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2016 Fiesta ST compared to 2007 Fit

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#1
Fiesta ST review 051016
The Fiesta ST is the second new car that I’ve bought for my own use. The first was a 2007 Honda Fit, which had the distinction of being the best car I’ve ever owned. Nine years ago, it was the subcompact darling of the Automotive Journalism Set, and the current version still shines, but the Fit has grown bigger over the years. My Fit is noticeably more agile and responsive than my dad’s 2012, but also less refined. Anyhow, I thought I’d write a review comparing the two cars, and in that way repay the great service other owners have provided for me with their reviews of the ST. Their insights made all the difference.

I always thought the Fit could use about 50 more horsepower than the 109 it came with. The ST solves this problem in spades, with 88 extra HP and over twice the torque under most circumstances. It takes a few moments for the turbo to spin up, but when it does it is extremely entertaining in the lower gears. Several people have reported passing in top gear at highway speeds, but it’s a lot more fun to drop down a few gears and fly by with authority. The powerband really starts at about 2000 rpm; below about 1800 the engine gets unhappy unless you’re just drifting along. Still, it’s a small car with a small engine, and performance drops off quickly as you add passengers. In contrast the Fit has a low torque, high revving engine that’s nevertheless surprisingly responsive off the line. It really needs those revs to perform, though.

The saving grace of the Fit is an extremely responsive, tightly integrated automatic transmission that will downshift at the drop of a hat. This gets you into the 3500+ rpm range frequently, which is where it does its best work. The ST doesn’t need any of that. On backroads, keeping the rpm between 2000-2500 while cruising provides plenty of torque for curves, hills, etc, and it gets more entertaining the further up the register you go. We frequently climb Monteagle Mountain on Tennessee’s I-24, which the ST will do in top gear without batting an eye. The Fit has to be put in 4th gear and kept there, although it will go up with aplomb under those circumstances. I also often have to resort to 4th climbing lesser interstate grades in the Fit, or put up with it shifting back and forth annoyingly.

The ST’s 6 speed manual is a joy to use, very slick, with an easy to modulate clutch. The hill holder function works very well, and reminds me of a mechanical version we had on an 80’s model Subaru. The gear ratios are ideal for my needs, with a very low 1st gear, a very tall 6th gear, and excellent spacing in between. In use it reminds me of a 6 speed Kawasaki KLX I used to own. 3rd, 4th, and 5th get a workout on the backroads. 6th provides quiet cruising and fuel economy. We have a 1000 yard driveway that includes a 20+% grade, which makes the low first gear very handy. I do find that the ST likes to be around 2000 rpm on that steep grade.

While both cars aspire to great handling, the ST takes it a lot more seriously (in its defense, the Fit’s shocks have 170,000 miles on them and could use replacement). I’m no race car driver, but I love to push a car toward its limits. The Fit is very nimble and predictable, but the predictability amounts to ratcheting up understeer. It is too old to have stability control like the newer models. The ST has a lot more dimension, and has an almost magical ability to play both sides of the neutrality fence. Going into a turn, she is very neutral, with maybe a little oversteer if you’re trailing the brakes. When you punch it at the apex, boom! the front end takes charge and off you go wherever you point the wheels. She has scads of grip, too, which is very entertaining when you’re accelerating out of a corner. A few times, in longer sweeping turns, I’ve found myself playing the throttle, on=understeer, off=oversteer, with the transition being very linear and controllable. The outcome of all this is great fun at safe and reasonable speeds, on a platform that cultivates skill improvement. Holy crap, what a car! No wonder guys are willing to trade down from Audis and BMWs, the ST is just amazing.

The other aspects of handling are on par too. Whereas the Fit has super quick steering, the feel is very light and numb, which is nerve racking until you get a lot of practice-look over your shoulder and you may find yourself changing lanes. The ST’s steering is plenty quick, but the steering effort is much higher, which makes all the difference. Steering is steady, and has comparatively more feel (if you really want to know what true feel is like, get behind the wheel of a vintage MG Midget or Triumph Spitfire). The brakes are excellent, and easy to modulate. My size 12 feet suck at heel and toeing, but I think I will be able to learn how to do so in this car. By comparison, the Fit is just average, plus mine is an automatic. I did develop the ability to left foot brake, which helped a lot in cornering transitions, but the two cars really aren’t in the same league.

Of course, there’s more to a car than just driving it. Really! Getting inside the Fit is a bit like stepping into a Harry Potter tent: There’s an amazing amount of room for its size. The fuel tank is under the front seats, which allow the back seats to fold up like the jump seats of a truck, and fold dead flat for lots of cargo room. The back seats have adult quantities of leg room even with the front seats all the way back. My family of four took several multiday vacations in the Fit, albeit with very careful packing. The front seats are full size, and provide plenty of support for spirited driving. They don’t provide as much leg room as I’d prefer, but they suffice, and I’m 6’3”. Controls are simple and intuitive. There’s no infotainment besides a cd/radio, but it is a 2007. The Fit does have F1 style clicky shifters and a sport setting on the transmission which allows you to shift manually.

The ST is a little smaller on the outside, especially in height, and a lot smaller inside, especially in the back. The front seats have abundant leg room, and the driver’s seat has a height adjustment (a necessity for more foot room in the back seat). Front seating feels less spacious but more connected, like a cockpit. The seatbacks are obviously sized for people shorter than me, but are not uncomfortable. The seat bottoms are very comfortable, and have plenty of bolstering support as well as a grippy fabric material. No, I didn’t get the uber Recaros, mainly because I’m a cheapskate. All the controls fall readily to hand for me, including the shifter. I’ve got the seat so far back, though, that using the window sill as an arm rest really isn’t comfortable, which is too bad. Some of the controls seem plasticy and cheap, but they all work well so I don’t really care. Rear seating is really tight, but set up as it is now a person my size (170#) could sit comfortably behind the front passenger seat, and could even tolerate a quick trip behind the driver (to put things in perspective, my dad once got himself and 4 other Airmen to town in a Triumph Spitfire, with the top UP. At least, that’s what he tells me). The middle back seat is for kids only I’d say. With the seats down, the ST has maybe half the space the Fit has, but I can but a bicycle back there easily enough if I take the wheels off. The floor cover in the hatch has two positions; the top position allows a lot of storage underneath for tools and miscellaneous “just in case” gear. I keep my gym bag under it too.

The infotainment system is the first one I’ve ever used. I must say I like it, especially the voice command function and the seamless Bluetooth connectivity with my Android phone. Mine came with the onboard Navigation system. The destination setting can be a bit cumbersome, but otherwise it works very well.

The cars are virtually even in terms of fuel economy. I almost always got 32-34mpg in the Fit, with a few trips at 40mpg when conditions were apparently perfect. There’s about 2000 miles on the ST so far, and it’s gotten 32-34mpg. The onboard instantaneous and average mpg readouts make playing the mileage game pretty entertaining when the spirit moves me, and I can get an indicated average of 40mpg with some effort. Those efforts don’t last very long, though, the engine is just too much fun to indulge in. There’s an automatic shift indicator that encourages very early shifts, but my observation is that the engine is much happier staying in its torque band above 2000 rpm, and mileage in that range is at least as good.

The one big wild card that remains is reliability. The Honda was amazing, I had exactly one problem in 9 years and 170,000 miles of driving, a sticking transmission solenoid that was easily remedied. The Ford is a lot more complicated and has a much lower reputation for reliability. So far, though, it has been excellent with the exception of poor thermostatically controlled cabin temperature. I researched the problem online (thanks guys), made an appointment with the dealer for the software update, and got the problem resolved in an hour. Otherwise, so far, so good.

The Honda Fit is an awfully nice, nimble, entertaining small car. The prudent thing to do would have been to put another 170,000 miles on it. You know what? I have zero regrets. The Fiest ST is easily the most fun car I’ve ever driven, let alone owned. If you like to drive, and especially if you need the utility of a gas thrifty hatchback, there’s nothing like it that I know of. Carpe Diem, you only live once!
 


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JeffCo
#2
Nice write up! Quick questions: what year is your Fiesta, and what do you mean by "poor thermostatically controlled cabin temperature"?
 


Capri to ST

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#3
i match up to two points in your review. i'm driving a 2008 Fit now,it's my girlfriend's,i'm going to sell it for her.it's an enjoyable car, very well designed,but not that much fun. it's what i imagine a non-ST Fiesta would be like,maybe a little better.

the other point is that I sold a BMW, a 2008 M3, to get the ST. you could call it a trade down, it was a magnificent car, but not very usable in anything approaching normal driving. its primary attribute was a high-revving NA V-8,and if you got on it you could get real illegal,real quickly.my reason for getting the ST is that its primary attribute is its handling, somewhat easier to access and enjoy in normal driving. The $250 oil changes (9 liters of $15 M oil) and the 12 mpg on the BMW were also getting old.
 


OP
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Thread Starter #4
My Fiesta is a 2016 that I bought this spring. Morning temps were in the 40s, and I immediately noticed that the thermostatically controlled ventilation temperature wouldn't put out heat unless it was set to high, with very poor modulation. I found this thread: http://www.fiestastforum.com/forum/threads/7315-Climate-Control-Heater-Issue

The thread thoroughly discussed the issue and possible causes, the most likely of which was a new touchscreen that puts out more heat, very close to one of the heat sensors. The thread also related that Ford had put out SSB 45658, a software update which seemed to resolve the issue. In my case, the hvac works a lot better, but I still fiddle with the temp setting a lot. This is the first car I've ever had with climate control, and the environmental loads vary so widely on cars my guess is that this is normal. Personally, I'd be happier with old fashioned manual control.

ST Enthusiast, it sounds like the M3 was a heck of a car, a four wheeled equivalent to a sport bike. I'm mystified that Honda doesn't do more with the Fit platform, all the performance development is devoted to the Civic, a car that weighs over 3000 pounds. They are playing catch up, though. Apparently they're building a $300 million+ turbo engine plant here in the US. The overriding aspect of the ST that won me over is how completely thought out the car is, from performance to style to practicality. It is truly a global car. Honda has Fit models like that elsewhere, but no motivation to bring them here. Maybe they don't have the resources, or maybe they just don't get it.
 


Capri to ST

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#5
yes, I think Honda has gotten away from performance . I was a Honda guy, having had a Prelude and an Integra GSR before, but they don't make anything now that interests me.I never thought I'd consider an American car again,but the FiST came up on my radar screen,and I read lots of tests and watched videos about it,and it just appealed to me. A mechanic friend of mine was raving about it ,too. I've come full circle now, because my family had a Capri when I started driving that we loved,another European-influenced performance Ford.
 


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Location
tampa
#6
My Fiesta is a 2016 that I bought this spring. Morning temps were in the 40s, and I immediately noticed that the thermostatically controlled ventilation temperature wouldn't put out heat unless it was set to high, with very poor modulation. I found this thread: http://www.fiestastforum.com/forum/threads/7315-Climate-Control-Heater-Issue

The thread thoroughly discussed the issue and possible causes, the most likely of which was a new touchscreen that puts out more heat, very close to one of the heat sensors. The thread also related that Ford had put out SSB 45658, a software update which seemed to resolve the issue. In my case, the hvac works a lot better, but I still fiddle with the temp setting a lot. This is the first car I've ever had with climate control, and the environmental loads vary so widely on cars my guess is that this is normal. Personally, I'd be happier with old fashioned manual control.

ST Enthusiast, it sounds like the M3 was a heck of a car, a four wheeled equivalent to a sport bike. I'm mystified that Honda doesn't do more with the Fit platform, all the performance development is devoted to the Civic, a car that weighs over 3000 pounds. They are playing catch up, though. Apparently they're building a $300 million+ turbo engine plant here in the US. The overriding aspect of the ST that won me over is how completely thought out the car is, from performance to style to practicality. It is truly a global car. Honda has Fit models like that elsewhere, but no motivation to bring them here. Maybe they don't have the resources, or maybe they just don't get it.
i havent noticed this... but i live in tampa fl so i have never used my heater... lol i just keep my climate control at 70* with the AUTO button. never had a issue.
 


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Berks
#7
Great write up! You hit on the highlights of both cars. I too had a 2007 Honda Fit, mine was a 5MT, and it was also a lot of fun. The amount of interior room it had defied physics. I traded it for a 2011 CR-Z CVT to have something more techy and livable in traffic, which it delivered as a fantastic commuter, but was not thrilling. Now the FiST reminds me of the Fit with double the power and grip.

Re: the Climate control, it looks like my FiST was made after the date range specified in the TSB, and I'm not having any trouble with the temp setting so far.
 


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YYC
#8
The fiST is definitely what the fit should have been. A fit with a K in it /drool. It's the spiritual successor IMO. That's coming from a Honda fanboy as well!
 


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Berks
#9
The fiST is definitely what the fit should have been. A fit with a K in it /drool. It's the spiritual successor IMO. That's coming from a Honda fanboy as well!
K series were all too big for a Fit engine bay without some hacking. But now that the Civic has a 1.5L turbo, they could easily drop that in and make a Fit Si. It's only 174 HP vs. the FiST's 194, but very easy to make it happen from a logistics perspective.
 


OP
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Thread Starter #10
Great write up! You hit on the highlights of both cars. I too had a 2007 Honda Fit, mine was a 5MT, and it was also a lot of fun. The amount of interior room it had defied physics. I traded it for a 2011 CR-Z CVT to have something more techy and livable in traffic, which it delivered as a fantastic commuter, but was not thrilling. Now the FiST reminds me of the Fit with double the power and grip.

Re: the Climate control, it looks like my FiST was made after the date range specified in the TSB, and I'm not having any trouble with the temp setting so far.
Thanks! Agreed on the power and grip. I also really missed having a dead pedal in that vintage of Fit. Incidentally, I just sold my trusty Fit, to a retired postal worker who is going to use it for Uber driving. He also happens to be an extraordinarily cool person, as were other people that came shopping. The character of the people a particular car attracts says a lot about the car, IMHO.
 


OP
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Thread Starter #11
The fiST is definitely what the fit should have been. A fit with a K in it /drool. It's the spiritual successor IMO. That's coming from a Honda fanboy as well!
A FiSTed Fit would be a really fantastic package. The only thing missing would be the distinctive styling the ST has, which I'm crazy about. What can I say? I like catching bigmouth bass and catfish too!
 


OP
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Thread Starter #12
Update. I have a little over 2900 mi on my FiST now. The engine has become more tractable at sub 1800 rpms, and I'm not afraid to rev her. I play the mileage game a fair bit, the other day I was averaging over 50 mpg in the six miles after fill up, mainly due to the 45 mph road I was driving. I've also been indulging in jackrabbit starts at stop lights. The Fit excelled at this due to it Hondaesque engine response off the line, and the super fast shifting that only an automatic can manage. Of course, the Fit never chirped its tires during these shenannigans. The FiST has a very short first gear, which means A) It takes a lot of revs to avoid an early, slow shift which will kill your momentum, and B) Lots of revs + low gearing = very quick acceleration. You hit second on full boost, and the cars you shared the light with become very small indeed in your mirror. Juvenile, yes. Fun, definitely!
 


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#13
Holy, we are like long lost twins!

I too owned a 2007 Honda Fit, I had not found another fun hatchback that compared to it until I came across my FiST
 


OP
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Thread Starter #14
Holy, we are like long lost twins!

I too owned a 2007 Honda Fit, I had not found another fun hatchback that compared to it until I came across my FiST
What's up Bro! They say you can predict what a pet owner is like by looking at their dog. Maybe that's true for cars too [cheers]
 


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Blue Grass area of
#15
My wife's daily is an '08 Fit sport with auto. It is a great little car and especially like the utility of being able to fold up the bottom of the rear seats and putting something four feet tall in there. When I drive it I tend to put it in manual mode and use the paddles to shift because I do not like how the transmission is constantly shifting. The original tires were finally replaced by a set of Dunlop Direzza DZ102 when the summer wheels went back on this spring and the cornering performance is impressive - still could use another 50 more lb ft of torque to really be able to keep the FiST in sight for very long [:p]
 


OP
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Thread Starter #16
My wife's daily is an '08 Fit sport with auto. It is a great little car and especially like the utility of being able to fold up the bottom of the rear seats and putting something four feet tall in there. When I drive it I tend to put it in manual mode and use the paddles to shift because I do not like how the transmission is constantly shifting. The original tires were finally replaced by a set of Dunlop Direzza DZ102 when the summer wheels went back on this spring and the cornering performance is impressive - still could use another 50 more lb ft or torque to really be able to keep the FiST in sight for very long [:p]
Right on! The best tires My Fit ever got or Yokohama YK580's. You can only get them at Discount Tire. They are stiff, sticky, comfortable, quiet, and last a long time. Kind of miraculous. Unfortunately, they don't come in 205 / 40R17s.
 




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