1989 Ford Festiva L
We are new to Autocross competition, but we are now campaigning, of all things, a Ford Festiva!
Swapped with a JDM Mazda B6 1.6 liter, makes it a light, agile, and quicker than expected Solo (Autocross) car.
Festiva Modifications:
- JDM B6 carb motor
- Weber/Holley 32/36 carb
- Custom two piece adapter
- Ported Intake
- Genie header
- 2" exhaust
- No cat
- Flowmaster import muffler
- Pacesetter Adjustible shifter
- MazdaSpeed Strut bar
- Brembo slotted rotors
- Excedy Clutch
- Battery relocated to right rear
- Diamond racing wheels
- Hoosier Road Racing Slicks
- Mazda 323 application KYB's front,
- custom modified perches welded
- Ground Control Coil adjusters
- Eibach springs 350# front
- KYB AGX adjustible rear shocks
- Mitsubishi application
- Ground controls and Eibachs out back (250#)
- Full compliment of FMS High Durometer trans/engine mounts
- FMS High durometer competition strut mounts
- ALL emissions removed
- Stripped interior
- Accel coil
- Magnacore Plug wires
- Pacesetter Adjustible shifter
- Full gauges added
- Mazda RX7 Steering wheel
- Summit Racing Sport Seats with custom welded mounts
- Full compliment of custom race numbers and stickers Stanford Motorsports (my company...) Sponser stickers all around
- Roof removed
- Fully gutted, dash/lights/interior
- Full roll cage fabbed and nstalled
- Rear strut bar (Custom made, SMS)
- 5 speed transmission installed
- Phantom Grip LSD installed
- Main power cut-off switch
We run a Japanese imported Mazda Familia engine, similar to the engine found in the Mazda 323 in the USA. Called a B6, the little SOHC N/A engine is in the Mazda B family, and these engines are known to be tough as nails! The engine has a higher compression ratio and a bit more horsepower than the US version, and with it's current configuration, close to double the power output of a stock Festiva. In addition to the extra bit of factory power, the engine has been fitted with a Genie header, custom intake and Weber/Holley 32/36 carburetor. The car puts out close to 100hp at the front tires, and only weighs about 1600 lbs wet. (Addendum, since the top came off, the car weighs in at about 1300 lbs)
We are using a 5 speed, froma later model Festiva, with a Phantom Grip LSD installed. The LSD leaves a bit to be desired, so further modification is called for soon!
We are currently using a custom made set of Diamond, spun steel racing wheels, in 13"x6" with 3.25 offset. These are working out well with Hoosier racing slicks, I use several different types, both CSR style tires, and cantilevered sidewall racing slicks.
You can compare them with stock in the following pictures.
The Festiva is a light car, and handles fairly well stock. However, the springs are mushy and the car has a lot of roll. SO, we lowered the car and began building a custom suspension setup. Off the shelf Festiva parts just wouldn't do, as we wanted to use springs with a much higher rate (stiffer) Stock is somewhere around 100 lb/in in the front, and 90 or so in the rear. We really wanted very little roll, so we decided to use 350 pound springs in the front, and 250 in the rear. To date, we have NOT done the frequency calculations to pick the perfect springs, but like I said, we are learning Autocross, and street cars in general... so more on that later. To damp the heavy springs, we could not use Festiva parts, as the struts and shocks available would be seriously underdamped, instead we did a little research, and read a LOT on FordFestiva.com about other's experience. If you have a Festiva, it is WELL worth your time to stop by the forums there and do some reading. 90% of everything I learned, I learned from members on that site. We ended up using Mitsubishi Mirage rear shocks, Adjustable KYB AGX units to be exact. Racing shocks they aren't.. and the adjusters leave a LOT to be desired. But since we were building a budget Solo car, we were on our way! For the fronts, we turned once again to the Mazda 323, and fitted a set of KYB GR2 units. AGX struts were not available for the 323, and to date, we have not found any adjustable off the shelf struts to fit. However, since the 323 is a heavier car (by far) the damping is significantly closer than stock Festy products available. Some day, we might make up a set of Koni's... but not at this time!
Along with the shocks and struts, we went shopping once again for springs and adjusters. Ground Control uses a quality spring, Eibach, and we liked the quality of the Ground Control adjusters. Once again, not top of the line racing parts... as they have flat perches, but there is time for everything.. and one day we might fit the high dollar units with floating perches to eliminate lateral forces on the springs, under compression.
We had to weld lower perches on the the struts, and do a few other things to get all these parts to work together, but in the end, we came up with units that do the job nicely, for a fraction of what a serious race suspension would cost. Total for the four dampers, perches, adjusters and springs was just under $1000.00
In addition to the suspension work, at the same time, we replaced all the bushings, engine and transmission mounts with high durometer units from FestivaMotorsport.com, a WONDERFUL bunch of Festiva nuts, and a great place to find Festiva performance goodies, as well as hard to find stock parts. Once again, if you love Festivas, you NEED to visit them!
Parts, Ground Control adjusters, KYB Shocks, Eibach Springs
One assembled unit
The rollover at an Autocross event:
The Damage:
And the Solution
