new daily driver Fiesta ST 180

Hi everyone been looking at upgrading our current daily driver 08 plate 308 1.6hdi for a while now, and after coming up with a few options we decided an st180 would fit the bill perfectly.

After a good search we took a trip to mansfield yesterday to view a real nice spirit blue with just under 40k, fsh, 12 months mot, hpi clear and completely standard.

As with anything i was expecting the car not to be as good as it was in the pictures, needless to say i was wrong and it was just as good.

Me and the wife both test drove the car as it will be more for her than me as i use the van all week and most saturdays tbh.
We were blown away at just how well it drove and i was actually taken by surprise at just how quick it was as i was not expecting much from 180bhp (easily quicker than our old 210bhp mk1 octavia vrs)

anyway got back struck a great deal with the garage and we go to collect the car this coming sunday cant bloody wait :)

got 3 pics but more to come once we get it home.





i do have a few plans for the car but no silly stuff as its gotta be a daily so no droning exhaust systems etc.

induction kit/turbo induction hose and possibly hot/cold side boost kit should help it flow a bit more i reckon, might go for de cat downpipe and then a remap but will have to see
 
We stayed in Garstang which is quite a way down, but still well worth the drive, and what fantastic roads up there.

thats either 32 or 33 off the m6 isnt it? pretty sure we come off at 36.

yes the roads up there are brilliant, when we go to grasmere there are some amazing roads ill have the wife holding on a bit no doubt haha
 
hi mate thanks for the heads up, the beauty of the cp2 map is that is self adapting from a standard car upto the stage 2 mods
Iv not had the car on the dyno but if i get chance i will do beforehand for sure :)

Sounds good Andy|B

I am just an old non geek and have no knowledge about the latest self learning EMS :(
 
Sounds good Andy|B

I am just an old non geek and have no knowledge about the latest self learning EMS :(

haha hey mate i just about manage to get by on my laptop/desktop computers so theres not a chance in hell i can understand all the modern witchcraft of a modern ecu, they have certainly come a long way from the one in my other 1990 fiesta turbo.
 
well had a lovely break up the lake district for the bank holiday weekend, car was as always faultless throughout, really love the cp2 map thats on there and cant wait to add this other hardware i have :).

its such a effortless car to drive on motorways which is a real bonus and we managed to get out and take advantage of some of the amazing roads up the lakes and thats where i was really impressed with just how well it held the road on the new rainsport 3 tyres they really do give you alot more confidence and bring the car to life.

The one thing i do really think that require upgrading are the brakes as i think they could be far better than standard (anyone with any recomendations please feel free to tell me)

Otherwise another massive thumbs up for our little family motor, next up is to get the decat and exhaust fitted along with enlarged turbo elbow and crossover pipe.
 
Maybe you should research a better type of brake pad that is more suited to your driving style.
 
bit of a double edged update here

Firstly the crappy british roads claimed another victim on wednesday, got a phone call from the wife saying the rear tyre was flat as hell after hitting an unavoidable pot hole (shock horror).

Luckily she was only around the corner from a tyre shop to where they fount the side wall was completely shot and beyond repair baring in mind these tyres were only fitted the tuesday prior to this.

So she had to get an Avon tyre put on as they didnt stock rainsport 3s but i told her make sure you get the best wet grip rated one, was not happy to be paying out again so soon and a claim has gone in to the council iv honestly never known the roads be anywhere near as bad as they are this year.


secondly

Iv booked the car in with my mark Mark at GT Motorsport in stoke on 14th September to get my decat and cobra cat back resonated exhaust system fitted, along with enlarged crossover pipe, turbo elbow and turbosmart kompact shortie dual bov
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Usually id fit the last 3 myself as they really aint hard jobs at all but im flat out with work atm doing 6-7 days per week and any spare time i of course want spend with my family etc so thought may as well get it all done whilst off the road that day.
 
Maybe you should research a better type of brake pad that is more suited to your driving style.

thats exactly what iv been doing since i got home haha, its quite frustrating as we went from a 308 hdi sport where the brakes had alot of bite and stopped you really well to the ST which you expect to be at least on par or better.
Not sure if someone has fitted budget discs/pads to this so im going to refresh the fronts with this kit https://www.aetmotorsportshop.co.uk...t-uprated-brake-package?variant=2068026916891

then fit a set of Brembo discs and the Mintex M1144 pads to them this should certainly improve things i should imagine
 
a claim has gone in to the council
I've spoken with many customers over the years about claiming from councils re pot hole damage; I've never heard a success story ;(
It might just be they dont get back to us, and I dont see their files again.
Let us know how yours goes.
 
I've spoken with many customers over the years about claiming from councils re pot hole damage; I've never heard a success story ;(
It might just be they dont get back to us, and I dont see their files again.
Let us know how yours goes.

The wife has had a good luck into it and it seems to be around a 6 month waiting list, amazing isnt it they would want there rent/tax etc alot quicker than that.

Ill keep you upto date as we wont let this go.
 
well a tiny update i dropped a bit of a clanger and double booked myself with work so had to change the date my car goes to get the work done, plus side is its being done on Weds 12th September now :)

I have also purchased genuine Ford 5w30 oil & filter & spark plugs so going to do a little mini service on the car as last one was at 33k ( now on 43k)

Still booked on to run the car on the dyno at WGT on the 15th, going to be a busy morning as iv got go set a colleague up on a job then go to quote another before making the trip to Middlewich by 10am

Also read the news that an update is coming for us guys running CP2 my guess is revised mapping safely yielding more power to bring it into line with competitors power figures but we will see (i hope im right haha)
 
Well today i decided to bite the bullet and splash out quite a bit more of my well earned money on the car :)

first of all iv never been happy with the brakes im not sure if OE ST180 brakes are poor but ours really dont cut it our old pug 308 hdi brakes were far sharper, this could be down to somebody using rubbish discs/pads before we bought the car though.

so iv got this kit for the fronts from AET Motorsport
https://www.aetmotorsportshop.co.uk/products/ford-fiesta-st-uprated-brake-package

Then i wanted to improve on the handling but due to where we live atm lowering the car would be a problem so iv gone for the following

summit front strut brace
summit rear strut brace
summit lower rear beam 2 point torsion link bar
whiteline rear anti roll bar
powerflex rear spring upper isolators

i think the above should really bring things together and take a fair bit of flex out of the chassis and will all be in place for when we can finally lower the car :)
 
Hi Andy IF the discs are the stock size then it comes down to the pad material as to weather there will be any better feel and reduction in stopping distance and the braided lines will certainly help in that regard.

I see you have stiffened the chassis and that will / should tighten things up nicely BUT be careful with lowering as you can upset the roll centers especially the front as the lower lower control arms need to be higher at the inner pivot connection than the outer wheel end.
 
Hi Andy IF the discs are the stock size then it comes down to the pad material as to weather there will be any better feel and reduction in stopping distance and the braided lines will certainly help in that regard.

I see you have stiffened the chassis and that will / should tighten things up nicely BUT be careful with lowering as you can upset the roll centers especially the front as the lower lower control arms need to be higher at the inner pivot connection than the outer wheel end.

Hi mate as always really appreciate you taking the time to reply and offer advise :)

re the brakes i wouldnt be surprised if its got budget discs & pads on there atm, these what iv got should make a massive difference (i hope) haha

thats the plan with the chassis stiffen it where possible which will no doubt help things especially on that initial turn in, lowering will come when we move house but iv done quite a bit of research into this and 20-30mm seems to be absolutely fine and in fact people say improves ride quality over oe springs, so thats what we will go with when the time comes when that will be who knows haha.
 
Andy a funny tale but a true about low vs hi suspension.

Many years ago when the Mk 2 Escorts were new there was a rally where 1 of the special spectator stages was held @ a speedway track and the Esky driver complete with navigator (as the co drivers were called back then) on board broke the sedan lap record and when the next race meeting was held the local sedan champion attempted to reclaim the record and ended up putting his car into the wall..V(
 
Right then everyone we had the decat and exhaust system fitted along with the crossover/turbo elbow & bov.

All i can say is wow what a difference it now sounds like a proper old school turbo car really meaty, burbles lovely some fantastic natural crackles etc and it looks really good just a wider version of what was already there :)
One thing i will say is what i think most already know the many vids on youtube really dont pick the sound of the exhausts up well they are far louder in person and certainly turns heads.
Also its obviously louder inside the car more so with being decatted id imagine but its still ok doesnt make your ears bleed but we are yet to take the car on a decent sized run.

Iv only got to drive the car for about half an hour but the wife seems to be living with it fine and she is adamant the car is quicker, i personally think thats just a placebo effect of the noises etc, oh yeah the bov sounds good but im leaving it upto the wife if she wants to keep it on or not ;)

I have had to postpone the dyno run until the end of this month as iv gotta go work on saturday due to falling a day behind on wed (van failed mot)

I will also for sure be going for the CP2-R upgrade when its released so defo want dyno the car
before and after.

Fitted the Summit rear upper strut brace on weds afternoon but not had a chance get out in the car since to see if i could feel any difference.
 
bit of an update we both absolutely love how the exhaust has bedded in really sounds bang on, went to visit my older brother whos a big old school car nut at the weekend and he was overly impressed with how good it sounded.

I have managed to drop on a bit of a bargain via a fiesta st page over on facebook, got a brand new never been fitted Wagner stage 3 intercooler for £420 which is a nice little saving on buying new :)

I have the car booked in again at GT Motorsport on Weds 3rd October to get the following fitted/done ( again if i had time id do quite a few of these jobs myself)

cam bucket
aet upgraded front brake set up
summit front strut brace
whiteline rear anti roll bar
summit rear lower tosion bar
powerflex rear upper spring isolators

and if he has the time fit the wagner intercooler but we will see on that one as i have the car rebooked on the dyno for Sat 6th October
 
And just like that Collins Performance have released the CP2 update now called CP2-S :)

so i have got the car booked in for Saturday morning to get the new upgrade done which im looking forward to

testing figures have shown the following
+6 BHP Peak
+8 LBFT Peak
And
+12 BHP from 3900-4300rpm
+15 LBFT from 3900-4300rpm

Drivability and usability has been greatly improved, power earlier, ideal for those motorway overtakes and also holds much longer into the rev range thanks to our uprated actuator and there is a noticable increase in performance.

sounds like a nice upgrade and should feel good on the road ill be surre to update on this later on
 
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Andy your symptoms are exactly the same as I had when the turbo and modification bug hit me and after 26 years I an hopeful that I will be on the way to full recovery after the new owner of my car collects it tomorrow :lol:
 
Andy your symptoms are exactly the same as I had when the turbo and modification bug hit me and after 26 years I an hopeful that I will be on the way to full recovery after the new owner of my car collects it tomorrow :lol:

haha unfortunately iv had the bug since well before even having my driving licence. All started with having an older brother whos now in his mid 40s so you can imagine the cars him and his friends owned.
So a petrolhead was born big time in me iv always had my cars as my pride and joys and they never want for anything.
Always try to do them right (well imo anyway) basically dont do anything if it has no gain/advantage over whats already there, obviously these days have to mod a tad different as the wife and little un are in the car far more than me haha
 
Had a job postponement on Friday so actually had a day out and about in the car in the sun with the family did quite a few miles and loved every minute of it, The car really does turn heads and seems to get quite a bit of attention which is something i really didnt expect as they are a pretty common sight tbh.

This is where we had stopped off at a little canalside pub and it was on of them where i looked back and though wow that looks really good especially as its not been polished/waxed since early august

 
HI guys just wanted to update on the car since we got the rear arb/rear lower torsion bar & front strut brace fitted to go with the already fitted rear strut brace.

All i can say is wow what a huge difference its made to the car it now feels really planted really does encourage you to push on alot more than on the oe set up, big thumbs up from us and for anyone whos looking at really improving the handling of your car and not wanting to lower it this is an absolute winner. Rear torque mount and quickshift to go on next and it will be spot on.

Also changed the cam bucket and had the Wagner stage 3 intercooler fitted and also the aet front brake upgrade including uprated brake lines. Brakes are of course still bedding in but getting better all the time, intercooler will obviously be doing its job and will now hold onto the power much better.

looking forward to saturdays dyno session to see what the cars putting out and check all is well etc.
 
today we took the car upto WGT in Middlewich to put the car on the dynapack hub dyno to see whats what. Iv always been hugely impressed by the torque in the car but i was pleasantly surprised by the final outcome. Had a fantastic drive up to there through some nice country lanes and national speed limit roads even though the weather was very wet the handling mods and rainsport 3 tyres have really transformed the car :)

228bhp @the fly (198whp) which is bang on the money for collins cp2 software with related hardware and the main thing was 283 lb/ft torque which is what you can really feel out on the road, makes the car a pleasure to drive as there seems to be torque from very low down.

link to youtube vid :)

i will upload the graph a bit later on when i get chance to scan it
 
just a couple of random pics iv taken

at wgt waiting to be hooked upto the hub dyno


just really random got in from work and just looked and thought wow that looks good haha (and its absolutely filthy from the weekend)
 
I have also purchased a Vudu (aet motorsport) ported exhaust manifold and Boomba racing inlet & throttle body spacers all to give as much flow as possible and give me even more area below the graph (or thats the plan anyway).
Peak figures might only go up by 5-8bhp and 10-15lbft but as you can see its already performing really well for what it is so any more gains for not a great deal of outlay will be welcome
icon_smile.gif


i will of course take the car back to WGT to run it on the hub dyno again to see whats what and get an overlay of the best run from before and after these additions
 
seems like a good while since i updated this

the car is as ever running spot on cant fault it one bit :)

And i will have a big update to come within the next week or so which really will push things on ;)
 
So this is the update thats been in the pipeline underwraps for a while now my mate bernie of bernies blowers has built me one of his 300+bhp hybrids for our car, he has built me my turbos since around 2008 and always been spot on, made great power and very reliable. Im not allowed to reveal whats exactly done to it right now as its still a bit of a secret due to him supplying OC Motorsports hybrids which i hear ollie made 325bhp on this turbo so it certainly does the job :)

Mapping will be done by my mate Mark at GT Motorsport in Stoke, his custom wrote maps are absolutely bang on and yield some great results so its in safe hands there.

Id imagine its going to be around April/May when this gets done as want get Christmas|Birthdays and new year out the way to get some money coming back in, plus also got the small matter of fitting/mapping the ecu on my RS Turbo first.

 
not a massive update but yesterday a spur of the moment thing got me and the wife and a little helper outside to give the car a much needed detail, it hadnt been done for just short of a year i reckon.



products used were a mixture of auto finesse and autobrite direct, very impressed with the results and just how easy the stuff was to apply/remove.



















Then today i headed over to my mate at JL Automotive in Fenton so we could make use of a ramp to do an genuine oil/filter change ready for when we head down to Newquay at the weekend, also had a coolant leak which i suspected to be the header tank which i was proven right on plus the lower hose had a split in it so both have been replaced with genuine items from our local ford dealer.



Also took the chance to remove the turbosmart dual port bov and replace it with a gfb dv+ as the other one was driving my wife mad and i can see why tbh.
 
Andy I reckon if you cut yourself you would bleed blue blood.:) |B

haha i think you might be right mate, although i still like my little french motors after my old renault 5 gt turbo, and as you can see in the background my own work van is a renault kangoo which has been absolutely brilliant especially as it only cost me £800 nearly 2 years ago.
 
not anything massive to report on, the car has just done another 600 mile (10 hour) round trip down to newquay again, ran absolutely faultless and is actually a pleasure to drive really effortless on the motorways with having so much low down torque in you can just leave it in 6th and pull from most speeds.

now i certainly never buy a car especially a performance based one for fuel economy etc, but i was rather impressed it used just a tad over half a tank each way which i think is rather impressive.

Its also so much better with the gfb dv+ on there, not really got anymore plans for it this year just maintain it and keep it as clean as possible (defo not leave it as long this time to give it a good detail).


Iv read in alot of places people seem to think certain exhaust systems drone on these cars, i can honestly say the 3" cobra system and decat doesnt seem to on ours, now i dont know if its just me thats used to having old school turbo motors that makes me think this is much more manageable and not anywhere near as intrusive or what? And i could guarantee you if it did drone then the wife would be on my case daily haha
 
this was the only picture i took of the car down newquay im pretty sure this was on the 1st night there.


as you can imagine the car was absolutely filthy after travelling there plus a full week and back, so when i got back i made sure to clean it off which was really easy with all the protection on the paintwork :)
 
been a good while since updating this but glad to report the car is still absolutely faultless no problems at all.

got a set of michelin pilot ps4 tyres to go on pretty soon which imo are about as good as it gets for a road tyre.

I do have quite a decent thing to update on whilst out in the car the other weekend the wife turned to me and said i think the car does need some more power :)

Thats something i dont need telling twice so now its the decision to either go for the Collins cp5 set up with the s280 turbo and uprated injectors which will see me at around 340+bhp or go for one of my good mates bernies blowers (wilky) turbos which would see me around the same power give or take 5bhp and work out a hell of alot cheaper, then it would be custom mapped at my other mates at GT Motorsport.

And iv been doing alot of measuring on our driveway especially where the porch step kicks out and it seems like we would get away with lowering the car 30mm :) so a set of eibach springs will be finding the way onto to car soon.
 
well that escalated quickly haha

just ordered the following

turbo technics s280 turbo
uprated bosch injectors
collins rear motor mount
eibach pro lowering springs

looks like the car will be joining the 340+bhp club soon :)
 

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