More non-VAG content - Ford Fiesta ST build

[Lucas_R]

Around mid-2023 I decided to sell my Mk7 GTI Performance to buy something cheaper after recently having bought a newer and larger house, and with a larger mortgage it made sense to sell the GTI and buy a cheaper toy. My car only gets driven between 50-100km a week so I don’t need to spend much money on something fancy when it hardly gets used.

Let me preface this by saying that I searched for ages to try and find a suitable Mk5 GTI, Mk6 GTI, Polo GTI, Audi S3 or Scirocco R in good condition, with a manual gearbox and in my price range – but unfortunately this is not an easy task these days. Everything was either too far away or was not in good condition. Not wanting to spend more than about $15-17k I started considering other Euro alternatives such the Ford Fiesta and Focus ST’s and Renault Megane RS’s etc because these are manual-only cars and therefore more available for sale and easier to find in my price range.

I found this 2017 Fiesta ST in my favourite colour from a private seller in south Sydney, owned by a mature car enthusiast, in very good condition, completely stock and original, full service history and 95,000km.

Fun little warm/hot hatch
Manual transmission
Nice colour
Recaro bucket seats
Zippy 1.6L turbo engine
No accident damage or anything dodgy
All original paintwork
Test drive confirmed all was well, so a price was negotiated, money transferred and I drove it home the same day.

The Fiesta ST is certainly a compromise in terms of interior quality, ride quality etc compared to the Golf GTI, but you have to keep in mind these cars were about $26k brand new - so they are never going to be comparable to a $40-45k car. But I have to say it’s certainly a more exciting car to drive, really fun with a manual gearbox and handles/steers amazingly well. Very light and nimble and has a really fast steering rack. It has a 1.6 L turbo 4 cylinder engine, with direct injection and a tiny turbo – making 134kw (180hp) and 240nm.

As always, with a newly purchased car – its always a good idea to check everything over and give it a service, this way you know exactly what has and hasn’t been done and you create a servicing baseline for future maintenance. I gave the engine an oil + oil filter change the next day and gave everything a good look over underneath – no leaks or any damage so that checked out well.

[Lucas_R]

As the car had 95,000km on it at the time of purchase, I decided to service everything over the next few weeks (major service) as it was due anyway. This car is super easy to work on which makes DIY maintenance a breeze, and I enjoy tinkering with the car in my spare time anyway.

-Changed the gearbox oil as there was no mention of this ever being done in the service records.
-New Brembo disks and ceramic brake pads fitted all around
-Brake fluid and clutch fluid flush because the fluid was filthy and had plenty of moisture in it according to my brake fluid tester.
-Radiator flush + replaced the coolant overflow bottle as it was discoloured and it’s a known issue on these cars that they leak once they get old. Used my coolant vacuum kit which makes filling the car with new coolant so much faster and eliminates air bubbles.
-New NGK Iridium spark plugs
-Replaced drivers side engine mount as it had collapsed (common issue on the Fiesta ST’s as they use the same engine mount as the low powered base models)

The timing belt is not due on these engines until about 180,000km, but I very much doubt that I will still own this car by the time it reaches anywhere near that mileage.

Ok, servicing is now sorted. Time for a polish and clean up (although the car was pretty good to begin with) before starting on some mods.

[Sharkie]

Love the colour too! These are so much fun to drive, pity as you said that the quality is a step (or 2) down from a VW.

For engine mounts these are the guys to go to for upgraded engine/gearbox etc mounts. If you put a stock replacement in, it will eventually collapse again. Fiesta Mk Vii 08 17 St180 - Vibra-Technics Compliance Technology

[Lucas_R]

Thanks Sharkie - yep im well aware of Vibra Technics and they have a good reputation with Ford owners. At the time I just replaced the engine mount with a brand new genuine Ford item, but when this one inevitably fails then I will have to get a Vibra Technics one.

[Lucas_R]

Ok, servicing & maintenance is now all sorted. Time for a polish and clean up (although the car was pretty good to begin with) before starting on some mods. For anyone interested I use the following machines and Menzerna polishing compounds. I have been using this combination for about 6-8 years and have no reason to change because it works very well.

Larger 6.5" DA polisher (for all the large flat areas, bonnet/roof/doors etc) Mint ProTools RO Polisher DAS6-Pro V2 Kit | Product | Car Care Products Australia

Mini 3" DA polisher (great for tight spots like bumper bars/mirrors/door pillars etc) Apex Customs Grasshopper 2.0 12mm Mini DA RO Polisher Kit – The Detail Store

Menzerna polish compounds. Fantastic results, deep shine, vibrant colour depth, very low dust and easy to clean up. Menzerna 3-Step Polishing Sampler Kit | Product | Car Care Products Australia

Menzerna Powerlock sealant (final step) Menzerna Power Lock Polymer Sealant 250mL | Product | Car Care Products Australia

Also had to polish out a self inflicted mark on the rear guard.....accidentally hit the button to close the sliding gate while I was reversing out the driveway!! . Thankfully it was just white paint transfer and the dual action buffer sorted it out quickly.

Shampoo'd the seats and carpet with my little Bissell shampoo machine, but didn't take any photos. Also got new floor mats from FitMyCar (black carpet with grey piping and white stitching).

Also got myself a new BLO air dryer to help when cleaning the cars: BLO AIR S Dryer for Cars Bikes and WaterCraft

Wax on….wax off



Shiny!



Awesome colour now looking the best it can.



I made an oopsie.



Oopsie fixed.

[Lucas_R]

Window tint
Had 25% tint done all round as the car was not tinted previously. I really do not like cars without tinted windows so this was the first job on my list. Looks much better with some dark windows, not to mention privacy and keeping cooler in the sun.

Round 1 of mods - headlight performance upgrade
The headlight performance was atrocious. Although the headlights themselves were in good condition and beautifully clean, the actual light performance was terrible – the stock bulbs had to go ASAP. An upgrade was my top priority as it was winter time when I bought the car and was having to drive at night. This car uses a projector for the main headlight beam, so I ordered an 35w xenon kit from illumo with bulbs + ballasts etc. This made a significant difference to light output as well as a nicer white 5000k light temperature, but I still felt there was room to improve. There was also a shadow in the light beam. I took photos and a short video of the shadow and sent it to illumo for feedback. Turns out my car needs a special version of that xenon bulb (known as a ‘type B’ bulb) that only a few other cars use. Got the new bulbs a week later and they were an improvement, the shadow in the beam pattern was significantly reduced – but I still felt there was improvement to be had with the headlight performance. Also I just could not find a good spot to mount the ballasts and hide the wiring hardness adapter in the engine bay as everything is so crammed in there. I decided to look into LED bulbs as an alternative, but was nervour as I had never used LED's for headlights. I decided to buy some Philips Ultinon LED bulbs to give them a try…….well I should have just done this from the beginning!! The LED’s are so nice and compact, no ballasts or wiring adapters and they are even brighter again compared to the xenon’s. I have since updated the fog lights and hi beams to the Philips Ultinon LED’s. Lighting is now sorted.

Xenon kit from illumo: H7 - POWER NOVA iilumo

LED bulbs: 2x PHILIPS Ultinon Access H7 LED Bulbs 6000K - Plug and Play

[Sharkie]

I decided to buy some Philips Ultinon LED bulbs to give them a try…….well I should have just done this from the beginning!!

Yes, I use LEDs (H4/H7/H15) in all the cars that have OEM halogen lights still and they are great. Get the right 1 (for a VW that is CANBUS compatible) and the colour (I hate yellow lights), spread and range is just phenomenal. I frequently try cheaper Ebay LEDs and it is a bit of a hit and miss affair, have about 60% success rate with finding the best LED initially. It is significantly cheaper than other more "reputable" brands though. AUXITO on Ebay is generally quite good as an FYI and Konik even better.

[Lucas_R]

Yes, I use LEDs (H4/H7/H15) in all the cars that have OEM halogen lights

Lets just say that I was so impressed with the LED performance in the headlights, that I purchased Philips LED's for the fog lights and high beam too for the Fiesta ST. And furthermore, I went looking for some good quality LED bulbs to use in the SQ5, as after driving home from the Hunter Valley one rainy night during winter, I realised that the factory xenon headlights were not so great anymore (original xenon bulbs now 9 years old, so they would have deteriorated). So I got a set of these D3S LED bulbs for the SQ5 and the difference is incredible. No canbus errors, super crisp and bright white light and nice beam cutoff.

I just hope they last at least a few years to justify the cost.

[Lucas_R]

Round 2 of mods - finally some performance and aesthetic upgrades

AET Motorsport (VUDU) stage 1 tune with a DIY tune loader
VUDU oil cap
VUDU dipstick
VUDU silicone intake pipe
AFE hi-flow air filter
DIY airbox mods for temporary whoosh whoosh turbo noises
Spectr LED bulbs for numberplate lights


Mk7 Fiesta ST Mods - VUDU Performance


The stage 1 tune gives about 25-30kw and 60nm increase, taking the power to approx 160kw and 300nm (crank power) and pretty much maxxes out the little turbo. There is little benefit in going stage 2 on this car with the stock turbo - certainly not worth the money anyway unless you are fitting a hybrid turbo. I will be shorlty upgrading the intercooler though which makes a big difference on these cars as the stock front mount is poorly made and suffers badly with heat soak.

Result? Happy days! The stage 1 tune loaded on without any issues and the car is certainly more lively now. It was no slouch pre-tune, but the tune has just given more power and torque everywhere. It scampers for grip if you floor it in 1st gear and does a little spin into 2nd gear. The temporary airbox mod added some much welcomed turbo noise as well as some DV psshht noise which always satisfies my inner 18 year old self.

[Michael_B]

Looks sweet !