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Fiesta 1.6 EcoBoost Makes 500bhp
TECH SPEC - PUMASPEED FIESTA Mk8 EcoBoost
POWER OUTPUT- 503bhp @ 29 Psi Boost. (2 Bar.) 22 Degrees of Ignition.
Dragy Record holder 100-200 kmh under 7 seconds
ENGINE -
1.6-1itre four-cylinder EcoBoost GDI from ST180 Mk7
Pumaspeed Ductile Linered Engine Block Sleeved to suit pistons
Omega Pistons (2-thou undersized)
Sainz lightweight Connecting Rods
Area 6 Ported Cylinder Head with Standard 1.6 valves
Pumaspeed Stage 2 Cams with Piper uprated Single Valve springs
OE Ford Engine Bearings
R-Sport Cross braced Baffled Sump System
Fuel System -
Bosch Uprated DI Injector Set with approx. 35% extra flow – Modified with double
seals to suit OE tip position.
Pumaspeed High Flow Fuel Camshaft adaptation
Turbo System -
Pumaspeed G25-550 Tubular Manifold Kit with External Wastegate with Unique Reverse-Rotation Housing to promote spool from short runner design and lower angle pipework.
Tial 44mm External Wastegate and Screamer Pipe to the floor
ECU System -
SCS Delta GDI Stand Alone ECU Specific for Mk8 Can Data.
Calibrated by EFI Parts in Runcorn
Clutch Kit -
Pumaspeed ST200 Plus Clutch and Stock Flywheel
(We will be upgrading to Pumaspeed Single Mass Flywheel and Sprung Centre Plate in January 2020)
Induction System -
Air Filter System - R-Sport Fiesta 1.6 ST180 Stage 3 Cold Air Induction System
Intercooling – R-sport Pro 400 Gen 2 Intercooler Kit
Boost Pipe kit – Pumaspeed Racing silicone hose kit plus 63mm Alloy Hot Side and Custom Alloy Cold Side
Exhaust system -
R-sport 3 inch DeCat Downpipe.
Modified Milltek ST180 70mm Non Resonated Race Exhaust System;
Cooling System -
Pumaspeed Racing Silicone Hoses and R-Sport Triple-Pass Alloy Radiator
Transmission -
Stock IB6 Gearbox fitted with Gripper Diff with Custom Drive shafts and custom Mk7 Gear Linkage.
Suspension & Brakes -
Bilstein B14 Coilover kit
Pumaspeed Racing 330mm Front Kit with DS3000 Pads – Rear Stock Mk8 Callipers and Pads
Wheels and Tyres-
8x17in Ultralite wheels fitted with 235/40 x 17 Conti Sport 5
Exterior-
Pumaspeed Graphics Package,
Aero -
MGC-designed High-Line Rear Spoiler
Pumaspeed Low-Line front Splitter lip and Side Skirts
There have been many sporting variants of the European Fiesta , the Mk1 of course ( testing- the-water 1.3 SuperSport, and subsequently the original XR2), but it was the Mk2 XR2 that was the real cruise culture icon, and Ford of Europe just kept on pushing the envelope, each new generation bringing a more exciting, desirable, resolved and aspirational performance variant: from the RS Turbo and
RS1800 through the ST150 and beyond, into the ST180 Mk7, it's a truism that fast Fiestas are always winners.
Fast-forward to 2019, however, and things start to get a little confused. The now-discontinued Mk7 Fiesta ST180, with its 1.6-litre EcoBoost motor, was a universally acclaimed creation, winning more awards than you could shake the proverbial stick at. And the current Mk8 ST, with its three- cylinder motor? That dinky triple may boast similar figures to the Mk7, and the car is unquestionably excellent, as the trophy cabinet at Ford HQ demonstrates... but is this the first time that a hot Fiesta hasn't been quite as good as the model it replaced or has it ?
The simple answer is, er, no actually.
We're deliberately leading you up a dark alley. But that hasn't stopped Pumaspeed from tearing the new Mk8 champ apart and retrofitting some older power under the bonnet to turn it into the car Pumaspeed think it should have been from the start.
What you're seeing here is the first and only Mk8 Fiesta to be running a four-cylinder EcoBoost from the ST180 Mk7. And we at Fast Ford Mag think that's quite a bold move.
The Pumaspeed name will require little introduction to regular readers; suffice it to say this powerhouse of Ford tuning is no longer focused solely on Pumas. In the twenty years since the company was founded, they've grown into an aftermarket colossus, covering all models and developing into a market-leading authority on EcoBoost tuning. Covering everything from Zetec S models all the way up to the Mk3 Focus RS, they produce many of their own parts and supply premium quality components from around the world. The company's work speaks for itself, and numerous Pumaspeed builds have appeared in these pages over the years, with their parts and advice influencing countless more. So how did this particularly outlandish creation come about? After all, tearing down a new car with the bullish position that you think you can do better is a pretty outrageous game to play.
"A lot of people can't believe we've done something like this to such a new car," grins company founder Tony McQuire. "It all started back in February 2018, when we collectively decided to build a one-of-a-kind car simply because we could. The following month, this Fiesta was found on a well- known online salvage auction site; it had a broken strut, front hub and driveshaft, and the rear axle was bent. It also had minor body panel damage, and required new bumpers at each end." But Tony could see straight through the damage and looked only at the massive potential within, and those little cogs in his head started spinning furiously. The Mk8 was duly snapped up, and immediately stripped down to assess what level of repairs were required before the team could start building it up into something sensational. The goal was to have it running and ready by the time Ford Fair rolled around, so there was little time to lose.
"We started by carrying out the repairs necessary for it to run and drive first," Tony continues, "and then in April we took it down to SCS Delta for explorative ECU development after many, many discussions about the engine! And by June we were in-depth in the creation of a very expensive one-of-a-kind motor..."
The specs are formidable, as it was never the intention to simply fit a stock ST180 four- pot in the Mk8 and leave it at that. This was always going to be a radical headturner of a car, a master of the double-take when the bonnet was lifted, so the Pumaspeed team were keen to ensure that this particular four-cylinder EcoBoost pushed all the right emotive buttons. The firm's proprietary ductile liner conversion prepared the internals for 2-thou undersized Omega pistons, while a set of Sainz lightweight rods were fully balanced to suit the 8,750- 9,000rpm redline. A set of Stage 2 cams from Piper were popped in the top among the ported head, and fuelling was improved via a set of larger injectors along with the Pumaspeed 'Full Flow' modification to allow 20% extra fuel delivery. You'll also spot a variety of goodies from R-Sport, namely the air filter, triple-pass alloy radiator, Pro 400 GEN 2 intercooler, and de-cat - the latter of which working with a Milltek exhaust system that's been mildly modified to fit.
After all of those long and complex Conversations, SCS Delta's ECU solution has been fully integrated into the stock Mk8 loom, meaning that all the functionality of the standard dash has been retained, and all of the ones-and-zeroes have been corralled to result in a mighty 440bhp on medium boost, or 503bhp on high boost. These are staggering figures, and this is thanks in large part to Pumaspeed's supremely clever reverse-rotation G25-550 turbo setup. "This was designed from the ground up to lower spool times with its unique reverse-rotation exhaust housing," Tony explains. "It enables shorter primary pipe runs from the cylinder head to the exhaust housing, So we're looking at 2-bar of boost at only 3,500rpm and a massive rev range of up to 8,250."
Naturally there's more to this car than just an engine; while the extra cylinder may be the party piece, the entire car has been engineered to cope with the huge power and deploy it effectively. The transmission (with its custom gear linkage) has been augmented by a Gripper LSD, helping apportion power logically through the custom driveshafts, while the factory suspension has been ousted for high-end Bilstein B14s.
The spectre of the Mk7 ST walks tall throughout the build too, with the older model donating its front brakes initially ( now replaced by Pumaspeed’s own 330mm 4 Pot Kit as well as ST180 front seats, and while it would have been fun to wrap all of this magic up inside a sleeper shell, it makes far more sense as a demonstrator to look suitably outrageous - hence the almighty rear wing and full Pumaspeed graphics package.
"The Mk8 ST platform is an absolute dream to own and drive" Tony assures us, "and dare I say its way better than the Mk7 in every regard and now that it has the four-cylinder engine at its heart it has the muscle to go with the chassis. We use its 440bhp low boost low ignotion as a daily driver as well as a track toy, and it's perfect for both. “
What Pumaspeed have created here is, in essence, a very appropriate continuation of the long, Iong line of hot Fiestas: a scene-shifting monster it may be in some respects, but it's very much a trailblazer, its the first Mk8 road car to run a four-cylinder EcoBoost but given the performance and evident potential on display here, we don't imagine it'll be the last.
Fast Ford Magazine - November 2019
The new Mk8 Fiesta is already a firm tuning favourite with Pumaspeed so why have we done the impossible and installed an old 1.6 EcoBoost Turbo engine in the new 2018 chassis?
Many of our regular customers expressed disbelief when Ford announced there would be no petrol 4 cylinder engines in any of the new Mk8 Fiesta range. The new 2018 onwards cars would only feature 1.0T and 1.5T three cylinder units.
Many of the Pumaspeed Customer base are pretty hardcore track day guys and are yet to be convinced on the 3 cylinder engines power potential. Many have invested heavily into the 4 cylinder 1.6 Ecoboost with forged engine builds and Hybrid X-47R turbos so are well on the way to 330-350bhp. The interest in carrying their engine investment over into the new Mk8 which is a way more up to date chassis and better handling car is pretty high.
Pumaspeed are way in front when it comes to the Fiesta platform so the management team made an immediate decision to use the very accomplished X-47R Turbocharger and 1.6 Ecoboost package in a conversion that would rock the world and push the new Mk8 platform to its limits.
An interview with Tony McQuire from Pumaspeed.
Q: So Tony, when did you dream this madcap idea?
A: Pumaspeed have been doing mad things with Fords since 1998, we were the first to install a 1.7 Puma engine into a Fiesta back in 1998
We did a full 4x4 Cosworth 466bhp conversion in 2001 and even a Focus Rs Mk1 engine into a Mk6 Fiesta so this was a pretty logical project for us.
In December 2017 we purchased a brand-new 140bhp 1.0 Ecoboost Mk8 and instantly realised the handling and the dynamics of the car were far superior to anything the Fiesta Mk7 and Mk7.5 had given us, it was a real revelation and the addition of a simple set of Eibach Redline Springs transformed the car enormously so we couldn't wait to get our hands deep into development.
Q: Is the new Mk8 Fiesta really that good?
A: We believe so, the chassis is fantastic and the interior of the new Mk8 with the new control systems are a long way in front of the Mk7, it has full connectivity, sync etc and as a daily runner the car is superior in every way. The only issue we could see was the lack of performance from the three cylinder 1.0 and the forthcoming 1.5 Turbo Dragon engine.
Q: When did you get the physical car?
A: We took a decision in April 2018 to source a second Mk8 Fiesta 1.0 with a vision to convert it to full 340bhp X-47R 4 cylinder power. We found a suitable donor vehicle and the exploratory process began to see if a suitable ECU could enable communication with the vehicles CAN BUS system. We soon found a company willing to take on the challenge, Specialist Controls who manufacture the SCS Delta stand alone Engine Management System were asked to re-write their SCS Delta ECU to use the CAN BUS protocols to cope with the new and very different Mk8 ECU. This was completed in a little over a month to enable us to meet the Ford Fair deadline debut date.
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Q: When did you actually start the conversion process?
A: The vehicle was collected from The Specialist Controls company with all the relevant SCS Delta ECU in mid June, leaving very little time to do the conversion and fully road test before the 5th August. Luckily being Pumaspeed, we already had an engine from the Fast Ford magazine featured 335 bhp Pumaspeed Red Rocket fiesta track car and very quickly installed this power plant in the engine bay with some new Custom Specification drive shafts and suitable engine mounts. The design and build of all the suitable hardware took around two weeks to perfect and was a straight forward process for our Technicians.
Q: It sounds very simple, was it really that easy?
A: Not really, the hardware side of things was relatively simple but the electronics and the full integration to the rest of the cars brand new style of CAN BUS was never going to be that simple. The process of rewiring the 4 cylinder engine harness to interface with the new unique Mk8 version SCS Delta ECU system and the original 3 cylinder car took a little more time than we imagined, we started the ball rolling but was ultimately completed by our friends at Racing Circuits in Leeds and to a very high factory like standard, in fact under the engine bay looks very OE and is a real credit to both Racing Circuits' and Pumaspeeds' workshop team.
Q: So when did the new 4 cylinder motor actually fire up and run?
A: 6 days before the deadline of Aug 5th is the answer, we know we were cutting it fine but had total faith in the physical hardware install so knew that once the engine fired it would be fit to drive down the street. There were a few minor tweeks to do to the engine location due the huge 330 bhp plus power output but all in all the finished vehicle was ready only three days before it's official launch at Ford Fair where the car was taken on track and pushed to its X-47R 340 bhp power limit.
The car was driven 140 miles to Silverstone for Ford Fair and 140 miles back again to the Pumaspeed Workshop, it performed flawlessly on track where it was seen on more than one occasion to spit flames and entertain the crowd.
For any customers wishing to install an ecoboost engine into any type of transport dont hestitate to contact the Pumaspeed Team who will be able to supply new or used engines and most all the hardware to install a fully prepped 300 plus ecoboost motor into it.
All in all the Pumaspeed team feel that this vehicle is a massive step forward for the fiesta wishing to retain the four cylinder power but update their vehicle to a newer and superior platform.
