1995 Ford Fiesta Si from UK and Ireland - Comments

The Si is a nice looking car and I am currently looking to buy one as a sensible car. I drive a Nova GSi at the moment and am very impressed with its performance (modified and stripped out) and am a little worried because on paper the fiesta is 3.5 seconds slower than my nova, does any one now how to get the best out of what is a good spec engine with poor out put (was it restricted for insurance purposes etc) if so I would be very grateful if you could point me in the right direction to fixing this problem. Thanks.

I also own a fiesta si 1.6 16v. Love it to bits, but as a few have said it is not that quick as it was restricted (smaller valves etc) to keep it in grp 8 insurance for teenagers who cannot get insured on an xr2i etc. On the flat on the motorway I reached 118, no wind and it was definately NOT going to go up any more as it took bout 5 minutes to get there. Down a long slope however I can swear it did get to 128mph, but this slope was steepish. Anyone who sais they got 125mph on the flat is almost definately joking and anyone who sais 140 mph IS the joke. All in all they are nice lukin and fun to drive, mines beaten Nova Sr's, most corsas (Not the gsi), and all the other not so sporty "warm hatches". It keeps up with saxo vtr's, but gets nailed by the vts's. Oh, and anyone who owns one... DO NOT RACE A CRX. I did, not even a V-tec and basically got obliterated.

For the guy with the "starter motor" problem. It happened to mine. The solenoid gets stuck. U need to get a mate to hit the starter with something hard whilst you try to start it. It usually just makes a click sound, HOLD the key to the starting position and keep nudging it to make this sound and it will eventually cough and start. It happens to me about once a month.

Interesting reading ur comments.

I've just brought a fiesta si 1.6 16v as my first car and it is all standard. can anyone help me with a few simple mods I can with it?as a first car I think its great, it blows out my mates cars apart from one who has just brought a new fiesta zetect s. if I was to ad a K&N and a new exhaust will this match my mates zetect?

I think that all of these 120mph plus figures are nonsense for a standard or even mildly tuned si speedos must be incorrect or driver is bullshitting!

My si was running a decat pipe, k+n as well as being regurlaly serviced and engine being tip top, all cylinders running at equal pressure all fueling correct timing correct and about 118 was the max. being 1000 rpm from the redline is irrelevant as being a valver they top out around 5,500 rpm. if you look at the speedo dead straight you won't see that needle pass 120 on the flat, of course from a slight angle to the left i. e the passenger it will look more.

Well my brother has a N reg 1.6 Si and we was hitting 95MPH @4,500rpm...i guess it will only go about 115MPH...but these cars are of the best lookin fiesta's and are pritty nippy.

Oh and dunno if they wud go 125mph...they say my dads 1.8i 16v vectra wud go 126mph (which I think cud do at least 130)...and I doubt very much a Si cud beat that vectra.

The 1.6 16v is renowned for having starter motor problems. the solenoid sticks for a past time. The solution is a new starter motor as the simplest option. As for the performance side, the engines are restricted not by the size of the engine, but the valve sizes. The best thing to increase performance is to fit a performance head, although the valve sizes cannot be enlarged too much because the car has 4 valves that have to fit inside each bore, and a 1.8 head won't fit. I'm currently doing a 2.0 Mondeo conversion as this is a far cheaper option if your handy with a spanner. And that's 145 Bhp in a fiesta as standard.

Chipping, full exhaust system, cams and filter all help top remove flat spots and improve response, but not much more than 15bhp can be had to be honest. Hope this helps.

None of your fiestas would come close to my 137bhp clio 1.8 16v, would leave you standing on the straights and twisties. But the Si's aren't 2 bad for the money.

Hello I need an engine for my fiesta si

help please.

Obviously a 1.6 si wouldn't keep up with your 1.8 clio. For starters it's a 1.8 and a clio weights nothing. Throw a 1.8 in the fiesta and you wouldn't stand a chance. The xr2i would obliterate you.

Clio's lighter and handles better, so I'm afraid you would'nt stand a chance.

I owned an Si 1.6 16v and I DID get it to 125MPH on the M20 motorway. For anyone who says its not possible is WRONG because mine did it. It was on a flat bit of road and only I was in the car. I had to sell my beloved Si because I couldnt afford the insurance at the time. It was by far the best car I have owned and why would anyone possibly need to go faster than 125MPH on a public road I don't know. I am looking into getting another Si because I couldnt fault mine - last MOT failed and only £50 of repairs to get it through. Couldnt ask for a better car at 18 years old.

I had a Clio 1.2 Sport and am looking at one of these Fiestas. I don't think anyone could lie about doing 125mph. I did that in my Clio, and if a 1.6 can't do it, then it has problems. I think most of people who don't agree just look at paper stats and don't realise they are done on limited rev range.