Hey, I wanted to upgrade my fiesta to a more fun driving car this summer but the insurance on all is far to expensive so i think the best alternative is to make my mk7 zetec faster. I know I can’t get much power out of the engine and was planning to focus on handling as there is a lot of b roads near me. 
 

i don’t have a lot of money to buy brand new parts so I was considering buying at components off eBay and Facebook marketplace such as wheels and suspension. Anyone have any ideas or recommendations of modifications I can do to my car?

 

 

You could fit the Eibach springs set or try to source a set of used front and rear Zetec-S suspension

Some Zetec-S 17" alloys will help too

Maybe change the rear exhaust box to make it sound a bit sportier

6 hours ago, Wardy722 said:

Hey, I wanted to upgrade my fiesta to a more fun driving car this summer but the insurance on all is far to expensive so i think the best alternative is to make my mk7 zetec faster. I know I can’t get much power out of the engine and was planning to focus on handling as there is a lot of b roads near me. 

 “Adding power makes you faster on the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere”.  Colin Chapman.  I guess you don't know who he is.

Changing parts of the suspension might actually make you slower, or the car poorer at handling.  The Zetec-S wheels are heavy and 17", the last thing you want for potholed b-roads.

What wheels and tyres do you have at the moment?  Getting some quality lightweight wheels and quality tyres would be the easiest/cheapest way to actually improve the 'handling' - just lowering a car doesn't guarantee faster round corners.  And if you change your mind, someone will always want quality lightweight wheels.

Have a look at Pumaspeed, but achieving a noticeable improvement, rather than just 'looks', isn't going to be cheap.

Dare I say it, but changing the car might be the best option.  Could you insure a Mazda MX5?  Very good fun for the money.

We're all doing a lot of guessing here as Jasper hasn't said what engine he has or what exactly he wants to achieve.

I'm assuming therefore that this will be a 1.25 4 cyl. In my experience of the one my Mrs had, with only 80 odd horsepower, standard suspension, wheels/tyres and brakes are fine provided they're 100%. 

17" wheels can look great, but the Zetec S Ford wheels would add unsprung weight, tyres are more expensive and could count as a "modification" for insurance.

My take on this (and again I'm guessing we are talking about a relatively new driver) is to ensure the standard set up is in good order (replacing dampers, bushes, tyres etc if not), and save the cash from mods (and possible additional insurance) for a future car.

Another angle is perhaps a spot of further driver training to help get the best out of whatever you're driving. As "Maverick" says in the latest Top Gun movie: "Its not the plane, it's the pilot".

34 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

As "Maverick" says in the latest Top Gun movie: "Its not the plane, it's the pilot".

....and as Dan would say "Give me a call when you finish modifying it and can't get insurance" 🤣

49 minutes ago, unofix said:

....and as Dan would say "Give me a call when you finish modifying it and can't get insurance" 🤣

Well insurance has been mentioned several times in this thread so I expect he will be along in the jiffy 🤣

Hi.

If you have any issues with insurance at all for modifications then please feel free to drop me a line.

Regards,

Dan.

On 4/17/2024 at 5:02 PM, orangecurry said:

 “Adding power makes you faster on the straights. Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere”.  Colin Chapman.  I guess you don't know who he is.

Changing parts of the suspension might actually make you slower, or the car poorer at handling.  The Zetec-S wheels are heavy and 17", the last thing you want for potholed b-roads.

What wheels and tyres do you have at the moment?  Getting some quality lightweight wheels and quality tyres would be the easiest/cheapest way to actually improve the 'handling' - just lowering a car doesn't guarantee faster round corners.  And if you change your mind, someone will always want quality lightweight wheels.

Have a look at Pumaspeed, but achieving a noticeable improvement, rather than just 'looks', isn't going to be cheap.

Dare I say it, but changing the car might be the best option.  Could you insure a Mazda MX5?  Very good fun for the money.

Aye so as of now it’s running on the stock zetec 15” alloys but I’ve got a set for st170 alloys I’m gonna put on then I was thinking on getting some pilot sport 5’s I’ve heard they’re good tyres for the money

On 4/17/2024 at 11:08 AM, DaveT70 said:

You could fit the Eibach springs set or try to source a set of used front and rear Zetec-S suspension

Some Zetec-S 17" alloys will help too

Maybe change the rear exhaust box to make it sound a bit sportier

I wanna try avoid the boy racer stereotype for as long as possible😂

On 4/17/2024 at 7:22 PM, Eric Bloodaxe said:

We're all doing a lot of guessing here as Jasper hasn't said what engine he has or what exactly he wants to achieve.

I'm assuming therefore that this will be a 1.25 4 cyl. In my experience of the one my Mrs had, with only 80 odd horsepower, standard suspension, wheels/tyres and brakes are fine provided they're 100%. 

17" wheels can look great, but the Zetec S Ford wheels would add unsprung weight, tyres are more expensive and could count as a "modification" for insurance.

My take on this (and again I'm guessing we are talking about a relatively new driver) is to ensure the standard set up is in good order (replacing dampers, bushes, tyres etc if not), and save the cash from mods (and possible additional insurance) for a future car.

Another angle is perhaps a spot of further driver training to help get the best out of whatever you're driving. As "Maverick" says in the latest Top Gun movie: "Its not the plane, it's the pilot".

Some good advice there aye cheers mate

10 hours ago, Wardy722 said:

Aye so as of now it’s running on the stock zetec 15” alloys but I’ve got a set for st170 alloys I’m gonna put on then I was thinking on getting some pilot sport 5’s I’ve heard they’re good tyres for the money

As I say, you'll be adding rotating weight, but on a decent road surface you should get better 'grip' as the contact patch will be bigger and lower profile tyres on 17s will give you less sidewall flex...... however on real-world poor UK roads this change won't help, and might make the 'grip' worse... being heavier and less compliant.

...and I would choose Conti over Michelin with their current offerings.  This is an excellent source of a whole range of independent testing https://www.tyrereviews.com/

Good luck!

Have we had a change of car mid-thread?

• Ford Model: Fiesta Zetec-S 1.6
• Ford Year: 2009

 

17 hours ago, Wardy722 said:

I was thinking on getting some pilot sport 5’s I’ve heard they’re good tyres for the money

They're replacing the PS 4. I've had good experience with the PS 4s on my current and previous Fiestas. I got about 18k out of them on my previous car (ST-Line 140), somehow I doubt they'll last as long on this one!😀

Some comments/review links on another forum:

 https://www.fiestastoc.com/threads/michelin-pilot-sport-5.325430/

Also had good experiences in the past with Contis. It's a shame you can't road test before you buy, so all you can do is read as many reviews as poss.