The Fiesta Si looks different to any other mk3 Fiesta made. It comes with the rounded bumpers to give it a smoother more modern look, front arch spats, and the same spoiler as found on the XR2i and RS1800. The mirrors are of the new variety mk3.5 model, and the sunroof is factory fitted. So we’ve got a good base to start off the modifying, should you decide to of course.
But where do we start? Well, one of the single biggest things you can do to ANY car to give it a totally new appearance, is to get a new set of alloys for your pride and joy. The range is endless, the prices vary, and as per usual, it’s always down to your own taste. There’s a lot more to think about than just what style of wheel you want to get though. When you go to buy them, you need to know what size of wheel to get, and what other plans you have. For instance, if you go and buy 17’s, you can’t just slap them on and drive away. No, no, no, that would be way too easy. You’ll have to then do a bit of archwork to get them to fit on without rubbing and shredding your tyres. Sometimes this is needed when you have 16’s too, but it depends on how low you want to lower your car by. And then there’s what profile of tyre you want on your shiny new rims! There’s a lot to think about that’s for sure!
As mentioned, there’s the lowering. This changes the appearance of your car as well as giving it different handling aspects. In my opinion, a set of nice alloys on a car with standard shocks and height, just look wrong! So the lowering side of things should be next on your shopping list of mods to do after wheels. There are a lot of choices for lowering, you can just get lowering springs, shocks and spring combinations, and the very expensive but by far the best option is to get coilovers. These allow you to adjust the height at will, so you can slam it for shows, and raise it for the lovely roads we have to put up with in the good old UK!
What about body styling? Well, the world is your oyster really! There’s certainly not any set guide as to what you should do, do it to your own desires. But there are some basics you can do to give some subtle changes to your car. Firstly, lets get rid of those orange side repeaters. For little over ten pounds, you can change these to clears, smoked, Focus side repeaters, crystal, led’s, etc. There’s a wide selection that’s for sure! And how about the rear lights? Again, you can change them very easily. The same options are available, change them for clears of smoked, then you have Lexus lights, or how about getting some tinting spray and getting creative with your existing lights?
Another little change you can make is to the mirrors. The ones as standard to the Si, are popular mods for owners of older Fiesta’s to upgrade to! SO what can you do to them to give them something different? How about spraying them, either spraying the whole mirror and baseplate, or just the mirror or leaving the base plate black. This will break up the colouring a bit more than spraying the whole lot and “losing” your mirrors in the colour. Or change them completely! DTM “cup” mirrors and M3 mirrors are the favourite aftermarket ones to go for, so it depends on the look you want.
The more common forms of modding the exterior are so popular simply because they look good! Things like XR/RS skirts and arches are one of the most popular changes to do to the exterior. They look good and are factory made for the mk3, so should fit straight on, and provide a factory-finished job. How about the spoiler then? You can upgrade to an RS Turbo spoiler, which is colour coded to the car. But there are many after market spoilers available to add to the rear end of the car. As with most things, you just have to look around, and have a bit of imagination.
Next up, we have the bumpers. You have a lot of options available to what you require here. It’s simply down to how you want your car to look. There are many “kits” available to change the look of the car, or you can swap them over from other Fiesta’s. RS/XR/RS1800 bumpers will all go straight onto the Si. The newer Fiesta ZS rear bumper will go onto the rear as well with a tiny amount of modifying. As for the front, if you want to keep your Si bumper, then an Escort Cosworth style splitter is available, which you attach to your original bumper. It makes your car look lower at the front, and certainly gives a more aggressive look!
That’s most of the mods you can do by adding things. So how about removing things? Debadging is a cheap option to clean the look of your car up a bit. Take your badges off, clean the area, and instant clean tailgate! What about removing locks, handles and even the rear wiper? All possible, and something for a body shop to do properly. They will fill the area, smooth it all out, and respray it all to the colour of your car. The bonnet can also be done. The swage line on the front of the bonnet can be smoothed out, as well as removing the Ford badge (when removed there is a hole to be covered up).
I could go on and on here. But there are so many things to be done to the exterior of a Fiesta, I could be here forever. As I keep saying, it is simply down to your tastes. This is merely a guide to what you can do. If you have an idea, but unsure about it, ask on the forums, likewise if you want to see if anybody else has done something, ask.
In summary, the little car you have sitting outside is one of the most popular car’s to modify, there are lots of parts available, and you won’t be short of ideas from looking at the pictures. But it is your car, so above all other things, make sure you’re happy with it!