Aftermarket mods:

[Chan]

Anybody have any planned aftermarket mods you have planned for your Fiesta?

So far I have planned are a stiffer suspension with new lower/stiffer springs/shocks or a nice coilover set, awaiting on word of a short-throw shifter, and HIDs.

[BRGT350]

de-chroming the exterior
body kit
spoiler
short throw shifter
Individual pedal pads
17" Axis wheels
Possibly an air intake, depending on design
Exhaust
FSWerks PCM retune
Aluminum/urethane lower torque mount
Underdrive pulley
tint
graphics
headlights of somesort
Possibly FRPP or FSWerks suspension kit, depending on how the stock Fiesta handles and sits. I can't go too low since it needs to clear a lot of snow in the winter.

Eventually, I will swap from bumper covers if somebody makes one that looks more like the EU version with round foglamps and a larger air intake. The US bumper is the only part of the car I don't really care for.

[Mattdoommaster]

Here is my plan, in the order I plan to do it.

New wheels with summer tires. I'm not sure what wheels. Probably not larger than 16 inch.

Intake/Exhaust/Tune.

Slightly lower/stiffer suspension. Probably just a Ford Racing spring kit and some new shocks or something like that.

Turbocharger. This is a big maybe. I'm not ape**** over having a car that can do 0-60 in under 7 seconds. But I would like my Fiesta to be about as fast as my current Focus ST (around 7.5 seconds to 60) and if the Intake/Exhaust/Tune can't get me there I'll probably pick up a low-boost turbo kit. And have someone else install it, because that's way over my head.

I'm not sure if I'll buy a body kit. I'm not a huge fan of the optional one. If I don't buy the Euro spoiler I'll probably buy some sort of larger spoiler in the aftermarket.

I'm also torn about how to approach the sound system. Sync SEEMS like a no-brainer. But my problem with it is that with the way technology advances, it will probably feel out of date in 3 years. And in spite of being a huge tech-geek when it comes to PC and other home electronics, I actually rather dislike tech in my cars. If I don't get the Sync & Sound, I'll pick up a stereo upgrade - just some higher quality speakers - at some point down the road.

[Chan]

From my experience, BPUs are not the best bang for your buck from a performance standpoint especially on small N/A motors.

I've always been an advocate of doing suspension first and foremost before you begin working on power. I'm assuming the 1.6 is using extremely high compression along the lines of 12:1 or something, makes for forced induction nightmare. Those with the dual-clutch tranny can also kiss F/I goodbye as the tranny is rated for 170lb/ft of torque.

[Chan]

I'm curious as to what FSWerks has planned for the Fiesta, I'll give them a call once I get my Fiesta and see if I can be a test dummy for you guys, thats how I got two free exhausts for my Triumph

[Mattdoommaster]

Originally Posted by Chan

From my experience, BPUs are not the best bang for your buck from a performance standpoint especially on small N/A motors.

I've always been an advocate of doing suspension first and foremost before you begin working on power. I'm assuming the 1.6 is using extremely high compression along the lines of 12:1 or something, makes for forced induction nightmare. Those with the dual-clutch tranny can also kiss F/I goodbye as the tranny is rated for 170lb/ft of torque.

You're probably right about the computer tuning not giving huge gains, but like I said I'm not a mechanical genius. I suppose I could put in new cams or do some other stuff but I'd have to pay a lot for the installation. Besides, as said its already been proven that a Intake/Exhuast/Tune can reach 140, so it is a safe and simple route.

[BRGT350]

normally, I am all about suspension mods first, but the Fiesta handles so well out of the box, I moved the mods down the list. The Fiesta will be my all-weather, every season, daily driver, so having a stiff suspension in Michigan is not a good idea. Besides, I still have my Mustang with a complete Maximum Motorsports suspension for the track.

Being very honest here, the Fiesta is one of first cars I have ever driven that I thought the suspension was perfect from the factory. The Mini Cooper S was close, but it was a little rough for the street. SVT Focus is the other car that was perfect, but the SVT suspension came tweaked. I am not in a big hurry to change the Fiesta suspension since I am so happy with it.

[Chan]

I'm hoping Eibach releases some of their progressive springs for the Fiesta. I've always used Tokico shocks so it'll be interesting what offerings are available as far as shocks go.

[BRGT350]

I tried tokico's once, but prefer Koni or Bilstein on my cars. If I do suspension on the Fiesta, it will be a complete matched set of dampers and springs. I have wasted a ton of money over the years trying out all sorts of different spring rates and dampers. Way too easy to end up with too high of a spring rate and not enough dampening or vice-versa. If I do anything, it will be most likely a complete engineered package from FRPP.

[Chan]

Originally Posted by BRGT350

I tried tokico's once, but prefer Koni or Bilstein on my cars. If I do suspension on the Fiesta, it will be a complete matched set of dampers and springs. I have wasted a ton of money over the years trying out all sorts of different spring rates and dampers. Way too easy to end up with too high of a spring rate and not enough dampening or vice-versa. If I do anything, it will be most likely a complete engineered package from FRPP.

While I do prefer Koni or Bilstein, they cost significantly more than Tokico, if I were paying for Koni or Bilstein I rather opt for an adjustable coilover setup rather than a spring/shock setup.

My opinion on factory mods is that they're generally too conservative and overpriced for outsourced parts from one of the listed companies mentioned with Ford stamped on it instead of Bilstein or H&R or something.