fasttech TECH / FIESTA ST TUNING /

HOW TO...

GET AHE Words: Neil Photos: Jon Hill

There is plenty
to do to boost
the bhp of your
baby ST. Ric
Wood shows us
what’s involved.

0 1 1 6 JUNE 2007 FAST FORD


AD
THE popularity, and
Fiesta ST is gaining
with prices now dropping to an
affordable level more and more
end up in the hands of genuine
modified car fans.
The only real drawback is a lack
of power. Sure they have the all-
important fun factor, and are nippy
cars, but if you want to exploit the
chassis to the full and enjoy long
stretches of road and track you
really need a power boost.
This is where headwork master
Ric Wood and CNC Heads come
in. CNC Heads has carefully
developed several stages of tune
with proven consistent results to
suit all pockets. So, we went along
to see for ourselves.
Many people seem to spend
money in the wrong areas when it
comes to tuning and then wonder
why the car isn’t as quick as they
expect it to be. RW has the simple
vision of seeing the bottom end of
an engine as merely a pump. Now
before you all start throwing your
arms up in the air protesting have
a listen, it does make sense.
“There is no point in crazy rods
and pistons unless you are going
up to silly revs such as 8000-plus
rpm. We are keeping this limited at
7200 and that’s perfectly fine for
the Duratec, all day long,” Ric says.
Good headwork matched with
the correct cam
fasttech
fasttech
Ready and waiting
for a power makeover
and free-flowing exhaust are far
better investments for solid gains.
RW has found that some people
are using cams with too much
overlap in them, as he explains:
“Because we can get the air in
and out of the engine so quickly
we can run a much milder cam
but with more lift. This makes for
nice power gains while still ticking
over well and being smooth to
drive through the rev range. All
our cams are CNC ground. From
the basic design to fitting we are
usually within 5 bhp of our original
estimation on our custom cams”.
RW flow tests everything in-
house for pure quality control. Its
constant testing and development
shows up some interesting facts.
For example when discussing ST
tuning Ric tells us: “We looked into
the Cosworth manifold that some
owners are fitting. We are finding
that some STs actually make a
loss, mainly due to heat soak
issues”. This is something RW is
looking to develop in the future.
Ric Wood Tuning
research and
prove that every-
thing works
FAST FORD JUNE 2007 0117
 fasttech
fasttech

I OWN ONE...

We had a chat with Scott

McDonald, owner of this
Fiesta ST to see what
he thought.

1. What do you think of the

“The car’s run perfectly

standard ST?
“It was nothing special. A nice
car but I wasn’t impressed with

since it’s been done.”

the handling really, but with a
few mods you’re away. I think
they are a little overrated as
standard but I’m pleased now.”

2. What do think of the work?

“Spot on! The car’s run perfectly
since it’s been done. I have taken
it on track and it destroyed most SET THE STAGE
things out that day. An Audi S4
driver asked what it was, which STAGE 1 reflects the quality here. along with a custom map. STAGE 5
was nice.” Drop the stock restrictive Designed and fully tested Cost: £299 plus £200 for Mild cams. Ric Wood’s
air filter for a quality cone for flow by RW to ensure the map. customises these to work
3. So, what’s the drive like? one to free the revs up there are no restrictions. with the headwork for a
“Nice and smooth, it comes in on and gain maximum air Cost: £900 including STAGE 4 perfect match.
second gear and pulls right into the Duratec. the manifold. Headwork carried out Cost: £400 a pair, pulleys
thought to fifth.” by CNC. £100, headset and
STAGE 2 STAGE 3 Cost: £1250, retainers gaskets £125.
4. Anything else planned? Custom exhaust. The cost DreamScience added, £72, valve springs £148. (Labour for full fitting: £500)
“Bit of a strip-out to lose weight.
I’m looking into brakes and
possibly throttle bodies. I’m
keeping away from a 2.3
conversion as it goes against
what the car is in my opinion.”

What car is it again?

You can’t see it but the

head and cam are glorious

Overlapped before and after graphs show improvements in flow

FAST FORD JUNE 2007 0119

fasttech / TECH / FIESTA ST TUNING /
BEFORE
AFTER
GOOD HEAD
As standard the Duratec head isn’t a
bad piece of hardware. CNC Heads
and Ric have managed to improve it
though, and by quite a margin too.
The newly designed CNC head
shows a proven 14.4 per cent
increase in flow and a truly massive
30 per cent increase in exhaust
flow. This makes for some great
0 1 2 0 JUNE 2007 FAST FORD
increases in both performance
and drive.
The head will see a predicted
214 bhp at 8600 rpm or 186 bhp at
6800 rpm, with the obvious mods
to the exhaust and fuelling to cope.
The head is essentially a race item
but is perfectly useable for the
enthusiastic road car owner who
Ric’s busy fine tuning
on the Dastek dyno
Drop the restrictive
airbox for a nice boost
Results from the day saw
the ST do over 200 bhp
with the bonnet down!
is looking for more from their engine. CONTACT
It will allow the owner to take the RIC WOOD
engine as far as they want with the Unit 6/7 Oakfield Road
absolute maximum flow. Davenport, Stockport
The CNC heads are fully balanced Cheshire
across all cylinders. The CFM ratings SK3 5SG
shown are exactly what you get;
they have been tested on the dyno Tel: 0161 4834810
to within 1 bhp of the predictions. E-mail: ric@ricwood.com