Price: £550

As with all (ICE) Internal Combustion Engine-powered vehicles, the OE calibration is typically restricted by both emissions regulation and what the base engine team determine is the maximum safe power and torque output - based on their own internal sign-off limits.

The reality, is these limits were often put in place years, or even decades before and don't always test an engine, or the calibration performance in a true 'real world' scenario, as used by you (their tests are often much harsher than reality).

Whether the limiting factor is in-cylinder pressures, turbo speed, or something else, what you get from the forecourt is often a restricted form of what's reliably possible to extract - and this is very much the case with the 3-cylinder 1.5-litre Dragon engine found in the Fiesta ST.

Optimising the headway for performance, combined with an improvement in airflow (in the form of a high-flow panel filter, or induction kit), a genuine peak gain of 30bhp and 40Ftlb is available in stage 01 format and substantially more with other supporting software and hardware.

Regardless of the level of calibration you end up with, you should expect a more responsive vehicle that allows for safer overtaking, is generally more drivable day-to-day and of course, is a lot more fun when properly using the extra performance on road, or track.

Extra functionality can also be added into the base strategy (the governing structure of what can and can't be done within the software running on your ECU), to allow for things like more (or less) pops and bangs, sharper pedal maps, higher rpm limits and with devices like our FLASHlink (which uses a Bluetooth OBD adaptor and an app running your smartphone to make changes on-the-fly), you can also install anti-theft and specific fuel-based performance calibrations, plus a whole lot more besides.

The extra performance, character and ultimately overall enjoyment that can be instantly added to the base vehicle makes a stage 01 calibration our #1 essential upgrade.

Price range: £48-£465

Improving the efficiency of your air intake gives multiple improvements; from an enhanced intake sound, to a reduced pressure drop across the intake system - which means your engine (and turbo) doesn’t have to work so hard to make the same level of power and torque than it would otherwise.

A high-flow panel filter offers a cheap way of providing a small airflow improvement, induction noise boost and power gain. The airbox doesn’t even require tools to access the filter on the Fiesta ST, so this truly is a DIY swap that anyone can do themselves.

Once the airflow required for circa 250bhp / 375FtLb is exceeded, even an uprated panel filter option becomes a restriction that gets worse as the power and torque increases exponentially beyond that.

If you’re planning on upgrading to Stage 02 (or beyond) and you want to achieve and maintain the maximum power and torque output possible, you’ll need to look at upgrading to a high-flow induction kit.

Open cone setups can be prone to (power robbing) heatsoak, which is why rather than a simple filter fitted to an aluminium pipe, our induction kit solution offers a semi-enclosed airbox setup, complete with a carbon fibre filter housing and air-feed.

Although more difficult to design and manufacture, the carbon fibre material also boasts an inherent thermal enhancement that stops unwanted heat transfer, maintaining peak power for longer - and offering a unique induction noise that other kits can’t compete with.

Whichever induction kit you opt for, make sure it’s properly designed to provide optimal airflow, whilst preventing as much heatsoak as possible - so avoid an open filter simply fitted to a metal pipe, unless you're just after a noise increase and a loss of performance!

Price: £124

Ford had eight generations and nearly 50-years of evolution to perfect the Fiesta's fun and sporty characteristics - so it's not surprising that the Mk8 and Mk8.5 offers plenty of smiles per mile.

As always though, the OE rulebook means that the optimal setup for performance and the enthusiast has to be balanced with the mass-market and that's where a set of performance lowering springs, albeit with the right poundage and that maintain the inherent torque-vectoring setup, allow you to lower the vehicle's centre of gravity, enhance turn-in and provide a more responsive overall chassis, without compromising on ride quality - critical, for the numerous owners that use their cars on a daily basis.

Go too low with the OE damper and you'll not only risk front bumper scuffs, you'll also promote 'crashing' and poor dynamic control where there's minimal damper travel left under compression - you'll also have eyes on stalks trying to dodge the potholes that litter the roads - in the UK, certainly.

Our 20mm front and rear ride-height reduction gives an optimal aesthetic drop, combined with a handling boost - all whilst still being compliant enough for daily duties.

Price range: £89-£165

The brakes are definitely one of the areas that the standard car suffers with - and by that, we mean can chomp through brake pads in a blink on track and often feels like there's just not enough braking power, or bite for owners who like to use their car to the full on the road.

A set of uprated grooved discs and matching performance pads are a relatively cheap and easy way of enhancing the initial bite when covering the brakes - the grooved face of the disc helping to deglaze the pad and promote even pad wear.

Combine this setup with a set of braided brake lines and you'll have a great road setup with better stopping performance on tap... but if you're particularly hard on brakes, or you're venturing out on track, a big brake kit really is the best way forward (and we also more than cater for owners that want the ultimate in stopping performance for this ST regardless of whether that's for the road, or the track)