Hi all,

I have a 12 plate Fiesta 1.25 which has only done 20,000 and I'm about to start a new job where I will only do 3-5,000 a year in it. I love driving the car except that it is very slow, especially compared to my previous Focus 1.8 TDCI.

I am something of a mechanical illiterate so not sure if this is even possible but I would much rather spend money upgrading this car than trade it in for a hot hatch, which is what I'd ideally like to drive. Is there anything that can be done to this car to put some serious power in it, or at least moderate power - engine/parts change etc.? Considering I was recently flirting with the idea of a new Fiesta ST in the £15,000 bracket, I'd be happy to pay pretty serious money if it made the difference and allowed me to comfortably enjoy this car for 5-10 years (I change cars rarely) as I'd still be making a big saving without having to change.

Hopefully something can be done to at least push this car on a bit, I mean it takes 13 seconds to get from 0-60...

Thanks and apologies for my ignorance but I guess what else are forums for :)

Ryan

Seriously, you will NEVER get near ST power from your car, and any noticeable changes in performance will cost mega money, even then its not going to be much, and may not be reliable. Much better swapping cars, than throwing ( in my opinion) wasted money at a car that is never gonna be quick.

Agreed - you could do an engine swop (eg - fitting an ST engine), but you would probably be better off buying a quicker car in the long run, and it would be cheaper to insure

the NA 1.25 is not really worth tuning, even a Bluefin remap will only give you 6Hp and cost £250 (a lot to do with it being NA - turbo cars respond a lot better) -

http://www.mybluefin.co.uk/curves/FiestaMk61.25.pdf

If you are happy paying out "pretty serious money" dont waste it on a 1.25 and get yourself something quicker

Hi all,

I have a 12 plate Fiesta 1.25 which has only done 20,000 and I'm about to start a new job where I will only do 3-5,000 a year in it. I love driving the car except that it is very slow, especially compared to my previous Focus 1.8 TDCI.

I am something of a mechanical illiterate so not sure if this is even possible but I would much rather spend money upgrading this car than trade it in for a hot hatch, which is what I'd ideally like to drive. Is there anything that can be done to this car to put some serious power in it, or at least moderate power - engine/parts change etc.? Considering I was recently flirting with the idea of a new Fiesta ST in the £15,000 bracket, I'd be happy to pay pretty serious money if it made the difference and allowed me to comfortably enjoy this car for 5-10 years (I change cars rarely) as I'd still be making a big saving without having to change.

Hopefully something can be done to at least push this car on a bit, I mean it takes 13 seconds to get from 0-60...

Thanks and apologies for my ignorance but I guess what else are forums for :)

Ryan

I feel your pain ! I had an 11 reg 1.25 zetec and it was sooooooooo slow it wasn't funny. In my humble opinion, trade it in for the 1.0 Ecoboost. I was very sceptical and was worried that going down another engine size would come back and bite me on the bum, but no, I LOVE my Fiesta. Honestly, the difference is night and day compared to the 1.25. I did a lot of research before I committed, but I am so pleased I did. Go on .... do it !!!!

In the MK 7 the 1.25 is just too underpowered. Especially with the taller gearing designed for fuel economy. If you want more performance go for a Zetec S, as modified cars are more expensive to insure anyway.

Upgrade to a 1.0 ZS!

Sent from my iPad using Ford OC mobile app

Yeah the 1.25 isn't the quickest engine in the world. Whilst my car may be from 97', the dealer informs me the 1.25 now is effectively the same engine they used back then just modernised a bit for EU standards etc.

If it was any slower I think it'd go backwards, though mine is several years old so I imagine it's lost many horses.

Even so though, if it struggles with my P-reg which I'm sure is much lighter than the mk7/7.5 then I can only imagine it must be painful in one of them :(! I was originally going to go for the 1.25 myself but decided the EcoBoost would be a far better investment when I eventually buy!

The Ecoboost is a much better engine, but I will be thrilled with a 2012 1.25 anyway! Shame Ford discontinued Lime Squeeze for the 2013 model!

Yeah the 1.25 isn't the quickest engine in the world. Whilst my car may be from 97', the dealer informs me the 1.25 now is effectively the same engine they used back then just modernised a bit for EU standards etc.

If it was any slower I think it'd go backwards, though mine is several years old so I imagine it's lost many horses.

Even so though, if it struggles with my P-reg which I'm sure is much lighter than the mk7/7.5 then I can only imagine it must be painful in one of them :(! I was originally going to go for the 1.25 myself but decided the EcoBoost would be a far better investment when I eventually buy!

The 1997 1.25 Fiesta weighs 956kgs and the 2012 1045kgs (give or take - different trim levels may have different weights) so the later car has about an extra 100Kgs/ 16 stone, which on its own makes a big difference, and with the higher gearing of the later model,( making a significant difference to acceleration) along with the extra emmissions kit/ setup strangling the engine the late model is not going to set the word alight with its performance

I suppose it depends what you want from a car and what it will be used for and if all you did was drive around town etc it would be perfectly ok but i can understand the reason why we get so many posts about improving the performance of the 1.25

Thanks for your replies everyone. Ok so the general opinion seems to be that it's possible to improve performance but no point due to cost and hassle. Can I ask if anyone knows how much it would cost to - taking the first example given - put an ST engine in the 1.25, and all other necessary replacements to go with the engine? Are we talking over £5,000 or something like that? Otherwise I'm not sure why people are saying that it wouldn't make financial sense to do so - is it not better to pay a few grand to upgrade current vehicle rather than trade in and lose money on both trade in value and more expensive newer car?

The car that I inherited (long story), is a 12 plate Fiesta 1.25 with 20,000 on the clock. I've just started a new job where I will now only be doing 3-5,000 miles a year. I like everything about the Fiesta except the power and intend to hang on to this car 5-10 years if I can so can someone explain how it'd be cheaper to change car than alter current one? Are the costs of change and higher insurance costs really that high? Again, sorry for not having a clue but I'm glad to be learning :)

You'd have to uprate suspension and brakes too, maybe clocks as well. Then the interior is still 1.25.......

Plus unless it was done professionally it could be unreliable.

The resale value would be lower and your Insurance company would hate you... A modified car, from plodder to performance would give them nightmares...

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Thanks for your replies everyone. Ok so the general opinion seems to be that it's possible to improve performance but no point due to cost and hassle. Can I ask if anyone knows how much it would cost to - taking the first example given - put an ST engine in the 1.25, and all other necessary replacements to go with the engine? Are we talking over £5,000 or something like that? Otherwise I'm not sure why people are saying that it wouldn't make financial sense to do so - is it not better to pay a few grand to upgrade current vehicle rather than trade in and lose money on both trade in value and more expensive newer car?

The car that I inherited (long story), is a 12 plate Fiesta 1.25 with 20,000 on the clock. I've just started a new job where I will now only be doing 3-5,000 miles a year. I like everything about the Fiesta except the power and intend to hang on to this car 5-10 years if I can so can someone explain how it'd be cheaper to change car than alter current one? Are the costs of change and higher insurance costs really that high? Again, sorry for not having a clue but I'm glad to be learning :)

I think we have given you the best advice based on our experience etc, so we have told you its a waste of time trying to get more power out of the 1.25, and you would have to do an engine swap

"engine swop" is easy to say, or to write, but its a little bit harder to do, there is a whole lot more to it than you 1st expect, and you need a lot more from the donor car than you might think at first - you might as well buy a whole ST to get the parts you need (i cant be bothered listing everything you need - its a long list and a lot more than just the engine components)

If you can't do the engine swap yourself you will have to get someone who knows what they are doing to bo it, and will probably have to pay them

Then, the insurance will be even more than an ST, you may not be able to get it insured, and it may not drive/ run as well as a factory/ bought ST

You do what you like, but you would be going to a lot of hassle/ spending a lot of time/ money on a car that probably would not even be as good as a bought ST - a pointless exercise in my opinion - but if thats what you really want to do - its your choice, we are only offering advice

You seem to be attached to your car - We can all get attached to our cars but at the end of the day they are really just are just lumps of metal and plastic, - now, if you could have any car, money-no-object, what would you have?