Stealthy Frankenfiesta

[MOFiST]

I really like this type of build. Not all of us want to go all out racecar. Well I cant but thats another story.
I love your wheels too. They really suite the car IMO. I'm almost swayed on 15's. TD in 16x7's or 15x7's...

What spring rate are you on with the BC's? Are you liking the ride?
Keep the updates coming and nice pup in the avatar.

 

[RAAMaudio]

Great fun I am sure, such cool classics there to check out and track with

When you get up to speed you will be passing quite a few cool old and newer cars, lot's of them I am sure!

I am very much looking forward to running up there, might be this year instead of next year.

If you come down to CA to run if we are there we have a ton of room in our trailer so you could hang out, sleep, etc, save the hotel and eating out costs.

All members are welcome to hang out with us, two big doggies that are sweethearts, 50" TV(maybe two by then and Xbone) high end audio, local micro brews in the evening, etc......

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I have never been the one to take it very easy, I always tell myself to, set out to, I will have to really watch myself when I get out on tracks far more less friendly to offs than MMP.

Where do I learn such self control???

Your braking really helped as I am sure the nannies being off did as well as my XP12's are pretty worn after 8.2 sessions going all out.
Carbotech advised me to get XP20/12's but I went with XP12/8 which was probably just fine if not for really abusing the brakes and no brake ducts yet.

You might end up with XP12's when you get your speed up and I will have to recommend Rodmoe doing the same, the 12's worked very well with the BBK and SRF fluid, hot enough to smell them a few times and never faded a bit, I would probably have more pad left if I had remembered to turn off the nannies.

I ordered some Hawk DTC60/30 to test the next time out, $202 shipped instead of the $450 or whatever I paid for the XP12/8 setup I had to overnight to get on time for the last event.

Though our cars are different, different driving styles, weather, etc at least we can compare notes to help each other out on pad choices.

I really wanted to be at MMP on this beautiful weekend but the fine parts I am waiting on from DHM are not quite done and did not want to rush them, to important to do so.

Have a great day!
Rick

 

[meFiSTo]

Good job I will have to remember the XP8's as I think I have their AutoX pads yet new in the box to try..

If you are a practitioner of late braking on the big course, you might consider the XP10s up front as suggested by raamaudio on another thread somewhere here. I won't need them (generally) as my tendencies are less to that end of the spectrum than some. I do often engage the ABS at times going from all out straight directly into a chicane, hairpin or other very low speed sequence -- not every time.

I should add that the BC Racing coilovers did VERY well. No rear end wiggle under full braking at the bottom of the main straight. I was not paying attention much to speed, but certainly braking from 100+ to like 35ish to make the first right hander (not really sure) in the PIR chicane. This is one instance where I do wish that the car had the big digital (numerical) speedo indicator. I love those things. You don't even have to look at the gauge and you grok the speed. They're awesome for monitoring corner exit speed.

Anyway, I had the coilovers set to 10 clicks under full stiff. Not sure if it really needs to be any stiffer for my purposes. Driving TO the track was not noticeably bumpy even when I hit the occasional uneven expansion joint (I think having the 50-series RE11As helped there).

The LSD was clearly in operation exiting the chicane. When I would go to 2nd gear there, sometimes sliding slightly, the car pulled like a champ. ZERO open diff-style wheel spin. Very little spin at all that I could detect. It's an awesome track-specific modification (despite its cost to purchase install). Thank you Rick and Rod for talking me into it. And: Shout out to Buff at Bickford Ford in Snohomish for an excellent and quick install. No unexpected sounds, just smooth power delivery. I'm guessing this works just fine with the TVC software since, well, I noticed no balking or hesitation. Having said that, there was one medium speed corner exit (turn 12 on to the main straight), where I do not go immediately to WOT, but apply progressive throttle. During the turn, power delivery seemed to be less smooth than I expected. Pretty much every time. Not sure if it's a tune thing or the computer not happy with some combination of what was going on. Warrants more practice (heh) to evaluate. I'll be back to PIR Labor Day weekend to spend more time on that curve.

For me, the combination of mods on this car has created a very nice recreational lapping package. Yes, all the purists dislike the FWD, but @#$% 'em. I love it. Really much happier with this car as it stands vs. my heavily modded 2004 SVT Focus with its charge-air cooled roots Powerworks etc. I'm glad the "new" owner of that car is enjoying all the $$$ I spent on the @#$%ing thing, but I'm glad to be in this now.

This FiST has more corner exit scoot, is more pleasant to drive overall, is quick/FUN at the track, and makes a delightful daily driver when needed.

Plus, with the back seats up, I can get all four track wheels back there and the boot is completely empty. Pull the spare, jack etc. and you can haul a TON of stuff to the track. I did switch to a more compact kind of EZ Up replacement (which I did not need with the incredible weather this weekend). I LOVE partial sun, partial overcast, billowing clouds light breeze for track days. The thing is called an REI InCamp 100. It packs up like a car-camping tent. Poles are a bit delicate.

This street-legal Palatov D2 was a monster. It was by far the fastest thing in our session. I did not need to lift to let it by and it went by fast.

 

[meFiSTo]

I really like this type of build. Not all of us want to go all out racecar. Well I cant but thats another story.
I love your wheels too. They really suite the car IMO. I'm almost swayed on 15's. TD in 16x7's or 15x7's...

What spring rate are you on with the BC's? Are you liking the ride?
Keep the updates coming and nice pup in the avatar.

A comment about the 15x7s: They accommodate the 205/50-15 tires very nicely. That's not a lot of tire at the track, but there is an incredible array of extreme performance street and r-compound options at that size. Just about the most options vs. any tire size (that will actually fit for our cars), because of...wait for it...Miatas. I believe the Spec Miata tire size is 205/50-15, so there are literally thousands of competition enthusiasts looking for that fraction of second edge per lap. If you choose that size, you benefit from the competition among manufacturers.

For a guy like me, that's plenty of tire and mates well with the mods I have. As always: YMMV.

BC coilover came with the 6K/4K option recommended by Joe at 2JRacing.

Late add: About the pup: He's a 7-month-old pug puppy named Oscar. He has his own FB page here: Oscar the Pug, the Littlest 12th Man. My old avatar was Jonah, our prior pug (he died prematurely in 2012 of a very severe and unfortunate gastro illness called Lymphangiectasia, truly decimating, which was the same year I sold my SVT Focus). This new boy coincides with the acquisition of Frankenfiesta.

 

[RAAMaudio]

More great review!

I just spend some time looking at the D2 on their site, far more speed than I need to have fun but very cool car!

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The BC with the stiffer springs are great on track and not at all bad on the street, the LSD, sticky tires, etc...superb combo to run, glad you are happy with it. Not sure about the one corner issue, it could possibly track surface or just an area in the power curve, exit speed, LSD, TVC, that just does not quite jive.

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Tires, I buy mine from JBracing tires, John Berget, running 225 but the 205 is best for 7" wide wheels, Toyo RA1, shaved, heat cycled and maybe a few laps on them, around $450 a set delivered and they wear like iron. Fast tires that take a pounding, grip all the way to the cords, forgiving.

I have not compared them back to back with the fastest street tires made but they might end up lasting as long or longer, certainly faster and far less costly buying fresh race team take off tires. Many can find locals selling great used race tires as well from individuals or racers/business owners, etc.....

 

[meFiSTo]

Thanks for your comments, Rick. I parsed some and make notes back.

I am very much looking forward to running up there, might be this year instead of next year.

If you come, maybe shoot for the Club Lotus NW event Sept. 4. at Portland. They also have vintage racing and a big all-British meetup that weekend. I suspect that's my next Portland event.

If you come down to CA to run if we are there we have a ton of room in our trailer so you could hang out, sleep, etc, save the hotel and eating out costs.

Thanks. That's very kind. Not sure if that's going to happen. Turns out my car is too tall for Colin Cantrell's semi. He can haul (I think) up to 6 cars (maybe 4), but they have to be low (think Porsche GT3 and the like). He has some other options too, but I'm going to look into seeing if I can find a Fiesta ST to rent in Monterey. That would involve other arrangements (finding a shop to nut and bolt the thing, swapping fluids and bleeding brakes, etc.). Probably still cheaper than getting Colin to trailer my car on a flat bed or his other covered (taller) single-car trailer.

Your braking really helped as I am sure the nannies being off did as well as my XP12's are pretty worn after 8.2 sessions going all out.
Carbotech advised me to get XP20/12's but I went with XP12/8 which was probably just fine if not for really abusing the brakes and no brake ducts yet.

You might end up with XP12's when you get your speed up and I will have to recommend Rodmoe doing the same, the 12's worked very well with the BBK and SRF fluid, hot enough to smell them a few times and never faded a bit, I would probably have more pad left if I had remembered to turn off the nannies.

Just hard to imagine needing more than XP10s up front for my purposes. Related story: Near the end of the first session, we got red flagged (an Evo just stopped running altogether on the front straight) and I came to stop by the corner station in the middle of the back straight. I'm sitting there idling waiting for the black flag and signal to return to the paddock and I notice smoke coming from the front passenger side of my car. I'm thinking, "OMG, did they red flag us because of my car?" Then I immediate think: "Wait, that should have been a meat ball." But nope, it was not me and we are sent back to the starting grid to continue (for like one more lap, the cool down). I'm sure that smoking was coming from my brakes since that is the session that I left the nannies full on. After that, I turned them off and no more smoking brakes. It did not help that we came a sudden halt with no cool down lap.

Though our cars are different, different driving styles, weather, etc at least we can compare notes to help each other out on pad choices.

It's all about sharing the love -- and the anecdotal information. That's all i got. My lapping data acquisition set up (iPod software with an Emprum GPS) would not acquire GPS so I did not get any data, laptimes, etc. I'm just gonna get a go pro and be done with it to capture laps. Hah.

I really wanted to be at MMP on this beautiful weekend but the fine parts I am waiting on from DHM are not quite done and did not want to rush them, to important to do so.

I'll be down there April 18/19 to hang with the 20-somethings and hoon with the Octane Academy folks. A 40-something remote coworker buddy refers to me as "old timer" (I refer to him has "midlife loser"). I can only imagine what those FoST kids will call me. Ah well. It does not help that my long-time salt and pepper look is turning a distinguished silver sheen. It is #$%$ty adding years at this point. The alternative is, of course, more @#$%ty.

 

[meFiSTo]

I just spend some time looking at the D2 on their site, far more speed than I need to have fun but very cool car!

Palatov is going make a run at the street legal record I think this year in one of those D2s. They ran a car in the unlimited class in 2012 and came 18 second short of the record-setting winner. In 2013 S?bastien Loeb and Renault blew the record away in a $5 million purpose-built 208. So street legal target it is. Heh.

The BC with the stiffer springs are great on track and not at all bad on the street, the LSD, sticky tires, etc...superb combo to run, glad you are happy with it. Not sure about the one corner issue, it could possibly track surface or just an area in the power curve, exit speed, LSD, TVC, that just does not quite jive.

Could be a surface issue, I seem to recall a similar sensation in my old car. Kind of a bump-bump-bump, slightly unsettled unevenness. We'll see.

Tires, I buy mine from JBracing tires, John Berget, running 225 but the 205 is best for 7" wide wheels, Toyo RA1, shaved, heat cycled and maybe a few laps on them, around $450 a set delivered and they wear like iron. Fast tires that take a pounding, grip all the way to the cords, forgiving.

I have not compared them back to back with the fastest street tires made but they might end up lasting as long or longer, certainly faster and far less costly buying fresh race team take off tires. Many can find locals selling great used race tires as well from individuals or racers/business owners, etc.....

Thanks. I'll keep this handy (actually, fiestastforum.com will archive it for me). I'll think about this once the NT01s wear out. They look perfectly heat cycled just now. PIR is great track for heat cycling tires. It's very smooth with no downhill, rough surface, ABS invoking turns to @#$% the tires up. There is an new extreme performance option that I might tilt to as well. The Bridgestone RE71Rs look good for drive-to-track tires. Not as sticky as the r-compounds, but will handle driving to the track better. They might be enough tire for me. We're really talking fractions of seconds here on a per lap basis. For recreational lapping, does it matter? I'll ask myself again when I'm chasing around with supercharged Elises on Labor Day weekend. But: Swapping wheels in the paddock is a PITA.

 

[RAAMaudio]

If we are ready in time we will head to the NE for the season back there and then next year for a West Coast tour, just have to see how fast I can get everything done here. It would be great to be at a vintage event, I have been to some vintage races just spectating, incredible to walk around up close and even touch some of of rare and often very valuable cars then see them racing!

If we do not hook up this year then it will just have to be next year

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Perhaps you can get your car in if you lower the coilovers and if not enough let out the air from the tires

Other than that too bad it would not fit easily.

If I am there I will have jack stands, jack, decent amount of tools, etc, you would prep the car with them.

I have the SRF fluid and zero issues though got it quite hot and did not need to bleed during or after the event and it can be ran for far longer than other fluides most of the time, I am sold on it, worth the money, cheaper in the long run. I actually need to bleed them now to check them but I bet just fine.

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Sucks to loose track time due to an off, break down, etc......nice about MMP is so much room to get off the track most of the time flags not even needed. No where to go at PIR on the long straight though.....not the first part at least. I saw my first IMSA race there in the 70's, those cars were fast even back then.

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I just got a Go Pro, have not messed with it yet, have to find the software, GPS, etc to use with it next so looking for suggestions

Too bad the OA event is before the next weekends NASA event, if you want to stay for it you are welcome to stay at my place, 75 miles away from the track, 35 from Park City and welcome to stay for the NASA event as well if you wish

 

[meFiSTo]

...if you want to stay for it you are welcome to stay at my place, 75 miles away from the track, 35 from Park City and welcome to stay for the NASA event as well if you wish

Thanks for the offer. LOL. I'm going to stay right near the airport. It's an out and back for me (although I am stuck flying back Monday a.m. due to the timing). I'm a workin' stiff, bruh.

 

[RAAMaudio]

I fully understand, 20 years of no life of my own in the USN but then full time at home for the rest of my life where though busy all the time I could take off when I wanted to, did not do it much but I could at least.

 

[meFiSTo]

And a couple photos of the car on-course Saturday.

The car right behind me is Greg Meythaler's BMW 325i Chump car (local version of a $500 "Lemons" racer). We had both just passed that Miata. Greg is closing fast. Greg raced Pro3 BMWs in the PNW so he really knows how to toss bimmers at PIR.

 

[JohnzyST]

I'm surprised your not running a thicker sway bar. That was my second mod after pads and lines. I'm on stock suspension and street tires( federal rsr) and the turn in improved a lot.

My cars temps get very hot but with my e30 tune it helps my car stay cool for longer.

Build looks good. Happy more people are buying these cars and racing them.

 

[meFiSTo]

I'm surprised your not running a thicker sway bar. That was my second mod after pads and lines. I'm on stock suspension and street tires( federal rsr) and the turn in improved a lot.

My cars temps get very hot but with my e30 tune it helps my car stay cool for longer.

Build looks good. Happy more people are buying these cars and racing them.

Before I did anything else to the suspension, I wanted to get a sense of what it is now. The stock setup was configured for a tendency toward a bit of oversteer. Strange to say that with a FWD car, but from what I've read, that's what test drivers have noticed. I never drove the car hard with the stock suspension, so all I have is this BC Racing setup. I have it set to 10 clicks under full stiff all around right now. I'm amazed with how compliant that is on the street. It might be that I was used to a VERY stiff setup in my old car, but the car handled well at the track and is far from jarring on the street. I might add a bit of stiffness for the next event. We'll see. These coilovers come from the factory at 8 clicks under full stiff. I had it set to 10 clicks from full soft for the street, but this track setup actually seems fine for now, so I'll just leave it at the current track setting for around town until it's time for another event in May or June. Then maybe a little stiffer

Anyway, with the stock anti-sway hardware and the BC coilovers, the car did everything I wanted. I'm not sure I want to dial in more oversteer at this point. I might go for a 4-point brace from Pierce Motorsports to add overall stiffness, rather than adding rear-end focused stiffness. Whatever happens, it's a tuning thing and I'm pretty happy with the setup for recreational lapping (not racing) use as is.

My ECT monitor readings on the AP V3 never got over 210.xx for the day. I was happy with that, but it was cool and I was running water wetter. I've heard of other folks typically getting to 230 deg F. That's pretty hot. We'll see how warm days go. I'm running the MP 215 tune with some added octane to fight detonation. Pretty tame.

 

[JohnzyST]

Before I did anything else to the suspension, I wanted to get a sense of what it is now. The stock setup was configured for a tendency toward a bit of oversteer. Strange to say that with a FWD car, but from what I've read, that's what test drivers have noticed. I never drove the car hard with the stock suspension, so all I have is this BC Racing setup. I have it set to 10 clicks under full stiff all around right now. I'm amazed with how compliant that is on the street. It might be that I was used to a VERY stiff setup in my old car, but the car handled well at the track and is far from jarring on the street. I might add a bit of stiffness for the next event. We'll see. These coilovers come from the factory at 8 clicks under full stiff. I had it set to 10 clicks from full soft for the street, but this track setup actually seems fine for now, so I'll just leave it at the current track setting for around town until it's time for another event in May or June. Then maybe a little stiffer

Anyway, with the stock anti-sway hardware and the BC coilovers, the car did everything I wanted. I'm not sure I want to dial in more oversteer at this point. I might go for a 4-point brace from Pierce Motorsports to add overall stiffness, rather than adding rear-end focused stiffness. Whatever happens, it's a tuning thing and I'm pretty happy with the setup for recreational lapping (not racing) use as is.

My ECT monitor readings on the AP V3 never got over 210.xx for the day. I was happy with that, but it was cool and I was running water wetter. I've heard of other folks typically getting to 230 deg F. That's pretty hot. We'll see how warm days go. I'm running the MP 215 tune with some added octane to fight detonation. Pretty tame.

I total agree with you. Car does feel like it oversteer which is extremely weird for fwd. I have a video of myself going out on the warm up lap and getting extremely loose on the second corner.
I upgrade front and rear sway bar so the car rides stiffer than stock, but I'm sure your BC give you all the performance you need with a stock sway.

I personally took my car stock to see what mods needed to be done and not waste money on anything that the car didn't really need. First day out car was awesome. I think the only thing that needed to be upgraded was the radiator becuase my car reached about 240 deg F. The fiST is fun and fast stock, but when I added a little bit of power and wider tires then the car started to brake fade, overheat, turn in was not as good as before and pop off boost couplers.

All said n done car was about 8 seconds faster in its current set up compared to stock. I'm sure if I bought R-comps, more aggrisive pad, and more aggrisive suspension, car would shave about 4/5 more seconds.

Do you feel like water wetter really works? I've been thinking about using it but am un certain to how much cooler a car actually runs on water wetter.

 

[meFiSTo]

Do you feel like water wetter really works? I've been thinking about using it but am un certain to how much cooler a car actually runs on water wetter.

Well, my previous (supercharged FWD, Ford hatchback) track car ran incrementally (but noticeably) cooler on water/Redline Water Wetter vs. a conventional antifreeze coolant solution. I'd reckon that a typical track day saw max temps in that car with water/water wetter around 205 to 215 deg F, depending on the day. Top temps ran up to about 225 with an antifreeze solution. My track day last month supports that experience. I'm pretty sure it's been demonstrated elsewhere that water is a better coolant vs. glycol-based antifreeze. Water wetter supposedly helps with promoting continuous contact with the metal radiator surface in an other wise water-only solution.

I think one thing to keep in mind is that straight water is more corrosive than an antifreeze-based coolant solution. Water/water wetter is more akin to straight water than an antifreeze mixture. I've seen reports of rust in vehicles using water/water wetter that is not regularly flushed. I'm planning to flush before every event and to run antifreeze throughout the winter (let's say Nov. 1 through to my first event). This year that would have been 5 months. Not the cheapest approach, but it adds a measure of safety.

Caveat: My prior car also had a Mocal oil cooler, so there was some additional cooling going on that this car does not have.

 

[Brick]

Just popping in here to basically mention that your set up is really solid. It's what I am aspiring for my car to be. Still a fun street car that is capable to enjoy recreational lapping. Thanks for adding all this info to the forum!

 

[meFiSTo]

Working with Cantrell Motorsports to get the last few items installed (are we ever done?).

These went in last week:

993 brake cooling air deflectors attached to LCAs

Mishimoto oil catch can setup (thanks to [MENTION=411]westcoaST[/MENTION] again for info on product and install)

Active Shift Designs accelerator pedal lifter (messy view of resulting pedal position)

More stuff in the pipeline, hopefully before my next track days (weekend of May 16 and 17):

• Pierce Motorsports front tow hook assembly
• mountune high-flow lower intercooler charge pipe
• mountune worm-gear, turbo-plumbing hose clamps

Updated my initial build post as well.

 

[rodmoe]

Very Nice ...

 

[meFiSTo]

While I was rummaging around snapping pics of the fin attachment to the LCA, I also snapped a pic of the BC Racing front right coilover and the StopTech brake lines:

And some more snapshots of the fin attached to the LCA:

 

[CanadianGuy]

[MENTION=283]meFiSTo[/MENTION] for the Mishimoto oil catch what connector did you use for the PCV connection? Looks nice and clean (almost stock). Tear apart the existing PCV hose? Nice build BTW.