When will the engine open up?

[dannyhilton]

Ok well I guess this may be a stupid question, much like what to do when breaking an engine in, as there will be many different answers. Since selling my WP Zetec and getting a rep car, I'm constantly thinking my WS Fiesta is guttless. My older WP had real balls above 3000rpm for such a little engine, and while it was harsh and rough, it loved to revv. My WS just seems to be torqueless and I feel disconnected to the engine, it starts to come alive at 4500rpm but by 5500rpm it's all over red rover. I've got a WS Zetec manual with 4000km. Am I just an idiot and need to wait till the engine opens up, am I spoiled by the companys FG Falcon or is the Fiesta just gutless?

I love my Fez, but I'm always thinking the car is driving me and I'm not driving it, like I'm disconnected to it? The engine is unresponsive, the steering light, ride is so smooth and it's all so refined? The WP just felt so connected to the road, my tips of my fingers could feel every bit of the car, road and the dynamics were mind blowing. I feel like an idiot for saying all this, but I'm not sure how to feel about the car?

[kiwijohn42]

Have you changed the oil? Maybe some good synthetic would help.

[Rude]

you bought a ford not a ferrari.

[Zetec Dave]

I'd say its the comparison between the power and feel of the Fiesta VS the Falcon. Changing engine oil alone will not do much anyways. More a personal feel than anything else. Even if you do feel a slight difference, it will go away very quickly and before you know it, it'll be the same Fiesty you've always known. Maybe bolt on a supercharger kit then? :
Wifey's always complaining about how gutless the Fiesta is and yes I do agree to some extent (despite the improvement with ecu tuning) but then again she's comaping it with the modded Polo Gti which has double the power.

[greenfoam]

My other car is twice as fast as a FG and I still find the Fiesta pretty sporty!. Put them both around a corner flat out and see which one is faster

[south21]

I think 9.9 sec to the 100 is not slow compared to other small fours, I have 33,000 ks
on mine and it goes great.

[dannyhilton]

Originally Posted by kiwijohn42

Have you changed the oil? Maybe some good synthetic would help.

Had this done last weekend hoping it could help. I use Castrol 5W30, it seems to be a good drop having previously used it in my WP Zetec.

Originally Posted by Rude

you bought a ford not a ferrari.

Thank-you. We're all refreshed and challenged by your unique point of view.

Originally Posted by Zetec Dave

I'd say its the comparison between the power and feel of the Fiesta VS the Falcon.

Your tune is sounding more delicious by the second!

Originally Posted by greenfoam

My other car is twice as fast as a FG and I still find the Fiesta pretty sporty!. Put them both around a corner flat out and see which one is faster

I'll admit, around the Peachester range I had a blast. Plenty of grip, and if you keep the rev range high it comes into its own here!

Originally Posted by south21

I think 9.9 sec to the 100 is not slow compared to other small fours, I have 33,000 ks on mine and it goes great.

Have you found it's gotten much better with the extra km's? Greenfoam has previously mentioned his feels more alive now, I'm just not sure how many km's it too for the engine to start to free-up per sa.

[Spinner77]

Interesting that in his review back in 2008, Andrew Frankel in the London Times remarked:

"The harder you drive, the better it feels: tight, poised, balanced and, for a sensible supermini, genuinely good fun.
There are some downsides, however ... even with the most powerful engine currently available, the Fiesta felt no more than mildly quick in a straight line."

[burnz]

Originally Posted by greenfoam

My other car is twice as fast as a FG and I still find the Fiesta pretty sporty!. Put them both around a corner flat out and see which one is faster

have you cracked the softwear to ford yet foamie

[Spinner77]

Sorry, forgot the URL for Frankel:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/dri...cle4634268.ece

And here he is on Youtube, giving the Fiesta 7-7.5/10 for performance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz7RC1Kn4Wc

[GoesLikeAZetec]

Rapid why dont ya get one of those cool Mountune kits put on the festy?

Takes the 0-100 time down 2 whole seconds.....

When they become available that is..........

HURRY UP FORD and get it over here.

[Dustproof]

Originally Posted by south21

I think 9.9 sec to the 100 is not slow compared to other small fours, I have 33,000 ks
on mine and it goes great.

Mine has 4000Km's on it and goes really well, I love response and power. Mind you I used to have a Suzuki Swift, now that is gutless for a 1.5L.

Maybe you need some ECU tuning or something, I intend to do the Turbo thing later but low pressure so as not to overpower the chassis.

:sm_headba

[dannyhilton]

Monotune pack would be ideal! Pricey but I'd love it. I'm thinking the engine just needs a few more thousand km's and it should open up a bit. As for the Swift, my auntys is quite nifty, but mine felt like a space rocket after driving that! I guess driving the big 4.0l Falcon engine is too much of a luxury, just wanted to see how everyone felt about their cars performance. Love the Fez, and now my WP is finally sold I can fall in live all over again!

[zetec jim]

Sell your WS and get another WP!!! FTW!!! :

[south21]

"Have you found it's gotten much better with the extra km's? Greenfoam has previously mentioned his feels more alive now, I'm just not sure how many km's it too for the engine to start to free-up per sa."

My fiesta did not start to feel free till around the 15k service.

[Fi.ES.TA]

Heres my 2 cents worth.When i first got the festa i loved everything about it
took it real easy not taking the car over 2500rpm just taking it easy running it in,got to my 1st 3000km check over at the dealer and asked the service guy how long it will take to run in(i was told they do not need running in as there already run in from the factory and just drive it like you would drive any car lol) like i was going to beleive that.After the check over i started to take it up to 3000 3500rpm between changes but i started getting to a point where i kept thinking this peice of sh#t is gutless for a 1600 engine in such a light car,i kept comparing to my 1600 pug 205gti
that was 10yrs old on the original engine and might i say went like sh#t off a shovel cut a long story short i am now nearing 11,000klm in the festa and taking it to 4000 4500 and now and then 5000rpm i can now honestly say i am well impressed with this car its a little wippet and it can only get better,hang in there rapid it will get better ;)

[kiwijohn42]

I could only wait until 800km before I opened it up.
I find after an oil change I get better economy & it feels livelier. That's why I don't leave it until 15k.

[dannyhilton]

That's what I wanted to hear! I was in the same boat, I got the 3000 service and thought I'd give it a good pun but it didn't move lol. I too had been babying it but I now have hope. I think it's first-car syndrome, insted of replacing the WP I'm going to make a new spot in my heart for this little ripper! Went for a nice drive this avo and it went well.

Thanks south21. I know it's hard to put a figure on it, but that gives me hope!

HAHA Zetec Jim! I do miss the WP, was a real hoot of a car. Rough, loud, noisy, unrefined and lacking in some areas, but what a pearl of a car!!!

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by kiwijohn42

I could only wait until 800km before I opened it up.
I find after an oil change I get better economy & it feels livelier. That's why I don't leave it until 15k.

I opened it up a few days after I got the bastard, haha, took it up the mountains where it saw redline lots.

[Fi.ES.TA]

I think that was half my problem rapid new car syndrome to scared to break something,ive found if you take it to 5000rpm in 1st and get through to 5th at 4000rpm its like its been launched from a catapult,the one thing that i have found though if you give it some round a bend from the lights its very light on the front end and skips round untill you get to 3rd gear.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Fi.ES.TA

I think that was half my problem rapid new car syndrome to scared to break something,ive found if you take it to 5000rpm in 1st and get through to 5th at 4000rpm its like its been launched from a catapult,the one thing that i have found though if you give it some round a bend from the lights its very light on the front end and skips round untill you get to 3rd gear.

Hmm, I found it to handle quite nicely, but i've never given it some into a bend but I have had the back slide out on me slightly after I took a corner too quick on a dirt road.

[zetec jim]

Originally Posted by RapidTyphoon

HAHA Zetec Jim! I do miss the WP, was a real hoot of a car. Rough, loud, noisy, unrefined and lacking in some areas, but what a pearl of a car!!!

Who you calling rough, noisey and unrefined!!! : j.k.

Its the little, sometimes indescribable things that make a car great, and the WP has them in spades. I even find it more enjoyable to drive than the other steed in our garage, a Polo GTI (not tuned mind you)...

[GoesLikeAZetec]

Originally Posted by RapidTyphoon

Monotune pack would be ideal! Pricey but I'd love it. I'm thinking the engine just needs a few more thousand km's and it should open up a bit. As for the Swift, my auntys is quite nifty, but mine felt like a space rocket after driving that! I guess driving the big 4.0l Falcon engine is too much of a luxury, just wanted to see how everyone felt about their cars performance. Love the Fez, and now my WP is finally sold I can fall in live all over again!

Also from what I've read in reviews Rapid, peak torque doesnt arrive till 4000rpm (1.6) and peak power until 6000rpm.... So this is definitely a "spank it" engine if you want to get it to really boogie

We have 1500kms on ours now and Ive taken it two 5500rpm twice and instantly you can tell, thats where you have to be, to get the best from it...


The big 4ltr is a lazy engine. Big slabs of torque with no rpm. You would definitely notice a huge difference jumping out of one to the other.

I know a Hilux/BT50/Mitsi/XR utes arnt passenger cars as such, but at work we've noticed most dont do their best power or economy till at least the 10k service....

On a curious note - has anyone hit the rev limiter in the new WS? If so what rpm is it?

[greenfoam]

It wont start to feel looser and sporty untill 25,000k+, My wifes is still getting better with 29,000 at the moment it's improving everytime I drive it. That trip down the ocean road the other night done it wonders, I drove it fairly hard for 4 hours? straight and it was notably better at the end of the road than it was at the start!. Well I wasn't actually driving it that hard but the revs were fairly high and averaging around 4000 rpm and that was the first time it's had a proper long work out, seems like it needed it.

Once in a while I try to set an economy record comming back from visiting my parents and tonight I set my all time record 5.4L/100 no way was it able to do that on that road 5,000ks ago. My old record was 5.7. In a not really related story the front tyres look like they will do about 40,000ks and then they will be done. Back ones are still really good so they might go 60?

[Dustproof]

Originally Posted by kiwijohn42

I could only wait until 800km before I opened it up.
I find after an oil change I get better economy & it feels livelier. That's why I don't leave it until 15k.

OK guy's, here is the deal. Ford like all other manufacturers test each engine to make sure there are no failures, they run the engines in on the Dyno and the engine see's redline before the engine is considered OK to use. I figure they don't get too many complaints with running in related issues this way.

In saying that the engine will loosen up a lot, babying it will not run it in properly anyway. The engine doesn't need to be thrashed but does need to be used normally, this will get the rings to seat properly and the bores to smooth out nicely.

Remember running in includes Brakes and Transmission, give it a couple of thousand K's before towing or hard braking. The engine is fine, even if it has to see redline, just don't hold it there or you could glaze the bores and stuff the ring life which will lead to an early engine rebuild.

:

[dannyhilton]

Originally Posted by zetec jim

Its the little, sometimes indescribable things that make a car great, and the WP has them in spades.

Agree 100%. The car had gut-loads of heart, and they made up for any imperfections.
:

Thanks for the comments guys

[InTrail]

Originally Posted by Fi.ES.TA

.....i kept comparing to my 1600 pug 205gti
that was 10yrs old on the original engine and might i say went like sh#t off a shovel

IIRC, all Australian delivered 205 GTi's were 1.9-litre spec. and weighed about 950kg.

[robjh80]

Originally Posted by RapidTyphoon

I love my Fez, but I'm always thinking the car is driving me and I'm not driving it, like I'm disconnected to it? The engine is unresponsive, the steering light, ride is so smooth and it's all so refined? The WP just felt so connected to the road, my tips of my fingers could feel every bit of the car, road and the dynamics were mind blowing. I feel like an idiot for saying all this, but I'm not sure how to feel about the car?

I know exactly what your saying mate, I can really relate to this as I had exactly the same experience.

A couple of years ago I sold my Fiesta Zetec and bought a new Mitsi Lancer VRX ... I only had it a couple of months before selling it again, lost about $4k in the process ... I just couldn't stand it anymore.

Don't get me wrong, it was a pleasant enough car, did everything you would ever want without any fuss or issue, it was very quiet to drive, comfortable, looked the goods, performed well enough ... but it lacked something the Fez had oodles of .. character!

I just didn't feel connected to the Lancer at all, I tried to love it, I tried so hard to give it a fair go ... but it just didn't feel right somehow ... I just couldn't "click" with it ... it just wasn't for me.

Once I sold it and stepped back into another WQ it just felt so right, the sharp steering, the rough ride, the throaty exhaust note, even the little queeks and rattles that comes standard with every WP/WQ ... everything was just as it should be .. the character was back and I have loved every minute of it since.

I think for those who have never owned a WP/WQ, the ownership of a new WS model could well be a fun and rewarding experience .. but for those stepping out of a previous Fez to a new WS could be, (as you are testament to), a very difficult transition indeed.

[dannyhilton]

Originally Posted by robjh80

I know exactly what your saying mate, I can really relate to this as I had exactly the same experience.

A couple of years ago I sold my Fiesta Zetec and bought a new Mitsi Lancer VRX ... I only had it a couple of months before selling it again, lost about $4k in the process ... I just couldn't stand it anymore.

Don't get me wrong, it was a pleasant enough car, did everything you would ever want without any fuss or issue, it was very quiet to drive, comfortable, looked the goods, performed well enough ... but it lacked something the Fez had oodles of .. character!

I just didn't feel connected to the Lancer at all, I tried to love it, I tried so hard to give it a fair go ... but it just didn't feel right somehow ... I just couldn't "click" with it ... it just wasn't for me.

Once I sold it and stepped back into another WQ it just felt so right, the sharp steering, the rough ride, the throaty exhaust note, even the little queeks and rattles that comes standard with every WP/WQ ... everything was just as it should be .. the character was back and I have loved every minute of it since.

I think for those who have never owned a WP/WQ, the ownership of a new WS model could well be a fun and rewarding experience .. but for those stepping out of a previous Fez to a new WS could be, (as you are testament to), a very difficult transition indeed.

THAT'S EXACTLY IT! Glad I'm not the only one with WP/WQ fever!

[MISTA FIESTA]

Oh how i wish I still had my WP so the XR4 wasnt so alone..

+1 with Robs comments. WP/WQ = FTMFW