[ the build diaries ]

[ 2016 ] - [ 2019 ] - [ 2020 ] - [ 2021 ] - [ 2022 ] - [ 2023 ] - [ 2024 ] - [ 2025 ]

2016

After crashing my 2006 Lancer Ralliart, Trevor convinced me to purchase a Ford Fiesta ST - sight unseen, without a test drive - I fully trusted the vision and trusted that he knew what he was talking about. In November 2016, the car arrived - black on black on black and it was a fun little 6 speed jellybean.

within a year, we voided the warranty and installed an OTS cobb tune as well a few basic goodies, like the short throw adapter from boomba racing, a BOV adapter from Boomba as well for more whooshy noises, a CP-e rear motor mount and a few stickers here and there (hey - everyone starts somewhere?)

2019

We had a few years of moving and getting resituated before moving more on the project - and really, it wasn't a project car at this point. However, we did wrap the car in Avery Satin pearl metallic at the end of this year while it was still doing it's daily duty and being winter driven.

2020

This year was some of the bigger changes on the car - at the beginning we installed some CP-e goodies- intercooler and exhaust, a Mountune front lip, and Depo racing catless downpipe

2020 was also the year that Redline Sorority started building momentum and I was asked to be part of the club

Further along in the year, to prep for our first show - Sorority Row - we added the Rotiform RSE's wrapped in Firehawk Indy 500 rubbers, a custom dipped engine cover for some engine bay prettieness, and a Velossa Tech ram air intake - along with more little aesthetic goodies

2021

As usual, over the winter we did some big performance modifications to the jellybean - this year, we added a Whoosh Hybrid Turbo, along with all it's supporting modifications such as a Forge Motorsports diverter valbe, a Turbosmart wastegate and we also upgraded our intake to a Mishimoto performance intake.

A few more aesthetic goodies popped up on the fiesta as well, some new lights from SpecD, Billetworkz window vents, and one of my favorite modifications to the car - Bilstiend B14 Coilovers - which really changed the driving dynamics of the car and made it 1000% more livable

2021 was a big turning point for the car, we started doing more and more drag racing with it. It was a nice return to the track - given that I had only raced my Lancer up until this point. We had been going to a few Tunerbash events here and there, and then in the fall of 2021 - at a Tunerbash event - I moneyshifted the car from 4th into 3rd and spun the bearing, some contact was made between pistons and valves, and we killed the stock engine.

This was such a big learning experience for me, up until this point - race>break>fix>repeat - wasn't something I knew. Of course, we went full idiot mode and ordered a Mountune MRX engine for the fiesta... and then, it was time to wait.

2022

.... and oh, boy.. did we wait.

Following the echoes of 2020's supply chain issues, our new engine wouldn't arrive to us until the end of June, however - this did give us some time to do some pre-work to the engine bay. We stripped it all down, did some rust cleanup and mitigation.

We also had our transmission rebuilt by a Friend's family who does rally and had a Spec Stage 2+ Clutch, and flywheel installed - as well as a Wavetrac LSD. On the shifter side of things, we updated the bushings and added some Whoosh shifter base busing as well as some cable bracket bushings to give the shifter a bit more of a notchy feel - and topped it all off with a brand new purple suede leather shift boot.

The engine swap gave us massive upgrates to the pistons and rings, the connecting rods, had a cylinder support system, ARP head studs, an oil control baffle, stage 2 cam shafts, super tech valve sprints and a port and polished head.

To support this - we also earned a sponsorhip with Stratified Automotive Controls and RCTS Autoworx to help with the Tuning and mechanical work for the project

Did I also mention we updated a lot of our supporting modifications while we were in there? Like updating our intercooler boost hose kit, a wonderful exhaust manifold by AIRTEC, a new Mishimoto Radiator, a Whoosh 3" catless downpipe, Powerflex engine mount supports and inserts, updated fuel injectors (out of a Jaguar)

That said, even after all of this - the Fiesta never ran right. The engine that we chose specifically from Mountune was never put together correctly from them. We had oil and coolant leaks - nothing super drastic, but definitely a concern - to the point, that towards the end of 2022 - we brought the car to RCTS to do some diagnostic testing, only to find out that yes - the engine was not put together correctly at all.

This was tough to learn and deal with, especially after all that investment (over $12k USD) to Mountune - they've never acknoledged us or our problems - even while posting it publicly. We had called them, emailed them - tried so many avenues to get help with the engine, and they were not helpful at all - if you're interested in buying from them, prepare to wait, and prepare to be ghosted.

2023

That said, in 2023.. yup, we rebuilt our Mountune engine... and by we - I mean the guys at RCTS who came in clutch and had it running only 4 days away from our first show of the year- Driven.

While the guys were busy rebuilding the car, we purchased a Pierce motorsports Race chassis bracing kit for the car, which included a strut tower brace, a 6 point undercarriage brace and a lower tiebar brace - and had it all powdercoated to lime green

We won best in class Ford at Driven this year, and it was such an amazing honor and surprise - consdering we had pushed the car into the show without an engine the year before. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined to build a Driven winning car, and now I have the monolith to prove it.

This was also the year that we put a bit of a livery on the car, a small tribute to Ken Block - by mirroring his RS200 livery.

We made our return to Tunerbash this year, and did some drag racing against friends - and the car felt strong and fast

We did lots of shows this year, but it would all begin to change in 2024...

2024

We did a few light supporting mods in 2024, a new Mishimoto coolant tank, and Whoosh coilpacks

This was the year that we pushed a drag racing show car into an Autocross and open-lapping car

I started going to SASC Autocross events in the summer of this year and got hooked, I was excited to really push the car and learn how to push the car. We also managed to hit up Ladies' night at Rocky Mountain Motorsports - which was an amazing experience to take the car on the racetrack.

Towards the fall of 2024, we did an open-lapping day at RMM, and definitely pushed that little Whoosh turbo while chasing the instructor's Corvette... and thus, the winter of 2024-2025 was yet... another project

2025

You guessed it - we updated the turbo.

We updated the Whoosh Hybrid Turbo to a Turbotechnics S280 BLT (big little turbo) - and had our friends at Stratified tune the car

... and since we have become srs AutoX people - we got new wheels for the car - a set of Enkei RPF1's wrapped in Bridgestone RE-71Rs tires. We also updated the brakes, adding some new Whoosh staineless steel brakelines and EBC Yellowstuff brakepads.

This was my first full year of Autocross with the Southern Alberta Solosport club, and it was such a fun year. I was able to find the limits of the grip of the car, get faster and have so much fun. I managed to earn enough points over the year that I earned the Ladies champion trophy (and jacket!) - and I hope to defend the title with better skill in 2026

We also did a few shows in 2025, walking away with my first Matsuri skateboard deck of Best USDM

This is the first winter we haven't had to do a massive maintenance or part project, so instead we spent our money on a racing sim to continue to practice and build some skill for racing.