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Introducing RallySport Direct's 2014 Fiesta ST project blog!

56K views 98 replies 24 participants last post by  RallySport Direct 
#1 · (Edited)
RallySport Direct's 2014 Fiesta ST project blog!



RallySportDirect.com would like to introduce to you, our new shop car the 2014 Ford Fiesta ST.






We have put some miles on this little car, done a bunch of mods and attended a few track days and what have we learned? This has to be one of our favorite cars we have! It does not get as much love as the other cars in regards to parts, but it does get plenty of love from us personally and it makes us smile every time we drive it. We really wanted to make the ultimate smile machine and we think we have done just that, but we are not quite done yet! We still have a few mods we want to do and a few events we want to attend. Stay tuned!

Current parts list on car as of 2016


For more information on any of the upgrades, click the links below!


Suspension:

BC Racing BR Coilovers
Eibach Front and Rear Swaybar Kit


Engine/Under hood modifications:


mountune intercooler kit
mountune intake
mountune short shift bracket
Cobb Catted Downpipe
Cobb Catback Exhaust
Cobb Rear Motor Mount
Cobb Accessport


Aesthetics


Lamin-X Fog Light Covers
Perrin Antenna
Yakima Roof Rack


Wheels/Tires

Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 17x8 +48mm 4x108 Bronze
Dunlop Direzza ZII Star Spec 215/40/17



Make sure to check us out on our website, facebook, blog, and youtube channels!


We are proud to be part of this Great community, and look forward to offering top quality products, write ups, and introduce new products to you guys!
 
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Discussion starter · #6 · (Edited)
We took the little Fiesta up a local canyon road this weekend and did some assessments for you guys! First thing I noticed while just driving it around, the steering seems very tight and responsive to driver input. The grip on the factory tires on wet canyon roads is acceptable, but gets a little hairy when you take turns a little too fast. They do great on the dry roads, even when they are cold. The suspension seems fairly rigid for stock. I have driven a lot of different cars in my lifetime, and this car has one of the most stiff stock suspension that I have experienced (this isn't necessarily a bad thing) In comparison to the FoST, this car seems to be more tail happy, the lift off over steer is much more prominent when driving aggressively in the little Fiesta. It feels in control, and stable when the rear comes around. I loved how the steering input is very responsive and the car loves to turn quickly and give you that driver feeling when dipping into turns with some speed. One thing I noticed however, is there seems to be a bit more turbo lag in this car than the FoST, if I had to put a number on it, I would say roughly around 25% more lag between throttle input and actual, usable boost.

We will take this car to the track and do some more driving as we put more parts on to let you guys know what differences they make! All in all, the Fiesta seems to be a very good car to drive aggressively, cruises fairly smoothly down the highway, the only complaint I have at this point is the surface street cruising. The bouncy ride when hitting little bumps in the road starts to wear on your after a little while.

Space on the interior is somewhat lacking, the seats in the front are a little tight, I'm 6'4" 205 and they are snug, not a deal breaker by any means and I know they will break in as time passes, so this doesn't worry me. The back seats are definitely small, we did put four full sized adults in the car and went for a drive, but the people in the back seat were very crammed, with little leg room. Also, with the four people we had in there, the suspension seemed a little overwhelmed. That's it for now, check back later for updates!



Thanks
Corby
 
Discussion starter · #9 ·
6'4", buys sub compact and complains it's lacking in space lol. Also, I don't think the FiST exhibits much of any lag, perhaps it's just the reduced boost in first and second you're experiencing?
It just a little snug, it is a great car, with enough room. Just not much extra space. The Focus ST is what I am thinking of when I sit in the FiST.

Again, the "lag" is something I notice when comparing the almost instant boost that the FoST exhibits. It's not terrible, but it is noticeable. This is a great car and I enjoy driving it everywhere, it's just a tad smaller than the FoST, as it should be. :)
 
Discussion starter · #11 ·
Interesting to hear you report less lag in the FoST, I wonder if that's a symptom of the FiST having smoother boost delivery as some magazines have reported (therefore feeling like slower boost response).

I literally JUST got out of the seat of the Fiesta after driving the Focus earlier. I stand by my assessment. I was in 3rd gear around 2500 rpm in both, floored it, and there is approximately 30% slower response time to full boost between the two cars. Neither car has bad turbo lag, or even moderate lag, but the Focus is definitely more quick to full boost.

Corby
 
Discussion starter · #15 · (Edited)
We took the Fiesta to the dyno a little while back and thought that it needed just a little bit more power so we wanted to install some performance parts. We looked to mountune to get the job done! We have done a lot of research into all of the options available for our little Fiestas and mountune seems like they have the most experience and knowledge about this platform. They have been modifying The Ford Focus and Ford Fiestas for years.

We gathered up some of the parts we have here, in stock and installed them. We got the quick shift bracket, the intercooler and the intake! Since we were installing these parts, we wanted to give you guys a fairly comprehensive installation guides so you have something to use for informational purposes when installing your parts. We will continue to give you guys these informational how-to’s as we build our Fiesta. We look forward to giving all of you guys some great information and have fun installing these great products on this car.

As we go along, we will give you some before and after data that we observe on our particular Fiesta (your experience may vary). We are excited to see just what we can do with this car, both on the track and on the dyno!


In this write-up we will be installing the mountune quick shift bracket. I have read a few people having difficulty with this installation, hopefully this will help clear up any questions you may have.

Here’s a little blurb about it from mountune:
A shorter and crisper shifter throw provides a positive driving experience on the Fiesta ST. After considerable evaluation and input, mountune engineers determined the optimum reduction for the Fiesta ST shifter to be at 30%. This amount allows a sportier driving experience while maintaining an OE quality and feel with minimal stress on the OE shift components. Machined from solid aluminum to OE tolerances, the mountune quick shift is easily installed and functions to OE specifications.

• Easy installation
• Direct replacement for factory part
• Nickel plated finish to ensure against corrosion
• Installation tool included for easy installation

Here’s some technical information:

Mfgr. Warranty:12 Month/ 12,000 Miles
Adjustable:No
Installation Hardware Included:Yes
Material:Aluminum

For more information on this product, check It out here: Mountune Short Shift Kit

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s get to the install! After gathering the small amount of hand tools together, we want to start by pulling off the engine cover to give us some more room to work with



Now we have easier access to the clamps and bolts and plugs!



Squeeze the hose connector and pull it off on the side of the inlet hose



Now loosen the clamp that goes to the air box and pull the hose back.



Next, loosen the clamp by the firewall.



Unplug the MAF sensor plug by first prying the red clip back, then squeezing the retainer and pull the hose out.








This little tool is what we are going to use to remove the factory ball stud on the shift arm, it’s awesome that mountune gives you the tools to do the job right!



Let’s get that air box out of the way. Take the torx bolt out of the front of the air box



Separate the upper air feed by pulling it away from the front of the car and the air box should pull right out. Keep in mind, there are 2 rubber grommet seats on the lower rear portion of the air box that hold it in place. Just wiggle it a little and it will come right out.







Pop the shift cable off the ball stud then slide the tool over the it like this.



Now you’ll want to tighten the tools nut onto the sleeve like this




Now, get your wrench and socket on it the tool and work the bolt and nut till you get the ball stud out.







Now, here, we made a little mistake, and I think it was a good thing we did so we can pass on the information to you! We put the allen headed bolt in the top at first, when we found out that it was supposed to go in from the bottom. SO, heed our warning and put the bolt in from the bottom. We found out rather quickly that it did not go in this way, but just to save you the time, the bolt goes in from the bottom.



Here it is in place with the bolt in the wrong way.



Here it is after we placed it the correct way. Obvious that it goes in this way, after the fact.



Now I have to say, this was a pain to get that bolt up in there and tighten it up, it’s definitely do-able, but it’s going to take you some time and patience to get it tight. There isn’t a whole lot of room and I don’t have small hands.



Next you’ll want to tighten the two allen set screws on either side of the bracket to keep it from moving around.




Now we can pop the shift cable back in place and re-install the air box in the reverse of removal and you’re done!



The shifting is noticeably shorter, it feels great! It feels just how I would think it should from the factory. Nice, tight, short shifts for a good track experience.
Thanks for reading, and watch for more installations on our shop Fiesta in the near future!

Corby
 
Discussion starter · #16 ·
We took the Fiesta to the dyno a little while back and thought that it needed just a little bit more power so we wanted to install some performance parts. We looked to mountune to get the job done! We have done a lot of research into all of the options available for our little Fiestas and mountune seems like they have the most experience and knowledge about this platform. They have been modifying The Ford Focus and Ford Fiestas for years.

We gathered up some of the parts we have here, in stock and installed them. We got the quick shift bracket, the intercooler and the intake! Since we were installing these parts, we wanted to give you guys fairly comprehensive installations guide so you have something to use for informational purposes when installing your parts. We will continue to give you guys these informational how-to’s as we build our Fiesta. We look forward to giving all of you guys some great information and have fun installing these great products on this car.

As we go along, we will give you some before and after data that we observe on our particular Fiesta (your experience may vary). We are excited to see just what we can do with this car, both on the track and on the dyno!

Here’s a shot of everything we are installing this time around. From left to right we have the front mount intercooler, then the intake, and lastly, the quick shift bracket all from mountune performance.



In this particular write up, we are installing the mountune performance intercooler. When we first looked at installing this, we looked into the advantages of having an upgraded intercooler on this car. We saw that we aren’t going to get much benefit without a tune at first, but the colder charge air temps will help keep detonation in check while we race it on those hot days at the track.

This is a little blurb from mountune about the intercooler:

The Mountune Performance intercooler for the Fiesta ST includes everything you need to optimize and maintain the performance of your ST.

Using a 7-row extruded tube and fin core, the mountune intercooler gives a marked improvement in both Air Charge Temperature (ACT) and pressure drops, ensuring optimum charge air temperature and therefore power, is available from the excellent 1.6-litre EcoBoost engine.

The mountune intercooler has also been packaged to retain all of the extensive cooling pack features found on the ST as standard, ensuring optimum cooling is achieved.

Each intercooler is powdercoated to protect against oxidization and is hand-made and inspected in the UK; combined with the warranty benefits, this is the must-have intercooler kit for all discerning Fiesta ST owners!

Now for some technical specifications:

Mfgr. Warranty:12 Months / 12,000 Miles
Bumper Beam Retained:Yes
Bumper Modification Required:No
Color:Black
Core End Tank Material:Aluminum
Core Type:Tube and Fin
Includes New Clamps:No
Installation Hardware Included:No, reuses OEM
Intercooler Piping Included:No, reuses OEM

For more information, you can check it out here: mountune Front Mount Intercooler Black Ford Fiesta ST 2014 2364-IC-BA at RallySportDirect.com

Here’s a nice shot of the intercooler itself. It is a very nice piece, with smooth transitions from the core to the couplers as you can see.



First thing we need to do is gather up our tools and start taking off the front clip. There are a few little screws and clips in the fender wells on the driver’s and passenger’s side. You can see three of them here.



Start by screwing the phillips clips out, then removing them completely as shown here





Then, just remove the torx screws.




Take the same three off of the opposite side fender well, now we can move up top, we’ll need to remove the headlights to get to some other clips/screw/bolts. This is VERY easy; take this t30 torx bolt out here





Now we have a t30 torx bolt and a phillips plastic clip to remove up front. Simply remove the torx bolt and unscrew the clip, then remove it completely.







Once you get the bolts/clips loose, you can remove the headlight, exposing the wiring clip on the under-side of the assembly. You can see it here, all you do is squeeze the top/middle of the clip and pull it out.





Now we can remove the whole headlight assembly.



There are a lot of clips on the front of the car, but we don’t have to worry about removing all of them, just these two.





Back in the fender well, you can access the bottom and three bolts that hold the front clip on the car. You can get to this one from the fender well, the other two you will have to get from up top. They are 8mm bolts. These will need to be completely removed in order to get the front clip off of the car.



From the top side, you can get a pretty good view of all three of the bolts you need to remove.



Here’s a shot of them removed.



Now that they are out, the fender should separate from the front clip like this



Reaching in where you removed your headlight, you can see the back side of the foglight assembly. You will need to unplug these in order to remove the clip from the vehicle. Simple enough, it’s just a squeeze clip, like the headlight.



Now, back to the underside of the car to remove some screws and clips. Here you can see the two screws and on clip on the right of the image, then there is a retainer on the left that just pops out when removing the clip.



One screw in the middle.



Then the same screws/clips on the other side.



Now, gently, and carefully pull the front clip off the front of the car, making sure that you have all of your clips and bolts and screws loose and set it aside.

 
Discussion starter · #17 ·
Here, we can take our first look at how difficult it will be to remove the factory intercooler. It is pretty easy, as you will see.



First thing we did was remove the intercooler hoses off either side of the intercooler. They just take a flat tip screw drive or a 7mm wrench to get them loose





Once they are loose, they pull off, it takes a little bit of effort due to the grooves in the intercooler, but they will come off.





Next, we can do the other side. Same thing, loosen the clamp and pull it off.







Now we can get the plastic spacer removed. There are three bolts on the bottom side and 2 on the top, remove them and it will pull right off.












There are 2 bolts that come up from underneath that need to be removed to get the intercooler out of the car. One on each side of the intercooler itself.





Once those are removed, simply pull the bottom part out and drop it down and it will come out.



Here are some shots of the stock intercooler next to the mountune unit. The overall size is about the same, the design and efficiency of the mountune unit helps with intake air temps and pressure drop over the factory unit.





We need to transfer the rubber seats off of the factory intercooler to the mountune unit. They just pull off and slide right on.





 
Discussion starter · #18 ·
When installing the mountune intercooler in the car, slide the top in first, ensuring the rubber seat sits properly in the top seat, then slide it in place.




Then you can run the stock bolts in from the bottom and tighten them down.





Next, we can slide the factory intercooler piping and clamps on the mountune intercooler and tighten them down.










Now take a look and make sure everything looks straight and everything clears.



We can reinstall the front clip now and take a look at the intercooler. Looks pretty good in there, don’t you think?



We put the mountune logo on the front of our intercooler; this does not come with this kit.





We have yet to install a COBB Tuning Accessport on our Fiesta, but when we do, we will check in with some numbers. For now, it feels about the same as it did in stock form. The computer has a torque limiting table that it follows so simply installing this intercooler won’t gain you much more than a more consistent power delivery and better turbo response. We have put about 400 miles on the car with this intercooler and everything seems to work great! We look forward to installing the Accessport and really open this thing up. Thanks for reading and we will update when we get some more stuff done!

Corby
 
Discussion starter · #19 ·
We took the Fiesta to the dyno a little while back and thought that it needed just a little bit more power so we wanted to install some performance parts. We looked to mountune to get the job done! We have done a lot of research into all of the options available for our little Fiestas and mountune seems like they have the most experience and knowledge about this platform. They have been modifying The Ford Focus and Ford Fiestas for years.

We gathered up some of the parts we have here, in stock and installed them. We got the quick shift bracket, the intercooler and the intake! Since we were installing these parts, we wanted to give you guys a fairly comprehensive installation guide so you have something to use for informational purposed when installing your parts. We will continue to give you guys these informational how-to’s as we build our Fiesta. We look forward to giving all of you guys some great information and have fun installing these great products on this car.

As we go along, we will give you some before and after data that we observe on our particular Fiesta (your experience may vary). We are excited to see just what we can do with this car, both on the track and on the dyno!

Here’s a shot of everything we are installing this time around. From left to right we have the front mount intercooler, then the intake, and lastly, the quick shift bracket all from mountune performance.



In this write-up we will be installing the mountune induction kit.

Here’s a little blurb from mountune about it:

The mountune Fiesta ST Induction Upgrade includes a uniquely constructed aluminum air box with a secondary cold air feed point. Additionally, the air box has been engineered with features that reduce the delta pressure drop by 2kPa that when coupled with the included K&N air filter, provide a 21% increase in airflow. The mountune Fiesta ST Induction Upgrade provides the foundation for further performance upgrades with an engineered approach that retains the OE appearance and reliability while providing a rich, deep induction note that reflects performance.

• Powder coated aluminum air box base
• K&N high flow air filter
• Additional cold air feed
• Easy installation
• Retains original air box cover
• Compatible with Ford "FGEK" ECU (USA Only)
And here is some technical information:
Mfgr. Warranty:12 Month/ 12,000 Miles
Filter Color:Red
Filter Element Type:Wet
Filter Material:Cotton
Filter Reusable:Yes
Box Color:Silver


For more information about this intake, click here: mountune Induction Upgrade Ford Fiesta ST 2014 2364-CAIS-AA at RallySportDirect.com

Let’s take a look at what we have here, first thing we need to do, is remove the engine cover.





You can see here, the few things we need to get loose to remove the factory air box. This will give you an idea of the location under the hood.



We completely removed the lower portion of the air inlet hose. We started by removing the PCV clip





Then we loosened the worm gear clamp and took the end off of the air box.



Next we loosened the other end and took the hose out.



Now we have that out of the way, we’ll need to unplug the MAF sensor plug on the air box You’ll have to pry the red clip upwards to release the clip.



Now you can just squeeze and pull it right off.



Next, we can remove the torx screw holding the air box in place.



Pull the cold air feed duct off the front of the car simply by pulling it back.



Now the air box will pull out. Lift it up and move it back and wiggle it back and forth to release it from the rubber grommet seats and it will pull right out. The box is huge! We were surprised when we pulled it out.




Now, we took the lid off of the air box with it out of the car on a bench. You may opt to do this while it’s still in the car. It was just easier for us to demonstrate it for you on the bench. Here’s the box on our bench illustrating the location of the four screws that have to come out to get the top of the air box off.



Now we need to take the snorkel out of the stock air box and put it in the mountune unit. It takes a bit of persistence to get it in the mountune air box, but it pops right out of the factory box.





Now you will want to run your soft inlet hose into the fender right above the fog light, run it down the hole where the old air box was and feed through the drivers fender from underneath. You will see just how to install it once you get under there.



Then around the body like this, this isn’t a very good picture of just where it runs, but you will understand once you get under there.



Stuff it in the fender air space



Now you will want to install the other end to the air box with the supplied work gear clamp.



Push the mountune air box down in place; you will have to push a little on the backside to get the pins to slide into the rubber grommet seats. Once you get it in there, it should look something like this.

 
Discussion starter · #20 ·
Take the retainer hardware from the factory air box and bolt the front of the mountune air box down.





Now run the torx bolt in the bracket and thread it in, don’t tighten it down till everything else is finished.



Drop the K&N filter in place. It should slip right into the air box with no effort





Next, we can put the factory air box lid in place, using the provided torx bolts shown here. When tightening these, the lid should bend slightly, don’t over tighten!







Plug in your sensor, and hoses and you’re all done!




Ok, so on to impressions. I would say there probably is very little if any horsepower increase with this intake without a tune to go with it. The sound is pretty awesome though! You can hear the turbo spooling up, and can plainly hear the factory bypass valve working. All in all, it is a good upgrade, we can’t wait to get the Accessport installed to see how much more power we can make! Thanks for reading, watch for more installations in the near future!

Corby
 
Discussion starter · #22 ·
Bloddy awesome thread mate, thank you for putting the time in to do these tutorials!
Only question I have is that when you fitted the FMIC, did you need to drain any fluids?
I reckon you should remove the lower grill and have that intercooler fully exposed.
Heard that the quickshift is a pain to install, but your instructions, make it seem like a breeze.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

The quick shift was really easy other than having to thread that bolt in from the bottom, you can see how much room there is to work with. Getting an allen key under there is fairly difficult, but other than that, it was easy.

We didn't have to drain any fluids on any of these installations. The front mount was actually quite easy to install after getting the front clip off.

Hope this helps
Corby
 
Discussion starter · #26 ·
I just wanted to drop in and say, the more I drive the Fiesta ST, the more and more I fall in love with it. I've had a BRZ, STi's, Miatas and I would honestly say this is one of my favorite cars I have ever driven. Is it wrong to want one for myself?

I think not :cool:

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Motor vehicle Tire


Thanks,
Rick
 
Discussion starter · #36 ·
Build looks great, but what did you do to the fogs? Is that Lamin-X, just a bulb, or both?

It's just the Lamin-X fog covers :)

And in regards to the intake, the deep puddles should not matter as it when water goes to the lower hole, it will pull air from the secondary port and should not draw up any water.


Thanks for all of the kind words guys!
Rick
 
Discussion starter · #46 ·
JP-6 - we will get that released here shortly along with a video :)

Thanks Ian!! :)

Stylish - In all honesty, this is my favorite car hands down. Now don't get me wrong I loved my personal BRZ and have been a Subaru fanatic for over a decade, however I think the fiesta is just more fun to drive. To me enjoying cars is not all about brutal power, rip your face off handling, or anything like that(although they are fun in their own right), but just a well balanced, lightweight, eager and fun car. And the Fiesta ST checks off all of those boxes for me. The only things I would rate the BRZ above the Fiesta would be looks, driving position, feedback, and RWD fun, but the Fiesta is a better car in almost every other regard, plus much more practical as well. I will most likely be buying a Fiesta ST next spring, but I have been >< that close to buying one a few times before haha, I just need to be patient and wait for the right one to come along.

Hope this helps :)
Thanks,
Rick
 
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