Hey everyone! I'm from southern, Ontario (Canada).
Full disclosure: I currently drive a 2007 Mazda3 Hatchback GT 5 speed with the larger 2.3L
-I've got 225,000 kms on it, I've never had to do much driving for work/personal but I live in St. Catharines
and work in Hamiton so know I'm doing about 50,000 kms per year.
-The car has lost its magic for me. Still works great, I've put a lot of $$ into in for repairs in the last year but its till not at 10% and I need something more exciting since I spend so much time in the car on a daily basis, anywhere from 2 to 3 hours
Reason's I'm about to pull th trigger on a 2017 FiST:
1. Soon they're won't be any new ones left to buy! (since they've discontinued in Canada for 2018) if anyone knows of anything different please let me know!)
2. It has everything I'm looking for
-Hatchback
-Turbo motor
-6 speed
-Widely available aftermarket support
-Reliability
3. 1% financing available with long term amortizations are available which is great for cash flow
I'm a car guy (I spend 90% of my internet surfing time looking at cars and I've been looking into my next ride for quite long time)
Other cars I considered (and why I think I've made my mid up on a new FiST):
Focus RS - too expensive, harsh ride even in "comfort mode"
Focus ST - this would be a second choice to the GTI , they're the basically the same price, the GTI IMHO has better looks, weighs much less, can be tuned easier (just go to APRs website to check it out), but the base one is approx $30k CAD but the one you want is high $30s without favorable interest rates. And why is its 500 pounds heavier than the FiST??
VW GTI - This would be very very high on my list, but I love shifting and the GTI has HUGE gear ratios (130kms/hr in second gear?). Otherwise I'd probably go for it
VW Golf R - also high on my list (has the shorter gear ratios I would want compared to the GTI) but I've read that everything is very "light" and doesn't feel that much faster that the GTI, plus the GTI IMHO looks better. Looking for something more "raw"
WRX STI (hatchback) - all are going to be used, somewhat expensive with an unknown history, most have been modded and likely not to me taste, I could be taking over someone's half completed project car or "ticking timebomb"
-A little too "boy racer" for me and I've read the fuel economy isn't great either
-This is going to be my daily driver so I need something reliable and/or something with problems that are easy to diagnose
Hyundai i30 N - I would buy this car tomorrow IF it were available in Canada (if you haven't heard about it I suggest doing a youtube/google search!!)
Hyundai Veloster N - this IS coming to Canada from what I understand, but I'm really not a fan of the styling
Civic Type R - I'm sure its a wicked car but the styling is ridiculous (IMHO) but I think the BMWs produced in the late 90s are so of the best looking cars ever (e46 M3 for example)
and BMW hot hatchbacks are not available in Canada (such as the M140)
So, some questions for you guys:
Reliability:
Whats the reliability like ? I've been through the forums and haven't read anything specific. My opinion after reading virtually every article, every you tube video and FiSt forum thread is its a very reliable vehicle and not a lot of cabin rattles.
(for example, my mz3 is prone to rust wheel wells, stock shocks only last 150kms, top motor mount usually needs to be replaced within the first year, break dust etc)
Tuning (I will tune this care, and its my first time tuning anything)
I'm thinking I would go for the mountune MP215 kit for starters and then IC and custom tune from Randy@mountune, plus springs
-Exhaust portion I would probably research a ton before making a move - I'm the kind of guy who wants every thing without compromises when it comes to sound so I'd want the car to be virtually silent at highway speed and backing out of driveway and sound like a Formula 1 V10 when I'm having fun.
So my question is where can buy mountune packages and tuning in Niagara/Hamilton area? Who does installs? Do I have to buy parts and then bring them to a dealer or shop? Does the work need to been done by a dealership or just anyone (I've seen conflicting answers)
Warrantee
I see A LOT of pople talk about going with mountune because of the warrantee. I'm really only considering cobb and mountune because they're both well known, widely used and documented, quality parts. I would go with Mountune due to the wide variety of parts and packages available, MT is is only focused on Ford products and quality seems to be great.
But the warrantee on a new FiST doesn't seem to be anything great. I'm not even sure what it is ....3 years or 100,000kms? Something like that
I'm assuming most people that could only afford a Fist int their budget don't have extra funds in case anything does go wrong, but for me the warantee would be up in two an a bit years anyways.
I even though a tune from Randy@mountune might even been better than the standard MP215 as Randy would be able to tell if there's anything up with my vehicle, gas quality etc, I see it as great value for a couple hundred bucks.
Downsides of the FiSt that concern me (but I think I can get around it)
-Its small...proably much smaller than my Maz3 but I think as long as I can through two hockey bags in the back (I don't mind driving with the rear seats down at all the way I should be fine)
-The exterior styling - not as aggressive as I would like but new wheels springs, IC, might change that.
-BUT these are small sacrifices for what is the type of affordable little pocket rocket that only comes around once every decade (The guys from Top Gear, The Smoking Tire, and Chris Harris can't be wrong!!!)
Anyways, this was probably way to many words for most and if mey questions and comments belong on other sections of the forum, my apologies. Cheers!
Full disclosure: I currently drive a 2007 Mazda3 Hatchback GT 5 speed with the larger 2.3L
-I've got 225,000 kms on it, I've never had to do much driving for work/personal but I live in St. Catharines
and work in Hamiton so know I'm doing about 50,000 kms per year.
-The car has lost its magic for me. Still works great, I've put a lot of $$ into in for repairs in the last year but its till not at 10% and I need something more exciting since I spend so much time in the car on a daily basis, anywhere from 2 to 3 hours
Reason's I'm about to pull th trigger on a 2017 FiST:
1. Soon they're won't be any new ones left to buy! (since they've discontinued in Canada for 2018) if anyone knows of anything different please let me know!)
2. It has everything I'm looking for
-Hatchback
-Turbo motor
-6 speed
-Widely available aftermarket support
-Reliability
3. 1% financing available with long term amortizations are available which is great for cash flow
I'm a car guy (I spend 90% of my internet surfing time looking at cars and I've been looking into my next ride for quite long time)
Other cars I considered (and why I think I've made my mid up on a new FiST):
Focus RS - too expensive, harsh ride even in "comfort mode"
Focus ST - this would be a second choice to the GTI , they're the basically the same price, the GTI IMHO has better looks, weighs much less, can be tuned easier (just go to APRs website to check it out), but the base one is approx $30k CAD but the one you want is high $30s without favorable interest rates. And why is its 500 pounds heavier than the FiST??
VW GTI - This would be very very high on my list, but I love shifting and the GTI has HUGE gear ratios (130kms/hr in second gear?). Otherwise I'd probably go for it
VW Golf R - also high on my list (has the shorter gear ratios I would want compared to the GTI) but I've read that everything is very "light" and doesn't feel that much faster that the GTI, plus the GTI IMHO looks better. Looking for something more "raw"
WRX STI (hatchback) - all are going to be used, somewhat expensive with an unknown history, most have been modded and likely not to me taste, I could be taking over someone's half completed project car or "ticking timebomb"
-A little too "boy racer" for me and I've read the fuel economy isn't great either
-This is going to be my daily driver so I need something reliable and/or something with problems that are easy to diagnose
Hyundai i30 N - I would buy this car tomorrow IF it were available in Canada (if you haven't heard about it I suggest doing a youtube/google search!!)
Hyundai Veloster N - this IS coming to Canada from what I understand, but I'm really not a fan of the styling
Civic Type R - I'm sure its a wicked car but the styling is ridiculous (IMHO) but I think the BMWs produced in the late 90s are so of the best looking cars ever (e46 M3 for example)
and BMW hot hatchbacks are not available in Canada (such as the M140)
So, some questions for you guys:
Reliability:
Whats the reliability like ? I've been through the forums and haven't read anything specific. My opinion after reading virtually every article, every you tube video and FiSt forum thread is its a very reliable vehicle and not a lot of cabin rattles.
(for example, my mz3 is prone to rust wheel wells, stock shocks only last 150kms, top motor mount usually needs to be replaced within the first year, break dust etc)
Tuning (I will tune this care, and its my first time tuning anything)
I'm thinking I would go for the mountune MP215 kit for starters and then IC and custom tune from Randy@mountune, plus springs
-Exhaust portion I would probably research a ton before making a move - I'm the kind of guy who wants every thing without compromises when it comes to sound so I'd want the car to be virtually silent at highway speed and backing out of driveway and sound like a Formula 1 V10 when I'm having fun.
So my question is where can buy mountune packages and tuning in Niagara/Hamilton area? Who does installs? Do I have to buy parts and then bring them to a dealer or shop? Does the work need to been done by a dealership or just anyone (I've seen conflicting answers)
Warrantee
I see A LOT of pople talk about going with mountune because of the warrantee. I'm really only considering cobb and mountune because they're both well known, widely used and documented, quality parts. I would go with Mountune due to the wide variety of parts and packages available, MT is is only focused on Ford products and quality seems to be great.
But the warrantee on a new FiST doesn't seem to be anything great. I'm not even sure what it is ....3 years or 100,000kms? Something like that
I'm assuming most people that could only afford a Fist int their budget don't have extra funds in case anything does go wrong, but for me the warantee would be up in two an a bit years anyways.
I even though a tune from Randy@mountune might even been better than the standard MP215 as Randy would be able to tell if there's anything up with my vehicle, gas quality etc, I see it as great value for a couple hundred bucks.
Downsides of the FiSt that concern me (but I think I can get around it)
-Its small...proably much smaller than my Maz3 but I think as long as I can through two hockey bags in the back (I don't mind driving with the rear seats down at all the way I should be fine)
-The exterior styling - not as aggressive as I would like but new wheels springs, IC, might change that.
-BUT these are small sacrifices for what is the type of affordable little pocket rocket that only comes around once every decade (The guys from Top Gear, The Smoking Tire, and Chris Harris can't be wrong!!!)
Anyways, this was probably way to many words for most and if mey questions and comments belong on other sections of the forum, my apologies. Cheers!
![[lovest]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_ilovest.gif "Love ST [lovest]"){kind=icon}
