Lemon's X47 track ST

[M-Sport fan]

I wonder what customs would say if you had 4 tyres in your suitcases?

 

[WannabeST]

I wonder what customs would say if you had 4 tyres in your suitcases?

I know every country is different. but from experience if you try to take even a pair of tires in or out of mexico to the US you will get taxed on it. Mexico is a little stricter on asking questions and such about what you are bringing in. US doesn't seem to care as long as you pay your tax and no drug dogs get alerted. If you get lucky, on some busy weekends they don't even tax you on items. (Perfect for my family because we stack up on alcohol when this happens lol)

 

[lemonjs]

I attended Castle Combe's Summer Action Day yesterday. There were thousands of cars there on show, as well as track sessions and drift events happening all day.

I only went out for two sessions and decided that was enough as the track was lawless. Usually on organised track days there are sighting laps at the beginning and everyone behaves themselves, but this was absolute carnage!

The car did well for both sessions. The EBC RPX pads are phenomenal, although I don't see them lasting long. Also, the car started to get a little hot toward the end. I know you guys in the US say a radiator swap is a must for this car, but generally the stock radiator is fine over here (or at least I thought). I have a full track day booked next week so there's no way I can order a radiator and fit it before then. I'm thinking I might cut the fan shroud up in the short term to get some more air through.

There was a photographer, but he wants £18/$22 per photo which is a joke, so the watermarks will have to do:





Here's a little onboard video, not pushing too hard as it was my first time at this track:

 

[lemonjs]

I pulled the radiator fan shroud this morning. You can remove it without having to take the whole bumper and rad pack out but it's pretty tight. There's two clips on top of the shroud, then you can lift it up and off the bottom brackets. I had to move the top radiator hose out of the way to get it out. Your mileage may vary if you've got the standard boost hoses, as I don't have the symposer anymore which gives a bit more room.

I read that Ford have this giant heap of plastic blocking the radiator to let the car get up to temp quicker:



Whatever the reason, Pumaspeed recommend removing the plastic around the shroud when installing their radiator. From their website:

but we do recommend the removal of the outer areas of the shroud and vents to allow extra flow to the whole width of this Alloy Radiator

Hopefully the same applies to the stock radiator, as most of mine has now gone, and it's just the fan and the brackets that remain:



I'm hoping that this will allow a lot more air through when the car is moving, at the expense of taking longer to get to temperature (which isn't a problem). Fan installed, there's a good amount more exposed area on both sides.





The Pumaspeed radiator is tempting as it's only £259 with a 45mm core. Airtec and Mishimoto are around £500, and Mountune no longer sell a radiator in the UK.

 

[Intuit]

The racers for my R6 motorcycle commonly remove the fan entirely when at the track because it impedes airflow through the radiator. (they're constantly moving at high speed)

Removing the shroud on the car is like the same thing. That shroud is definitely needed for the average daily driver though. Over-cooling will fowl the cylinders.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Over-cooling will fowl the cylinders.

THIS is one of my only 'worries' about installing an aftermarket radiator for daily use in the upper mid-Atlantic/northeast winters.

As it is, my factory system barely gets up to or over 180*F in the dead of winter, regardless of how long it idles, or how far it's driven.

 

[lemonjs]

I was at Bedford Autodrome on the 1st July. It was my first time here and I absolutely loved it! The circuit is 3.8 miles long and has 18 corners with plenty of run off. I didn't do any lap timing, but did manage to hit 140mph on the straight which was wild.

My garage space was next to another Fiesta:



The car performed incredibly. The coolant temps were also noticeably improved since hacking up the fan shroud. I saw a max of 101c (213f) with it usually hovering between 90-95c (194-203f) which is still hotter than I would like, so a radiator is on the cards for sure.











I don't have anything else booked for this year, but I'm looking at some potential dates in August.