Any must-do changes to trackday a Puma 1.7?
Discussion
Setting aside that I tend to mod all my cars, and my trackday ones get modded a great deal, I sadly find myself needing a cheap runabout daily to do a few thousand miles a year commuting - and a cheeky trackday here and there: one, two, perhaps three at a push this year.
After my Clio 172 met a very hot and melty end just before Christmas, the insurance payout got swallowed by, er, Christmas. And carpets. And an electrician's invoice. And...
So I got myself a reasonable Puma 1.7, insured it for a comedy £160, taxed it for a rather less comic £285 (I think), and am currently slowly getting it clean inside, the headlights polished, the tail lights dried out and resealed, and the cambelt needs doing.
The charred fence is evidence of the last car's demise
Bear in mind my modding budget is limited to say a couple of 50 quid upgrades I can sneak through, it'll only see a few trackdays at most, it needs to transport the kids sometimes, and I'm kinda over modding cars at the moment:
- how good are they on track, bog standard?
- anything I need to look out for, like oil surge for example?
- is the standard wheel alignment good enough?
- I'd put a set of better brake pads on it - not going mad, sub-£100 - what's best, or does it really need a ST170 sized brake?
- are they really best on standard comedy ride height, even on track? or do you lose composure as it leans excessively and rolls over onto the shoulder of the tyre?
I'm assuming trackday prep would be removing the rear seat and spare wheel, adjust pressures - done. Anything else?
Oh - yeah - I've got shot of the very iffy running lights already.
After my Clio 172 met a very hot and melty end just before Christmas, the insurance payout got swallowed by, er, Christmas. And carpets. And an electrician's invoice. And...
So I got myself a reasonable Puma 1.7, insured it for a comedy £160, taxed it for a rather less comic £285 (I think), and am currently slowly getting it clean inside, the headlights polished, the tail lights dried out and resealed, and the cambelt needs doing.
The charred fence is evidence of the last car's demise
Bear in mind my modding budget is limited to say a couple of 50 quid upgrades I can sneak through, it'll only see a few trackdays at most, it needs to transport the kids sometimes, and I'm kinda over modding cars at the moment:
- how good are they on track, bog standard?
- anything I need to look out for, like oil surge for example?
- is the standard wheel alignment good enough?
- I'd put a set of better brake pads on it - not going mad, sub-£100 - what's best, or does it really need a ST170 sized brake?
- are they really best on standard comedy ride height, even on track? or do you lose composure as it leans excessively and rolls over onto the shoulder of the tyre?
I'm assuming trackday prep would be removing the rear seat and spare wheel, adjust pressures - done. Anything else?
Oh - yeah - I've got shot of the very iffy running lights already.
If you need to transport the children, assuming you mean more than one, back seats will need to stay.
Best thing you can do is engine lubricant change, coolant and brake fluid.
If your budget allows, upgrade the anti roll bars. It will reduce body roll left to right.
Breathing modifications for sound pleasure could be the next thing.
Best thing you can do is engine lubricant change, coolant and brake fluid.
If your budget allows, upgrade the anti roll bars. It will reduce body roll left to right.
Breathing modifications for sound pleasure could be the next thing.
Thanks.
I should have been clearer, I meant to remove seats and spare wheel for trackdays only, then refit them. I don't think there's any other easy weight saving wins and it's pretty light already.
The fact it needs to transport the kids is one of the reasons I want to keep the car broadly standard and therefore comfortable enough for them, and as reliable as an 82k mile, 20 year old Ford can be.
Also forgot to mention it has an open cone air filter, which makes just enough noise that I'm not even thinking about an exhaust change. It's "insulated" from the engine bay heat using a piece of spare NVH matting, which may or may not do much, and has its own cobbled up air feed from the front grille.
If I ever get sufficient spare time to get bored I could make up a heatshield from ally sheet, but I'm not convinced I'll have the luxury of deciding whether to do that or not this year.
I should have been clearer, I meant to remove seats and spare wheel for trackdays only, then refit them. I don't think there's any other easy weight saving wins and it's pretty light already.
The fact it needs to transport the kids is one of the reasons I want to keep the car broadly standard and therefore comfortable enough for them, and as reliable as an 82k mile, 20 year old Ford can be.
Also forgot to mention it has an open cone air filter, which makes just enough noise that I'm not even thinking about an exhaust change. It's "insulated" from the engine bay heat using a piece of spare NVH matting, which may or may not do much, and has its own cobbled up air feed from the front grille.
If I ever get sufficient spare time to get bored I could make up a heatshield from ally sheet, but I'm not convinced I'll have the luxury of deciding whether to do that or not this year.
I have a Puma I use for track, brake wise I upgraded to a Fiesta ST150 (280mm disc) its plug & play, fits under the standard 15” wheels & has plenty of pad choices (they ST150 & ST170 use the same pad) I run Mintex 1144s on standard discs.
I’ve lowered mine 40mm on gmax shocks & springs, it does ride harsher but you’ll have no problem running it at standard height
I’d also get rid of the cone filter, I ran a 1.6 zetec S & a cone lost me 9bhp on a rolling road over a standard airbox & panel filter, a 4-2-1 manifold helps open these engines up but dont expect more than 130bhp on a standard engine
I’d also look at doing the rear mount bushes then just enjoy it for what it is, if you bin it, split it for parts, there’s plenty of Puma/Fiesta owners that will bite your hand off for bits
I’ve lowered mine 40mm on gmax shocks & springs, it does ride harsher but you’ll have no problem running it at standard height
I’d also get rid of the cone filter, I ran a 1.6 zetec S & a cone lost me 9bhp on a rolling road over a standard airbox & panel filter, a 4-2-1 manifold helps open these engines up but dont expect more than 130bhp on a standard engine
I’d also look at doing the rear mount bushes then just enjoy it for what it is, if you bin it, split it for parts, there’s plenty of Puma/Fiesta owners that will bite your hand off for bits
Thanks for that, good feeedback.
I had a quick look and a set of ST150 calipers and decent discs is about 70 quid posted. Add a set of pads and that's not going to break the bank. Are the standard brakes not much cop? in that just fitting decent pads isn't worth doing?
I'd seen that the 4-2-1 was available but it's out of reach for my meagre budget. A standard airbox might not be though. I don't tend to trust cone filters but would say that this one does look well supplied with cold air and reasonably well insulated from heat soak - I'll keep an open mind for now.
Rear bushes were done for its last MoT in January, and it got new front lower arms too. So I suspect it'll handle well enough, perhaps with a bit more slop than I'd like on track but it's going to be 95% commuting and I don't fancy ruining it for most of its use, even if the benefit is significant for the few times I'll get on track.
I had a quick look and a set of ST150 calipers and decent discs is about 70 quid posted. Add a set of pads and that's not going to break the bank. Are the standard brakes not much cop? in that just fitting decent pads isn't worth doing?
I'd seen that the 4-2-1 was available but it's out of reach for my meagre budget. A standard airbox might not be though. I don't tend to trust cone filters but would say that this one does look well supplied with cold air and reasonably well insulated from heat soak - I'll keep an open mind for now.
Rear bushes were done for its last MoT in January, and it got new front lower arms too. So I suspect it'll handle well enough, perhaps with a bit more slop than I'd like on track but it's going to be 95% commuting and I don't fancy ruining it for most of its use, even if the benefit is significant for the few times I'll get on track.
If you're on a limited budget, spend the money on making the car as reliable as possible. Fix all of the common mechanical gremlins, and service it to within an inch of its life.
The biggest determining factor of the amount of fun you'll have on a trackday is the amount of time you're able to spend driving. Shiny new parts will be scant consolation if you're going home on a flatbed before lunch because something trivial broke.
The biggest determining factor of the amount of fun you'll have on a trackday is the amount of time you're able to spend driving. Shiny new parts will be scant consolation if you're going home on a flatbed before lunch because something trivial broke.
...and having less power will mean you go to Cadwell Park through choice (more corners, fewer straights for those who don't know) and will be concentrating on getting your braking, cornering lines and speed perfect, carrying as much speed through the corners as possible.
Get those skills polished and you will be embarrassing enough people who thought they had faster cars.
I had an interesting few laps at Cadwell Park a couple of years back, leading/following a Hillman Imp. Standard 1960s engine, just race prepared, so stripped out, caged, stiffer springs etc. and the driver knew how to drive. He caught up with me in traffic and so I let him past and studied his driving style and lines, and benefitted from the experience. He was as quick as me in the twisties, despite having about 1/4 of my power.
My car? A 315 bhp 5 litre TVR Chimaera. Fun is far from all about speed on the straights.
Get those skills polished and you will be embarrassing enough people who thought they had faster cars.
I had an interesting few laps at Cadwell Park a couple of years back, leading/following a Hillman Imp. Standard 1960s engine, just race prepared, so stripped out, caged, stiffer springs etc. and the driver knew how to drive. He caught up with me in traffic and so I let him past and studied his driving style and lines, and benefitted from the experience. He was as quick as me in the twisties, despite having about 1/4 of my power.
My car? A 315 bhp 5 litre TVR Chimaera. Fun is far from all about speed on the straights.
All good advice, thanks.
I guess I might have been a bit more specific with my questions as the basic stuff is already well covered in this forum.
Specifically I was wondering if
- the suspension was up to track use, or if the amount of roll highlighted too much road bias, and what best to do mitigate that if so
- are the brakes up to it with a pad change, or are larger ones needed - looks like that’s been answered, ST150 discs and callipers is cheap and so are uprated pads
- any other shortcomings like you really need a poly roll restrictor or uprated engine mount, or the engines drink oil so overfill a bit, or you must fit a sump baffle
I guess I might have been a bit more specific with my questions as the basic stuff is already well covered in this forum.
Specifically I was wondering if
- the suspension was up to track use, or if the amount of roll highlighted too much road bias, and what best to do mitigate that if so
- are the brakes up to it with a pad change, or are larger ones needed - looks like that’s been answered, ST150 discs and callipers is cheap and so are uprated pads
- any other shortcomings like you really need a poly roll restrictor or uprated engine mount, or the engines drink oil so overfill a bit, or you must fit a sump baffle
Gassing Station | Track Days | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff