Things I'm missing in the FiST vs things I like

[Hijinx]

I don't think I have ever seen somebody have so many gripes about a car go test drive one to come back with more complaints and then buy it only to have more complaints. If I came back with a list of complaints as long as ProDigit, I would have not bought the car. My only complaint with the Fiesta ST is that it doesn't make RS pops and gurgles from the factory. Oddly, my neighbors don't have that complaint.

We’ve had our differences in the past, and this guy is one thing we can definitely agree on... But, we gotta let it go. There’s nothing we can do about this guy... He is what he is.


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[Ford ST]

I don't think I have ever seen somebody have so many gripes about a car go test drive one to come back with more complaints and then buy it only to have more complaints. If I came back with a list of complaints as long as ProDigit, I would have not bought the car. My only complaint with the Fiesta ST is that it doesn't make RS pops and gurgles from the factory. Oddly, my neighbors don't have that complaint.

I would absolutely love that. I love crack Snapple pop exhaust.

Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

 

[BRGT350]

We’ve had our differences in the past, and this guy is one thing we can definitely agree on... But, we gotta let it go. There’s nothing we can do about this guy... He is what he is.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

yep, we are both on the same sheet of music with this guy. No doubt about it!

 

[ksvtguy170]

I don't think I have ever seen somebody have so many gripes about a car go test drive one to come back with more complaints and then buy it only to have more complaints. If I came back with a list of complaints as long as ProDigit, I would have not bought the car. My only complaint with the Fiesta ST is that it doesn't make RS pops and gurgles from the factory. Oddly, my neighbors don't have that complaint.

Hey BRGT350, sorry to hijack the thread here, but you're the guy with the YouTube channel who used to have an SVT Focus, right? I'm a relative newcomer to the FiST, but had an '04 SVTF for about seven years. I love(d) both dearly but am not sure which one I like better...I wish I had unmodified examples of both at the same time to do an apples-to-apples comparison.

I believe you addressed this topic a bit in one of your videos awhile back, but I'm wondering if at this point you have a definitive favorite between the two. Ultimately, the vastly superior drivetrain of the FiST gives it the nod for me, but the more analog feel of the SVTF's steering and chassis and slightly better ride make it a close call.

Going back to the OP's list of dislikes, I see some where I think "yeah, I guess that's true," but if you nitpick any car, you're probably going to come up with a similarly long list. It would be a shame to let a bunch of mostly minor quibbles spoil the overall experience of the car, which punches so far above its weight in terms of driving experience.

 

[BRGT350]

Hey BRGT350, sorry to hijack the thread here, but you're the guy with the YouTube channel who used to have an SVT Focus, right? I'm a relative newcomer to the FiST, but had an '04 SVTF for about seven years. I love(d) both dearly but am not sure which one I like better...I wish I had unmodified examples of both at the same time to do an apples-to-apples comparison.

I believe you addressed this topic a bit in one of your videos awhile back, but I'm wondering if at this point you have a definitive favorite between the two. Ultimately, the vastly superior drivetrain of the FiST gives it the nod for me, but the more analog feel of the SVTF's steering and chassis and slightly better ride make it a close call.

Going back to the OP's list of dislikes, I see some where I think "yeah, I guess that's true," but if you nitpick any car, you're probably going to come up with a similarly long list. It would be a shame to let a bunch of mostly minor quibbles spoil the overall experience of the car, which punches so far above its weight in terms of driving experience.

Yep, that is me! My dad still owns the SVT Focus that I used to own. He added a Focus RS to his collection as well. I prefer my Fiesta ST over the SVT Focus, but only slightly. I like the wider width and lower roof of the SVT Focus and the turbo sounds of the ST. Both cars are very good and it is really tough to pick a favorite. I love driving them both. Part of the enjoyment of the SVT Focus is that it reminds me of my 2000 ZX3 Focus, which is still my favorite car. If I had the keys to the SVT Focus, Fiesta ST, and Focus RS and could pick any of them to drive, I would pick all 3. Each are unique in their own ways and all are incredibly fun cars.

 

[slowcord]

I'm gonna step on some people's toes tonight, when talking about the caveats of buying a FiST, but then again, I personally believe every point is valid.

Since thread #1 that has been the case.
The FiST is no luxury car, i laugh every time i see a complain about the ride and the interior being too spartan. This is an econo box much like the original Sentra SE-R was, the value itself is in the driving experience. All the extra $$$ you spent bought you the extra HP and the suspension tuning, nothing else. The Fiesta is a sub compact that starts at $13k or so.

 

[ProDigit]

I think some people are misunderstanding my post.
I never said I disliked the car, or I made a mistake in buying this car.
I thoroughly enjoy riding it.
However, I also want to be a realist, and this car is far from perfect.

There are things some people like, and I couldn't care less about. So the list is different for everyone.
Despite all the 'negative' points, it's not a bad car.
I think I'm less 'American' in only speaking of positive things.
I believe in yin and yang. Only the positive and negative together give a complete image.

 

[ProDigit]

I just wanna give some time to respond to some of the negative things you mentioned, won't them all but some.
This is a car you can daily with ur small family and then kill it when you take it to the track, autox, or the caynon. The suspension and tires are designed for this so the shocks have a strong dalening to help keep you from leaning in the car since the roof line is a little tall for how wide the car is(a tall roof means you have more head room). This combined with the no flex sidewall tires and the rest of the chassis makes the car turn way better than anything in the money category, which it gives the car more nhv but you didn't buy an st for a catilac ride. You bought it to hopefully do some of the things I mentioned. The bumpy seat is just probably the car throwing you around showing you the roads you drive on suck like most roads. A fiesta sedan st would make the car not turn as good + this was designed in Europe where a hatch is preferred. My st along many others gets between 35-45 mpg with 60-80 mph on the highway. Mabye your in the throttle more than you need to be or modded. You paid 24k for no recaros? I think you got ripped off or st a really in demand in your area. Mine has a green speedo that lights up when cruise control is on and goes off when it's off. You can switch that temp on the dash with the button on the left stalk.i think your audio books may have a frequence ur hearing cause these speakers are pretty damn clear for oem speakers. Radio apps I get. Wheel bolt pattern is an issues but price I say is about the same for quality wheels.sound symoposer is getting very popular in oem. Take off traction control in 1st gear. It's not slow when it's off. I haven't driven a car that likes under 1k since driving really old v8's and diesels. Not trying to talk shit just some of these things I disagree with you. Oh and this is one of the most satisfying cars to drive hard

- Roads suck here for sure! No arguing there.
- Fiesta Sedan Could be engineered to turn as good. It's all a matter of balancing the car to have a little oversteer. However, I wouldn't buy the sedan to be racing, just to have a nifty little street car that's comfy.
- My FiST gets 33MPG avg. I do a lot of cruise control driving between 70-80MPH. I do see instant numbers as high as 48MPG occasionally though.
- You are correct about the Cruise control light. For some reason, I didn't see any light turn on, but after restarting the car, I did notice it. Might have been an electrical issue.
- I tried changing the temp, but so far, it's been the only constant on that little display. The rest (MPG/Avg MPG/trip/Odo/Fuel to E) all take the bottom part of the screen. Not the top. Not sure if there's another way to get the temp off the display.
- I paid 17k. Though the dealer was selling a 2018 non-recaro for 22k.
- Speaker issue is with all sources of audio. It's definitely the tweeter, and has been posted about before in 2014 on this forum. I just added a comment there.
The tweeters are used as full range drives, due to their size have a resonant frequency of 1-2kHz. Can be gotten rid of with the right capacitor.
The door speakers are farting out at volume levels of 25-30. Not sure if it's the amp, or the speakers. The woofers are good, but not 'damn good'. The Cruze has better speakers, and even they aren't the best on the market.
But for sure, they're better than those crappy Boss,Pyle or all that other plastic crap going for speakers they're selling nowadays.
- I decided to keep the Sound Symposer, since it allows me to hear the engine, when listening to the radio.
- I'll try traction control off. does it affect MPG when on the interstates on cruise control?

I understand that the fun factor comes in at the higher RPMs and pressing the pedal a little harder.
I've done this myself as well, though due to it being a new engine, kept RPM below 3-3.5k RPM.
I barely felt the Turbo kicking in, but it did.
More fun riding when it's got about 1k miles on it.

 

[cxwrench]

Why on earth would you turn off the traction control on the freeway? That makes no sense at all unless you turn it off every time you start the car like a lot of people do. It won't affect mpg at all because it's not 'working'. I wouldn't even worry about trying to turn it off until you're broken in and seeing WOT and 5-6000rpm.

If you're still breaking in and haven't been over 3500rpm you can't comment at all on how the car feels.

 

[A7xogg]

- Roads suck here for sure! No arguing there.
- Fiesta Sedan Could be engineered to turn as good. It's all a matter of balancing the car to have a little oversteer. However, I wouldn't buy the sedan to be racing, just to have a nifty little street car that's comfy.
- My FiST gets 33MPG avg. I do a lot of cruise control driving between 70-80MPH. I do see instant numbers as high as 48MPG occasionally though.
- You are correct about the Cruise control light. For some reason, I didn't see any light turn on, but after restarting the car, I did notice it. Might have been an electrical issue.
- I tried changing the temp, but so far, it's been the only constant on that little display. The rest (MPG/Avg MPG/trip/Odo/Fuel to E) all take the bottom part of the screen. Not the top. Not sure if there's another way to get the temp off the display.
- I paid 17k. Though the dealer was selling a 2018 non-recaro for 22k.
- Speaker issue is with all sources of audio. It's definitely the tweeter, and has been posted about before in 2014 on this forum. I just added a comment there.
The tweeters are used as full range drives, due to their size have a resonant frequency of 1-2kHz. Can be gotten rid of with the right capacitor.
The door speakers are farting out at volume levels of 25-30. Not sure if it's the amp, or the speakers. The woofers are good, but not 'damn good'. The Cruze has better speakers, and even they aren't the best on the market.
But for sure, they're better than those crappy Boss,Pyle or all that other plastic crap going for speakers they're selling nowadays.
- I decided to keep the Sound Symposer, since it allows me to hear the engine, when listening to the radio.
- I'll try traction control off. does it affect MPG when on the interstates on cruise control?

I understand that the fun factor comes in at the higher RPMs and pressing the pedal a little harder.
I've done this myself as well, though due to it being a new engine, kept RPM below 3-3.5k RPM.
I barely felt the Turbo kicking in, but it did.
More fun riding when it's got about 1k miles on it.

the forcon tool or whatever its called can change alot of features that the car has or doesnt have.
volume at 25 or 30?!?! holy crap when im jamming out i go to 15-17 max. And we have a sony sound system so mabye you got some blown speakers in your car?
the traction button doesnt control mpg.
your not gonna feel the turbo till you really get on it, the car has a good throttle imput where 50% throttle is 50 percent not 80 or 90(in other turbo cars this is apparent)
Drive it hard after it got some miles on it. Its a pleasure that is almost unmatched.

Why on earth would you turn off the traction control on the freeway? That makes no sense at all unless you turn it off every time you start the car like a lot of people do. It won't affect mpg at all because it's not 'working'. I wouldn't even worry about trying to turn it off until you're broken in and seeing WOT and 5-6000rpm.

If you're still breaking in and haven't been over 3500rpm you can't comment at all on how the car feels.

Driving in sport mode or with everything off makes the car feel even better all the time.

 

[A7xogg]

- Roads suck here for sure! No arguing there.
- Fiesta Sedan Could be engineered to turn as good. It's all a matter of balancing the car to have a little oversteer. However, I wouldn't buy the sedan to be racing, just to have a nifty little street car that's comfy.
- My FiST gets 33MPG avg. I do a lot of cruise control driving between 70-80MPH. I do see instant numbers as high as 48MPG occasionally though.
- You are correct about the Cruise control light. For some reason, I didn't see any light turn on, but after restarting the car, I did notice it. Might have been an electrical issue.
- I tried changing the temp, but so far, it's been the only constant on that little display. The rest (MPG/Avg MPG/trip/Odo/Fuel to E) all take the bottom part of the screen. Not the top. Not sure if there's another way to get the temp off the display.
- I paid 17k. Though the dealer was selling a 2018 non-recaro for 22k.
- Speaker issue is with all sources of audio. It's definitely the tweeter, and has been posted about before in 2014 on this forum. I just added a comment there.
The tweeters are used as full range drives, due to their size have a resonant frequency of 1-2kHz. Can be gotten rid of with the right capacitor.
The door speakers are farting out at volume levels of 25-30. Not sure if it's the amp, or the speakers. The woofers are good, but not 'damn good'. The Cruze has better speakers, and even they aren't the best on the market.
But for sure, they're better than those crappy Boss,Pyle or all that other plastic crap going for speakers they're selling nowadays.
- I decided to keep the Sound Symposer, since it allows me to hear the engine, when listening to the radio.
- I'll try traction control off. does it affect MPG when on the interstates on cruise control?

I understand that the fun factor comes in at the higher RPMs and pressing the pedal a little harder.
I've done this myself as well, though due to it being a new engine, kept RPM below 3-3.5k RPM.
I barely felt the Turbo kicking in, but it did.
More fun riding when it's got about 1k miles on it.

the forcon tool or whatever its called can change alot of features that the car has or doesnt have.
volume at 25 or 30?!?! holy crap when im jamming out i go to 15-17 max. And we have a sony sound system so mabye you got some blown speakers in your car?
the traction button doesnt control mpg.
your not gonna feel the turbo till you really get on it, the car has a good throttle imput where 50% throttle is 50 percent not 80 or 90(in other turbo cars this is apparent)
Drive it hard after it got some miles on it. Its a pleasure that is almost unmatched.

Why on earth would you turn off the traction control on the freeway? That makes no sense at all unless you turn it off every time you start the car like a lot of people do. It won't affect mpg at all because it's not 'working'. I wouldn't even worry about trying to turn it off until you're broken in and seeing WOT and 5-6000rpm.

If you're still breaking in and haven't been over 3500rpm you can't comment at all on how the car feels.

Driving in sport mode or with everything off makes the car feel even better all the time.

 

[cxwrench]

Driving in sport mode or with everything off makes the car feel even better all the time.

Not on the freeway. Forscan is what you were thinking of.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

I specifically bought the car because of the aggressive gearing, hatchback, and hard suspension

There's one thing I'd really like that I didn't originally think I would miss (from my prior car) - my Abarth had some steering wheel buttons in the "trigger" position, so it had buttons on the front *and* back - so you could change source/am/fm/etc. without taking your hands off the wheel. I know it's not a huge deal, but they would up being in the absolute perfect place. If nothing else carried over, I would want the Abarth's steering wheel in the fiesta ST. Abarth had the best steering wheel I've ever used, and those trigger buttons were delightful.

 

[cxwrench]

I specifically bought the car because of the aggressive gearing, hatchback, and hard suspension

There's one thing I'd really like that I didn't originally think I would miss (from my prior car) - my Abarth had some steering wheel buttons in the "trigger" position, so it had buttons on the front *and* back - so you could change source/am/fm/etc. without taking your hands off the wheel. I know it's not a huge deal, but they would up being in the absolute perfect place. If nothing else carried over, I would want the Abarth's steering wheel in the fiesta ST. Abarth had the best steering wheel I've ever used, and those trigger buttons were delightful.

That and the exhaust note...I love the way that car sounds.

 

[Mikey456]

Maybe convert the car back to a standard fiesta with the suspension/tires. Also, buy more sound insulation and replace sound symposer?

 

[Clint Beastwood]

That and the exhaust note...I love the way that car sounds.

Yeah not gonna lie, was never a “rev my car like a d**khead” typeof guy but the Abarth brought it out in me.

 

[A7xogg]

Yeah not gonna lie, was never a “rev my car like a d**khead” typeof guy but the Abarth brought it out in me.

Neutral free revving is not my thing, but you get me behind the wheel of a V8 m3 or Honda k20 with a proper exhaust, or a rx8 you bet I'm taking them to redline all the time to hear there beautiful intake and exhaust note

 

[Clint Beastwood]

Neutral free revving is not my thing, but you get me behind the wheel of a V8 m3 or Honda k20 with a proper exhaust, or a rx8 you bet I'm taking them to redline all the time to hear there beautiful intake and exhaust note

Heh for me it’s usually a little 1200-1500 rpm blip, the fiat gave a lil snort and some pops.

 

[zanethan]

Heh for me it’s usually a little 1200-1500 rpm blip, the fiat gave a lil snort and some pops.

Did you ever have any reliability issues with your Abarth? I've always like them and considered picking one up when I bought FiST but the deal on the Fiesta was too good to pass up. I also had seriously concerns over the reliability. Just asking for future reference.

 

[Clint Beastwood]

Did you ever have any reliability issues with your Abarth? I've always like them and considered picking one up when I bought FiST but the deal on the Fiesta was too good to pass up. I also had seriously concerns over the reliability. Just asking for future reference.

I bought my st with money from a fiat buy-back. The car was great, but due to a lack of dealerships and trained techs, when my input shaft bearing failed my car sat for almost 2 months waiting to be looked at. There were so many 500L’s with the DCT trans waiting for service that everyone’s repairs were taking at least a month. I got a stupidly good deal when I bought my Abarth, if I could’ve gotten the same deal again I wouldn’t have an ST. As long as you live near a few dealerships you’ll be fine. The issue was really just lack of qualified techs. Supposedly they’re trying to get to the point any dodge dealer could fix fists but I was told the dodge dealerships don’t want to.