Hot car used as intended--Fiesta ST

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Originally Posted By: eyeofthetiger
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: eyeofthetiger
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Front engine, FWD, 0-60 in 7s, 200-ish HP.

Hot? What am I missing?

Do we know the owner didnt just buy the one with the most bling?

Seems its available with MT, so assuming that's the only option, the owner must know something about what theyre doing...


Stop looking at numbers and drive one?


Ive driven the Fiesta as a long-distance rental car. I wanted to like it... i like the Focus (at least until they start being made in China). But there's no front legroom.

Its better than a Hyundai Accent (just drove one of those around western PA about 100 miles), but its no focus. Granted, accent has better legroom.

Maybe ST is MUCH better, but its still small.


It feels huge inside to me, but I'm only 5'9". I also think Geo Metros and Miatas are plentt roomy.


Originally Posted By: gfh77665
I just bought a 2017 Fiesta as a flood replacement vehicle. The most compelling reason was the incredible headroom the small car has. Granted it still pretty narrow but the headroom makes up for it. 5,000 miles and very happy so far.


Yes no complaint on headroom, especially if there's no sunroof (I'm 6'4-5)

The narrowness of the driver legroom due to center pillar design is what got me.

I'm not afraid of small cars. My daily driver was an E30 BMW for over a decade.

I just got out of a Hyundai Accent rental. Enormous legroom, great design for tall people in a small car. Too. As it was about the worst car I've driven in recent memory.
 
Originally Posted By: y_p_w
I saw a BMW 325xi in Nevada near Tahoe. The roads weren’t too bad with only patchy snow, but this parking lot on national forest land had snow and ice. I saw Firestone Winterforce tires on it and mentioned it to the owner. I know they’re the cheapest, loudest, and most basic winter tire on the market, but the owner said they work great for their intended purpose.

Often those ones work best in the deep stuff. We had Xice2's on the CRV and while they are great on pavement and hard packed snow and ice, in deep snow they felt no better than the new 3 season tires on the Outback, and if you look at them, how could they be good in deep snow?
That said I did buy another set of Xice2's for the Outback as I'll be "doing it wrong" if I need great deep snow tires with its clearance and AWD.
Out east here on my local small hills, even 6' me uses 166cm SL type skis which fit in the back of our wagons so no ski racks or boxes necessary!
 
Yeah. I’ve heard that performance winter tires are kind of a compromise to make driving on dry pavement more tolerable.

I’ve never heard anyone say anything bad about Winterforce tires other than that they're loud as heck on dry pavement, kind of squirmy, and don’t last long. But for driving in snow they’re awesome.
 
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
Was reading a while ago that a lot of the cars headed back from NH to MA, RI, and CT on Sundays are covered with mud from private properties that the drivers had no business entering. Many of the offroad drivers bring bolt cutters and such tools with them to cut chains and other barriers that desperate owners would put up in attempts to protect their property, and even people who would leave open access points with signs begging drivers to not cause outrageous damage would almost always be disappointed. One NH farmer described how out of state offroaders would leave his private roads so rutted and muddy that he sometimes couldn't drive his tractors and ATVs through to get his work done.

Every time I am headed back home on 93 in NH (I have a condo up there in the mountains) and see a MA plate jacked up pickup with mud all over it, I wonder whose mud that is and what the driver did to access it.


The last time I drove in NH my car was covered in mud from driving on sanded roads. I can assure you these were all public roads/highways.
 
Originally Posted By: oilpsi2high
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
Was reading a while ago that a lot of the cars headed back from NH to MA, RI, and CT on Sundays are covered with mud from private properties that the drivers had no business entering. Many of the offroad drivers bring bolt cutters and such tools with them to cut chains and other barriers that desperate owners would put up in attempts to protect their property, and even people who would leave open access points with signs begging drivers to not cause outrageous damage would almost always be disappointed. One NH farmer described how out of state offroaders would leave his private roads so rutted and muddy that he sometimes couldn't drive his tractors and ATVs through to get his work done.

Every time I am headed back home on 93 in NH (I have a condo up there in the mountains) and see a MA plate jacked up pickup with mud all over it, I wonder whose mud that is and what the driver did to access it.


.

The last time I drove in NH my car was covered in mud from driving on sanded roads. I can assure you these were all public roads/highways.


Exact reason winters/snow tires a nice to have in NH. We depend on tourism so in bad winter weather they plow, salt and sand roads so quickly reasonable all-seasons and common sense work well.
 
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Originally Posted By: skyactiv
I imagine the Fiesta ST defines the definition of "it's funner to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow".
Yes, the Fiesta ST is not slow, but compared to say an Accord 2.0T, WRX, GTI.. it's not as fast.


I would say the Fiesta ST is worlds more fun than the GTI... but practicality is another story. I test drove a loaded 2017 recently. It was the last new one in the area, as they don't sell them here anymore. And I was beyond impressed with how fun it was. Basically a go-kart. But it was obviously tiny. The GTI is just a more "grown up" car and is quite a bit larger.

Its easy to see why auto journalists preferred the Fiesta ST to the Focus ST. The Focus is a great car, the Fiesta is a hoot.
 
Originally Posted By: lexus114
and the reliability ratings on that fiesta are beyond bad...


at least it doesn't have the awful automatic transmission
15.gif
 
Ford's have horrendous long term reliability and resale when paint and corrosion are taken into account. They are fun short term cars. We ended up with a Nissan Juke Nismo 6 speed. More comfortable front seating and maybe even more fun.
 
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
Originally Posted By: lexus114
and the reliability ratings on that fiesta are beyond bad...


at least it doesn't have the awful automatic transmission
15.gif



personally i like automatic transmissions. it beats the [censored] out of shifting manually constantly with all of the jersey traffic here...
 
Originally Posted By: lexus114
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
Originally Posted By: lexus114
and the reliability ratings on that fiesta are beyond bad...


at least it doesn't have the awful automatic transmission
15.gif



personally i like automatic transmissions. it beats the [censored] out of shifting manually constantly with all of the jersey traffic here...


Nothing wrong with autos, but the DCT in the fiesta/focus was horrible and being recalled. I think that's what they were referring to.
 
Originally Posted By: HemiHawk
Originally Posted By: lexus114
Originally Posted By: slacktide_bitog
Originally Posted By: lexus114
and the reliability ratings on that fiesta are beyond bad...


at least it doesn't have the awful automatic transmission
15.gif



personally i like automatic transmissions. it beats the [censored] out of shifting manually constantly with all of the jersey traffic here...


Nothing wrong with autos, but the DCT in the fiesta/focus was horrible and being recalled. I think that's what they were referring to.


HemiHawk is correct. I was referring to the Focus/Fiesta DCT, which was recalled over a dozen times. They should've just swapped in a regular automatic.

One special version of the Focus sedan (I think it's called the SFE or something) with the 1.0T has a 6-speed automatic that's a regular automatic and not the DCT.

In Europe, the Fiesta is available with a 4-speed automatic.

Ford should've just installed those transmissions in the Focus and FIesta, and it probably would;ve been cheaper to do so, given the numerous DCT recalls.
 
Originally Posted By: HemiHawk

Nothing wrong with autos, but the DCT in the fiesta/focus was horrible and being recalled.


Thats correct but the key word is "WAS". Corrections were made and the 2017 Fiesta does not have a trans recall.
 
Originally Posted By: 2strokeNorthstar
Ford's have horrendous long term reliability and resale when paint and corrosion are taken into account. They are fun short term cars. We ended up with a Nissan Juke Nismo 6 speed. More comfortable front seating and maybe even more fun.


I have a 2013 Nismo, but opted for the AWD which has a better suspension setup than the manual/fwd as well as having great corner-corner traction when needed. Dunno about newer Jukes, but at that time AWD was CVT only. I've had absolutely no issues with the CVT, but did have to get used to the seamless acceleration and bit of 'drone' noise, but it's been fantastic so far. No lag, no lack of power, does a great job at maintaining RPM under load, unlike some traditional autos that can settle into a gear before it really should. The Juke Nismo is a great 'urban pocket rocket' for what it is/cost. I hate the standard Juke look/design, but the Nismo version was done right if you ask me. Have yet to find a single thing I'd want to change with it and I've had it 4.5 yrs/50K miles.
 
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Why are people even comparing a regular Fiesta to a ST model?

The FiST's capabilities lie in its cornering abilities not straight off the line power.
 
Originally Posted By: asiancivicmaniac
Why are people even comparing a regular Fiesta to a ST model?

The FiST's capabilities lie in its cornering abilities not straight off the line power.


Truth.

No one buys an ST by accident. We had a 2011 Fiesta SE (with the much maligned DCT, that we never had a problem with, BTW) and replaced it with the first ST off the truck in our town. Ridiculously fun little car, wildly different from the base models. You can't get an automatic ST. Three pedal only.
 
I just test drove a 2017 FiST. I felt the praise is not deserved. I was read to buy it purely on all the reviews about it. Glad I drove it first.

The FoST was much more rewarding to me. In the end, I decided to hold off since the WRX has treated me so well.

Biggest problem with either ST is the god awful resale value. You buy one new and you are married to it.
 
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