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Went out the the Driver's Edge event at MSR Cresson on the 4th and 5th with a slew of upgrades following the debacle at MSR Houston in November. Overheating issues at Houston taught me a lesson in patience as I spent most of my time in the pits watching Radicals lap the track. After that cooling became my main objective in order to get the Fiesta in track shape. First order of business was a bigger radiator because as you can see the stock unit is laughable. You can see it here next to the Mishimoto upgrade.
That alone probably would be enough, but just to be on the safe side I went all in with the Mishimoto Oil Cooler upgrade, along with the Deadhook crash bar, and then sanded off the covered part of the grill.
The YouTube install videos provided by Mishimoto are outstanding, and made this job 10x easier because they tell you exactly which tools youll need to the do the job, and can look in on it if you get hung up. Even better still they show you how to put it all back together!
The Deadhook crash bar looks excellent, and weighs significantly less than the stock bar. It has a roughly 4" smaller cross section, which opens up the front to the oil cooler and radiator by a significant margin. I will say that the front end doesnt quite align properly after reassembling it. Nothing lines up perfectly as it did with the stock crash bar, but thats to be expected considering how much the front of the car was altered. Everything did go back together though, just not as smoothly as before.
Sanding off the back of the grill was a brutal and arduous task. It took me the better part of 5 hours to get the front end taken apart, and get that plastic sanded off the back. I wouldnt do it again, but with that said it looks great, and I can only imagine it helps it breathe much better.
After all that I got it out to the track where I ran into a couple of other ST drivers and an endless see of Mustangs and Corvettes. It went around the track roughly 70-80 times and had no issues with overheating at all. Coolant temperatures generally hovered in the mid to high 190s, but did peak at 212 at one point. Limp mode never engaged though, and I was able to push it hard from a revs standpoint which I could not even remotely do at Houston. Job done!
Ive also put the Mountune MR230 kit on it (minus the backordered exhaust and downpipe), and and was running Bridgestone RE-11s on Ford Racing wheels. The MR230 kit isnt an overwhelming upgrade, but definitely helps the Fiesta ST keep pace, and really lets you fly out of the corners. I plan on putting it on the dyno after the exhaust comes in and getting some actual numbers on how much the upgrade has helped. The RE-11s were significantly better than the stock Potenzas and helped the cornering noticably. The wear wasnt too bad, and should make it multiple more events.
I ran the stock brakes with Motul 660 fluid and had no issues with fade at all. In fairness though I wasnt really stomping on the brakes until late on the second day, but they held up very well. I have the Mountune RS-R upgrade for the stock brakes give way, but as long as the stock pads/rotors continue to perform then Ill keep working them. Next up is back to MSR Houston in May!
That alone probably would be enough, but just to be on the safe side I went all in with the Mishimoto Oil Cooler upgrade, along with the Deadhook crash bar, and then sanded off the covered part of the grill.
The YouTube install videos provided by Mishimoto are outstanding, and made this job 10x easier because they tell you exactly which tools youll need to the do the job, and can look in on it if you get hung up. Even better still they show you how to put it all back together!
The Deadhook crash bar looks excellent, and weighs significantly less than the stock bar. It has a roughly 4" smaller cross section, which opens up the front to the oil cooler and radiator by a significant margin. I will say that the front end doesnt quite align properly after reassembling it. Nothing lines up perfectly as it did with the stock crash bar, but thats to be expected considering how much the front of the car was altered. Everything did go back together though, just not as smoothly as before.
Sanding off the back of the grill was a brutal and arduous task. It took me the better part of 5 hours to get the front end taken apart, and get that plastic sanded off the back. I wouldnt do it again, but with that said it looks great, and I can only imagine it helps it breathe much better.
After all that I got it out to the track where I ran into a couple of other ST drivers and an endless see of Mustangs and Corvettes. It went around the track roughly 70-80 times and had no issues with overheating at all. Coolant temperatures generally hovered in the mid to high 190s, but did peak at 212 at one point. Limp mode never engaged though, and I was able to push it hard from a revs standpoint which I could not even remotely do at Houston. Job done!
Ive also put the Mountune MR230 kit on it (minus the backordered exhaust and downpipe), and and was running Bridgestone RE-11s on Ford Racing wheels. The MR230 kit isnt an overwhelming upgrade, but definitely helps the Fiesta ST keep pace, and really lets you fly out of the corners. I plan on putting it on the dyno after the exhaust comes in and getting some actual numbers on how much the upgrade has helped. The RE-11s were significantly better than the stock Potenzas and helped the cornering noticably. The wear wasnt too bad, and should make it multiple more events.
I ran the stock brakes with Motul 660 fluid and had no issues with fade at all. In fairness though I wasnt really stomping on the brakes until late on the second day, but they held up very well. I have the Mountune RS-R upgrade for the stock brakes give way, but as long as the stock pads/rotors continue to perform then Ill keep working them. Next up is back to MSR Houston in May!
