Howdy all! My name is John and I'm checking in from Austin, Texas. There's not a whole lot new to say about this amazing little car at this point, but I'm going to try to offer my perspective since I'm a writer and I like contributing to the super-helpful forums.
Last June I finally bought what I thought was my dream car--the 2015 Subaru STI. I test drove a few really awesome cars when looking for something to replace my MkVI GTI. The VDub was full APR Stage 2, on AST coilovers and BBS CKs. I owned that thing for four years and almost fifty thousand miles (aka twice as long as any other car I've ever had). Before the GTI, I had an Evo X. In other words, the bar was pretty dang high. I checked out the BMW M235i, the STI, the Audi S4, the MkVI Golf R.. Basically all the manual transmission enthusiast cars that have back seats/space for bikes/cost <$45k. I chose the Subaru because I got to test drive it on epic backroads in the Texas countryside and because it was a Subaru. That is, even if I could buy the BMW or the Audi, I didn't feel like they were 'me'. I had an agreement to purchase a fairly base M235i from the local BMW dealer and when I went to check it out one last time before signing papers, I got a bit self-conscious about walking into that showroom. That, and the Motor Trend article that placed the STI ahead of the Bimmer and the CLA45 AMG. Yes, I put a little too much stock in what car writers said..
Long story short, car magazines forget that we have to drive the cars we own every day. I don't have the luxury of owning two cars, so the same car I have fun in when I'm on the backroads is the car I drive to work, on dates, to the trailhead, etc. And for every riotous farm-to-market road outside the city limits, there are twenty urban streets that I drive on. The STI was an amazing sports car with immaculate driver feedback--manual steering, rod-actuated transmission, a clutch that required at least 80 lbs. worth of lefty leg-press strength--but it was also stuck in another era. The aging EJ motor got abysmal gas mileage (I don't even drive hard), needed revs to be on boost, hated to rev, and made me, a very experienced manual driver, occasionally look like a complete clown. To get the most out of the Subaru, you had to drive it at 8/10ths or better. And because it's so damn capable, 8/10ths translates to 'way too fast' for almost every setting. I often compared the driving experience of the STI to that of an 80s 911 Turbo, for better and for worse. I felt like I was living out the adage about driving a "fast car slow" and not enjoying it at all.
I began to realize that the same GTI I had some minor complaint about every day was also a million times more fun to drive every day. Sure, front wheel drive has its limitations, but it also made for stupid gas mileage, a lightweight car, and the ability to take me from Death Valley to Mount Evans and everywhere in between. Plus, I live in Texas and while it was fun to blast around in the Subie when the thunderstorms came, I have perfect road conditions 95% of the time. I yearned for the fun of switching lanes, shifting whenever I felt like it instead of to stay in the very narrow and aggressive powerband, and the ability to corner like a maniac every day without breaking any laws (by very much).
Enter the ST
If my intro was TL;DR, start here.
I began to wonder what it'd be like to have more money in the bank, spend less on fuel, and own a car that you could drive hard everywhere without being an asshole.
I'm a cyclist and an earth lover and I try to be at least somewhat kind to others on the road and on this planet.
I test drove the MkVII GTI and was amazed at how well it imitated the Audi S4 I had looked at last summer. Then I'd get back in the STI and start to think that maybe I was wrong for even considering a trade. The new Golf R is going to be a hell of a car though, let me tell ya.
After the Motor Trend Best Driver's Car issue rated the Fiesta ST ahead of the STI, I began to wonder. It had never been on my radar before. No excuse for that. Also, no excuse for me putting stock in a car magazine after they had convinced me to buy a car that was superior to its comparison-mates in only one setting: balls out on a racetrack. I swear I'm not that easily swayed. I think I bought the Subie because my ex-girlfriend hated the fact that I wanted one instead of a BMW. I have issues.
On a whim I stopped by a local Ford dealership that had a Fiesta ST in stock. Tuxedo black with Recaros. First impressions: this thing is tiny. The seats are as good as my Evo. The interior is just as nice as the Subaru.
Then I took it out and drove it. Lane changes, lift-throttle oversteer, double downshifts, damn. For a few months I'd started to think I was losing my car-guy mojo. I had one of the most revered driver's cars out there, but I wasn't in love with it. I even toyed with the idea of getting the Launch Edition Golf R with DSG. The horror! Even with a salesman riding shotgun and a rather limited test loop, I could tell that this thing was more than the sum of its parts by a large degree.
I started staying up late browsing the forums, learning about what could be done to them, what other cars people had come from to get into the Fiesta, wondering if it was really as good as everyone said.
Less than an hour after my second test drive, I saw Ian from Cobb parking his iconic white and red FiST a block from my destination in downtown Austin. I pulled over and accosted him about it, and he almost had me convinced to go back to the dealership that second. The following Monday I drove out to Cobb HQ and got a proper ride in his ST, and that was all she wrote.
I Bought One!
Three days later I picked up my own Fiesta ST, in Tuxedo Black with Recaros/sunroof/nav. It's easier to drive than the STI, more fun than any car I've ever owned, and really doesn't feel like a penalty box in any way. Ford is doing a hell of a job with their cars, and the ST folks have taken that to the next level. This is my first American car and I could not be more pleased with it. I've driven it from Austin to Fort Worth, oversteered the piss out of it, and driven it like a totally sane, respectful, and normal person. In every situation it has tromped the Subaru. I had huge pangs of regret on my last half-hour drive to the dealership to make the trade official.
Now I have none. In my stoked new-car-fervor driving, I still averaged almost 27 mpg, all city. On a roadtrip that saw an average speed of 74 mph into massive headwinds, I was in the 28-29 range. I took my dad out in it yesterday and he had the same reaction as I did.
Kudos to Ford for building a historically great car. It's as good as all the so-called experts say it is, and then some. Car magazines so often neglect the most important aspects of cars, like what it's like to drive at 5/10ths, or how often you can drive them at 8/10ths, or if it makes you want to drive with no destination. I haven't owned a car that had me this excited about driving or modding or researching since the Evo X. I modded the GTI over the course of about two weeks, so I was spoiled from virtually day one.
I stopped by Cobb HQ in the new car and the guys couldn't believe it. But here's the deal with the Fiesta ST: it's not just a great car for its price range, it's a great car, period. It may not put up the same numbers as some competition on the track, but it is a literal fiesta to drive, whether you're going to the grocery store or taking it out for drives with no destination. And even when you're having a blast, nobody notices, nobody gets hurt, and you get better gas mileage than almost everybody else on the road.
What's Next
I can see myself owning this thing for a long time, and I'm so stoked to start modding it and to become a part of this amazing community. Since I'm usually an earlier-adopter with performance cars like this, I'm not used to having so much catching up to do with what's been said and what's been done. I'm having a blast reading through the forums and daydreaming about the order I'll be upgrading the car.
I got my Accessport switched from STI to ST at Cobb's headquarters and picked up a Cobb shift knob. Meeting the people and seeing the place where the magic happens has turned me into a total junkie. I've been rockin' Cobb since my 2008 Evo (aside from the foray into the VAG world) and envision that continuing. Riding in Ian's Stage 3 ST blew me away!
Still, with the Fiesta's forte being daily drivability, fun without felonies, and stupid-good handling, I think I'll be spending at least as much effort on preserving or improving the handling side of things.
It's cool how much weight we can save and grip we can gain with a wheel/tire upgrade! And how dang affordable nice coilovers are for these cars.
Basically, I'll be doing way too much research, writing way too much about my mods, and trying to make the Fiesta more of what it already is without undoing the brilliant accomplishments of the Ford engineers.
Cheers and party on!
Last June I finally bought what I thought was my dream car--the 2015 Subaru STI. I test drove a few really awesome cars when looking for something to replace my MkVI GTI. The VDub was full APR Stage 2, on AST coilovers and BBS CKs. I owned that thing for four years and almost fifty thousand miles (aka twice as long as any other car I've ever had). Before the GTI, I had an Evo X. In other words, the bar was pretty dang high. I checked out the BMW M235i, the STI, the Audi S4, the MkVI Golf R.. Basically all the manual transmission enthusiast cars that have back seats/space for bikes/cost <$45k. I chose the Subaru because I got to test drive it on epic backroads in the Texas countryside and because it was a Subaru. That is, even if I could buy the BMW or the Audi, I didn't feel like they were 'me'. I had an agreement to purchase a fairly base M235i from the local BMW dealer and when I went to check it out one last time before signing papers, I got a bit self-conscious about walking into that showroom. That, and the Motor Trend article that placed the STI ahead of the Bimmer and the CLA45 AMG. Yes, I put a little too much stock in what car writers said..
Long story short, car magazines forget that we have to drive the cars we own every day. I don't have the luxury of owning two cars, so the same car I have fun in when I'm on the backroads is the car I drive to work, on dates, to the trailhead, etc. And for every riotous farm-to-market road outside the city limits, there are twenty urban streets that I drive on. The STI was an amazing sports car with immaculate driver feedback--manual steering, rod-actuated transmission, a clutch that required at least 80 lbs. worth of lefty leg-press strength--but it was also stuck in another era. The aging EJ motor got abysmal gas mileage (I don't even drive hard), needed revs to be on boost, hated to rev, and made me, a very experienced manual driver, occasionally look like a complete clown. To get the most out of the Subaru, you had to drive it at 8/10ths or better. And because it's so damn capable, 8/10ths translates to 'way too fast' for almost every setting. I often compared the driving experience of the STI to that of an 80s 911 Turbo, for better and for worse. I felt like I was living out the adage about driving a "fast car slow" and not enjoying it at all.
I began to realize that the same GTI I had some minor complaint about every day was also a million times more fun to drive every day. Sure, front wheel drive has its limitations, but it also made for stupid gas mileage, a lightweight car, and the ability to take me from Death Valley to Mount Evans and everywhere in between. Plus, I live in Texas and while it was fun to blast around in the Subie when the thunderstorms came, I have perfect road conditions 95% of the time. I yearned for the fun of switching lanes, shifting whenever I felt like it instead of to stay in the very narrow and aggressive powerband, and the ability to corner like a maniac every day without breaking any laws (by very much).
Enter the ST
If my intro was TL;DR, start here.
I began to wonder what it'd be like to have more money in the bank, spend less on fuel, and own a car that you could drive hard everywhere without being an asshole.
I'm a cyclist and an earth lover and I try to be at least somewhat kind to others on the road and on this planet.
I test drove the MkVII GTI and was amazed at how well it imitated the Audi S4 I had looked at last summer. Then I'd get back in the STI and start to think that maybe I was wrong for even considering a trade. The new Golf R is going to be a hell of a car though, let me tell ya.
After the Motor Trend Best Driver's Car issue rated the Fiesta ST ahead of the STI, I began to wonder. It had never been on my radar before. No excuse for that. Also, no excuse for me putting stock in a car magazine after they had convinced me to buy a car that was superior to its comparison-mates in only one setting: balls out on a racetrack. I swear I'm not that easily swayed. I think I bought the Subie because my ex-girlfriend hated the fact that I wanted one instead of a BMW. I have issues.
On a whim I stopped by a local Ford dealership that had a Fiesta ST in stock. Tuxedo black with Recaros. First impressions: this thing is tiny. The seats are as good as my Evo. The interior is just as nice as the Subaru.
Then I took it out and drove it. Lane changes, lift-throttle oversteer, double downshifts, damn. For a few months I'd started to think I was losing my car-guy mojo. I had one of the most revered driver's cars out there, but I wasn't in love with it. I even toyed with the idea of getting the Launch Edition Golf R with DSG. The horror! Even with a salesman riding shotgun and a rather limited test loop, I could tell that this thing was more than the sum of its parts by a large degree.
I started staying up late browsing the forums, learning about what could be done to them, what other cars people had come from to get into the Fiesta, wondering if it was really as good as everyone said.
Less than an hour after my second test drive, I saw Ian from Cobb parking his iconic white and red FiST a block from my destination in downtown Austin. I pulled over and accosted him about it, and he almost had me convinced to go back to the dealership that second. The following Monday I drove out to Cobb HQ and got a proper ride in his ST, and that was all she wrote.
I Bought One!
Three days later I picked up my own Fiesta ST, in Tuxedo Black with Recaros/sunroof/nav. It's easier to drive than the STI, more fun than any car I've ever owned, and really doesn't feel like a penalty box in any way. Ford is doing a hell of a job with their cars, and the ST folks have taken that to the next level. This is my first American car and I could not be more pleased with it. I've driven it from Austin to Fort Worth, oversteered the piss out of it, and driven it like a totally sane, respectful, and normal person. In every situation it has tromped the Subaru. I had huge pangs of regret on my last half-hour drive to the dealership to make the trade official.
Now I have none. In my stoked new-car-fervor driving, I still averaged almost 27 mpg, all city. On a roadtrip that saw an average speed of 74 mph into massive headwinds, I was in the 28-29 range. I took my dad out in it yesterday and he had the same reaction as I did.
Kudos to Ford for building a historically great car. It's as good as all the so-called experts say it is, and then some. Car magazines so often neglect the most important aspects of cars, like what it's like to drive at 5/10ths, or how often you can drive them at 8/10ths, or if it makes you want to drive with no destination. I haven't owned a car that had me this excited about driving or modding or researching since the Evo X. I modded the GTI over the course of about two weeks, so I was spoiled from virtually day one.
I stopped by Cobb HQ in the new car and the guys couldn't believe it. But here's the deal with the Fiesta ST: it's not just a great car for its price range, it's a great car, period. It may not put up the same numbers as some competition on the track, but it is a literal fiesta to drive, whether you're going to the grocery store or taking it out for drives with no destination. And even when you're having a blast, nobody notices, nobody gets hurt, and you get better gas mileage than almost everybody else on the road.
What's Next
I can see myself owning this thing for a long time, and I'm so stoked to start modding it and to become a part of this amazing community. Since I'm usually an earlier-adopter with performance cars like this, I'm not used to having so much catching up to do with what's been said and what's been done. I'm having a blast reading through the forums and daydreaming about the order I'll be upgrading the car.
I got my Accessport switched from STI to ST at Cobb's headquarters and picked up a Cobb shift knob. Meeting the people and seeing the place where the magic happens has turned me into a total junkie. I've been rockin' Cobb since my 2008 Evo (aside from the foray into the VAG world) and envision that continuing. Riding in Ian's Stage 3 ST blew me away!
Still, with the Fiesta's forte being daily drivability, fun without felonies, and stupid-good handling, I think I'll be spending at least as much effort on preserving or improving the handling side of things.
It's cool how much weight we can save and grip we can gain with a wheel/tire upgrade! And how dang affordable nice coilovers are for these cars.
Basically, I'll be doing way too much research, writing way too much about my mods, and trying to make the Fiesta more of what it already is without undoing the brilliant accomplishments of the Ford engineers.
Cheers and party on!
![[perfect10]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_perfect10.gif "Perfect 10 [perfect10]"){kind=icon}
![[grinking]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_biggrinking.gif "Grinning King [grinking]"){kind=icon}
![[welcome]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_welcome.gif "Welcome [welcome]"){kind=icon}
![[lovest]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_ilovest.gif "Love ST [lovest]"){kind=icon}
