Opinions on Ford (ST)?

[AzNightmare]

Being a car site that's majorly dominated by "import" owners, who owns "domestic" in here?

I'm thinking of buying a new car and a Japanese car would have been my first choice, but I didn't want to overlook what Ford had to offer. I've always been a fan of imports and didn't really care much for American cars, but lately I've been looking at the Fiesta and Focus ST after I noticed they have been getting a lot of good reviews. They are better bang/buck, more affordable than the other options I have looked into.

I don't know too much about Ford in terms of long term reliability, maintenance fees, resale value, etc. Just a few weeks ago, I would have never even considered driving a Ford. Also, I don't think I have personally seen any ST's in Vancouver... Maybe it's nice to not be another FRS or Si on the road, but it can also be kind of lonely as there won't be as much of a community/club locally.

If someone can chime in thoughts/opinions, hopefully unbiased cause I assume most people in here love imports (myself included).

[!Aznboi128]

There's actually a few members on the board that has Fiesta and Focus ST

Most of the owners do love their cars and are happy with the easily attainable power thru Cobb and other mods.

I've driven a modded st for a bit, it was fun, the car's light and agile tho it was on the street I felt it had more torque then the numbers suggests. It's also a very lovable car, light tossable and the steering is quite direct, not to mention those Recaros in the front are beautiful. the back... well that's just flat as anything but who cares!

[320icar]

I have a '14 ST. I prefer the pre facelift by far. The only downsides are the lack of real cargo space, weird bolt pattern and lack of an LSD.... And that's it. Everything else it blows the competition out of the water. Price, performance, features etc

Edit** ^^^^ the rear seats on an ST are not the same as the regular focus hatch. Slightly larger bolstering and different stitching. Though far from body hugging and it causes the seats to not fold flat. I'd rather have the stock focus rear seats for more cargo space

[StanleyR]

I fookin love em'!

especially in tangerine scream

[thumper]

what about resale value?

[320icar]

So far as long as you keep the mileage down, they are still mid-high 20's (for a 31k new car). That's pretty good. But it's only been out since 2013 so time will tell on mechanical longevity and whether the style dates itself or it remains looking good.

Way less "young kids" own the focus st vs. The Mazda speed 3, so instantly the used market will demand higher prices since people will assume an older car audience will beat on a car less

[ilvtofu]

Fiesta ST
Pros:
- Very good fuel economy, I average 8.2-8.6L/100km on 91 (Cobb Tune), on stock tune you can run 87 if you don't mind having less power. Even if you are driving like a tard and spending a lot of time in traffic I doubt you will use more than 10L/100km
- More than enough power for most and minimal torque steer
- Neutral handling and pretty easy on the track, impressive for such a front/top heavy FWD with a narrow track.
- Surprisingly good aftermarket support that's continuously growing; one of my biggest concerns when I got the car
- Resale value looks pretty decent so far,
- The new Sync 3 is snappy and easy to use
- Lovely Recaros, good for street/track albeit bulky
- No negative attention. I don't get dirty looks from anyone because it's an econobox at the end of the day, no one tries to street race me, and cops don't really bat an eye.
- Good financing options, 5 year bi-weekly is almost too good a deal to pass up. I ended up paying cash because of a fatty $3500 incentive
- Reasonable insurance premiums? I pay ~$2500 with 30% discount, driving to/from work, and new car replacement coverage

Cons:
- Ride on the stock suspension is AWFUL, the springs are way too stiff for the stock shocks. I swapped to Bilstein coilovers and the ride is much more refined. Some people like the bone jarring ride though, because it's "sporty"
- Poor pedal placement for heel-toe (also applies to FoST), you can fix this with a $60 spacer
- No backup camera
- No projectors/HID/LED
- backseat is cramped compared to similar sized econoboxes (Fit, Yaris, etc.)
- Plasticky Interior
- Awkward bolt pattern as 320icar mentioned (4x108 for Fiesta), and 225 is about the widest tire you can throw on it for track use
- Had to wait 4 months for my special order (made in Mexico), the ones on the dealer lots are all so loaded and ~$30k which is too much for this car IMO

My car is at the dealership for warranty right now, sort of a known issue with the transmission which I may have had some part in... I will likely be going stage 3 (~240 whp/290 wtq) over the winter which should be a lot of fun.

[320icar]

Though the fiST is way more nimble, light and rev happy, I could never give up the torque monster of an engine in my foST. Especially since I'm running the Cobb stage 2 91 tune with a few bolt ons. Once boost kicks in I can break traction in 3rd while rolling at 70+. It's pretty hilarious but addictive. Can't wait for some stickier rubber one of these days

[AzNightmare]

Did you guys yet the Mountune MP215 Performance kit?

http://www.mountune.com/index.php/se...fiesta-st-2013

Seems kind of pricey but it's been getting good reviews online, and it doesn't void warranty.

[320icar]

£599??? LOLOLOLO not a chance

[AzNightmare]

Originally Posted by 320icar

£599??? LOLOLOLO not a chance

Yeah, the price does seem quite steep. Not sure if the dealer can offer a deal. I'm not exactly sure what it is though... a new air filter box and some device that remaps your ECU??

Based on multiple reviews, the performance upgrade is legit though.
If I were to blow "£599" on an exhaust, intake, intercooler, etc, would I be able to get better performance?

[320icar]

I can only speak for my foST. But I paid $800 on Craigslist for barely used Cobb access port tuner, fswerks intake, and fswerks catless 3" downpipe.

For arguments sake, £599 is about $1250 CAD right now. So you could buy everything brand new that I got. That is so much better!!!! I'm running 22psi now and way more power than the stock tires can put down (yes, stock tires are actually pretty good). If I were to do it again and you handed me $1250 CAD, I'd get the Cobb access port, catless downpipe, aftermarket BOV (my stock one can't candle the boost now and leaks at WOT), a new billet engine mount and at least a drop in air filter. The stock intake is pretty good already. Flows quite well but muffles intake noise.

Feel free to take mine for a spin one day. It's on snows right now though

[ilvtofu]

Originally Posted by AzNightmare

Did you guys yet the Mountune MP215 Performance kit?

Fiesta ST (2013 >)

Seems kind of pricey but it's been getting good reviews online, and it doesn't void warranty.

The mountune stuff while well designed seems very overpriced and perhaps even conservative? My car is a mish mash of parts from a ton of different manufacturers and on the warranty side of things so far it seems they are pretty lax, my car is in right now for some transmission work and they didn't hassle me for my catless downpipe/exhaust, intercooler piping, short ram intake, cobb ap, coilovers, bbk; etc.

I'm kinda curious what a custom tune could do with my car as the Cobb OTS V3 isn't really ideal for my setup since I am catless and running a different intercooler and larger exhaust

[Liquid_o2]

I was in your position just over a year ago. I wanted something quick and fun to drive as a daily driver, but had to be four door which eliminated most cars such as BRZ and Genesis. I test drove the Fiesta ST, and it was an absolute blast to drive, but there were a few things that I really didn't like about it. The interior felt really cheap, the suspension was really stiff, no trunk space, and the rear side crash safety rating was abysmal. The Focus ST was much nicer, but a bit out of my price range (lowest I could find was $32k pre-tax).

I ended up going with the Civic Si Sedan and couldn't be happier, except that it doesn't have projector headlights/HID The Si felt a lot more comfortable as a daily driver than the ST did. Also long term reliability played a factor, as nobody knows how the ST turbo engines will be 5-7 years down the line. Maybe wait and see how the new 2016 Si is going to be....