Drove it through a few backroad twisties. It handled those well, although on a really tight corner at about 30 mph I had to use some brakes because I felt it would understeer. The brakes were strong and felt easy to use.
Drove it on a 2nd gear pull on the straights. Good acceleration. Turbo kicked in around 2-3k. Really added some power. Otherwise it was like what you would expect.
Pretty good for a 1.6l Turbo I4 FWD hatchback. Economical and sporty. I even fit in the backseat as a 6'2" dude. Probably wouldn't want to sit back there too long though.
Ford did the FiST right. It did me right. I really understand why people call it a "hot hatch" now. I had a ton of fun throwing it around.
So yea. /blogpost
Nolan Allen
seems like a good car, I've always wanted to drive one. saw a guy take a clover leaf on three wheels in a FiST and gave me instant envy.
Adrian Bell
tfw master race 3 door version
Connor Russell
It really feels like a good car. It doesn't rattle, although the suspension is a tad stiff. There is very little body roll and the seats (Recaros?) refuse to let you slide around. The hatch space easily holds whatever you want and the backseat is good for people or things.
Because it was a friend's vehie I really didn't fiddle with anything besides the seat, but to just drive it that's all I needed. The gauges light up nicely. The clutch had a defined grab point and feel. The accelerator felt instantly responsive.
Honestly I'll tell my bud that if he ever wants to sell his FiST that I'd buy it. I really enjoyed taking it for a spin. A big step up from most things I've driven lately.
His was a 5 door. I own a 2dr coupe myself and the backseat is good for just about nobody but a dorf.
Adam Young
what was the torque vectoring like? is the steering as numb as people say?
Jonathan Russell
Sorry I'm answering so late, it was 4:30AM my time and I passed out.
>what was the torque vectoring like? I never felt like the car was going out of control, even though I was cornering at some fairly high speeds. I never felt as if I was going to crash. Considering it was a friend's car I didn't take things *too* quickly, but regardless of what people think about the TVC I think it did it's job well. >is the steering as numb as people say? Meh. I couldn't really feel as if where I was steering was very precise but it got the job done. It was a comfortable level of control but yes it was a little numb. Perfect for econoboxing but on the track it might leave you looking for more response especially with small adjustments.
Also, earlier hand over hand movements were very necessary because my hands would hit my knees taking tighter turns, just an FYI for you tall guys looking at the FiST.
Luke Perry
FoST > FiST
Ryan Sanders
It feels like it's going to lose control in a turn over 30 but it won't.
Build quality is shit though. Mine has 15k miles and Ford has already replaced most of the front suspension, plus the bolts connecting the front subframe were coming off due to being incorrectly torqued at the factory.
If you get clunking when changing gears have them check the front suspension. Also, a catchcan is a must. The 1.6l will fuck the valves with oil.
Anthony Morales
The Fiesta is just a huge piece of shit, all of them from 2011-2014 have had to have the transmission replaced multiple times.
Wyatt Jenkins
>It feels like it's going to lose control in a turn over 30 but it won't. Yep. I agree completely on that. I was being a bit cautious but I knew it could probably handle more speed. It was almost an on-rails feeling. >Build quality is shit though. Mine has 15k miles and Ford has already replaced most of the front suspension, plus the bolts connecting the front subframe were coming off due to being incorrectly torqued at the factory. See I won't get that experience because it's not mine, but it's good to know. >If you get clunking when changing gears have them check the front suspension. When I was shifting it was clunkless so his must still be ok. >Also, a catchcan is a must. The 1.6l will fuck the valves with oil. I'll recommend that to him.
If I had one complaint, it's that the seats were almost *too* bolstered. I have larger quads from lifting and the side bolsters made it uncomfortable to have anything in my pockets.
He works for Ford so he got a good deal on his 2016 model. Was that transmission issue solved after 2014?
Adrian Collins
>Was that transmission issue solved after 2014? Not sure, but the recall and extended warranty was for 2010-2014 or 2011-2014 models. I had a 2011 and it blew massive dicks.
Jeremiah Johnson
That's good to know because I was considering buying an FiST sometime in the future just based off that drive alone. But if the ones I can afford (2011+) are going to shit the bed I'll avoid it for now. Thanks man.
Nathaniel Campbell
First time I've ever seen someone say that.
Andrew Watson
First of all, Fiesta ST's weren't on dealer floors until 2013.
Secondly, it was the Ford Powershift automatic transmission that had the problems. Basically they fucked up the design/build so that oil from the gearbox would leak and get onto the clutch plates and cause all kinds of horrible slipping and warping. The software was also crap, which also made it worse to begin with.
The Fiesta ST is only available with the manual. I'm sure that there are probably other issues with the Fiesta ST since it is a hotted-up economy car but it does not share the same transmission problems as the automatic Fiesta's.
Fiesta ST's are also cheap as dirt - I could buy a fully loaded Fiesta ST (minus stuff like the car cover or whatever) for like $5000-6000 below MSRP, I don't remember the last time Ford DIDN'T have stacked up incentives on the car. Not that it's a bad car by any means, but even then buying used might be a better idea because of how hard depreciate hits Fords.
Nolan Cooper
That's fantastic news. So in other words, it's ok to get a 2014 Fiesta ST for a good deal and not worry about it being made of glass?
Asher Davis
Fiesta ST's have been around since 2005
Kevin Wilson
Sorry I should have clarified, I owned a regular cheap ass Fiesta. The transmission that was replaced 3 times was only one of the issues it had.
Connor Bailey
The manual one still has issues due to shitty parts Ford used. A lot of them clunk due to suspension parts being weak and warping, and Ford refuses to issue a TSB on it, so getting a Ford dealer to fix it under warranty is difficult since they don't know it's an issue.
Anthony Clark
The transmission issues are only on the automatics models.
The fiesta ST comes only in Manual.
Jack Ortiz
What do you mean they clunk? I'm considering a used one...
Samuel Stewart
I own a fiesta ST 2015... it doesn't clunk. althought it is recommended to get an aftermaket rear-motor-mount since the OEM one is a bit rought when switching between 1st and 2st gear.
Grayson Hughes
Mine has about 2300 miles on it now, and when you go from 1st to 2nd, gently, at low RPM, you can hear a very definite "clunk" as it comes out of 1st, and again when it goes into 2nd. Same thing with 2nd to 3rd. Higher RPM or faster/harder shifting I don't notice it as much.
Based on cursory research, some people find it to be an issue, and Ford has even replaced some transmissions under warranty because of it. Other solutions seem to be new motor mounts in earlier production models, 2013-2014's mostly, there's a TSB out for it. One incident was resolved by tightening a loose lower control arm bolt, others have had dealers tell them it's a perfectly normal noise due to a dual mass flywheel, while others have received the explanation that it's a heavy duty transmission that isn't supposed to be dead silent to begin with.
To me, it seems like a fairly normal noise. It doesn't feel like anything is actually wrong with the car, it just clunks when I change gears slowly. Based on how it feels, it seems like the trans fluid is probably a bit thinner than it needs to be for warm weather, so it'll likely get changed out next spring, and with any luck it'll get a bit quieter.
Oh, others have also reported that sometimes the trans doesn't want to go all the way into 1st. I also have this problem, but I view it as being normal, as almost every other manual car I've owned has done the same thing. Shift to 2nd then 1st and it's fine. Or just don't bear down so hard to the left when going into 1st and it's fine. Again, seems like normal transmission behavior to me, to others it's a symptom of something going wrong.
Carter Reyes
Buy a fucking Disklok for it, and disable the damn OBD port on it.
