Your first point is pretty well certain imo. The factory pad compound let go and likely started dragging the brakes all the time. It's only a 2600lb car, it doesn't need titanium backed brake pads. Dustin, just get a proper pad compound and your issues will disappear. I know you said you're going to avoid hawk, but the HT10 or he DTC60 compound would be roughly what you're looking for. (Based I results I see on my car and it's roughly the same weight)

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#20 Scion FR-S 6MT Powered by:
Great North Performance, Morine's Towing Performance & Off Road, Jani-King Canada and Blue Buzzard Performance Parts.

2013+14+15 Atlantic Sports Car Club Overall Autocross Champion
2013+14+15 Atlantic Region Motor Sports Overall Autocross Champion
2017-18 BAC Overall Rallycross Champion

Lol. i've never heard of these until now. hilarious

The Fiesta ST does not have the roll over issues that has plagued the base model Fiesta. I won't get into that discussion here as there are too many variables that can contribute to a roll over, but I can elaborate on the ESC.
When the ESC is disabled via the console switch, there is still a safety net. The ESC does not completely turn off. When pushed hard in corners you can still feel the ESC kick in, but at a much higher limit then when the ESC is fully enabled.
To fully disable ESC would mean to lose ABS, and that would involve a manual electrical system intervention. It is possible to wire a switch to the ABS fuse. I feel that's too far for me yet. You can read on other forums more related to the Fiesta ST concerning the ESC functionality.
I disable ESC via the console switch while on track. The car spins a lot more (especially with over inflated stock tires), and it's a bit more loose in corners if inputs are not smooth. It does force the driver to be smooth and more involved. The ESC will still function at high limits if it feels your getting too crazy in corners. Disable ESC at your own risk.

Looking forward to see you back at the track!

All I know is that during one of Dustin's runs at Digby he got up on two wheels and I was sure he was going over until the outside rear tire suddenly lost lateral grip and the car sidestepped then leveled out. Not sure if active stability control did that or he just got lucky. Either way, I would not want to run R-comps on that car.

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1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

I wasn't 100% that I two-wheeled until you just confirmed it. I didn`t want to run around saying it for fear of repercussion. But yes the the stability control did kick in at that point, although I think the stepping out was related to the rain/paint on the runway. (I assume you're talking about Sunday on my 3rd-ish run traveling down the first half in the single cone slalom.) I did notice it happening an counter-steered slightly, but it was still scary.

I only run the R-comps at AMP because I'm aware of what can happen in slalom.

Ford built a pretty good econo-racecar to begin with, but very obviously it needs numerous upgrades to suit my driving style.....$$$$

That's nerve wrecking. Maybe the ST fits in the same mold as the other fiesta's, which isn't that far of a stretch considering they at essentially the same car.

No it was Saturday, but in the same spot heading down towards the turnabout. I was working across from the taxiway. While I cannot 100% confirm that your front wheel was in the air (I was looking from behind), the extreme height in which your rear wheel was in the air (waist height at least!) suggested that your front must have been up too. I think you're correct in that the outside rear tire slipped on the runway paint and saved the day. It was frightening as I've witness cars roll over in autoslalom before.

Meg didn't seem to have any such issues on her runs though...

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1997 Talon TSi AWD
2008 EVO X MR

Hmmm...sounds like problems I had with the SVT Focus so I mechanically disengaged the active systems and installed a coilover system that put the car 2 inch`s lower to the ground. This allowed time for the R compounds to give up their friction load before putting two wheels in the air.
BTW...I do remember you saying something about your rotors being at 1400 degrees WTF !! the Focus was never above 700 and I thought that was extreme...maybe Brian is correct about better airflow to the front brakes, on the SVT you just modified the front driving lights to allow better flow to the rotor area.

It was actually on one wheel at one point. Several articles note that the sway bar in the front is actually smaller than the one on the base fiesta (I have no idea if this is accurate)

Given that this has already come up, and that he is allowed a sway bar in the class he is already in, maybe getting a larger front bar is a good idea. I bet a stock base model bar wouldn't be too hard to come by.

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#20 Scion FR-S 6MT Powered by:
Great North Performance, Morine's Towing Performance & Off Road, Jani-King Canada and Blue Buzzard Performance Parts.

2013+14+15 Atlantic Sports Car Club Overall Autocross Champion
2013+14+15 Atlantic Region Motor Sports Overall Autocross Champion
2017-18 BAC Overall Rallycross Champion

^ One wheel?!? how is that even possible???

While the ST has not yet been banned for slalom, I have a very bad feeling of what is coming....
Almost the same specs as the base fiesta (rear suspension, height width..) but the ST was lowered slightly and given a marginally greater track width. the average ST track width is only 0.1" greater than the height of the car. Couple in a 69/31 weight bias and a torsion beam rear suspension, the back end obviously does not want to stay planted, from that point you're taking chances...

I do agree that a better FSB is necessary, and would keep the car more planted, but I don't believe the base Fiesta bar is the way to go. It is a solid 22mm bar unlike the 18mm hollow bar on the ST, (presumably with a different alloy) but it is uncertain that the beefier bar is actually stronger. Why would Ford downscale the suspension bits on a "performance model"? I can't simply see it being for weight savings.

As for lowering it, coil-overs are way out of budget for the meantime, maybe not COBB springs, but I would like to finish this year of Slalom in the Street category. Although, if the car is still competing next year, there is no doubt in my mind that it will have numerous upgrades and be seated well into "STX".

Kevin, I may have been wrong when I said 1400 degrees, my memory slips sometimes. Something about 450 Celsius sounds more right. Dev was the one with the temperature gauge, so he might be able to weigh in on that. Regardless, the brakes need some serious upgrading. If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing, I'm still leaning towards Carbotech pads and rotors, simply because so many ST owners have had similar issues to mine, and not specifically from track use, but much more googling and phone calls are required. I also managed to find a D.I.Y. thread on cooling ducts for the ST so I'll likely do something similar to that.

I guess the saying of making a race car out of a pig is still true!

swaybar stiffness is largely related to wall thickness and how big diameter it is, for a given shape. Bigger diameter and thicker wall bars are stiffer. Fortunately, different steel alloys make essentially no change, so you don't need to go crazy with the material. My thoughts are the base Fiesta had a really stiff front swaybar to encourage understeer when the Sheeple slide off the road. For the ST then they went with something smaller that made the balance more neutral. The opposite situation happened to S2000's. Rear bar was relatively stiff compared to the front in early production years. These were the most oversteer prone of all S2K, and a whole bunch of people apparently got in some bad sideways-into-a-pole accidents. Every year or two they updated them, gradually softening the rear bar and stiffening the front. Thus later cars would be set up to lean a bit more towards understeer.

It sounds like the car just has too much grip for it's own good. Hopefully there's some relatively easy fix for this, I can't imagine them banning the mighty FiST from autoslalom!

Really low front roll stiffness, 69% front weight distribution, coupled with a bump in just the right spot leads to the potential of being on one wheel. A solid, larger bar is going to be stronger so yes, the base model bar would increase roll stiffness. It is a common misconception that less roll = more performance. Vehicle handling dynamics are ridiculously complicated, and roll can be made to work for you (in terms of performance) if you use it correctly. I run a slightly stiffer than stock bar in front, and the stock bar in back on my car for example. But, it is clear that you need that roll stiffness despite what Ford found to work best.

Unfortunately I cannot remember what temps your rotors were when I checked them, but I do know they were a lot hotter than mine on that day. On July 1st I was in the 800-1000 degree F range (which exceeded the temp range of my new pads unfortunately) My braking was limited by tire grip, so with a set of r888s they wouldn't have lasted long at all.

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#20 Scion FR-S 6MT Powered by:
Great North Performance, Morine's Towing Performance & Off Road, Jani-King Canada and Blue Buzzard Performance Parts.

2013+14+15 Atlantic Sports Car Club Overall Autocross Champion
2013+14+15 Atlantic Region Motor Sports Overall Autocross Champion
2017-18 BAC Overall Rallycross Champion

On another point, if anyone has pictures of the FiST on two wheels in slalom, on the track at AMP or with recent damage, posted anyplace other than this forum, (I.e facebook, instagram, etc.) I would appreciate them being taken down. I was informed today that someone attempted to tag me in a photo. I myself am not on social media (other than this) so I don't know what warranty providers and insurance companies might see when my name is searched. It was hard enough to make a believable story for the brake failure as it was.

Most of this forum is visible to anyone on the internet. I believe that only the ARMS Chat is visible to members only.

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Brent O'Connor
ASCC Member
MHPDC Volunteer
2007 Mustang GT
Kentville

I am aware of this, but I'd be willing to say that few people outside the community know of this forum. It doesn't turn up on most google searches. Plus the amount of searching through the forum to find anything incriminating might take a while.

Best bet would be to mask you identity. a new screen name like 'Dusty Shoots' would do the trick