MK5 1.25 Fiesta Zetec tuning

[PazzerJ]

Before I get the "don't bother" stuff, a little info.

 

This isn't my first car or even my main car, it's just a free mk5 I was given by my parents, it's a W reg and it's only done 40k miles.

 

My best friend has a MK3 Golf GTI that's now done 170k miles. Now according to online specs, the Golf does 0-60 in 12.00seconds and the Fiesta in 12.7secs.

 

I'm wondering what I can do to get the fiesta to do 0-60 quicker than the Golf, it's not about making the fiesta some racing car, it's about keeping it looking as stock as possible and rubbing it in his face since he talks absolute rubbish about his car 24/7. I know for a fact his car is stock since he doesn't even know how to hold a spanner properly.

 

Money isn't really an object since I'm paid quite well and I have a fair whack saved up for a "project".

 

I really don't care about the car and I've also considered using it for hillclimbs as I've seen a few of the 1.25s used in the small engine category.

 

Any help is appreciated, cheers guys!

 

Josh

[Ryan_Tango]

Interesting I hope you decide to keep with the project, you could start by getting it fully serviced and carbon cleaned, new spark plugs etc etc, even though it's a N/A engine a remap will give you some small gains and improve the 0-60, If money was not an object for me I would get the engine bored out and turbo it should see a massive increase in power even just by getting a turbo installed with bigger injectors and better fuel pump. Talking silly money but it will be fun

[Jethro_Tull]

Don't bother, simply because the 1.25 doesn't have a lot to give.

 

A few hundred quid would have you a nice 100 horse Zetec S engine, or a 125 brake Puma 1.7, and swapping them over is easier than swapping a dodgy cardie  at M and S.  The Puma engine would almost double your power, and to do that by any other means would cost 5 to 10 times as much.

[PazzerJ]

1 hour ago, Jethro_Tull said:

Don't bother, simply because the 1.25 doesn't have a lot to give.

 

A few hundred quid would have you a nice 100 horse Zetec S engine, or a 125 brake Puma 1.7, and swapping them over is easier than swapping a dodgy cardie  at M and S.  The Puma engine would almost double your power, and to do that by any other means would cost 5 to 10 times as much.

So if I dropped a Puma lump in, where could I go from there? Is it a similar weight? Will I keep the same great handling?

 

Can the Puma engine be turbo'd/supercharged?

 

I'm pretty curious about all this, it's a 5 door so I want it to be pretty "sleeper". I've considered a few more 'extreme' engine swaps but it'd more than likely be far more hassle than it's worth!

[PazzerJ]

3 hours ago, Ryan_Tango said:

Interesting I hope you decide to keep with the project, you could start by getting it fully serviced and carbon cleaned, new spark plugs etc etc, even though it's a N/A engine a remap will give you some small gains and improve the 0-60, If money was not an object for me I would get the engine bored out and turbo it should see a massive increase in power even just by getting a turbo installed with bigger injectors and better fuel pump. Talking silly money but it will be fun

Might have a look into doing that, I sorted out a turbo kit for my mate on his MX-5 a couple of years ago, the kits were expensive as hell so I pretty much made one up for him and all he had to do was fit the thing and get it mapped.

 

I think a 1.25 turbo'd fez would be bonkers, especially since it seems to rev well.

 

Issue I think is not many companies do rods and pistons for the little thing, I'll definitely look at boring though as there's a place near me that does that.

[Jethro_Tull]

A 1.25 would be fun and doubtless possible if you've a bottomless pit of cash, but several problems...

You'd need to run very limited boost indeed unless you fitted forged pistons, rods etc.  Without that you'd be barely matching the 1.4 without exceeding safe limits.

Typically a turbo conversion gives about 50% more thrust.  That's only the same as a 1.6, and still a lot less than a 1.7.

All sorts of issues to overcome with management etc.

Its is doubtless possible, but it would probably be the least cost effective means of gaining horsepower.  Seriously, get an MOT failure Puma for 3 or 400 sheets, you've got everything you need, including brakes, suspension etc should you decide to go the whole hog.  If you're handy enough to be able to fit a turbo kit - always assuming you can find one - then a transplant would be a walk in the park. Why go to the effort and expense of boring it when there are already big bore versions of the same block family out there?

[PazzerJ]

37 minutes ago, Jethro_Tull said:

A 1.25 would be fun and doubtless possible if you've a bottomless pit of cash, but several problems...

You'd need to run very limited boost indeed unless you fitted forged pistons, rods etc.  Without that you'd be barely matching the 1.4 without exceeding safe limits.

Typically a turbo conversion gives about 50% more thrust.  That's only the same as a 1.6, and still a lot less than a 1.7.

All sorts of issues to overcome with management etc.

Its is doubtless possible, but it would probably be the least cost effective means of gaining horsepower.  Seriously, get an MOT failure Puma for 3 or 400 sheets, you've got everything you need, including brakes, suspension etc should you decide to go the whole hog.  If you're handy enough to be able to fit a turbo kit - always assuming you can find one - then a transplant would be a walk in the park. Why go to the effort and expense of boring it when there are already big bore versions of the same block family out there?

That's fair, a quick look on eBay and I can grab a damaged Puma for around £200 so I may just do that and go 5-door street racer!

[Jethro_Tull]

Its quite a popular conversion on mk 5's and 6's.  Cheap speed!

[PazzerJ]

I'll probably give it a bash then.

 

Then if I'm not satisfied, I can always try for more power!

[tarbyonline]

We are talking about .7 of a second here on paper right?  I'd hazard a guess that his Mk3 golf (possibly the worst golf ever made?) is down on power simply due to its age.  If it was me I'd give the fez a full service (including spark plugs) and give the throttle body and EGR valve a good clean (and anything else that might be restricting the engine) and see where you are at.  The Puma version is the obvious "sleeper" route though, and has been done plenty of times before

EDIT:  a mk3 gti has a paper 0-60 time of between 8 (16v) - 9.8 (8v) seconds.  Engine swap sounds best option to me!

Edited July 8, 2017 by tarbyonline

[Jethro_Tull]

Off topic, but interesting in a related way...during the brief resurgence of MG in the late nineties/early naughties, MG-Rover took great pride in the fact that every single model in the range could crack ten seconds to 60.  One of their adverts was quick to point out that the Golf GTi of the time, the last of the 8v series 3's, was slower accelerating than the base model ZR105.

 

Kids on BMX's could out drag GTi 8 valvers of that period.