The 91传媒 鈥楿ltimate Fiesta Build鈥� modified car project has successfully raised an impressive 拢21,901.50 for the Rays of Sunshine children鈥檚 charity, which was commemorated with a cheque-giving ceremony at the company鈥檚 Northampton HQ recently.

With the help of some of the biggest names in the tuning industry, the once-standard Mk7 Ford Fiesta ST was converted into one of the most formidable examples of this hatchback in the country over a 12-month period 鈥� a process which was heavily documented in the form of a YouTube series and regular update entries in聽Fast Ford聽magazine.

The Fiesta was then put into a raffle-style charity competition thanks to Dream Car Giveaways, where the thousands of entries received helped to accumulate the impressive overall donation. Eventually, West Wales-based Delmi Evans was the lucky winner of the vehicle.

ABOUT EBC BRAKES

Still privately owned, 91传媒 is a world leader in the manufacture of disc brake components. Expanding rapidly in the automotive industry, 91传媒 has become a world leader in sport, high performance and race brake pads and discs with a massive range of products. EBC is proud to announce all of its brake pad materials are completely free from heavy metals and sulphides, making them eco-friendly.
91传媒 produces 100% of its brake pad range in its Bristol factory in the UK.

ABOUT RAYS OF SUNSHINE

Rays of Sunshine Children鈥檚 Charity was formed in 2003 to聽brighten the lives of children聽who are living with serious or life-limiting illnesses, between the ages of 3-18, across the United Kingdom. By granting wishes and providing ongoing support, the charity creates a positive distraction, reduces isolation, improves self-esteem and creates precious memories and smiles.

Now it鈥檚 reaching its final stages, we鈥檝e decided to look back at how our 鈥楿ltimate Fiesta Build鈥� project has unfolded over the last few months by bringing you our build articles that were originally featured in聽Fast Ford聽magazine. This week, it鈥檚 Part 13, where we head back to our friends at聽聽for the installation of a聽聽roll cage.

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鈥檚 charity.聽聽to enter.

With our Mk7 ST 鈥楿ltimate Fiesta Build鈥� now becoming so impressive it鈥檚 able to topple fully-fledged supercars on track (), this month we wanted to ensure that its safety aspects were equally-as-competent for the lucky person who eventually wins the car in our charity giveaway soon.

It鈥檚 why we decided to approach our friends at聽聽and snap up one of the firm鈥檚 4-point bolt-in roll cages to help keep the internal cabin area as safe as possible in any situation.

Just like 91传媒, Somerset-based Caged Laser is one of those proudly British engineering firms that are all too uncommon nowadays. Supplying bespoke motorsport solutions for a huge range of applications, everything that Caged Laser does is proudly designed, built and finished in house.

The 鈥榗age we opted for is a 鈥榬ear鈥� item that starts just behind the driver and passenger鈥檚 heads and works its way back into the boot area. Made out of sturdy PTG700 tubing, it鈥檚 handily supplied with weld-in mounting boxes which the 鈥榗age then conveniently bolts into.

To make sure the install was done correctly, we headed back over to our friends at聽, where technician James got to work getting the shiny red unit in place.

The first job is fully removing the rear seats and carpet, before stripping all fixtures, fittings and adhesive from the white metal underneath. The curtain airbags above each door of the Fiesta also carefully needed removing, as well as some of the headlining to accommodate the satisfyingly snug fit of the 鈥榗age.

Once the mounting boxes were welded in, Caged Laser made the rest of the process hassle-free with its skillfully designed product that just required some bolting to ensure a secure fit inside the car.

Looking fantastic in its complimentary red hue, the interior was finally freshened up by re-adding some of the carpet and headlining to give it the ultimate 鈥榗lubsport鈥� fast road/track look. We can now rest assured that the Fiesta is up for the job of keeping its passengers safe, regardless of what we throw at it. Oh, and the handling has probably been improved slightly, to boot. Winner!

As we arrived back at EBC HQ and just before going to press with this update, we received a package from our friends at聽聽鈥撀燼 set of 7.5脳17鈥� Team Dynamics Pro Race 1.2 alloys, finished in a stunning gloss black colour! These will eventually get a set of dedicated track day semi-slick tyres on them and act as a second set of wheels for the winner of the car. Stay tuned to see what the look like mounted in place鈥�

Now it鈥檚 reaching its final stages, we鈥檝e decided to look back at how our 鈥楿ltimate Fiesta Build鈥� project has unfolded over the last few months by bringing you our build articles that were originally featured in聽Fast Ford聽magazine. This week, it鈥檚 Part 12, where we find ourselves over at聽聽getting one of their finest security systems installed.

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鈥檚 charity.聽聽to enter.

During a routine scroll through the web recently, we stumbled upon a rather eye-opening list that displayed the most stolen vehicles in the UK throughout 2020.

Guess what was right at the top spot? Yep 鈥� the humble Ford Fiesta! This worried us here at EBC HQ, as our Mk7 ST 鈥楿ltimate Fiesta Build鈥� is undoubtedly a particularly desirable example of this much-loved hatchback, making us feel even more exposed to the potential dangers lurking out there.

There was only one thing for it: to head to one of the UK鈥檚 most respected alarm specialists 鈥撀犅犫�� to make our Fezza as secure as Fort Knox in case of any unwanted attention in the future.

With premises in Birmingham, London and Manchester, Pandora is pushing the envelope of what鈥檚 possible with car alarm systems right now. Often catering for the most exotic supercars on the planet (including some of Shmee150鈥檚 machines), we knew we鈥檇 be in safe hands.

Arriving at the firm鈥檚 impressive Redditch HQ, we were greeted by Sales Manager Matt, who talked us through what the team thought would be the best solution for our particular needs 鈥撀�.

Now it鈥檚 reaching its final stages, we鈥檝e decided to look back at how our 鈥楿ltimate Fiesta Build鈥� project has unfolded over the last few months by bringing you our build articles that were originally featured in聽Fast Ford聽magazine. This week, it鈥檚 Part 11, where we head back to the track with some very special guests鈥�

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鈥檚 charity.聽聽to enter.

After this, it was time for the big one: putting our Ford up against our R35 Nissan GT-R development vehicle. With Jake Hill once again in the Fiesta and our in-house test driver piloting the Japanese super-coupe, this would promise to be an extremely interesting set of battles indeed.

The first test was a simple 0-60mph sprint on the damp Tarmac. Unsurprisingly, the 550bhp GT-R鈥檚 trick 4WD system meant it performed the launch in just 4.4 seconds, with our FWD manual Fezza taking 6.2 seconds to achieve the same speed.

A 60-0mph brake test followed. This time, the Fiesta鈥檚 lighter weight and big brake kit came into their own, with a 66ft stopping distance compared to the bulkier GT-R鈥檚 88ft.

Finally, it was what we鈥檇 all been waiting for 鈥� a handful of hot laps of the circuit. With the Fiesta taking an early lead and the GT-R hot on its tails throughout, it incredibly managed to retain this position throughout the race, illustrating just how much the modifications we鈥檝e added to the car have transformed it.

As the sun began to set, we were greeted by one last contender 鈥� a full-blown BRSCC Fiesta Championship race car, which went out in the hands of local driver Adam Higgins against Jake Hill in our car. It was fascinating to see how a heavily modified road car fared against a full-blown race car on race tyres and you can see the outcome of this battle by heading to聽听苍辞飞鈥�

It鈥檚 fair to say that with 380-odd horses under its bonnet and its killer suspension and brake setups, our 鈥楿ltimate Fiesta Build鈥� is really starting to live up to its name.

But there鈥檚 still a long way to go before the car is finally given away in its charity competition ( for your chance to win it 鈥撀爀ntries are open until early summer).

For now then, it鈥檚 business as usual and this month saw us tackling our ST-3鈥檚 plush Recaro interior, with the aim of losing as much weight as possible and supplying a much more supportive cabin for both driver and passenger during on-track action.

The first task was to remove the majority of that attractive black-and-red factory trim. Once it was all out of the car, we just had to get it on the scales to see how much it all weighed. The answer? A whopping 75.5kgs!

In replacement of all of this mass, we opted for a duo of . FIA approved, HANS-compatible and side-mounted, these are the real deal for track day and race cars, with these exact seats featuring in some of the most formidable race, rally and drift cars around the world.

We opted for the composite-backed variants to suit our budget, although they鈥檙e also available in carbon fibre for even better weight savings. Still, with the shell weight of our seats coming in at just 6kg apiece, we were set to shave a mighty 60kgs from the Fiesta鈥檚 overall weight in one fell swoop with this one upgrade!

The icing on the cake is the bespoke embroidery that the guys at Motordrive added to each seat for us 鈥� the 鈥楿ltimate Fiesta Build鈥� slogan proudly displayed in the car鈥檚 black/red/white colour scheme. Remember to consider custom upgrades when placing your order with this hugely respected British company.

With the amount of big-turbo goodness under the bonnet, it would be all too easy to plonk a load of clunky gauges and dials onto the car鈥檚 dashboard to keep tabs on the goings-on in the engine bay. But keen to streamline things and keep the interior looking relatively understated, the perfect solution instead came from our friends over at .

Snapping up one of their trick air vent-mounted digital dials ensured we had all bases covered with one handy product. Cleverly giving off OEM looks until you fire it up, this amazing piece of tech then comes to life to quickly and accurately display info such as boost levels, vital temperatures, ignition timing, speed, RPM (with shift light) and even fault codes. You can even record accurate 0-60mph times with it!

Installation couldn鈥檛 have been easier 鈥� you simply plug the gauge into your OBD port using the supplied adapter and the car鈥檚 computer does the rest for you. This is a vital piece of kit for anyone who likes to keep on top of what鈥檚 going on with their pride and joy and we can鈥檛 wait to make use of all of its functions.

Next time, we鈥檙e heading back out onto the track to see how our latest raft of mods translate with some high-speed driving. We鈥檙e bringing along some other cars to compare it against too, so it should make for some seriously interesting reading鈥�

Now it鈥檚 reaching its final stages, we鈥檝e decided to look back at how our 鈥楿ltimate Fiesta Build鈥� project has unfolded over the last few months by bringing you our build articles that were originally featured in聽Fast Ford聽magazine. This week, it鈥檚 Part 9, where we nip down the road to motorsport preparation specialist,听, 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鈥檚 charity.聽聽to enter.

Rewind a couple of weeks and you might remember us fitting some choice suspension upgrades to our 鈥楿ltimate Fiesta Build鈥� recently (namely some聽,听,听听补苍诲听).

With a visual makeover applied directly afterwards () 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聽聽鈥� 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鈥檚 clinical workshops confirmed all we needed to know 鈥� 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.

First up was some initial fettling with tyre pressures, camber settings and ride height. The Fiesta was then placed on the outfit鈥檚 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掳 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聽聽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鈥�

Now it鈥檚 reaching its final stages, we鈥檝e decided to look back at how our 鈥楿ltimate Fiesta Build鈥� project has unfolded over the last few months by bringing you our build articles that were originally featured in聽Fast Ford聽magazine. This week, it鈥檚 Part 12, where we find ourselves over at聽聽getting one of their finest security systems installed.

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鈥檚 charity.聽聽to enter.

If you鈥檝e read our last few entries in this series, you鈥檒l know that up until recently we鈥檝e focused almost exclusively on functional, performance-enhancing upgrades for our 鈥楿ltimate Fiesta Build鈥� project.

While there鈥檚 no doubting the fact these mods have transformed the Mk7 ST from standard road car to complete road and track weapon in a matter of months, we couldn鈥檛 help thinking it was probably about time we paid some attention to the way our hot hatch looked.

One of the most effective ways of single-handedly changing the appearance of your motor is with a full-body vinyl wrap, so we soon got to work putting some blueprints together for a bespoke livery design that would make the Fiesta a little more eye-catching while out and about.

Soon settling on a striking red-and-black design that sets off the聽聽brand colours perfectly, our next job was to work out who to entrust with applying the wrap to the car.

It didn鈥檛 take long for us to choose London-based聽聽for the job. You might know this much-loved outfit from the recent Dave TV show that revolved around the day-to-day running of the firm 鈥� renowned for supplying countless celebs with fully bespoke wrap solutions for their supercars and SUVs and meaning they would be more than qualified for working on our little car.

Following some pre-wrap discussions with the team to finalise colour choices, we left the keys with the talented wrappers at Yiannimize鈥檚 North London HQ while they worked their magic.

A week or so later, we were invited back to be presented with the finished product 鈥� a stunning wrap job that features three layers of vinyl (satin black, gloss black and gloss red) laid out in the exact style we鈥檇 mocked up on the small screen.

Safe to say the car looked infinitely cooler than it did when it drove in 鈥� now giving off the aesthetic of something between a top-end race car and a Hot Wheels toy. The attention to detail is incredible and there鈥檚 not a spec of the original Frozen White paintwork to be seen inside or out.

To set off the new look, we snapped up some聽聽alloys in gunmetal grey that act as the perfect addition to the new body art 鈥� the multi-spoke turbofan-inspired design complementing the darker body colours as well as perfectly framing our Apollo Balanced Big Brake Kit on the front axle.

Next up: a full motorsport geometry alignment before we once again take the Fezza out on track to see how all of the new mods translate behind the wheel. We can鈥檛 wait!