We’ve undertaken an epic project that will see us develop one of the most formidable Fiesta STs in the country
Now it’s reaching its final stages, we’ve decided to look back at how our ‘Ultimate Fiesta Build’ project has unfolded over the last few months by bringing you our build articles that were originally featured in Fast Ford magazine. This week, it’s Part 11, where we head back to the track with some very special guests…
Remember: you can now sign up to WIN the car in a charity raffle competition, with all proceeds going to the Rays of Sunshine children’s charity. Click here to enter.
Ultimate Fiesta So Far
The last few months have mainly been filled with us having our heads stuck under our ‘Ultimate Fiesta Build’ charity giveaway project, attempting to make it the very best Mk7 ST around.
We think it’s safe to say that we’re getting there with our goal – the car now boasting just shy of 400bhp and featuring a raft of chassis, braking and safety upgrades to ensure it’s an all-round hoot to pilot!
Because of this, we thought it was about time we treated ourselves to some more track action in the hot hatch – giving us a valuable chance to see how all the hard work translates when the car is driven hard out on the circuit.
It’s why you could find us recently returning to Wiltshire’s Castle Combe Circuit, this time with some familiar faces and other high-performance machinery to pit the Fezza against.
The first job was to give the car a bit of a shakedown on the rain-soaked 1.85-mile race track. It was great to instantly feel how much faster, tauter and more downright capable the pocket rocket felt – undoubtedly infinitely faster than when we brought it to this circuit in near-stock form, whilst retaining the handling and stopping capabilities to match.
Next up, Ford YouTuber ‘Spark Plug Steve’ was invited out on track with his Pumaspeed Stage 2-modified ST. Also rocking an EBC Apollo Balanced Big Brake Kit, Steve had the time of his life battling against our tamed BTCC racing driver, Jake Hill, who was behind the wheel of our Fiesta and showing Steve some on-track tricks and tips. Jake commented on how the Cusco LSD in our car was a particularly strong point in helping put the power down, especially in the treacherous conditions we faced.
After this, it was time for the big one: putting our Ford up against our R35 Nissan GT-R development vehicle. With Jake Hill once again in the Fiesta and our in-house test driver piloting the Japanese super-coupe, this would promise to be an extremely interesting set of battles indeed.
The first test was a simple 0-60mph sprint on the damp Tarmac. Unsurprisingly, the 550bhp GT-R’s trick 4WD system meant it performed the launch in just 4.4 seconds, with our FWD manual Fezza taking 6.2 seconds to achieve the same speed.
A 60-0mph brake test followed. This time, the Fiesta’s lighter weight and big brake kit came into their own, with a 66ft stopping distance compared to the bulkier GT-R’s 88ft.
Finally, it was what we’d all been waiting for – a handful of hot laps of the circuit. With the Fiesta taking an early lead and the GT-R hot on its tails throughout, it incredibly managed to retain this position throughout the race, illustrating just how much the modifications we’ve added to the car have transformed it.
As the sun began to set, we were greeted by one last contender – a full-blown BRSCC Fiesta Championship race car, which went out in the hands of local driver Adam Higgins against Jake Hill in our car. It was fascinating to see how a heavily modified road car fared against a full-blown race car on race tyres and you can see the outcome of this battle by heading to our YouTube channel now…