Ford Fiesta ST!

Anyone had a chance to check one of these out yet?

I test drove one tonight, a fairly basic model, only painted wheels and a moonroof for options - what a fun little car. Very nimble handling, smooth shifting, decent power and good roll on at almost every part of the rev range. The myTouch system was nice, as was the sound system. Great brakes.

The sound symposer I thought would be awful but it was pretty reasonable and sounded nice. Factory has an option for recaro seats, but at 2k over what I thought were perfectly fine stock seats, I'll pass. With the seats folded down, the cargo area is limited, but not awful. Rear headroom is pretty bad though. I'm 5'9" on a good day and was grazing my head on the roof if I looked up.

Visibility was nice and I though on the whole it made for a pleasant quick, but not fast, ride. List was 23.8 with destination, offering $500 off the top immediately. Ford also offers 0% for 60 months. All of a sudden numbers started clicking in my head, I had to get out of there

I drive a Tacoma with less power, that sucks more fuel, and average over 20k miles a year. To say I'm not tempted to pick this thing up would be a boldfaced lie. Anybody else have experience with this little hot rod?

Are you able to turn off the traction and stability control on the ST? Didn't look like it was real easy to do on the regular Fiesta.

I saw one last week, the sticker was $28,000:eek1 I didn't check the details, I have no idea why soooo high. Dealer markup/gouging?
$23,000 is more reasonable. Looks nice.

IIRC you have to wade thru the Sync menus to do it.....should be no tougher than pairing a phone. They had to hide the button, because the standard car is such a rocket.

In my Focus ST, there's just a button on the dash to kill the ESC. Not sure how they do it in the Fiesta. I've only turned it off a few times though. It's minimally invasive compared to most cars I have driven.

Closer in price here on these than the Focus ST

$AU26k versus $AU42K for the Focus.

I would be tempted to sell my normal Focus for one of these but my wife won't drive a manual.

Plus we only get the 2 door.

I recall an esc button low on the dash. Three settings, on, sport, and off.

How "off" is off is yet to be determined.

This one with a couple options was about $1200 less than a base Focus ST that was elsewhere on the lot, and from what I understand they are having a much tougher time hitting their 32 mpg compared to this hitting 35. I also prefer the size of the fiesta - The Focus is probably more practical if I had to worry about passengers but currently its just me and the girlfriend from time to time, so the small car works.

Found another one locally, but its nearly full option list, 27K+ :eek1

I test drove the Focus ST, Subaru WRX, MazdaSpeed3, and I'd previously driven a VW GTI. I took home the Speed3 4500 miles ago.

Focus ST was really nice. But the interior was a little cramped for me...better with the stock seats, but it just felt small with the Recaros. The ST driving experience struck me as nearly like a video game. It was almost too tight, too racy...for lack of a better way to put it, it's like Ford turned it to 11 on everything, like it was all tuned to the nth degree. Torque and power everywhere with no real turbo lag...drives like a small car with a big engine that has a small turbo...very easy to move very quickly without thinking about it. If I wanted to autocross, the ST would be the way to go.

The GTI is polished...feels wildly expensive in everything it does, everything you touch, etc. Not as much power and torque as the others, but no turbo lag at all. It was almost too polished though...felt a little insulated to me.

The WRX was surprisingly soft in suspension tuning...felt almost big and floppy compared to the ST. Nobody was home underhood until about 4000 rpm, so driving it was a very on-off experience. Hit the throttle, wait, wait, wait...BAM, you're moving. It drives like a small engine with a huge turbo in a big car. If I were doing WRC driving, this would be the ticket.

The MazdaSpeed3 fell between the GTI and ST. The suspension is fantastic (although the stock tires are lousy)...firm, not harsh, no body roll, and it makes the car very easy to drive very, very fast. The engine has some turbo lag, but it ends up being fun, rather than annoying like in the WRX...the engine responds very well off boost, then by 3K rpms, you're moving out quickly. It drives like a small engine with a mid-sized turbo. The torque steer is amusing rather than annoying. Overall the Speed3 was the most fun to me. It's not perfect...there's some programming in the stability control that limits boost in 1st and 2nd gears (hardly noticeable), and it also limits boost if the wheel is turned and any wheelspin is detected. That's most noticeable on corner exits, but full boost returns once the wheel is straightened out, and the traction control is defeatable. The Speed3's EPA ratings are really low...it's rated for 18 city, 24 highway, and I've been averaging 24 in mixed driving, with 28-30 easily achievable on highway runs.

I got my Speed3 for $4K off MSRP...there's no more Speed3 for 2014 and the new Mazda3's are already on the streets, so dealers are very willing to deal to move them.

I liked the ST, but the Speed3 makes me smile every time I'm behind the wheel.

I didn't dig limit boost or the torque steer, so I found a used speed6 with AWD.

You can't tell, it's a FWD car.

But, the best bang for the buck is the Speed3 without a doubt.

I recall the Fiesta from the 80's, looked like a VW Polo; bare bones car but super fun to drive-especially in snow


$28k?!

loaded to the gills. Base starts at 21,400

That's funny. My wife won't buy an automatic (not even paddle shifted). She also needs AWD.

being a Focus owner I would still rather go for the Fiesta ST since it iscloser to the weight of my Focus (2005) and way more powerful. The new Focus ST although faster than my Focus is heavier from what I have been told by a buddy who went from am 04 SVT Focus to a new Focus ST last year. he DOES love the new ST though. Just says it is less flickable than the old SVT Focus.

I plan to drive one ASAP...there are a bunch of good reviews on YouTube and they are generally glowing, though a few say that even with the traction control off is still affects the car somewhat, not a big deal to me but looks like it does matter for track and autocross driving.

yeahbutt, track days void the warranty......

Drove one today and like it a LOT, am sleeping a day or two on buying it...also FWIW there is a $1000 rebate OR 0% financing until the end of the month (sadly not both) where I live in Calif. Looks good to me in black and like the sunroof too.

Nice, and honestly I would not buy a new car for less if it wasn't as fun. To me more than half the reason to get a car is the driving experience.

Yep, I agree and that is what sold me on the car...it was great fun to drive it personally and many of the reviews I've read and watched online said the fun-to-drive factor is second to none and actually greater than for some high powered cars in reasonably sane real world driving...it is also very cool that aside from the door count we are getting the same car as Europe, Australia, etc....

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Is the Fiesta ST 2-door available in the U.S.?

Looks like the older Focus 2-door all modernized and FAST.

Unfortunately not... The 3 door is Euro only


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