The Ford Fiesta ST is one of my favorite cars currently on sale in America. It’s just such a great package for a great price, and it puts most other cheap performance cars on sale in America to shame. If your budget is a strict $25,000 and you want a fun new car, you’d be a bit foolish to buy anything else.

Of course, with any performance-focused car, owners want to know how they can make their car faster with aftermarket parts and tuning. I thought the Ford Fiesta ST had pretty much everything going for it in stock form, but it’s only human nature to want to push things further.

A friend of mine just got himself a Ford Fiesta ST, and that has inspired me to write this overview on modifications and tuning for the car. Now, The Smoking Tire has already done some wonderful videos on upgrading their Fiesta ST. Because I want you, the reader, to have the best information available here, I will include those videos in this post. Also, see the table at the bottom for all the numbers in one place.

Let’s get to it!

Ford Fiesta ST Stock — 204bhp and 236ft/lbs

Honestly, there isn’t anything that this car “needs” added in terms of performance. It is a spritely little bugger out of the box, and most drivers will be happy with it as-is.

Ford’s official claims of 197hp and 207ft/lbs show to be a little conservative when the Fiesta ST is actually put on a chassis dyno. The numbers above are more realistic.

You should know up front that the factory tune on the Fiesta ST is already pretty aggressive. There isn’t too much room left for major gains with the stock turbo. Then again, a stock Fiesta ST already has trouble putting its power down without spinning the wheels, so huge gains may not be desirable in a little car like this for many folks. The Fiesta ST also only weighs around 2700lbs, so the power left in the stock turbo will go further for the experience.

Ford Fiesta ST Stage 1 — 208bhp and 248ft/lbs

Stage 1 consists of an ECU flash/tune and a drop-in panel air filter. Largely because the stock tune is already pretty aggressive, Stage 1 power and torque gains are very marginal. The Stage 1 tune will smooth out the power curve a little, but personally I wouldn’t bother. A few hundred dollars is a lot of money to get very little, so my advice would be to keep saving up for Stage 2.

Ford Fiesta ST Stage 2 — 234bhp and 302ft/lbs

Stage 2 consists of a cold air intake, a larger intercooler and the tune to go with them. It also includes a more robust rear engine mount, because the stock one likes to let the engine tap the firewall.

In plain terms, I see Stage 2 as the way to go if you plan to lightly upgrade your Fiesta ST. Stage 2 gives you the most gains per dollar. The extra grand or so that you’d spend for Stage 3 just doesn’t seem worth it for only a tiny bit more power.

For the OCD people out there, Stage 2 will get you to the all-important 200whp mark.

Ford Fiesta ST Stage 3 — 241bhp and 319ft/lbs

Stage 3 adds a turbo-back exhaust to what you get with stage 2.

Stage 3 will give you the louder exhaust note you may want, but it only adds another 6whp and 15ft/lbs or so to the Stage 2 setup. At more than a grand over a Stage 2 setup, it really isn’t worth it unless you absolutely need the louder sound in your life.

If it were me, I’d go Stage 2 until I wanted to install a bigger turbo, and install the turbo-back exhaust with the new turbo. The Fiesta seems to run out of air, fuel, or probably both around Stage 2. A bigger turbo is necessary for owners wanting more than just marginal horsepower gains.

Ford Fiesta ST Turbo Upgrade — 280bhp+ and 330ft/lbs+

For those of you who don’t feel you have enough torque steer with a 240hp Fiesta ST, a turbo upgrade may be just what the doctor ordered. And might I recommend some much wider wheels and tires at this point.

There are already a few turbo kits out there for the Fiesta ST. 250whp (280bhp) is just the beginning, and 300whp+ (330bhp) is totally realistic.

Personally, I would never want over 300whp in a tiny, front-drive car like a Fiesta ST, but I’m glad it’s been do-able.

Here is a table with all of the numbers in one place. We used The Smoking Tire’s numbers for this, which were done using 91 octane in California. Remember that these numbers are only to give you a rough idea of what to expect, and that your results may vary. 

Ford Fiesta ST	Stock (91oct)	Stage 1 (91oct)	Stage 2 (91oct)	Stage 3 (91oct)	Turbo Upgrade
Dyno Horsepower	184whp	187whp	211whp	217whp	250-330whp+
Est. Engine HP	204bhp	208bhp	234bhp	241bhp	280-370bhp+
% Gain Over Stock	0%	1.2%	13%	16%	27% to 45%+
Dyno Torque	230ft/lbs	248ft/lbs	272ft/lbs	287ft/lbs	300ft/lbs+
Est. Engine Torque	255ft/lbs	275ft/lbs	302ft/lbs	319ft/lbs	330ft/lbs+
% Gain Over Stock	0%	8%	16%	20%	25%+
Total Price	$0	$400-$700	$1,500-$2,000	$2,500-$3,200	$4,000-$6,000

-Article by Nick Walker