My Track Day Build @ MotoIQ.com

[Hijinx]

Awesome build, but I can't help but wonder what the bank thinks of this lol.

 

[McRib 1s Back]

Hey all -- dusting off this old thread...

A lot has happened since I last posted -- life managed to get in the way! Anyhow, I live in AZ now and have the car out here (only just got it from CA!). It has been stored inside and has been through a lot of engine changes. I'm on a brand new engine (1s of miles!) and sorting out whether I will keep it or not. 2700 miles on the chassis and nothing on the engine! Anyone need a track car?

The car has the latest Mountune long block: https://mountuneusa.com/products/mountune-high-performance-1-6l-mrx-fiesta-st-long-block

...and that black car pictured is mine: https://mountuneusa.com/collections/fiesta-st-engine-upgrades

Anyhow, it may be time to get a standalone system to getter better power (maybe a Link Voodoo G5 ECU?). I'm running a Cobb tune and just on 91 octane for now. Still, it makes 280WHP and should be super reliable with this race engine. Mountune thinks 400WHP with race gas, bigger injectors, and a DI pump.

Where I live, there are no emission laws. Theoretically, I can register this as a street car!

About the only thing I need to do is get some fresh tires and consider replacing the front windshield with a traditional one instead of the Lexan unit on there now. I'm seeing ATs in small sizes, so that might be how I go here (thanks to the overland types with Subarus!). Raise the coil-overs a couple inches, throw on some Falken Wildpeak A/T Trails?! Running NT01 225/45/17 now...so thinking 215/55/17.

 

[Stubborn Approach]

Hey all -- dusting off this old thread...

A lot has happened since I last posted -- life managed to get in the way! Anyhow, I live in AZ now and have the car out here (only just got it from CA!). It has been stored inside and has been through a lot of engine changes. I'm on a brand new engine (1s of miles!) and sorting out whether I will keep it or not. 2700 miles on the chassis and nothing on the engine! Anyone need a track car?

The car has the latest Mountune long block: https://mountuneusa.com/products/mountune-high-performance-1-6l-mrx-fiesta-st-long-block

...and that black car pictured is mine: https://mountuneusa.com/collections/fiesta-st-engine-upgrades

Anyhow, it may be time to get a standalone system to getter better power (maybe a Link Voodoo G5 ECU?). I'm running a Cobb tune and just on 91 octane for now. Still, it makes 280WHP and should be super reliable with this race engine. Mountune thinks 400WHP with race gas, bigger injectors, and a DI pump.

Where I live, there are no emission laws. Theoretically, I can register this as a street car!

About the only thing I need to do is get some fresh tires and consider replacing the front windshield with a traditional one instead of the Lexan unit on there now. I'm seeing ATs in small sizes, so that might be how I go here (thanks to the overland types with Subarus!). Raise the coil-overs a couple inches, throw on some Falken Wildpeak A/T Trails?! Running NT01 225/45/17 now...so thinking 215/55/17.

Get this thing track ready and let’s meet out at Chuckwalla or an AZ Region Rallyx event in the coming months before it heats up. I have a set of wheels for both occasions…

 

[McRib 1s Back]

That sounds great! I think I find a rally event more fun these days...and it would also suit conditions out here (I live in a remote location with about ten miles of dirt/gravel to the nearest pavement). What rally tires do you run? What size?

 

[Stubborn Approach]

That sounds great! I think I find a rally event more fun these days...and it would also suit conditions out here (I live in a remote location with about ten miles of dirt/gravel to the nearest pavement). What rally tires do you run? What size?

I have a set of 15” Sparco Terras. I just need to source a set of gravel tires for them, but haven’t had a reason to do so yet.

 

[dhminer]

Hey all -- dusting off this old thread...

A lot has happened since I last posted -- life managed to get in the way! Anyhow, I live in AZ now and have the car out here (only just got it from CA!). It has been stored inside and has been through a lot of engine changes. I'm on a brand new engine (1s of miles!) and sorting out whether I will keep it or not. 2700 miles on the chassis and nothing on the engine! Anyone need a track car?

The car has the latest Mountune long block: https://mountuneusa.com/products/mountune-high-performance-1-6l-mrx-fiesta-st-long-block

...and that black car pictured is mine: https://mountuneusa.com/collections/fiesta-st-engine-upgrades

Anyhow, it may be time to get a standalone system to getter better power (maybe a Link Voodoo G5 ECU?). I'm running a Cobb tune and just on 91 octane for now. Still, it makes 280WHP and should be super reliable with this race engine. Mountune thinks 400WHP with race gas, bigger injectors, and a DI pump.

Where I live, there are no emission laws. Theoretically, I can register this as a street car!

About the only thing I need to do is get some fresh tires and consider replacing the front windshield with a traditional one instead of the Lexan unit on there now. I'm seeing ATs in small sizes, so that might be how I go here (thanks to the overland types with Subarus!). Raise the coil-overs a couple inches, throw on some Falken Wildpeak A/T Trails?! Running NT01 225/45/17 now...so thinking 215/55/17.

Not sure how I’ve missed this build entirely over the years that I’ve been on here but holy shit man, awesome car.

 

[McRib 1s Back]

Thank you. Having the car back after so long is a bit surreal for me.

The Pegasus LiFEPO4 battery that I bought about eight years ago still turns the car over every time. Granted, the battery is disconnected when not running -- but the voltage decay rate is incredibly slow on those cells. Seems the only thing I really need to do is get new tires. The NT01s look great, but are ten years old now! Since it was stored inside, there is no dry-rotting or signs of damage, but they are clearly no longer good for anything except cruising around the neighborhood!

Anyone try these Falken Widpeak A/T Trail tires yet (even on other cars!)? Getting "real" rally tires is a PITA, and from the looks of these, would do the trick.

 

[McRib 1s Back]

LINK ECU Update: They have not done an engine for our car yet. I was hoping someone had previously established some of the basics, but this would be starting from scratch. There would be significant work here, not to mention the need to "wire in" the ECU.

Anyone know a standalone ECU solution that has proven experience with our car/engine? Finding a solution where they already sorted out an interface to the factory harness would be ideal!

 

[WannabeST]

Welcome back to the forum. I didn't think this car still existed. Glad to know it's still alive. I've read the build on moto iq a couple times.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Thank you. Having the car back after so long is a bit surreal for me.

The Pegasus LiFEPO4 battery that I bought about eight years ago still turns the car over every time. Granted, the battery is disconnected when not running -- but the voltage decay rate is incredibly slow on those cells. Seems the only thing I really need to do is get new tires. The NT01s look great, but are ten years old now! Since it was stored inside, there is no dry-rotting or signs of damage, but they are clearly no longer good for anything except cruising around the neighborhood!

Anyone try these Falken Widpeak A/T Trail tires yet (even on other cars!)? Getting "real" rally tires is a PITA, and from the looks of these, would do the trick.

They are not just a pain to get, but are insane $$$$ once you do find a source for the gravel donuts.
They also will wear much MUCH quicker than either all weather, real winter/snow, or any all terrain tires on both pavement and dirt/gravel.

 

[McRib 1s Back]

Welcome back to the forum. I didn't think this car still existed. Glad to know it's still alive. I've read the build on moto iq a couple times.

Thank you. It is nice to be back. Mostly I'm torn on what to do next with this car. It is in remarkably fine shape...and that makes me consider keeping it only for track days on tarmac -- but my current life priorities probably won't allow for much of that. On the other hand, I could see having fun with it as a rally car out here. I have a nice loop of graded roads to play on here...and maybe an official event or two here in AZ...

 

[McRib 1s Back]

They are not just a pain to get, but are insane $$$$ once you do find a source for the gravel donuts.
They also will wear much MUCH quicker than either all weather, real winter/snow, or any all terrain tires on both pavement and dirt/gravel.

Which tires do you run? Have you run rally events with the current gen of AT tires on the FiST? I am pretty sure any AT will beat the NT01s I have now for gravel use!

*EDIT: A place in the UK has gravel tires in stock around $300 each but not clear on what other duties/fees/shipping I'd pay.

 

[McRib 1s Back]

MK7 Fiesta Plug-in ECU!

Just stumbled on this. I'm hoping this is something I can use on my car!

*EDIT: I've seen this mentioned in other threads but no accounts of the experience. If you have experience here, please let me know!

 

[dhminer]

MK7 Fiesta Plug-in ECU!

Just stumbled on this. I'm hoping this is something I can use on my car!

*EDIT: I've seen this mentioned in other threads but no accounts of the experience. If you have experience here, please let me know!

I’ve looked everywhere for evidence that someone has installed and successfully tuned on that ECU to no avail. I’m still sitting on a stratified 4 port aux fuel kit that I can’t wait to install as but won’t do it until I can swap ECUs for full control of those injectors and a true flex fuel tune with the ethanol content sensor tied to the ECU instead of just telling me to swap tunes before I throw a rod. Hopefully someone chimes in.

 

[McRib 1s Back]

So…on the dyno, the car pulls hard and has no issues. This car has run many tunes (on many engines!). It contributed to the development of the current Mountune long block (running the V2 cams).

Anyhow, it is presently on a 91 octane Cobb tune. On the road, it runs into fuel cut around 5K when under WOT. This is repeatable. Nothing stands out as wrong and is a big reason I am thinking about cutting out the OEM ECU completely. This is a dedicated race car and does not need to be street legal (don’t need anything beyond a good map).

If I can’t get a standalone ECU, I need to find a tuner that can work on this. I know Cobb has been hamstrung with recent EPA fines and restrictions…but I understand there are some dealers that still have the old platform available to them.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Which tires do you run? Have you run rally events with the current gen of AT tires on the FiST? I am pretty sure any AT will beat the NT01s I have now for gravel use!

*EDIT: A place in the UK has gravel tires in stock around $300 each but not clear on what other duties/fees/shipping I'd pay.

I only work/volunteer on actual ARA rallies (at least I used to when they still had any in the Northeast), and do not do any SCCA RallyCross events.

I used the General Altimax Arctic 12 winter tires for that purpose and they held up fine to the rough gravel forestry roads used on those events due to their XL rated side walls and gravel tire like tread pattern.

Traction and control/response was good, but of course nowhere even remotely near what a real gravel tire would give, and I was only going up to a 50 MPH max speed on those roads, not the 80+MPH average speed that the top class rides do, or the slightly less pace of the lower classes with real tires on them.

D-Mack used to make some great, semi-affordable, real gravel tires which were at least not as exorbitantly priced as the usual suspect, go-to choices of; Michelin, Pirelli, Hoosier, and Yokohama, but I am not sure that anyone is bringing them into the country anymore.

Federal also offered some less insanely priced options as well, but again, unsure of their availability at this point.

 

[McRib 1s Back]

I only work/volunteer on actual ARA rallies (at least I used to when they still had any in the Northeast), and do not do any SCCA RallyCross events.

I used the General Altimax Arctic 12 winter tires for that purpose and they held up fine to the rough gravel forestry roads used on those events due to their XL rated side walls and gravel tire like tread pattern.

Traction and control/response was good, but of course nowhere even remotely near what a real gravel tire would give, and I was only going up to a 50 MPH max speed on those roads, not the 80+MPH average speed that the top class rides do, or the slightly less pace of the lower classes with real tires on them.

D-Mack used to make some great, semi-affordable, real gravel tires which were at least not as exorbitantly priced as the usual suspect, go-to choices of; Michelin, Pirelli, Hoosier, and Yokohama, but I am not sure that anyone is bringing them into the country anymore.

Federal also offered some less insanely priced options as well, but again, unsure of their availability at this point.

Thanks for that. I was curious how the current generation of snow tires would hold up. Seeing the Ford Mach-e Rally run with the Michelin Cross Climate tires got me thinking about alternatives. I have no idea how well those work, but a few journos said it was a good match.

*EDIT: "CrossClimate2" tires: Michelin CrossClimate2

 

[WannabeST]

Thank you. It is nice to be back. Mostly I'm torn on what to do next with this car. It is in remarkably fine shape...and that makes me consider keeping it only for track days on tarmac -- but my current life priorities probably won't allow for much of that. On the other hand, I could see having fun with it as a rally car out here. I have a nice loop of graded roads to play on here...and maybe an official event or two here in AZ...

If you become interested in Tarmac stuff, NASA AZ is pretty active and looks like they will be going to multiple tracks. Your car would likely be in either TT4 or TT5 class.

 

[McRib 1s Back]

If you become interested in Tarmac stuff, NASA AZ is pretty active and looks like they will be going to multiple tracks. Your car would likely be in either TT4 or TT5 class.

That sounds like a lot of fun! As the car sits now, it makes 280WHP on 91 octane. Before the cage it weighed 2337. I will call the cage 120 pounds. That is 2457 pounds for a result of 8.775:1.

Is that TT2 or TT3 by rule? I read that "or greater" to mean TT3 since it is *greater than 10:1 but less than 8:1. Is that right?

For fun, 400WHP would be 6.14:1! My contact at Mountune thinks that is realistic on race gas with bigger injectors and a new DI pump. It is not necessarily a goal for me, however. I value good power with as close to "bullet proof" as possible instead. So 280WHP on 91 would make me happy if it achieved it without issue.

 

[WannabeST]

That sounds like a lot of fun! As the car sits now, it makes 280WHP on 91 octane. Before the cage it weighed 2337. I will call the cage 120 pounds. That is 2457 pounds for a result of 8.775:1.

Is that TT2 or TT3 by rule? I read that "or greater" to mean TT3 since it is *greater than 10:1 but less than 8:1. Is that right?

For fun, 400WHP would be 6.14:1! My contact at Mountune thinks that is realistic on race gas with bigger injectors and a new DI pump. It is not necessarily a goal for me, however. I value good power with as close to "bullet proof" as possible instead. So 280WHP on 91 would make me happy if it achieved it without issue.

View attachment 64999

You are correct, it sounds like you would be a lot close to TT3. There is also modifiers in the rulebook to adjust depending on what tire you are running and we get a small benefit for being FWD and etc. But yes you are definitely going to be classed higher than I anticipated. I did not realize how light your car was.