Considering Fiesta ST as daily driver/track day car

[IntegraR0064]

Hello everyone,

I'm a very avid autocrosser from the philly area. I've raced lots of cars in the past but my current car is an STR Honda S2000. It's fully nationally prepped and we've been competing all the way up to the national championships for the last couple years in it. Fun car, but it's not something I can use for too much practical day to day stuff.

The S2000 has too many $$$$ parts for us to feel comfortable taking it to the track, plus no roll bar and adding the roll bar would hurt its autocross competitiveness.

Also for getting it to Lincoln for the national championships I need a truck to tow it.

So bam, that's two of my cars right there. I hate keeping track of too many cars so I'd really like a dual duty third car that can be:
1) A good car to take for few hour long trips, hold two people plus a small dog plus some luggage, and be reasonably comfortable while getting pretty good fuel economy.
2) A car to take to a a casual track day maybe once every couple months - between all the autocrossing I don't have time to do more than that and therefore don't feel the need to have a serious business track car. I'm kind of envisioning just swapping tires and maybe brake pads for a track day and going fast, then swapping back and having a mild mannered street car again.

The Fiesta ST (or possibly focus ST) definitely caught my attention as a good prospect. So I'm wondering how the fiesta is for a track car. Reliable? How is it on consumables like brakes and tires? Fun? Does it need cooling mods or anything like that?

 

[gojagz]

I took mine to the track for the first time this weekend. It was a blast. I didnt have any issues with overheating (I have a Cobb drop-in filter and AP but ran the stock tune). No problems with brake fade or tire distruction. If you do get the FiST for tracking, DEFINITELY get the Recaro seats. They are well worth the money. I took a buddy's Abarth around the track and I was sliding all over the place. After he drove mine, he commented that he wants to find out if he can fit them in his car. Go test drive one, and do it in the spirit of track driving. You will instantly fall in love.

 

[IntegraR0064]

I took mine to the track for the first time this weekend. It was a blast. I didnt have any issues with overheating (I have a Cobb drop-in filter and AP but ran the stock tune). No problems with brake fade or tire distruction. If you do get the FiST for tracking, DEFINITELY get the Recaro seats. They are well worth the money. I took a buddy's Abarth around the track and I was sliding all over the place. After he drove mine, he commented that he wants to find out if he can fit them in his car. Go test drive one, and do it in the spirit of track driving. You will instantly fall in love.

Wow, sounds awesome. Thanks for the thorough response. Definitely have to find some time in the next week or two to get a test drive in. I was thinking the recaros make sense. The SO really likes heated seats anyway. I was reading some people thought the recaros were uncomfortable but it sounded like they were on the heavier side which we definitely aren't.

 

[rodmoe]

I have only done a 3 hr trip in my ST with Recaro's (6 ft 210 avg build for my age lol) And love the feel of the seats thought the ride can be a lil on the stiff side on lo pro tires it seems minor to a Gearhead like me.. After a bit the seats relax and almost form fit well at least for me they feel that way and I can not say enough about the heated seats and mirrors this winter.. Have not got the car on track yet but did have it out on the winter ice track a few times but with the hard tall snowbanks i was reluctant to give it all and crunch my car so early in its life lol . Take it for a spin and see for yourself. one thing the factory tune is very much on the safe for Ford side and if you get a ST and a Tune it will be like getting a new car all over again when you give it the beans ...
I like this one as much as my old Teggy's and RSX (all N/A) only it has more grunt down low but this is my first F/I car too

 

[IntegraR0064]

I have only done a 3 hr trip in my ST with Recaro's (6 ft 210 avg build for my age lol) And love the feel of the seats thought the ride can be a lil on the stiff side on lo pro tires it seems minor to a Gearhead like me.. After a bit the seats relax and almost form fit well at least for me they feel that way and I can not say enough about the heated seats and mirrors this winter.. Have not got the car on track yet but did have it out on the winter ice track a few times but with the hard tall snowbanks i was reluctant to give it all and crunch my car so early in its life lol . Take it for a spin and see for yourself. one thing the factory tune is very much on the safe for Ford side and if you get a ST and a Tune it will be like getting a new car all over again when you give it the beans ...
I like this one as much as my old Teggy's and RSX (all N/A) only it has more grunt down low but this is my first F/I car too

Good to hear!

As for the stiff ride, I should probably say that as you might guess from my screenname, I had an integra type R for a long time (13 yrs). That was a perfect daily driver/track car combo for me. The only thing was it was a little louder than I would have liked on the highway due to the no sound deadening thing, and the lack of cruise control sucked. Then it started to get the quarter panel rust last year and I had to sell it.

Many people said the ITR had too stiff of a ride but I thought it was perfect.

 

[jcr557]

Are you coming to the April 6 Warminster event? I'll be there. Still debating which car to take but I'm leaning more towards the ST.

 

[IntegraR0064]

Are you coming to the April 6 Warminster event? I'll be there. Still debating which car to take but I'm leaning more towards the ST.

That's actually one of the few that I'm missing, I'll be at metlife stadium in NJ doing a test and tune that day. I'll be in warminster the weekend after that though. We're having a test and tune at warminster on the 13th. It costs a bit more but should be lots of driving, it's capped to 30 people.

What's your other car?

 

[jcr557]

14 Subaru WRX.

So apparently both the Fiesta ST and WRX fit in GS? Am I correct?

 

[pwnall1337]

I've had 2013 corvette, 2x 2014 Mustang GT's, 1 modded and one 13' Mustang GT, 2013 speed 3, 2013 club edition mx5 hard top, 2012 mx5, v6 13 mustang, etc and the list goes on.

So far the 2014 Fiesta ST has been the best bang for my buck and is the #2 on the most fun cars I've ever owned. You can negotiate down to 21k for a ST with moon roof and nav. I didn't get the recaros but I heard they were built for skinny people lol.

 

[RyGuyFIST83]

How was the '13 club edition mx5 hard top? There cool little cars. What color did ya have?


-ry

 

[pwnall1337]

How was the '13 club edition mx5 hard top? There cool little cars. What color did ya have?


-ry

Ok so it really depends on the person. It's a really slow 0-60 but highway pull aren't so bad. This is mainly due to gearing. If this car had a 2.0 ecoboost from ford with 260 hp /280 tq this car would of been the shiz. But mazda like their n/a 2.0 with 170~ish hp and no torque.

I was hoping to find you a video on my youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/snipa2silent77/videos , however It looks like I only have videos from the GT and corvette.

My 2013 c6 corvette was #1 because of it's acceleration,handling and of course it's sound system which I bragged about on facebook in this video https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=4775710347016&set=vb.1123314489&type=3&theater

 

[RyGuyFIST83]

Wow that bass was ridiculous. I would have liked it to,I'm thinking of putting a bass tube in the FIST. Why did you get rid of the vette? Jeesh, I thought I used to be bad a when a couple of years ago in my mid 20s, I would grab a new car every year. Your worse than me! Haha.before this car i had the first gen '07 speed3 for 5-6years,so now hopefully I'll be keeping the fist I would hope atleast 2-3,that's long for me. Idk though bc I love vw GTI's and the new mk7s are gonna be pretty damn hard to beat. Hate to say it but the FIST might get traded in for one in a year or so. Well see,I love my car more and more each day.

Got any pics of the vette? What color?

My uncle has a '13 mustang gt-500,as much as I was never into mustangs i gotta say as far as exterior goes,it's a beautiful/mean looking ride. It has that staggered look,pretty sure it's something like 19s in the front and 22s in the back. He let me take it for a spin(very quick around the block) one day and I just can't believe the power these high performance cars have. It was my first time being in/driving a car with such power. Was an incredible rush .


-ry

 

[Redlinez]

Pwnall1337, you're as crazy as I am. I've had over 50 cars since 1990, but you're gone crazy in the last couple of years! I had a Speed3 and picked it over the Jetta GLI, Accord Sport 6M, and Focus ST. I tired of it in about 3 months and ended up with a new Ecoboost F150 to pull our travel trailer and DD. Sold the trailer and now the truck is getting gone...... I drove the Si sedan and the FiST and re-considered the Accord Sport, but it only comes in gray or black, has a 4 speaker "system", and had terrible throttle over-run. Other than the Si or possibly FRS/BRZ, I don't think there's another car to compare the Fiesta to.

 

[jcr557]

I daily drove and autocrossed my ST. Now it's time for it to see some stage rally. I'm gonna miss the car for about a month during the build.

 

[skramit]

Hi. Thread revival. For those who have done a track day with the fiesta ST, what tyre pressures did you use?

 

[rodmoe]

I run 15 inch 205/50 on 15x8 rims and ended up running 42 front and 40 rear cold Dunlop DZll have yet to run the stockers on track... Sorry not much help I know

 

[razorlab]

I run 15 inch 205/50 on 15x8 rims and ended up running 42 front and 40 rear cold Dunlop DZll have yet to run the stockers on track... Sorry not much help I know

42/40 cold! :-O

The Z2's like much lower pressure. I bet those things where kissing 50's hot... :-/

 

[rodmoe]

42/40 cold! :-O

The Z2's like much lower pressure. I bet those things where kissing 50's hot... :-/

Pretty much I should have said that is the AutoX (one lap and wait) pressure for lapping days I lower it to about 38 and play with it as needed since I am still learning the car and the tires ..

 

[skramit]

Thanks. I'm just gonna run the stock Bridgestones. Will start with 39/36 cold.

 

[rodmoe]

Some say if you have issues getting the car to turn or rotate in the corner try bumping up the rear tire pressure to help it