Mcchip-DKR Ford Fiesta ST is an Extra-Strength Econobox

It wasn’t that long ago that Ford refused to send any of its Euro-sourced hot hatches to our side of the Atlantic; now they’re selling two over here, with a third – the Focus RS – arriving soon. But it’s smallest, cheapest and least powerful of the family – the Fiesta ST – that might very well be the best practical sporty car bargain of today. And the petrolhead programmers at Mcchip-DKR have come up with a way to make Ford’s mighty mite even more appealing.

By teaming a reprogrammed ECU with a revised turbo, Mcchip-DKR says it has been able to unlock an additional 69 horsepower and 108 lb.-ft of torque from the EcoBoost 1.6L turbo inline-four, for totals of 266 horsepower and 285 lb.-ft. That’s a big bump in brawn…maybe too big for the stock Fiesta ST suspension and front differential (which uses brake-based torque vectoring rather than an actual LSD mechanism). And if you’re going to upgrade those parts, you might as well change the brakes, wheels and tires, exhaust, clutch, shift lever…

Source: Mcchip-DKR