We’ve undertaken an epic project that will see us develop one of the most formidable Fiesta STs in the country
Now it’s reaching its final stages, we’ve decided to look back at how our ‘Ultimate Fiesta Build’ project has unfolded over the last few months by bringing you our build articles that were originally featured in Fast Ford magazine. This week, it’s Part 9, where we nip down the road to motorsport preparation specialist, Northampton Motorsport, for a full geo/alignment setup on our new suspension components.
Remember: you can now sign up to WIN the car in a charity raffle competition, with all proceeds going to the Rays of Sunshine children’s charity. Click here to enter.
Rewind a couple of weeks and you might remember us fitting some choice suspension upgrades to our ‘Ultimate Fiesta Build’ recently (namely some ST XTA coilovers, Eibach anti-roll bars, Powerflex polybushes and Ultra Racing strut braces).
With a visual makeover applied directly afterwards (click here for details) it was finally time to get the Fiesta over to a reputable motorsport preparation outfit where that aforementioned chassis hardware could be professionally fettled for us to get the most out of it on both road and track.
Luckily, we have one such company on our doorstep in the form of Northampton Motorsport – undoubtedly one of the most-respected motorsport prep firms in the country.
You can tell a lot about a business based on what clientele it attracts, one look inside Northampton Motorsport’s clinical workshops confirmed all we needed to know – with painfully expensive vintage Porsche race cars and countless other stunning machines dotted around as far as the eye could see. Needless to say, we were in safe hands.
The day started out with some in-depth chats with motorsport-mad technician, James Hatfield. Explaining to James how the Ford would remain road legal while also spending plenty of time on track days, he soon got the car up on the ramps for the magic to begin.
Ultimate Fiesta So Far
First up was some initial fettling with tyre pressures, camber settings and ride height. The Fiesta was then placed on the outfit’s trick corner weighting system for the finer tuning to be carried out.
James explained how equal cross weights relate to optimum cornering on track as he continued to adjust the ride height on the trick ST Suspension coilovers until the perfect 50/50 split was achieved.
It was then time to get the laser alignment gear out and attach it to all four corners of the ST for a full geometry sharpen-up. James opted for a tried and tested occasional-track setup here, with around 2° of negative camber up front and all toe and caster figures dialled-in to ensure optimum driveability.
The car now sits with an incredibly functional stance over its slightly wider Rota alloys and gives off a look of just wanting to be driven hard on track at all times. This is exactly what we plan on doing next, so keep your eyes peeled for the next update…
