Woods247 BrokeFiST Build

[Woods247]

Yeah, I've wanted those ever since they first appeared on the last gen, Rally1 Fiestas (that is a Rally 1 PUMA in that pic).

If they made these for the MK7 I’d be the dumbass who dropped a G on mirrors 🤣 https://pwmotorsport.co.uk/products/ford-fiesta-mk8-m-sport-rally2-aero-wing-mirrors

 

[the duke]

Retrofit some Chargespeeds.

 

[Woods247]

I scored a full motor recently. It’ll be sleeved and built locally to manage at least 400whp reliably. Looking forward to that adventure sometime this summer! Fingers crossed my current engine lasts one more season. As of right now I’m registered for 27 days. 😳

Aside from that, the aero mods and suspension upgrades are just about done. Next track time is scheduled for the end of February at Road Atlanta so I’m anxious to see how it does compared to last year’s setup. I’m hopeful the hood vents aren’t bullshit. I expect to see at least a 5mph increase in top speed with the addition of the vents along with the diffuser and wing braces. All I did with the suspension is increase SWIFT spring rates by 2k (8k front/6k rear), replace the rear beam bushings with DNAs setup and swap the front LCAs with DNA’s as well. I was bottoming out in sketchy turns and could use a little quicker rebound so the additional spring rate should help. Other than that I had zero complaints about my BCBR/Swift coil overs which probably gives me zero internet credibility. 🤣 I might bump up to their digressive set when these are at their end of life. I thought about switching to 510s but I’m really happy with BC.

I also listed my Compomotive TH2 wheels on FB and will hopefully sell them soon so I have a little cash stashed away for the new TD or KE wheels coming out in April. More pics soon.

Took this the day I bought it. Costco trip! I still use it for Costco trips!

 

[Woods247]

Disassembled my “new” engine to see what failed and discovered ring failure in cylinder 3. No clue about its history but glad to know the damage is minimal and nothing else is damaged. Gonna close the deck and sleeve this bad boy then send it!

 

[dhminer]

Disassembled my “new” engine to see what failed and discovered ring failure in cylinder 3. No clue about its history but glad to know the damage is minimal and nothing else is damaged. Gonna close the deck and sleeve this bad boy then send it! View attachment 53714

Sending the block to CSS for closed deck?

 

[Woods247]

Sending the block to CSS for closed deck?

Not familiar with them. There’s a couple of race engine builders here that I was planing to talk to. Have you used CSS?

 

[dhminer]

Not familiar with them. There’s a couple of race engine builders here that I was planing to talk to. Have you used CSS?

Negative, I just know that’s who Mountune uses and their prices look pretty reasonable.

 

[Jabbit]

Negative, I just know that’s who Mountune uses and their prices look pretty reasonable.

How do you know that? CSS is very close to me.

 

[dhminer]

How do you know that? CSS is very close to me.

I suppose “know” is the wrong word. Mountune on their MRX blocks advertises the use of “Cylinder Support System.” Capitalizing typically indicates a name or brand, rather than a generic cylinder support system. I’m inferring that based on their wording and the fact that CSS explicitly lists our engine on their website that Mountune uses CSS is probably a better phrasing.

 

[Woods247]

I suppose “know” is the wrong word. Mountune on their MRX blocks advertises the use of “Cylinder Support System.” Capitalizing typically indicates a name or brand, rather than a generic cylinder support system. I’m inferring that based on their wording and the fact that CSS explicitly lists our engine on their website that Mountune uses CSS is probably a better phrasing.

Interesting. Honestly, Mountunes $3k closed deck short block isn’t a bad deal. I haven’t gotten any pricing on machine work yet but the piston/rod kit is a little less than 1/2 that.

 

[dhminer]

Interesting. Honestly, Mountunes $3k closed deck short block isn’t a bad deal. I haven’t gotten any pricing on machine work yet but the piston/rod kit is a little less than 1/2 that.

It really isn’t considering what assembly they do as well. Just wish they had an option for sleeving as well as closed deck. I’d be angry just on principle if I ordered the assembled short block just to immediately disassemble it for sleeving.

 

[Woods247]

LCAs, rear bushings, springs and the repaired diffuser are done.

 

[Woods247]

The next thing is to remove the TB Performance parts and build a better chassis/subframe braces. The Pierce 6 point is incredible but hangs too low to work with any sort of underbody aero. I miss that brace a lot. The TB stuff doesn’t seem to make any improvement over stock but the Pierce brace was noticeably better at turn in. We have a plan that will utilize the mounting points used by Pierce but in a much more aero friendly design.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Yeah, NONE of the braces in front of the subframe work with, or clear my skid plate, so I could not use any of them even if I wanted to, and even if they did make a world of difference from stock.

 

[Woods247]

Yeah, NONE of the braces in front of the subframe work with, or clear my skid plate, so I could not use any of them even if I wanted to, and even if they did make a world of difference from stock.

I’ll take some pics and share our idea with you next time I’m at the shop with the car. It’s not as simple as bolting on a bar but the brackets might be repeatable in small quantities. It’s hard to explain without pics though. The rigidity the Pierce 6 Point provides makes turning this car much more predictable and precise at any speed and I’d like to experience that again. The TB stuff flexes and the material they use seems to fatigue quickly. That’s been my experience with two sets of their braces anyway..

On a side note, do you see RaceTech seats in rally cars up your way?

 

[Jabbit]

Just chiming in to say your car looks beautiful. In regards to aero, which singular piece do you think makes the biggest difference? I'm considering adding hood vents first as it seems easier than dealing with a real splitter or diffuser at this time. My thought was good vents and wing then see how that goes on track. I don't typically run tracks with a top speed higher than 120, and that's on the straight. Fastest turns I deal with are maybe 70? Wing was mostly for looks but I think the hood vents would actually be functional.

 

[M-Sport fan]

On a side note, do you see RaceTech seats in rally cars up your way?

VERY few, as most of the (even top level/class) ARA rally cars here use the 'usual suspects' Sparco, OMP, and Recaro 'halo' seats, with a smidgen of Sabelts thrown in.

That Open Class, AWD converted, Sonic RS from the mid-west (Michigan, I believe) on their site's web home page pic reel is one of the few I've ever seen with them.

But I personally rate the Racetechs as at least slightly better than even those top tier chairs, and if I had an R2T level, or higher class car running in the National ARA events, it would most likely have their lightest/strongest halo seat installed.

 

[Woods247]

Just chiming in to say your car looks beautiful. In regards to aero, which singular piece do you think makes the biggest difference? I'm considering adding hood vents first as it seems easier than dealing with a real splitter or diffuser at this time. My thought was good vents and wing then see how that goes on track. I don't typically run tracks with a top speed higher than 120, and that's on the straight. Fastest turns I deal with are maybe 70? Wing was mostly for looks but I think the hood vents would actually be functional.

I haven’t run with the hood vents or diffuser yet. I don’t think the car would benefit from a rear wing without a functional front chassis mounted splitter though. I’m actually adding tunnels to mine to gain more front downforce and help balance it out. I have a feeling the hood vents will reduce front downforce a little since they should reduce high pressure on the nose of the car. The tunnels should compensate for that and possibly add a little more. I plan to bring two front blades to test later this month.

My first functional aero mod was a custom extended lip on the OEM wing. There’s a pic of it on my car on the first page of this build thread. The lip helped a little with tank slapping under hard braking from 120-60. As my car and I got much faster I had to rethink aero so I could go faster, safer. Tank slapping was really bad and pushing higher speeds in sweepers resulted in less confidence due to sliding.

At the speeds you’re running, I’d clear out the inner fenders and run wider 235 tires. More grip will make your car rip. It’s a lot of work but no more than building aero. You’ll literally have to cut everything out of the front fender well (and bumper cover mounts) then build brackets to connect the bumper cover to the fender. The brackets should also push both the fender and bumper cover out as far as possible. Remove most of the front fender mounting bolts and pull it out as far as the front door allows (open it to check gap clearance and adjust accordingly), roll and pull all four fenders and cut the liners to fit. I still use front liners but the rears are gone. My wheel specs to run 235s are 17x8 or 17x7.5 et35 wheels (I use spacers with some wheels to achieve that), front camber -3 (minimum) and rear camber -2.7 (minimum). Sounds like a lot but it’s really not. Once you cut everything out it’s easy from there. There are pics of my brackets in this thread. My 17x8 et40 Rota Grids require a 7mm or 8mm spacer in the front to clear suspension. The Compomotive 17x8 et35 wheels require no spacers.

 

[WannabeST]

LCAs, rear bushings, springs and the repaired diffuser are done.
View attachment 53826 View attachment 53827 View attachment 53829 View attachment 53830 View attachment 53831

Bottom of the car is looking more flat now. Do you have plans in the future for a flat underbody? or no because of potential higher classing at events?

 

[WannabeST]

Just chiming in to say your car looks beautiful. In regards to aero, which singular piece do you think makes the biggest difference? I'm considering adding hood vents first as it seems easier than dealing with a real splitter or diffuser at this time. My thought was good vents and wing then see how that goes on track. I don't typically run tracks with a top speed higher than 120, and that's on the straight. Fastest turns I deal with are maybe 70? Wing was mostly for looks but I think the hood vents would actually be functional.

I think it would be best for you to maximize the car without aero. As aero can often times just be a bandaid for other weak points in the car or driver. If you do want to go down the aero path right away, make sure you are doing balanced mods. If you add massive rear wing with no front aero the car will understeer, and if you add massive splitter with tunnels but no wing, your car will oversteer.