What makes our Festiva different?

I had the opportunity to show our Festiva in the 2018 version of the annual Bowness Auto Parts Show & Shine. This show is held not far from our home so a some of those people had seen us driving around. Quite a number of people stopped by to ask questions and find out about the car. Although there has been quite a bit of work done on the car it is hard to tell if you aren't familiar with the Festiva. This post will be a comparison of our car and a stock Festiva. You can read more about the "in-between" on this page

 

Display spot acquired in front of Cadence Coffee

The biggest change is in the engine compartment. 
The stock engine displaced1.3 liters with a single cam operating the 2 valves per cylinder. It produces 63  naturally aspirated horsepower at 5000rpm and 78 ft.lbs. of torque at 3000rpm.   

Stock 88-93 Festiva engine compartment

That has been replaced with a turbocharged 1.6 liter engine with twin cams operating four valves per cylinder pumping out 132 horsepower at 6000rpm and 136 ft.lbs. of torque at 3000rpm! This originally found its home in the engine bay of a 1988 Mazda 323GT.

Our 93 Festiva engine compartment

Other mechanical changes include replacing the stock Festiva front and rear brakes with those from its younger cousin, the Ford Aspire. This changes the bolt pattern from 4x114.3mm to the more common 4x100mm, the front rotors are now larger, vented and easily replaced whereas the stock rotors are solid and captive meaning the entire front hub has to be disassembled to replace them. The rear brakes also benefit from a larger diameter drum and slightly wider shoe.

The more obvious changes are on the cosmetic end of the spectrum. The front has been improved with European headlights which, in my opinion, provide superior lighting compared to the stock Festiva version. The grille had to be changed to match the "new" lights. The lights themselves came from a German Mazda 121 while the grille came from an Australian Mazda 121.

Stock Festiva

Our Festiva with an international flavor

You may have noticed that the bumper is also different. Ours is a reproduction of one originally manufactured by ATH in Germany for the Kia Pride. The rear bumper is from the same kit.

Stock Festiva rear

 

Our Festiva

In addition to the non stock rear bumper we've replaced the taillights with those from an English Kia Pride. The rear wiper has been modified so that it parks horizontally rather than vertically.

Changes have been made inside as well. A three gauge pod housing has been added to the dash. It's home to a boost gauge, oil pressure gauge and analog clock. The stock instrument cluster has been replaced with one from the Philippines. It sports a tachometer and 180km/hr speedometer. The stock Canadian Festivas never came with a tach and the speedo maxed out at 140km/hr. An aftermarket steering wheel and seats from a first generation Toyota MR2 round out the major changes to the interior.

Stock dash, instrument cluster and steering wheel.

Our Festiva

Although it has been repainted and touched up the one thing we haven't changed is the color. Its official name is "Aqua" and was available on only 92 and 93 Festivas. The Festiva in the comparison photos is and earlier model in "Surf Blue".

Festiva is "Surf Blue" with aftermarket wheels

Our '93 in "Aqua" sporting various modifacations

I recently calculated how many different cars have provide parts for our Festiva. I was a bit surprised, and I think you will be too, with the total. Come back soon for another blog post outlining which cars those are/were. Just as a teaser there are parts from one or two different VWs and a couple of different Toyotas. 

What do future plans hold for our Festiva? The main thing will be to get the air conditioning operational. We are considering another long road trip to the east coast in the fall of 2019 so A/C will be one necessity. 

 
Almost forgot.... follow this link for a comprehensive set of photos from the 2018 version of the Bowness Auto Parts Show and Shine.

Comments and questions and welcome and appreciated... simply leave them in the space below.