Watch two professional race car drivers pit a pair of Mk7 Ford Fiesta STs against each other… and not just any Fiesta STs, this is a very cool battle between a modified street car and a bonafide race car. It’s light versus even lighter!
EBC Brakes has had quite a build going on its YouTube channel. The UK-based firm has been creating the ultimate Fiesta ST street-slash-track build, filming a bunch of content of the process, and are ultimately throwing the keys to one lucky donor in a giveaway.
The build is impressive to say the least. EBC big brake kit with street/track pads (of course), a myriad of aftermarket suspension bits, three sets of wheels with different compounds (including OEMs), and a shitload of power to boot; a tune that can achieve as much as 400 bhp (slightly different horsepower measurement than us colonials). Plus, you know, a limited-slip differential and all the mods needed to make this huge power reliably. It’s everything a dork like me would ever need to experience small, FWD, hot hatch glory.
A genius method they used to measure its effectiveness as a track weapon: throw it up against a purpose-built race car, on-track, and a wet track to boot.
Its rival is a BRSCC Fiesta Championship race car. This racing series has been around since the late-’70s, and has acted as a school for some of the UK’s most successful British Touring Car Challenge (BTCC) drivers. It’s a sort of spec series, with Mk6 (we never got those here) and Mk7 Fiestas trading paint in up-close action on track.
Not the Average Track Battle
However, there’s a kicker to this track battle: the race car has a naturally-aspirated 1.6-liter four cylinder, whereas the street car is turbocharged with around 370 bhp (down-tuned for track longevity). Though the race car is stripped out to some degree of featherweight, has track-purpose rain slicks, more purpose-built race suspension, a race alignment, and a bump in power for sure (I can’t find specs on what kind of power they make). It’s actually pretty cool that the far-less-powerful BRSCC car can keep up with the big-power street/track car just fine!
This is a testament to adding lightness and purposeful building always being a capable strategy, regardless of power.
There’s even a slight whoopsie on the part of the race car at one point -luckily he was able to keep it away from this track’s nearby walls. Also, Castle Combe Circuit where it’s filmed looks so incredibly fun to run on.
Check out the video below, and it’s quite fun with accompanying announcing. The drivers are hot shoes, too: one’s a BTCC driver, the other is a Formula Ford driver (those are wild little formula cars). The whole build series is great, too, though sometimes it’s heavy on promo-speak.
