Second go around in a FiST - may it be better than the last time.

[limapalon]

Hello from South FL! Glad to be part of the Bean Team again. This time behind the wheel of a White Platinum 2018 USDM MK7 with 66k miles when I picked it up. Overpaid for it at Carmax to get a warranty.

This isn't the first time I've bought one of these, back in December 2023 I bought a 2017 in Magnetic Grey.

Which then proceeded to pop every fuse that graced the ignition coil slot, leaving me stranded with crank and no start constantly. Thanks to an assortment of... Questionable mods that included a pops and bangs tune. I found about three grand of mods in the car - and the Carfax showed a repossession.

I chucked it back at the dealer and managed to exchange it for a 2018 Civic LX 6-Speed. Drove that Civic for a year until I wrote it off in May of this year. And I wanted a clean FiST this time - which leads to my current White Bean, which I got in the last days of June and have been dailying and road tripping since.

So far, the only thing that has wrong is the clutch master cylinder because of old contaminated fluid (Likely the factory brake fluid). Got that fixed at a shop under warranty.

Why get another Fiesta ST when the previous one burned you so bad? Because that one was modded and this one is bone stock and it's obvious the previous owner didn't mess around. That's the difference between then and now.

And also... My previous car before moving to the States was a 2001 Fiesta - and I loved the hell out of that thing. This used to be Palomo:

Had this car for fifteen years. Reliable as all hell - made me believe in small Fords after a 1987 Ford Sierra burned me.

So, here I am... Anyone running EcoSport 16 inch rims? One of my black 17s are already slightly bent from a pothole

 

[scooter123]

You will find a lot of fans of the 16 inch rims. IMO that is what the car should have been delivered with and the 17 inch rims an option. Because in the Metro Detroit area you are a fool if you run 40 profile tires with a width at 205 or 215. Guys driving with 275 and larger get more sidewall and can get away with 40's. Yes I am running with 16x7 rims. Ride is vastly improved and you'll only notice a minuscule degradation in transition response at a speed that will get you a reckless driving citation if a cop sees you pulling that stuff off on public roadways.

Now for some Mods that actually make sense. Look closely and all are related to increased cooling. Because I learned way back in the 1970's that a hot engine always costs Horsepower. The first week I had my 2019 I installed a Mountune Intercooler, Mountune Radiator, and a Mountune Intake kit with the "cool" Airbox with an additional under car intake. If it's 40 degrees outside you won't see any improvement in power but get the temps into the mid 70's and higher you will not only get more power you will also find that fuel economy is improved. Note, I do NOT run a cooler thermostat because if you don't have the cooling capacity to keep the engine at 195-207 degrees a cooler thermostat is a WASTE of money. Now a note about the Fiesta ST. This is a real world result of doing some testing. This engine is temperature sensitive and produces peak power and peak fuel efficiency with the FACTORY Thermostat. Put in a cooler thermostat and you will lose both power and fuel efficiency. Thus the Mountune radiator. I have pulled a 7.5% grade on I-64 in WV in 95 degree heat and the temp gauge on the car is rock solid stable at 4 bars. With this radiator the car will only overheat if you have a coolant leak. One thing I still have to install is a water/methanol injection system. I have a kit that provides a trickle feed at low power and idle to clean the intake valves and Kroger has change their fuel supplier to one that is an Octane Cheater. This costs me an additional 1 dollar a gallon for premium that is actually 87 octane. As for how I know this, my Fiesta is very octane sensitive and 87 Octane results in a 4.5 mpg loss at 70 mph and about 45 HP at the wheels. I have learned that there are a LOT of Octane Cheaters out there, such as every single Sunoco, nearly every single BP, and forget about the Speedway and similar gas stops. BTW my hatred for Sunoco goes back to when I was towing a 5200 lbs. boat and trailer with a 1985 Monte Carlo SS. I had Edelbrock Water Vapor Injection in that car and every time I was forced into using Sunoco on the New York Thruway I had to pull over on the re-entrance ramp, pop the hood and turn the water vapor injection to Max because that was the only way to get the engine to stop knocking.

 

[limapalon]

Uprated rad is in the future after the EcoSport wheels (Haven't overheated while stock, this is my daily I'm planning to keep as OEM+ as possible). I also fill exclusively with 93 octane off Costco since I live nearby one. I'm well aware these cars can run on 87 but are sensible to it - as I've said, I've driven two of these beanlets for extended time periods and they've never felt right after a tank of 87 (Also taught me to never borrow my car to anyone).

 

[M-Sport fan]

WELCOME and CONGRATS on finding a clean, unmolested 'bean'.

What are the brand and model of wheel shown in that pic of your ill fated '17 Magnetic??

 

[limapalon]

WELCOME and CONGRATS on finding a clean, unmolested 'bean'.

What are the brand and model of wheel shown in that pic of your ill fated '17 Magnetic??

I'll be honest. All I remember is that they had no branding anywhere, but they were 17s and a made in China mark inside. Also, the lug nuts had all gone to hell (Because of course the previous owner who got repoed left the OEM lug nuts on). It was probably a replica of a more reputable wheel though.

 

[Intuit]

wanted a clean FiST this time

Yeah it's an expensive lesson that many have to learn. It can be hard to locate one that hasn't been altered or has reversals on their alterations. Welcome back.

I'm not personally a "mod" person. Really a maintenance person. I prioritize daily-driver level reliability and won't pretend to know better than the manufacturer on something unless it's dead obvious. I learned from prior experiences and observations that manufacturers intentionally run modern engines hotter for a few reasons including cleaning up the engine as well as emissions. Engine fan activation temps have increased. MY prior engines were super clean until for one reason or another they were consistently run cool/cold. (short trips are unusual for me - will bicycle for most short trips) My motorcycles aren't really engineered around year-round riding and block off a percentage of the lower radiator to provide more time in operation above thermostat full-open temp. If run cold or consistently run cool, will start to hear ignition misses creep in during startup and warm up idling.

@scooter123 - I like your post. 👍 I'm not surprised about BP. (With exception to Speedway, "Kroger" the other brands aren't too abundant here.) Never ran a dyno for official proof but over multiple vehicles it seemed like I had to rev the piss out of an engine (and still wouldn't be going anywhere) for the highway entrance ramps. I like their oil, but their fuel sucks... 😂

 

[atlantaM3]

Looks just like mine, but a lot cleaner...

Frankly, the best mods for these cars, keeping them as reliable as stock are - radiator, intercooler, $99 mountune tune.

Problem is mountune doesnt sell the radiator anymore, so need a mishimoto, koyo, or some such alternative. Talk to Ron - Ford Fiesta ST Cooling – whoosh motorsports - I want to say the CSF is the old mountune unit, but not 100% sure.

Right now I just have the mountune tune on an otherwise fully stock car, and its a riot on a tight backroad. Enough so to make me pause on installing the S280 kit for a while.

I have not personally experienced any overheating issues in normal driving, and ATL isnt exactly cool during the summer these days.

 

[M-Sport fan]

CSF absolutely manufactured the radiator for Mountune, just stamped/'bas reliefed' their logo into it for them under sub-contract.

If it were not for the paranoia created by people destroying head gaskets, and the whole open deck/upper cylinder wall problems, I would not even consider an aftermarket radiator until the crimped on, factory plastic end tanks started leaking (and they WILL eventually).

I do not live (or go anywhere for that matter) where the daily summer temps consistently reach triple digit numbers, so maybe that is the (part of the procrastination, not wanting to go through the bother/expense to install) reason why I am still on the factory unit.


But I will admit, that I do start to panic a bit when I see the summer temps climb into the 215*F and above range (even if the engineers 'designed' those type of temps into the whole system), but it ONLY happens when the car is idling, or not moving forward, as in severe stop and go traffic, and never on the road, no matter how hard I try to (legally) drive it, and no matter how torrid the ambient temp.

Of course, open tracking is a whole 'nother beast, and I am sure I would have problems after a couple of hard laps on a road course in the middle of summer, even at our (usually) sub 100*F temps here, even before the factory brakes start to fade, and the tires get 'greasy'.

Ironically, unlike everyone else's ride on here it seems, those temps do come down, quickly, as soon as I start the AC and that high fan speed kicks in, and then they do not climb after that by very much, even if driven moderately hard, as long as that fan is engaged.

Lately, it seems to take a long LONG time for the coolant to warm up to even 180* in this somewhat cold (for here) 'snap' we are currently experiencing, and that makes me fearful of installing a larger, more efficient radiator for the same exact reasons that Intuit has stated above.

The above is made even worse yet when combined with the already harmful carbon deposit 'loading up' of our intake valves, and potentially ring land destruction from LSPI inherent in our direct injected fueling system.