Hi Guys and welcome to my blog. I’m Ry and I oversee the daily running and management of FSi along with the web design and hosting.
I’m one of the 3 original founding members of the site, and have been here since the beginning in December 2004. We initially spent a good 4 months getting things all up and running in-between our work lives with all the info on the pages you see now. (or not for me, as unemployment was my world at that time!)
I actually didn’t own my first “real” car until December 2005. I was a late starter due to pure and utter laziness. A trait most of you know I can still carry around today! 😀
I decided on a Mk4, as I saw Guy’s MK4 and Dodge’s 1.7 Mk4 at the time, which were both insanely clean and impressive. Plus the 1.4’s produced nearly as much power as the 1.6 SI’s so I wasn’t missing on much there. I just wanted something different to modify as at the time, Mk4’s with their sad eyes were frowned upon, and still are now to an extent. Here’s the pictures and spec of when I first had it… Take note of the huge arch clearance where I used to smuggle illegal immigrants.
Ford Fiesta Mk4 Zetec 1.4 16v (88bhp)
Standard everything. Weight saving mirrors and windows (none electric!). Looking back I’d say horrid seats and a spongy ride. But at the time, it was mine, and it was amazing as it was.
It wasn’t long before modifications began! First on the list?..
K&N style filter! Bwarp!! The induction roar was out of this world at the time. Shortly afterwards it had a de-badging, and I changed my mind weekly on whether to keep the rear stripped out or not! Though the ride height at the back was horrendous with the interior in. There’s a picture Brycey took once of me going down to a Sixfields on the M1 with no interior on standard suspension. Utter magic. If anyone finds it let me know, it’s comedy value is quite high! (boom boom)
Before long I wanted a body kit on the Fiesta as well. I opted for Dodge’s Mk4 body kit. And seeing as he was just down the road, I had it off him. Even if it was Blue and my car was black. So what? I liked it. Even if I did look like a pillock…
I don’t have progress pictures as such, as things happened so quickly. I purchased some Smoked rear lights from Guy Mk4 which transformed the rear end. I installed an aftermarket exhaust of some kind that was originally for a Puma. Nice and raspy.
Then came some Eibach springs from Ford themselves. The best modification I performed on the car as I recall. It lowered it enough, though an extra 20mm would of been nice. However the handling was so much improved. It helped control the car a lot more. Less roll. Less under steer. And the tyres were used more productively because of it, or so I felt at the time.
Add in a half finished de-badged grill, a twin set of JL Audio 10″ subs and Alpine amp and I was getting somewhere… The sexy model below was a bonus.
So I was a year in, 1 years NCB and so forth. I could afford to modify a bit more. I bought a full ESP design body kit for the Fiesta from a lad on UKFN in Wales for around £250. This was never sadly fitted and was sold 3 years later at a tasty profit.
Next on the list? An E-tech strut brace to tighten the front end up. Did an alright job. Helped reduce a bit of under steer which was nice. Then? – Full Fiesta Si interior for maximum comfy-ness. I also decided to downgrade the sound system to one of my 10″ JL Audio subs for weight purposes. smoked sidelights. Smoked front lights. Sony tweeters. I also got rid of the induction kit and fitted the standard air box that I drilled, with a K&N panel filter, which helped smooth out the power and make it feel slightly faster. It also did better on fuel and heat soak wasn’t really an issue any more. Oddly the noise was identical, if not a tiny bit louder than my open filter. How strange.
I also spoke to Mouse about repainting my bumpers and decided in the end to get rid of the tacky body kit. I also removed the side bump strips. Back to standard form we were, and oh my, did we look good..
When put on the rolling road, the car produced 93.9bhp, which was the 2nd best 1.4 or 1.6 fiesta of the day. I was chuffed! It made sense though, as I’d never come up against a 1.6 Si and lost. I was always edging past them when having a little fun to and from Sixfields down the M1. I think the fact that the engine was lower mileage (around 60k at the time) and it was newer made the difference.
In the 18,000 odd miles I had the car, it simply cost me a cam belt which I simply had done for peace of mind, some drop links, a heater matrix (the Ka heater matrix’ are the same but cost less for anyone that cares) and the usual servicing and tyres. I gave it death each day, as I didn’t realise at the time that when you’re water temp gets to a normal level, that doesn’t mean your oil has warmed up yet! (haha). It was a first car, I was a N00b. I still am. And it didn’t let me down once.
Why did I move on? I wanted more power, handling and stopping power… I looked for my next car in a £2k bracket. The best bang per buck car at the time for me was a Phase 2 Peugeot 306 GTi-6 in Nile Blue. The Nissan 200sx S13 was a close second, but I wanted to experience something that was great out of the box standard without needing to be upgraded to become something special. Plus insurance was still an issue. Grp15 was as high as I could go back then. Great handling, brakes, comfy half leather seats, air conditioning, and a lovely 167bhp 2.0 engine powered by a close ratio 6 speed gearbox. What more could you want as a step up?
Sadly I had to sell due to job loss at the time. Since then I moved onto a Peugeot 106 Xsi 1.4 (95bhp) as a cheap run-around, which was insanely fun, lightweight and fast for what it was.
And then back to a Phase 3 306 gti-6 in Black. I never got rid of the bug after having my first one and I needed to scratch that itch. I still scratch it daily..
Will I ever return to Ford? Not for my next planned car, no. However If there was ever a nice Mk1 Focus RS or a Supercharged Ford Racing Puma, I would definitely invest! The New Focus RS is out of my price range, and I don’t buy new cars due to depreciation. If I did, I’d be looking forward to the new Mk7 Fiesta ST…