How many people think the Fiesta RS will happen?

[doubletap]

The case for the RS being in the MKVIII body style isn't completely baseless. When asked about the Fiesta RS... "Senior Vehicle Engineer at Ford Performance Tyrone Johnson told the magazine, ?The current Fiesta has another two-and-a-half years before it?s replaced. We?ll update the ST within that period, and after that there could be something else.? (Source)

This is why some people (myself included) don't think the RS will be based on the current body style. Whether it comes out in NA or not is a whole other issue.

 

[DirtyBlueshirt]

That's debatable. RS models have historically been released during the later portion of the model cycle.

"Historically" there's only three examples. All released at the mid-cycle refresh, +/- a year. We're at the END of the Fiesta's 7th generation. And there's no historical anything for a Fiesta RS model. Will there be an RS? Yes. For Ford to commit to "12 performance models by 2020"; it would be foolish to think otherwise. But it won't be on the 7th generation body. It will be the 8th generation, which WILL come in MY 16 or 17, guaranteed. I'm betting on 17, as we are reaching a cutoff for the 2016 model year. If it were to be announced, it would be in a couple months at the latest. However, without any sightings of the 8th Gen Fiesta, let alone ANY sighting of an RS variant even in a 7th gen mule, don't count on an RS in this generation.

 

[opusmonday]

If the Civic R occurs, it would perhaps force a response from Ford to the affirmative if it sells well. One manufacturer or another will need to be the coal-mine batshit hatch canary. If it lives, expect more offerings.

 

[chevystepside73]

i believe that ford will base that decision on how the focus rs sells over the next few years, also my dealer informed me that sales of the fiesta st are finally picking up nationally, my dealer sat on 3 for 1.5 years...2 they traded and one sold.. i think most people say why not get a focus st or a a wrx base model for the same price. just my opinion based off my 26.5k price before incentives.. dam 8 % jerry brown cut

 

[Tex ST-AR]

If Honda brings the new Civic Type R to the States I think then there would be a chance Ford would release it. Make AWD and close to 300 hp, it would be a killer.

 

[DirtyBlueshirt]

Remember though, the Civic is competition in the Focus' segment, not the Fiesta's. It's pitted against the Focus RS and the Golf R.

 

[D1JL]

With the Focus RS supposedly coming out in '16, I don't think we will see a Fiesta RS until '17 or '18 if at all.
I am also sure we will not see an all wheel drive model.

These are just my thoughts, we will have to wait and see.



Dave

 

[GreGGo]

Maybe its just me, but I don't see the CTR coming here for any less than $30k unless they cut a lot of stuff. This automatically takes it out of the FiST class. I think Ford will look at FiST and FoRS sales before it worries about the CTR.

 

[dyn085]

I believe all of this is moot though, as I don't see a business case for a FiRS. Especially for the NA market.

This pretty much sums up my thoughts. A FiRS would have to be priced at or just slightly over a FoST3 MSRP, and realistically I still think that the majority of Americans would go for the larger car at that price-point. Adding any sort of power to the current platform will require wider rubber, and in doing that they'll be forced into widening the body-which would (imho) probably relegate us to essentially something akin to the Mk2 Focus RS. Not that that is a bad platform, but they would be forced to add an IRS for handling and when added to the other upgrades they will have cut down their profit margin something fierce. Definitely no AWD.

I think it would fit in well with their attempts at having/advertising multiple 'sporty' options and work well for media, but I think that if they went that route it would be an extremely limited run that they knew ahead of time they would lose money on. I wouldn't say it's impossible, but I would say it's definitely improbable.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Since I have a FiST and the Edge I wouldn't mind seeing an RS version of the Edge... Everything is there just give it the Mustang engine, with its AWD it would rock.. But that is me being selfish. The FiRS would be too expensive and detract from the FoRS. Unless they approach the FiRS as the same price as the FiST BUT target it as a rally car. Meaning longer shock travel, better diff, aggressive tires, skid plate etc... keeping the FiST as a street/autocross. Fun to speculate though.

 

[rexdriver85]

Kind of off-topic, but, how long do you guys think the FiST will even be produced realistically?

The Focus SVT only went from 02 to 04. The SVT Contour only went from 98 to 00. The Lightning had 2 runs and obviously the Cobra was the longest run.

I suppose there's a difference now with the "Global Performance Vehicles" such as the FiST and FoST.

Just curious to see what you guys think. Maybe there's articles on this I just haven't found yet.

 

[Hijinx]

What if the FiRS is replacing the FiST? Wouldn't that be a FiRST? Sorry for the pun... I just couldn't help myself. But seriously, as rex pointed out, what if this run done in, say, 2018? The FiST could just be reborn as a FiRS; a glorified FiST. A lot of "what ifs."

 

[CanadianGuy]

Kind of off-topic, but, how long do you guys think the FiST will even be produced realistically?

The Focus SVT only went from 02 to 04. The SVT Contour only went from 98 to 00. The Lightning had 2 runs and obviously the Cobra was the longest run.

I suppose there's a difference now with the "Global Performance Vehicles" such as the FiST and FoST.

Just curious to see what you guys think. Maybe there's articles on this I just haven't found yet.

Personally I think the FiST will stay. Its has won awards (SVT did not), Europe loves the car, huge sales. It is competing and winning against the other brands (Europe again). Lots of aftermarket parts especially from the likes of Mountune which moved to the NA market with the FiST and FoST demand and, as you said, a global car. The Fiesta is a great car, the ST makes it greater. One thing the ST does is lure the younger buyers in and if the price is too high the can still get the price. Without the ST said buyer would not walk into the dealership. Now in the NA market that is something that may be a concern, but a simple built to order ST platform could easily be supported.

 

[rexdriver85]

I think the difference is it's not an SVT per se, it's a "Global" SVT so it's supported in other countries, not just here. I think that will probably drive it to stay instead of just having small runs like the other vehicles.

Thanks for the insight!

 

[kjohn09e]

Since I have a FiST and the Edge I wouldn't mind seeing an RS version of the Edge... Everything is there just give it the Mustang engine, with its AWD it would rock.. But that is me being selfish. The FiRS would be too expensive and detract from the FoRS. Unless they approach the FiRS as the same price as the FiST BUT target it as a rally car. Meaning longer shock travel, better diff, aggressive tires, skid plate etc... keeping the FiST as a street/autocross. Fun to speculate though.

Favorite thought so far. Build a more rally oriented machine.

 

[dyn085]

Kind of off-topic, but, how long do you guys think the FiST will even be produced realistically?

The Focus SVT only went from 02 to 04. The SVT Contour only went from 98 to 00. The Lightning had 2 runs and obviously the Cobra was the longest run.

I suppose there's a difference now with the "Global Performance Vehicles" such as the FiST and FoST.

Just curious to see what you guys think. Maybe there's articles on this I just haven't found yet.

I have a tough time seeing the FiST stick around longer than the end of this body style, but all of my opinion comes from what appears to be lack of sales in the U.S. I haven't seen sales data yet, but it just doesn't appear to be selling well here. Living in a military town there is plenty of government money (and, in-turn, lots of new cars), and I've seen less than 1 other FiST per month on average.

But Idk how well it's selling overseas, so it's a relatively narrow perspective. If the U.S. was the deciding factor I couldn't foresee a long production run.

 

[timboslice]

Since I have a FiST and the Edge I wouldn't mind seeing an RS version of the Edge... Everything is there just give it the Mustang engine, with its AWD it would rock.. But that is me being selfish. The FiRS would be too expensive and detract from the FoRS. Unless they approach the FiRS as the same price as the FiST BUT target it as a rally car. Meaning longer shock travel, better diff, aggressive tires, skid plate etc... keeping the FiST as a street/autocross. Fun to speculate though.

That's actually an interesting concept that I don't think that anyone has brought up. What if Ford produced some sort of performance variant of the Edge or Explorer? Those vehicles have much larger profit margins than the Fiesta platform (or any other small car) and there's plenty of development already done on the parts. Put a bigger boosted engine in one with oversize rims and some suspension tweaks? I see quite a few performance, luxury SUVs on a regular basis. Maybe there is a reasonable business case for producing a vehicle to fill a slightly down market niche?

 

[Hijinx]

Pinto ST. You'd be PiST if you got beat by that.

 

[GreGGo]

That's actually an interesting concept that I don't think that anyone has brought up. What if Ford produced some sort of performance variant of the Edge or Explorer? Those vehicles have much larger profit margins than the Fiesta platform (or any other small car) and there's plenty of development already done on the parts. Put a bigger boosted engine in one with oversize rims and some suspension tweaks? I see quite a few performance, luxury SUVs on a regular basis. Maybe there is a reasonable business case for producing a vehicle to fill a slightly down market niche?

VW did the R-Line Tiguan and I loved it. Almost bought one, but couldn't give up a manual trans yet.

 

[kevinatfms]

FiRS isnt going to happen. Jack the price up anymore and you could get into base FoRS or loaded FiST territory. I do see them doing something to the Fusion. ST version of the Fusion is needed as they do not have the "Sport" model any longer.