I got my first chance to wring out the ST on a twisty road over the weekend, and all I can say is that this car handles better than anything I've ever driven. Granted, the best handling cars I've driven have been autocross-prepped Mustangs, which might not be saying much.
My wife and I were going to visit family in Palm Springs on Saturday, then go see my mom in San Diego on Sunday for Mother's Day. I suggested we take the FIST, because it gets such good gas mileage. I had an ulterior motive, however. Getting ready to leave on Sunday morning, we had two options - make a giant "L" on two freeways to get out of Palm Springs back to Riverside, then down to San Diego. Or, take the hypotenuse, which is a luscious, twisty road south of Palm Desert called the "Palms to Pines" highway. Highway 74 switch-backs up over a mountain, and is one of my favorite places to drive a fast car. Watch the opening scene of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", with the main actors racing down a twisty mountain road, and you'll see where I'm talking about.
It was early enough in the morning that the rental car tourists weren't up yet, and the only thing in front of us, luckily, was an E36 M3. He was definitely not going to hold us up! The FIST handled like a slot car going around the corners. It was the most effortless cornering I've ever driven, and much less dramatic than my Mustangs. In my last Mustang, at speed around corners, my wife would have been clawing at the door handle. But, in the FIST, she sat quietly, and remarked about how smooth the car felt going around the corners.
When we got to the top of the hill and the road straightened out, she said "Ok, I get it now. I see why you wanted this car so much."
My wife and I were going to visit family in Palm Springs on Saturday, then go see my mom in San Diego on Sunday for Mother's Day. I suggested we take the FIST, because it gets such good gas mileage. I had an ulterior motive, however. Getting ready to leave on Sunday morning, we had two options - make a giant "L" on two freeways to get out of Palm Springs back to Riverside, then down to San Diego. Or, take the hypotenuse, which is a luscious, twisty road south of Palm Desert called the "Palms to Pines" highway. Highway 74 switch-backs up over a mountain, and is one of my favorite places to drive a fast car. Watch the opening scene of "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World", with the main actors racing down a twisty mountain road, and you'll see where I'm talking about.
It was early enough in the morning that the rental car tourists weren't up yet, and the only thing in front of us, luckily, was an E36 M3. He was definitely not going to hold us up! The FIST handled like a slot car going around the corners. It was the most effortless cornering I've ever driven, and much less dramatic than my Mustangs. In my last Mustang, at speed around corners, my wife would have been clawing at the door handle. But, in the FIST, she sat quietly, and remarked about how smooth the car felt going around the corners.
When we got to the top of the hill and the road straightened out, she said "Ok, I get it now. I see why you wanted this car so much."