a tire that has more shoulder will help a ton. Going after springs and shocks or coilovers helps as well. Will ride much better either way and still retain great handling.
9. Even though it’s 9 an Access Port and a Tune really wakes the car up but I think you already gathered that.
10. In the end you could skip a lot of the money spent on intakes , hot pipes , crossover pipes , tune etc.. and just bolt on a S280 turbo setup. The car will drive like it came from the factory down low and when rolling easy on the gas but the minute you start to lay into it will just fly and make you giggle like a child. Ya it’s that fun and yes I run that and have for several years now and it does not get old.

 

[Bull Run]

10. In the end you could skip a lot of the money spent on intakes , hot pipes , crossover pipes , tune etc.. and just bolt on a S280 turbo setup. The car will drive like it came from the factory down low and when rolling easy on the gas but the minute you start to lay into it will just fly and make you giggle like a child. Ya it’s that fun and yes I run that and have for several years now and it does not get old.

What he said. I did all the pipes on the stock turbo and they didn't much of difference over just the IC and tune. S280 will pull hard until the redline and completely change how the car accelerates even just on 91 oct. Go WMI and/or E30+ and even the 3rd gear will start to feel squirrelly with traction with regular tires.

 

[shabbyman]

Hello everyone!

I just scooped a 2018 Ford Fiesta ST, and I want to wake it up and make it a very fun little daily.

I would like to stick with stock turbo and fuel system for now, however I will plan to upgrade this eventually for a stage 2 (turbo) and 3 (fuel) build.

I have been told both the Intercooler and Radiator are subpar for even OEM, as well as the rear motor mount, is there anything else that should be upgraded to improve the vehicle's reliability?

From you guy's experience, what brands are recommended for the following items?

1. Radiator, (Is it recommended to also get the upgraded "Race" thermostat that opens at 160?)
2. Radiator hoses,
3. Intercooler,
4. Intercooler plumbing,
5. Intake, (Is a drop in filter enough for stock turbo, or will a Short ram or full cold air perform better before the turbo upgrade? It might make more sense to go ahead and prepare for the future, right?)
6. Exhaust, (Cat back only? or downpipe as well? or should downpipe only be done with the turbo upgrade?) (And is 3" functional for stock turbo, same situation, prepare for the future lol)
7. Rear motor mount,
8. Suspension, (I keep seeing Bilstein B6 shocks/struts, but is there a specific spring that is recommended as well? I do not want to lower it as it sits perfectly IMO now. Is there a coilover set that is better than the B6 + springs?) (Other that struts and springs, are there other suspension components that require upgrading? I keep seeing sway bars on websites, are the OEM sway bars not good?)
9. Brakes,
10. Tuning, (I have been advised to get the Cobb Motorsports Access-port for tuning, but not to use the rest of their products as they do not perform as well as similar price point or cheaper brands, and that their rear motor mount's fail prematurely due to rigidity.)
11. Wheels/tires. (I have read people saying they go down to 15s for more sidewall, which would definitely be more comfortable for daily driving, is there a specific size/offset that you recommend?)

Thank you guys in advance! I will continue reading through other's builds on this site and see what I can scrounge up.

lug nuts

 

[Dialcaliper]

Most of the questions have been answered pretty well, but I’d recommend not using a “racing” thermostat and sticking with the 180C post-recall thermostat, especiallly in a street car.

Racing thermostats in their heyday were useful on cars with low pressure (<1bar/14psi) coolant systems. Lower standard operating temperature gives a bit more overhead for very brief, temporary heat spikes like stomping on the throttle, but does nothing to actually reject more heat.

Modern systems like ours (that runs up to 23psi) already have the same thing accomplished by raising the boiling point through higher pressure, and in addition, modern ecu’s are much more picky about engine temperature. If the engine is running too cool, in our case the ecu will actually dial back WOT engine performance to preserve the engine until it warms up fully (with the low temp t-stat it may never do). This is different than the old days with dumb ECUs that ran open loop at high load conditions. Low temperature would just richen fuel to try and warm the engine could be exploited by increasing airflow to make more power. It actually had very little to do with actually providing cooling overhead.

And, like always with racing thermostats, your heater will put out cooler tepid heat instead of nice warm air, and possibly reduce fuel economy.

“Racing” thermostats basically stopped being useful as a power adder once factory ECUs started using wideband 02 sensors and the electronics became fast enough to run fully closed loop, which started happening in the 00’s.

The factory recall switch to the 180C thermostat was at best a bandaid to try and eke a little more out of what is an inadequate OEM cooling originally system designed for a 120hp N/A Fiesta engine, and the only thing Ford did to limit heat input from the 1.6L ecoboost mill was restrict overboost to limited duration and maybe bump up the fan speed in hopes most drivers wouldn’t lay on it hard all the time.

 

[NOVA_Ranger]

Did basic preventive maintenance and installed a canned tune (went with Livernois Motorsports, since I've used them on 2 other vehicles) here. Only other aftermarket parts are the evap purge harness, intake tube, and a simple cone filter (all from Whoosh). All in, about $750 spent and I'd say it definitely woke the car up.