Setup guide for tracking a daily driven FiST

[haste]

I have a few questions concerning the FiST on track. I know there are a lot of variables when tracking the car, track layout, weather, driver, parts used on the car, etc...

I'm hoping to get some answers and/or discussion the best setup overall to keep the FiST's engine cool, brakes cool and also keep the performance as high as possible for as long as possible with a minimum amount of investment.

I will be on track during Hyper-fest, at VIR in May.

I did the same event last year in HPDE 1 and rode with an instructor the whole weekend. I will be HPDE 2 this time around and hope to go Solo on the 2nd day. The weekend consists of 8 sessions on track between 20-25 minutes long. Therefore, I might be pushing the car a little harder, although, I pushed it VERY hard last year and it did fine.
The car was completely stock other than Hawk DTC-60 pads on the front(kept stock pads on rear) and Torque RT-700 brake fluid. I did remove the front brake dust shields to help with cooling. There were about two times that
I had fade when on track. The car did fine all weekend, except the couple braking issues and had no overheating issues that I know of. I did not monitor temps at the time, so I don't know exactly how hot the oil and coolant was getting but I never lost power and the car didn't go into limp mode.

I'm currently Stage 3 Cobb OTS tune with mods in my signature.

Some questions I have:

Cooling - Straight distilled water or should I leave the coolant as is?
I'd like to get as much cooling as possible without adding an oil cooler or radiator and am not sure if straight distilled water would be the best bet. The temps will definitely be above freezing the whole weekend...

Would it benefit the cooling to remove the hood heat deflector(the cloth like piece stuck the underside of the hood)?

Also, would removing the engine cover help with cooling?

How about removing the cowl?

Would I help the car by popping the hood immediately after getting off the track and then actually lifting it up after I can finally stop?


Brakes - removing dust shields and adding the boomba deflectors? Has anyone actually tested these deflectors with positive results?

Oil - I run Pennzoil Platinum full synth 5w-30 in this engine, all the time. I assume I am ok with this oil but would like to hear opinions on it.

I will have about 5k miles on my oil when it is time to go on the track. Would it be better to put fresh in for the track then change afterwards, or just leave the current oil in the car then change it? I normally change it at 7500 mile intervals.

I'm also currently at 23k miles on my transmission fluid and will probably be around 26k at the event time. Would it be better to change this before or after?

Fuel - I can get 98 octane at the track. Would I benefit from this at all or hurt the car being that I'm 95% sure I'll be using the Cobb Stage 3 OTS tune during the weekend. Should I just stick with 93 E-10?




I appreciate you all and this forum, it's a great resource and hope it is for years to come.

 

[SaltFiST]

I'm certainly no expert, but from what I do know from reading and talking with pros:

Cooling: Distilled water. A lot of tracks won't allow antifreeze anyway. Seems there is an additive you can add as well, to the distilled water I mean. Wetter water??

I wouldn't remove anything under the hood.

Keeping the brakes a bit cooler with the Boomba deflectors would be beneficial I'm sure. Wouldn't need the shields.

Fresh fluids and leave the map the same, don't worry about 98 octane at the track.

Not sure that helps, but at octane academy, the pros were very adamant about the durability and performance of stock chassis and setup all around. Only difference on their cars were bigger radiators.

 

[JTP]

I would just say change the oil with something a little more robust, maybe some Motul or Redline if you are going to really hammer on it. I am not sure how well the resource conserving oils fare in our engines above stock power levels. If it were up to me I'd put in 0w-40 Mobil 1 in mine but I feel like its maybe a little to thick so I just put in Motul 5w-30 since it will see some track time soon.

Also tossing in a few gallons of 98 or 100 won't hurt, I do it to my STi because the time I didn't it went into limp mode since it was detonating so bad but it was also 101 degrees out and also has an EJ257..... but that is a whole different story.

 

[BeansNCornbread]

Change you engine and transmission oil. At stage 3 it may make sense to go to a light 40wt in the engine like M1 0w40 or Castrols. Anything more is unnecessary. I change my transmission oil annually in my track rats. Engine oil every 3-5K miles in my piston engines same context.

Bleed your brakes and add the deflectors. In stock tune my OEM brakes are near their max after a few laps.

I'd go 30/70 coolant to water of this track allows it. Otherwise it's water and water wetter. Change the latter out after the track day. It gets funky.

I pop my hood and raise it once parked after each session. Hand brake off of course. I also let it idle for 3 minutes or so depending on the heat blasting my face from the bay. Until/if you are running a vented hood I don't know if removing anything else will matter.

As far as fuel whatever you have reasonable access to that works with your tune. I mix 91 and 100 lead free to 93 in winter and 95 in summer.

 

[haste]

Thanks for all the replies. Great info so far.

 

[haste]

Just ordered Mountune stainless braided brake lines and a fire extinguisher that will fit in the glove box. I can't have loose items in the car while on track and I don't want to permanently mount it.

http://www.amazon.com/KID21006287-K...&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

 

[JTP]

Another question for all you guys is how are you addressing the front tow hook/strap? I am going to attempt to put one on this week before my track day but I want to keep it clean and not really cut anything open.

 

[InsTwin]

This is awesome, I've been looking for something like Hyperfest for a while.

 

[haste]

Another question for all you guys is how are you addressing the front tow hook/strap? I am going to attempt to put one on this week before my track day but I want to keep it clean and not really cut anything open.

This is something I have been looking for also. I really hope I don't need to be towed on track, but I'm willing to risk the damage and won't be installing a tow hook/strap yet until a better solution comes along.

This is awesome, I've been looking for something like Hyperfest for a while.

It is a great event. It was a lot of fun last year. I'm thinking it's only going to start getting bigger and better...

 

[JTP]

This is something I have been looking for also. I really hope I don't need to be towed on track, but I'm willing to risk the damage and won't be installing a tow hook/strap yet until a better solution comes along.

I will bring out the GoPro and record what I did and see what I can't figure out. There is a not so cheap solution from Pierce Motorsports http://www.piercemotorsport.com/2014-2016-fiesta-st-front-tow-hook-kit/

But I spent 14 dollars on a Sparco strap and a few bucks on a grade 8 bolt and some nuts and washers. Either way you need to do some drilling so I figured I would save the 80 bucks and buy some beer and pizza and still be ahead.

 

[BronxBomber]

In the same boat. Signing up for some HPDE at Sebring and am in the process of preparing my car. Subscribed.

 

[Chuckable]

Like others have said, brakes are extremely important. Make sure you have at least 50% life on all pads, bleed the brakes, double-check the torque on all lugnuts and any other fasteners you've touched, remove your center caps if you still have the OEM wheels. These are the basics for a stock or nearly stock car. If you have a tune, run race gas just as a bit of extra insurance against detonation.

 

[haste]

Thanks for chiming in, Chuckable. Your lug nut torque suggestion reminded me that I checked the torque on all the wheels between sessions last year and almost every time a few would need tightening up. The stock lug nuts also stink. A 6 point socket is recommended!

 

[Chuckable]

Thanks for chiming in, Chuckable. Your lug nut torque suggestion reminded me that I checked the torque on all the wheels between sessions last year and almost every time a few would need tightening up. The stock lug nuts also stink. A 6 point socket is recommended!

For sure! The OEM lug nuts on my car were stripping within the first 10k miles.

 

[OEFvet11]

I'll chime in. I was former instructor and two time class winner with redline time attack. I also bleed my brakes before every event. With our Ediff's using the front brakes more than a normal car expect higher temps for sure. So bledding the brakes is a must before every event. Also I am Using race pads. I always keep a set of track pads and rotors for the track and swap back to street setup after the weekend. This actually saves money in the long run and ensures I can have a weekend of fun without worrying. Take extra oil, water, brake fuild with you. Never know for sure. I actually bought clear storage boxes that I use for all my track stuff. Always remember after each session to torque your lug nuts. They will come loose and yes losing a wheel on track normally means a big accident. Seen this every so often and it's never good. Also you can drop a little tire pressure as well. Most people don't realize the factory recommend settings actually induce understeer into the car so it's safer for the average driver, but not fun on the track. Look at the arrows on the sidewalks of the tires. You want the tire wear just to touch the tip of arrows when the tire is fully at operating temps. Normally I run at least 5 psi lower than factory specs on average. Still learning the FiST so I don't have a base line to start with. Good luck and have fun. A CG Lock is a also a worth while investment. If at the track and your unsure of something, just ask, plenty of guys always willing to help out.

 

[maestromaestro]

My $0.02

I have this exact case - a daily driver and a HPDE track rat in one. I went ahead and changed all four corners - BC coilovers and Wilwood kits, Spec 36 rotors. Using the Castrol SRF brake fluid - and this set up works very well. There is some initial fade as the rotors and the pads heat up, but after that, the feel is quite consistent. I do, however, use an aggressive pad - Carbotech XP8, which does chew up the rotor (after a few days on the track, the slots are gone, which translates to about 1 mm of rotor wear).

The bigger issue was the overheating - out of the box, STs aren't really "track ready". Unless you're racing in Alaska in winter maybe. I tried DI water with water-wetter, which didn't work. So, I threw everything available at it - Liquid Chill mix, bigger radiator, and an oil cooler from Mishimoto. That did the trick - even in Houston at 100F outside, the coolant and oil temperatures don't budge. I could probably have used AC as well.

I suspect that the oil cooler was the key - but, I never checked whether just the bigger radiator would do it. IMHO, no tricks with the coolant itself would work outside of rather mild climate conditions. Oh, and I did sand off the solid strip at the bottom of the front grille, so there's that...

As far as the tow hook goes, I used Piercemotorsports Front Tow Hook Kit; it takes some elbow grease to drill thru the crash bar, but I am quite pleased with the results and the overall look. See pics here. http://www.fiestastforum.com/forum/threads/4428-Piercemotorsports-Front-Tow-Hook-Kit!/page3

 

[Siestarider]

Just wandering track threads, all the above is sound advice from my experience. I would add in personal priority:

Learn to look ahead further than you need to be quick in turns, it helps be smooth.

Always turn ESC fully off. Saves a lot of brake pad and you learn car's limits faster if you work your way up to limits without nanny.

When overheating first try heater on full blast. With heater on I can run consecutive laps in 95F and 90% humidity with water/oil peaks around 235/250. Harsh use for sure, but ECU does not cut power, so hopefully Fords engineers are ok with those temps and this engine.

 

[maestromaestro]

With heater on I can run consecutive laps in 95F and 90% humidity with water/oil peaks around 235/250. Harsh use for sure, but ECU does not cut power, so hopefully Fords engineers are ok with those temps and this engine.

Lucky you. My experience was - in the same conditions - much worse; could not get more than 1.5 laps without limp mode activated. At the end of the straight, the engine would cool enough to restore power, but two turns later - back to throttling. Not anymore!

 

[M-Sport fan]

For sure! The OEM lug nuts on my car were stripping within the first 10k miles.

The threads, or the outer hex part?

 

[SirThomas88]

Subscribed! I'm also close to VIR. Will have to check out this event and consider possibly joining in (if it's not already too late).

Interested to see what other suggestions are posted, and what you learn from the event.