Greeno's Mk5 Fiesta Zetec-S
Discussion
Being an avid Ford fan, (blame the rallying) it came time to choose myself a new car which was suitably nippy, had good handling and something a 20 year old student would be able to afford!
After lusting after Mk2 Escorts for long enough and realising it would be impossible to insure something RWD or turbo's for at least another 12-24months, I came across the Fiesta Zetec-S.
Blue Oval Badge? Check.
Nippy? Quicker than my previous Clio.
Handles Well? Check.
Funding? Just about.
After a suitable hunt, I came across a Y reg, Moondust silver Phase 1 with sky of 48k on the clock. Next came the roadtrip up to Birmingham direction to view the car, and after finding little faults (rust on o/s/r arch, scratch on front bumper and 3 non working lights) a deal was made and I was driving my latest car back to Swansea!
Being a Motorsport Student, I have been trying to break into competing in Motorsport for a little while. Hoping this car will be a good base.
Pics from the advert:
After I got it home:
Plans are:
Stripped Interior- Check.
Puma Gear Knob- Check.
Bucket Seats
4 Point Harnesses
Roll Cage
Milltek Exhaust System or similar
New Panel Filter
SS4 Cams
Remap
280mm Brake Upgrade
Suspension Upgrade
Upper & Lower Strutbraces
Basically shall be lightening as much as I can (for free/cheap) and working on the other mods ASAP. I'm only a poor student after all haha. Want to get out on a trackday ASAP in 2012 though!
Thanks for looking, any input/opinions, greatly appreciated!
After lusting after Mk2 Escorts for long enough and realising it would be impossible to insure something RWD or turbo's for at least another 12-24months, I came across the Fiesta Zetec-S.
Blue Oval Badge? Check.
Nippy? Quicker than my previous Clio.
Handles Well? Check.
Funding? Just about.
After a suitable hunt, I came across a Y reg, Moondust silver Phase 1 with sky of 48k on the clock. Next came the roadtrip up to Birmingham direction to view the car, and after finding little faults (rust on o/s/r arch, scratch on front bumper and 3 non working lights) a deal was made and I was driving my latest car back to Swansea!
Being a Motorsport Student, I have been trying to break into competing in Motorsport for a little while. Hoping this car will be a good base.
Pics from the advert:
After I got it home:
Plans are:
Stripped Interior- Check.
Puma Gear Knob- Check.
Bucket Seats
4 Point Harnesses
Roll Cage
Milltek Exhaust System or similar
New Panel Filter
SS4 Cams
Remap
280mm Brake Upgrade
Suspension Upgrade
Upper & Lower Strutbraces
Basically shall be lightening as much as I can (for free/cheap) and working on the other mods ASAP. I'm only a poor student after all haha. Want to get out on a trackday ASAP in 2012 though!
Thanks for looking, any input/opinions, greatly appreciated!
Greeno91 said:
To be honest, for the price of a FRP lump and/or fitting of either engine, I think i'll just stick with the Zetec SE, I very much enjoy its love of taking abuse 
For the price of cams, remap and exhaust system you could just drop in the puma engine. Its better and less likely to have issues. I assume your car is still running the original silver top engine rather than the revised black top which does not have the issues of its predecessor?Forgot to add I have had 3 of them, they are great cars but its a bit of a waste of time trying to squeeze more power out of that engine.
FRPs can be had for reasonable money but Puma engines are cheap as chips, easy just sell your engine on the bay and buy Puma engine for same sorta price it's just fitting it then, as said more reliable and probably more power than modding the original engine, plus you can mod the 1.7vct engine up to 160bhp+ as the FRP has shown.
rb5er said:
For the price of cams, remap and exhaust system you could just drop in the puma engine. Its better and less likely to have issues. I assume your car is still running the original silver top engine rather than the revised black top which does not have the issues of its predecessor?
Forgot to add I have had 3 of them, they are great cars but its a bit of a waste of time trying to squeeze more power out of that engine.
Yeah, still the Silvertop, nothing will probably come of the Cams and Remap to be honest, just dreaming for now, unless I win the lottery that is! Although it is the first car that I probably will be properly modifying, so it shall be a bit of a learning curve for now! In saying that, if the Silvertop does go pop, it will most likely be a puma engine as replacement.Forgot to add I have had 3 of them, they are great cars but its a bit of a waste of time trying to squeeze more power out of that engine.
The standard engines in these produce 100BHP, yes? And the Puma engine is 125BHP? Is there not a more powerful engine that will go into these, as an engine swap for the sakes of 25BHP seems a little pointless.
Nice car OP. Always liked the look of the Zetec S, but they seem quite underpowered if I'm honest. Never driven one, but looking at the specs it looks a little 'all show and no go' ('no go' is a little harsh though)
Nice car OP. Always liked the look of the Zetec S, but they seem quite underpowered if I'm honest. Never driven one, but looking at the specs it looks a little 'all show and no go' ('no go' is a little harsh though)
Handling is very good though as is the Puma, yes it's only 25bhp more and bit more torque but it's a much nicer engine and in the case of the ZS +25bhp is a quarter more power in a light car.
You cam crowbar a 2.0 duratec in but needs more work, so a fiesta ST engine tuned could be 190bhp or stick a mk1 focus RS engine in, but it's a bit expensive for a 10 year old ford.
You cam crowbar a 2.0 duratec in but needs more work, so a fiesta ST engine tuned could be 190bhp or stick a mk1 focus RS engine in, but it's a bit expensive for a 10 year old ford.
Edited by Somnophore on Monday 12th December 17:22
Yes it would be quicker but they designed it for the young Market, it's a warm hatch so under 25s can get insured on it.
Plus it's under a ton in weight. The mk6 fiesta ST has 150bhp and is more expensive to run/insurance but weighs nearly 1.2 tons. A mk5 with a Puma engine would be comparable to the mk6 ST and probably better handling.
Plus it's under a ton in weight. The mk6 fiesta ST has 150bhp and is more expensive to run/insurance but weighs nearly 1.2 tons. A mk5 with a Puma engine would be comparable to the mk6 ST and probably better handling.
BriC175 said:
Not denying that.. I bet they're fun cars to drive, but to me, 100BHP sounds a bit underpowered. I would imagine around 150BHP would be much better
It would be better with 150bhp, but realistically the engine is never going to make that and you'd need a swap to see that sort of power. They're good fun with 100bhp though. I used to have one in blue, absolutely loved it. 
Why are you arguing over a few BHP!? After 10 years if it's still got anywhere near quoted figures when it was new you'd be laughing!!!
These are fantastic little hatches! Some of my fondest driving memories was when I had a 106 GTI, a mate had a mk1 Clio 16v and another had a phase 2 ZS... On the road they were all pretty much neck n neck and we had a blast!! You could really exploit all the performance in all of them and they all handled superbly. A lot of fun even at non license losing speeds!!!
Finding a nice standard one is hard these days... A few years back I tried as I wanted to put a 1.7 in one on throttle bodies... At the time I couldn't find a nice one.
Enjoy it!
These are fantastic little hatches! Some of my fondest driving memories was when I had a 106 GTI, a mate had a mk1 Clio 16v and another had a phase 2 ZS... On the road they were all pretty much neck n neck and we had a blast!! You could really exploit all the performance in all of them and they all handled superbly. A lot of fun even at non license losing speeds!!!
Finding a nice standard one is hard these days... A few years back I tried as I wanted to put a 1.7 in one on throttle bodies... At the time I couldn't find a nice one.
Enjoy it!
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