[Wheelhopper]

I took my FiST to NJMP yesterday. I ran and instructed with a private group. More Evo's than I had ever seen at one event. I was out with the Advanced/Instructor group. My car is completely stock, except for tinted windows.

The stock brakes did well. The brake pedal is not as firm as it was, so the brake fluid could stand to be a little better. Also the tires did well, but was not as good as my fellow drivers slicks. I was passed by most cars. Every car there did have more power and modded suspensions. It did take awhile for some to catch me. I also was able to hang close to a Z4 for 3-4 laps, until I had to let some cars pass and the traffic let the Z4 get ahead. I gave a couple instructor a ride and both were impressed by by the 1.6 power and how well the car performed stock. I did run a session in an intermediate group and was passing cars and hanging on the tail of those drivers fairly easily.

This is my street car so I was not driving the crap out of it. With a few changes I could easily hang with most tracked cars.

All I would need
215 series NT01's or better
more aggressive alignment
better brake fluid
more dedicated track pad
Remove about 150lbs
a little more track time

 

[was-an-M]

Thanks for sharing. Which NJMP track were you running?

I've had my Fiesta ST for about 24 hours now and it will need to serve double duty since a dedicated track car isn't in the budget anymore with our first baby on the way. The car feels great, but there's no question the brakes could stand better pads and I'm sure better fluid (but that goes without saying).

How did the cooling system do? Any sign of high coolant temps or heat soak?

Will 215 NT01's fit? Which height sidewall were you thinking?

Hopefully soon there will be SS lines and track pads available for our cars.

 

[Wheelhopper]

I ran Thunder.

I would do the fluid before the pads. The pads are not that bad. I activated the ABS a few times.

No problems with temps. It was a high of mid 50's that day so not the best test for the cooling system.

I am thinking 215/40/17 for the tires.

 

[was-an-M]

I ran Thunder.

I would do the fluid before the pads. The pads are not that bad. I activated the ABS a few times.

No problems with temps. It was a high of mid 50's that day so not the best test for the cooling system.

I am thinking 215/40/17 for the tires.

I'd have expected the destroy a set of street pads so that's surprising. On my M3 I ran PFC01 pads after seeing what a few laps do to street pads. What sort of compound are the OE pads?

 

[94Gt5.0]

Would you run the NT01's over the R888's?

 

[was-an-M]

Would you run the NT01's over the R888's?

I debated the same thing when I was buying track tires for my M3 and general opinion was the NT01 was the better choice. If you look around the paddock you see a lot more nittos than the r888.

With all that said they suck in the wet and unless you have summer street tires you can use if it rains the NT01's may not be the right move. The r888 looks like they can move water a bit so if you can have wets of some sort they are worth considering.

 

[Wheelhopper]

Not sure what the OE pads are made of. I watched some vids and I had gone for a ride at VIR with Ford Engineers last year in the FoST. Only mods Ford did was roll bar and harnesses. The Focus did fine and the vids stated that the FiST was good off the showroom floor for the track. It did well.

R888, RA1, and NT01 are owned by the same parent company. They all have a 100 treadwear and my understanding are the same rubber compound. I would use any that had my size. RA1 have the best tread for water and should be shaved for aggressive dry use.

 

[Chicane]

Great and informative post.

I agree that the stock fluid needs replaced with something focused on track driving. After my one event in the car, however, I don't think I have as much confidence in the factory pads. They did great for me, but once someone is really pushing this car, with grippy tires, the stock pads feel as if they would quickly become overwhelmed.

If I'm wrong, great, but it would likely be the first instance of OEM pads being able to survive proper track use.

I think some proper race compound pads and some above street quality fluid would do absolute wonders.

Congrats on using the car the way its intended. I'm looking forward to spring to do it again.

 

[was-an-M]

Great and informative post.

I agree that the stock fluid needs replaced with something focused on track driving. After my one event in the car, however, I don't think I have as much confidence in the factory pads. They did great for me, but once someone is really pushing this car, with grippy tires, the stock pads feel as if they would quickly become overwhelmed.

If I'm wrong, great, but it would likely be the first instance of OEM pads being able to survive proper track use.

I think some proper race compound pads and some above street quality fluid would do absolute wonders.

Congrats on using the car the way its intended. I'm looking forward to spring to do it again.

Hopefully by the time spring rolls around there will be some performance pad offerings.

Fluid wise I'll probably just go for ATE Type200. The Motul stuff is great too but has the same boiling point from the test data I've seen.

 

[Chicane]

Hopefully by the time spring rolls around there will be some performance pad offerings.

Fluid wise I'll probably just go for ATE Type200. The Motul stuff is great too but has the same boiling point from the test data I've seen.

pads will certainly be available soon.
Unfortunately, most will be oriented toward the hard parking crowd more interested in less dust and color coordinated backing plates rather than actual improved performance.
I am hoping for a compound class offering from Performance Friction as I have a long history with them.
And yes, ATE fluid is amazing. I've used Super Blue for a decade or so. Sadly, our brilliant government has apparently seen fit to outlaw it.

 

[was-an-M]

pads will certainly be available soon.
Unfortunately, most will be oriented toward the hard parking crowd more interested in less dust and color coordinated backing plates rather than actual improved performance.
I am hoping for a compound class offering from Performance Friction as I have a long history with them.
And yes, ATE fluid is amazing. I've used Super Blue for a decade or so. Sadly, our brilliant government has apparently seen fit to outlaw it.

The fact that we can't buy the Super Blue is really annoying. I had thought of trolling ebay looking for black market fluid

I would love a PFC offering. I ran PFC01's on my M3 and they are awesome. Failing that hopefully they bring some Hawk track pads or Porterfields. Something. Anything.

 

[ashchuckton]

The amber ATE fluid has the same spec as the super blue. Only change is the color. Yep it is a stupid government move, but it ain't a big deal.

 

[was-an-M]

The amber ATE fluid has the same spec as the super blue. Only change is the color. Yep it is a stupid government move, but it ain't a big deal.

Yep, but the ability to tell you've flushed the fluid is nice. It's not a big deal if you leave brake fluid in long enough till it gets gross. But if you flush it every 3 months on a track car it's a lot harder to tell.

 

[ashchuckton]

If I'm tracking the flush happens before the track day. I have never gone longer than 2 years on fluid in a street car. Many folks never change fluid ever, which is nuts. I used blue in my MINI, for the same reason as you. Makes the change easier to tell when the old is out, but it isn't that difficult. I'll run a can through & call it good.

 

[golfguy11800]

Took my fist to NJMP. Stock suspension. Pilot super sports. Stage 3. Hawk DTC 60, Castrol SRF, SS lines, cryo rotors.

Was running high 1:41's

I want to go back in the Spring 2017 with my Hoosier A6's