"Jack of All Trades" Build (SCCA STX+Daily Driver)

[zohaib]

Hello everyone!

So I've decided to log the build on my 2016 Magnetic Grey FiST

I purchased her on January 10, 2017. I needed a car that could fit myself, my wife, two car seats, and my work tools, all in a compact, lightweight car which I could still autocross and take on track days. I had a BRZ, but it could only do one car seat and my tools wouldn't fit in it.

EDIT 1:
I'll be using this first thread as my part list/other rantings.

So the intent of this vehicle is to serve as a secondary family vehicle (the first being a minivan), my commuter vehicle, a decently competitive autocrosser, and a fun trackster. It's a lot to balance but I think this car can accomplish it.

Some people asked why I didn't go with a FoST. It wasn't a price thing, it was more for weight and size. I like lower-weight vehicles because it means less wear and tear on parts when competing (and better momentum). As for size, I am a terrible parallel parker, and I do a lot of work in major cities where parking is an issue.

PARTS LIST:

Chassis:
Mountune Exhaust Hangers
Mountune Lower Chassis Brace
Mountune Rear Motor Mount
No-Pistons Evap Canister Skid Plate
Homebrew Front Bumper Tow Strap Mounting Point

Suspension/Handling:
Mountune Front Strut Tower Brace
Mishimoto Rear Trunk Brace

Engine/Transmission:
Mountune MP215 Upgrade
Mountune Billet Quick Shift
VelossaTech Big Mouth Air Intake

Body/Appearance:
MK5 "Fiesta" Badge Swap
RokBlokz "Short" Rally Flaps
ROLA Roof Rack
AVS Bug Guard
Lamin-X Fog Lamp Tint

Planned Short-Term Mods:
ST Suspensions Lowering Springs (Purchased)
Skidplateguy Front Skid Plate (Purchased)
Camber Bolts (Purchased)
Tire Upgrade
Exhaust Upgrade

Planned Long Term Mods (in a few years):
Coilover Suspension or Upgraded Shocks
Sway Bars
Chassis Reinforcement/Seam Welding
Upgraded Radiator, Intercooler, Piping, Etc.
Mountune MR230 or a similar tune

 

[KKaWing]

Hello and welcome! Nice steelies!

 

[zohaib]

Hello and welcome! Nice steelies!

Thank you sir! The steelies work well in NYC potholes, especially once they're invisible after a dusting of snow...

 

[zohaib]

After driving AW11 MR2's for a few years, and then the BRZ, I told myself "front-wheel drive, never again", but after trying out the FiST, i was impressed, even with the solid rear axle. I described it to some friends as "95% of a Mini at 80% the price" and they agreed.

I didn't have a color preference, but really wanted the Magnetic Grey. I definitely wanted the Recaro seat package, and without a sunroof (torsional rigidity something something). I found a whole bunch with the seats but they all came with sunroofs. Except one. The one. The only flaw was it had a GPS, which I didn't want to pay extra for, but .

Pictures at the dealership:

I took delivery on January 12, 2017, and said goodbye to the BRZ:

Photos from the next morning. Looking all stock and innocent. The "angry guppy" as my wife called it. And so we named her "St. Felicia, patron Saint of Angry Guppies":

And of course, since I bought her in the dead of winter, the first "mod" was snow tires:

To be continued!

 

[zohaib]

My first real addition was on April 2, 2017, where I installed a ROLA roof rack to be able to carry my bikes and longer ladders:
]

The numbers are from my old Infiniti G20, I was impressed that they still help on after all these years!

My next mod was swapping out the "Fiesta" emblem; I thought it was unnecessarily aggressive and I loved the "Focus" font from the first gen. After doing a little research, i found that the fifth gen Fiesta in Europe used the same font, so I ordered the MKV emblem from a dealer in the UK. Took a few weeks to come in but it was a nice difference:

I painted the tittle above the "i" red to match the scheme from the current emblem, and swapped it on April 8:

That same day I also installed the No-Pistons Evap Canister Skid Plate, swapped the exhaust hangers with stiffer ones from Mountune, and installed the RokBlokz rally flaps:

To Be Continued...

 

[zohaib]

The exhaust hangers solved the knocking issue with sudden directional changes, but there was still some movement in the chassis which was easily felt on undulating surfaces. So the first mod I wanted was some chassis stiffening. I was also anticipating the MP215 kit, so I also ordered an upgraded motor mount.

So the following day, April 9th (I know, it was a big weekend for parts), I installed the Mountune Rear Motor Mount, Mountune Lower Chassis Brace, Mountune Front Strut Tower Brace, and the Mishimoto Trunk Brace:

 

[zohaib]

I always wanted to do a "theme" with my car, so I decided to go with this:

I always liked the idea of an exterior air intake, on my old G20 and MR2 I had cut holes in the air boxes and attached piping to it for rudimentary "ram intakes", and was mulling similar piping for the fiesta with a venturi style fitting in lieu of a foglight. Upon reading more, I found that the Mountune airbox already uses that approach, but thinking it further I didn't want to lose a fog light. It was at that time I found out that VelossaTech was making their "Big Mouth" for the Fiesta, so I ordered mine and waited.

Mine arrived in a few weeks, and on April 16, I removed the bumper and installed both the VelossaTech Big Mouth and a mounting point for a tow strap:

The tow strap is attached to a hot-dip glavanized threaded rod which is bolted through the bumper, with a steel bearing plate on the backside. I calculated that with the size of the bearing plate used, and assuming a 1/16" bumper steel thickness and 36ksi shear strength, that the punch-out force would be around 9000lbs, and it should be safe to pull a 2800lb car in the event of an emergency. I had to drill out a part of the grill to get the rod through. I will probably end up doing something similar in the rear.

 

[zohaib]

The first NYRSCCA Autocross was on April 23, and I really got to discover the cars limits. The stock tires, although rated as 140 treadwear summer tires, are very unresponsive once heated, and feathered quickly. I want to upgrade the tires, but I'd rather burn the stock tires and get used to other limits of the car first. The stock shocks also felt overdampened in comparison to the springs, which is no good. There is also a ton of body roll. Since the chassis bracing and strut bars already threw me into STX, might as well embrace the category.

I installed the MP215 kit on April 26, because moar power, right? Car felt a lot more responsive although my butt dyno didn't feel a huge increase in overall power. But maybe that's the point, more response with more reliability. While I had the airbox out, I also installed the Mountune Quick Shift, which made the shifts feel "crisper" (like Burger Fries vs Wendy's Fries). I installed the "MOUNTUNE" badge in the car because I wasn't happy with the placement outside, and the car was real fun on a high-power autox course on April 30:

Oh, yeah, and an AVS Bug Deflector and Lamin-X Fog Lamp Tints.

 

[zohaib]

I haven't done too many mods since, but did take it out to more AutoX events. I did apply my mandatory Star Wars decals on the fenders:

I also ordered ST Suspensions Lowering Springs, because they were the only non-progressive lowering spring I could find (and they were super affordable). I also have a Skipplateguy front skid plate which I want to paint before I install, and I also have a pair of camber bolts, hopefully I can get it on before the next event.

 

[M-Sport fan]

The Swift Spec R springs are also linear, even though they look like progressives.

Just think of those bunched coils on them as 'tender', or 'helper' springs, since they are fully compressed with the weight of the car on them, and have NO effect on actual rates.

Does the NY Southern Region SCCA still hold events at the Hofstra Hempstead campus lots (last one I attended there was in 1993!)?

Where were the ones you attended this year?

 

[zohaib]

The Swift Spec R springs are also linear, even though they look like progressives.

Just think of those bunched coils on them as 'tender', or 'helper' springs, since they are fully compressed with the weight of the car on them, and have NO effect on actual rates.

Does the NY Southern Region SCCA still hold events at the Hofstra Hempstead campus lots (last one I attended there was in 1993!)?

Where were the ones you attended this year?

I also read that the ST springs had the stiffest rate of any non-coilover spring; the swift is 212f/162r while I found that the ST suspension springs are around 245lb/in all around (and they were on sale on Amazon, and there was also a mail in rebate, so there was a cost factor as well ). I didn't realize that about the swift springs, I was afraid they were progressive and I don't want to deal with unpredictability during weight transfer, so it's great info to have if the ST end up being too stiff.

In all honesty I may just order the Bilstein B8's and install the combined setup with the ST's in one shot and scratch my plans for coil overs altogether. I don't want to deal with removing Koni yellows just to adjust them, and it's not like I'd run them full stiff anyways.

SNYR doesn't cover the NYC metro area anymore; they fill the voids south of Central NY and Finger Lakes region. Just plain New York Region (NYR) covers the NYC metro area, but most of the events are down here on Long Island. Up until last year we were using the Nassau Coliseum lot (which is next to Hofstra), which is what they've been using since I started back around 2005. There were some issues this year but we've been using the Splish Splash Water Park parking lots out in Riverhead, and the next few events are out at Bald Hill in Brookhaven. I heard that Nassau Colisuem will be allowing events again soon, Porsche Club has one there in two weeks, so maybe the NYR can procure that site again.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Yes, I also was thinking about either the Koni Sports, or the B8s as well, and just installing them with the Swift springs, and to forgo coil overs altogether, since I do not have to tell you about the way the state DOTs in our general area LOVE to support the rock salt industry in the winter season (although it may be a bit worse where I am, and into central Pennsyltuckey, than on mid-Eastern Lawn Guyland LOL), and WHAT that does to the treads/collars of a year 'round, daily driven, coil over setup, even with a thick coat of Fluid Film or such on them!

I did not know that about the current NY SCCA regions, but the very last time I dealt with them at all was working the RallySprint (one venue/one day SHORT distance, stage rally) at the now (VERY SADLY!) defunct/long gone Bridgehampton course in 1996 (I believe, so long ago I forgot the exact year!), one of the very last officially sanctioned events held there before the track was torn up.

The last stage of that event, fittingly, was a one lap time trial of the circuit.

 

[zohaib]

Yes, I also was thinking about either the Koni Sports, or the B8s as well, and just installing them with the Swift springs, and to forgo coil overs altogether, since I do not have to tell you about the way the state DOTs in our general area LOVE to support the rock salt industry in the winter season (although it may be a bit worse where I am, and into central Pennsyltuckey, than on mid-Eastern Lawn Guyland LOL), and WHAT that does to the treads/collars of a year 'round, daily driven, coil over setup, even with a thick coat of Fluid Film or such on them!

I did not know that about the current NY SCCA regions, but the very last time I dealt with them at all was working the RallySprint (one venue/one day SHORT distance, stage rally) at the now (VERY SADLY!) defunct/long gone Bridgehampton course in 1996 (I believe, so long ago I forgot the exact year!), one of the very last officially sanctioned events held there before the track was torn up.

The last stage of that event, fittingly, was a one lap time trial of the circuit.

My job takes me all over the country, but generally between DC and southern NH (and as far west as Pittsburgh), I drive to my jobsites, and I don't think coilovers would work well with that commute anyways, lol.

I got my license back in 2002, years after Bridgehampton got turned into a hoity toity golf club, so I only get to hear stories about it. I'd love for us to have a local permanent facility again. NYR tried setting up an autocross event over at Riverhead Raceway a few years back, but some people didn't know how to navigate on/off the banks, and a few people ended up hitting the wall going into a turn too hot. Sad to say it hasn't happened since (and I never got to drive that either).

Usually for track days I'll either go to NJMP or Pocono. I've done Lime Rock twice but its not worth the price anymore. I've never done Summit or Watkins Glen, and haven't tried NY Safety School yet. I have yet to try anything rally related, but it looks crazy fun. Maybe later this year...

 

[Cligedy]

Subscribed! I came from an SW20 MR2 and an Infinity G too. I'd like to know your thoughts on the chassis bracing. Also, do you think the Velossa bigmouth is a worthwhile investment?

 

[zohaib]

Subscribed! I came from an SW20 MR2 and an Infinity G too. I'd like to know your thoughts on the chassis bracing. Also, do you think the Velossa bigmouth is a worthwhile investment?

I installed the chassis bracing and strut bars the same day. Coming into my development, the road is off camber turning into the gate. If you take it a little quick you can feel the torsion in the car. After the bracing, that feeling was minimized, and it probably wont get much better unless the car gets caged or the chassis seams welded shut. In all honesty I wish I knew about the Pierce Motorsports 6 point brace earlier, I would have liked to try that instead of the Mountune 4 point. strut bars are strut bars so no regrets there.

As for the Big Mouth, I have no hard data to tell you if it did any good. Can't say it improved throttle response because of the DBW, but VelossaTech does have some dyno runs on their site showing increase in power. I was going to fabricate a snorkel, but I would have lost a fog light, and the Big Mouth looks more badass lol

 

[M-Sport fan]

^^^The roads you must travel on/through to get anywhere west of you are NOT conducive to having bracing which hangs down as low as the Pierce under-chassis products do (and also the TB Performance Products front 'torsion bar' does).

At least the Mountune brace is mostly FLAT in profile, and MUCH less prone to get torn off of the car, taking with it, and/or damaging the subframe/A-arm/uni-body points it is attached to.

When you speak of seam welding, are you referring to a FULL, race/rally prep type job (completely gutting the car down to the 'body in white' and welding EVERY seam inside AND out), or just what one can see visibly under the car as it sits with no tear down??

 

[zohaib]

^^^The roads you must travel on/through to get anywhere west of you are NOT conducive to having bracing which hangs down as low as the Pierce under-chassis products do (and also the TB Performance Products front 'torsion bar' does).

At least the Mountune brace is mostly FLAT in profile, and MUCH less prone to get torn off of the car, taking with it, and/or damaging the subframe/A-arm/uni-body points it is attached to.

When you speak of seam welding, are you referring to a FULL, race/rally prep type job (completely gutting the car down to the 'body in white' and welding EVERY seam inside AND out), or just what one can see visibly under the car as it sits with no tear down??

The photos on the site don't make it look THAT low, but that is great info. See, I knew I'd like you

When I say seam welding, it's only of the joints that are visible, because there's no way in hell I have time to strip the entire car for a full race prep. And a full race prep would be useless without a cage, which is not useful or practical to me, unless someone savvy can design one that will accomadate car seats and growing children