Considering switch from 370z to ST

[Kram]

I've been considering a switch from my '13 370z to a FiST and had a few questions I'd like to get your opinion on. How many of you have switched from sports cars to the FiST and would you do it again? Has the fun-to-driveness worn off at all over time? It seems like their are a good amount of aftermarket support which I like. And the forum seems to be active with a lot of helpful people which is always a plus in my book!

 

[kymerah]

I too switched from a sports car (07 350z in solar orange) to this car. Now you know driving a z is tons of fun but at times your fearful for the wonderful blind spots the tiny tiny windows creates haha and for myself I had to have another car to drive in winter months just to have the z so from my perspective it was 2x insurance 2x maintenance for 2 cars instead of one. also this car is super easy to upgrade and way cheaper for parts than the z was. example the nismo twin intake on mine was 530 vs I bought a cobb intake for 290. and don't even get me started on how much cheaper the tires are haha

all in all I loved the z and like all 2 seaters you get what you pay for, but if I were to do it all again I would buy another FiST and ditch the z.

My last piece of advice is go and drive one if you haven already, yes there will be a drop in power but consider how small the car is compared to the z. LIke you will read on here most owners test drove a focus st and the fiesta st and chose the fiesta instead. the fiesta won me over and im sure once you try one out it will get you too.

6 payments later and still a smile everytime I drive it. =)

 

[JPGC]

I've been considering a switch from my '13 370z to a FiST and had a few questions I'd like to get your opinion on. How many of you have switched from sports cars to the FiST and would you do it again? Has the fun-to-driveness worn off at all over time? It seems like their are a good amount of aftermarket support which I like. And the forum seems to be active with a lot of helpful people which is always a plus in my book!

I think you will find here that quite a few of us have had, have or switched from other sports cars. I personally have a 2013 Mustang and traded a 2011 Mustang for the FiST. I also recently sold a 88 notchback mustang as well. I have owned many Fords, Chevys, Subarus and Hondas. Yes, I would buy the FiST again and I consider one of my favorites of cars that I have owned. It's great at what it does... Kind of the best of both worlds per se. A little bit of muscle car, a little bit of sports car and a little bit of American and European racing heritage in a little grocery getter. I have had a lot of really fast cars and this car is just as, if not more fun.

 

[AT-ST]

2010 Camaro 2SS/RS ---> 2010.5 SVT Raptor with the 6.2L -------> 2014 Fiesta ST (over a year now.)

I don't miss the Camaro one bit to be honest. Driving the FiST is way more fun for myself personally. It's cheaper on gas+insurance+purchase price, more practical, absolutely love the handling. Sure it has less power, but I was never nearly as happy in the Camaro as I am daily in the FiST.

I do miss my Raptor. I would love to have it back. I hope to get another in the near future.

Zero regrets buying a FiST though. I don't see myself tiring of it anytime soon.

To me, the Camaro was the hot chick that just lay there and dug holes in the wallet. Whereas the FiST is the super fun cute chick, with never ending energy and all the right moves.. but somehow still low maintenance. One's a keeper, and one was a fun while it lasted memory.

 

[wspec]

I switched from a 04 350z (few upgrades) I drove for 8 years. I switched because I finally needed to carry car seats.
I don't regret the switch at all, the only things I do miss from it was the ability to do a smoky slide around corners and the exhaust note at full sing was much better.
But in exchange for that I got a more fun driving experience that got me excited about tuning again, and with my upgrades it won't actually be any slower in a straight line.

 

[TaylorFade]

Last few cars were a '02 WRX---- 2012 STi--- BMW 135i

Traded the BMW in on the FiST and 8 months later I don't regret it one bit. I love this damn car.

 

[Kram]

Thanks for the replies! Sounds like I need to go for a test drive. I know it is all speculation at this point, but what do you think the odds of a Fiesta RS coming out within the next year or so are?

 

[CanadianST]

I almost did the opposite of you and traded my ST for a 370z as it was on of my dream cars but after the test drive drove away quite happy with my little car.

Stock vs Stock the Z would more than likely eat the ST alive on anything other than a super twisty road but modded up like mine was another story. Down low there was no contest 100% ST all the way, pulled way harder, shifter/clutch felt much nicer just generally felt much more appealing to me, once you got up over 60mph the Z definitely felt stronger and continued to pull much more but I felt somewhat disconnected from the car. That being said since i just lost my ST to a storage fire and none of my mods were covered i'm seriously looking at picking up a Z

 

[RAAMaudio]

I have owned many different types of performance cars up to a highly modded C6 Vette and in the end, small low weight cars are just more fun and with the added room of the ST over say a modded Miata(I have had many), far more practical and safer. I was building a $40k plus 97' 300NA HP 332it, CA edition, had all the parts, car apart on my lift, took off for the winter last year, was bored one day so went to look at cars, drove the FiST 2 blocks, went and got my wife, went for a couple of mile drive, we both loved it and bought it, hauled it to Utah and started the mods, still love it. 47 years of modding cars and this might be my favorite one yet

Soon it will have around 300 WHP and FT LBS, which is much more than I really need and might tune it back for HPDE events on some less forgiving tracks but it sure will be fun to put a hurt on some "faster" cars out there, as I have already done to quite a few on track with far less power

 

[horrorbiz]

Thanks for the replies! Sounds like I need to go for a test drive. I know it is all speculation at this point, but what do you think the odds of a Fiesta RS coming out within the next year or so are?

I really don't imagine the RS will be out within a year. I also own a BRZ, I love it and I'm lucky enough that I can keep both. But, if I had to get rid of it and only have the FiST I'd be okay for sure. I have the Cobb stage 3 package with a protune and it's hilarious. It feels like a tiny rocket.

 

[RAAMaudio]

I like the BRZ but far to small to fit our dogs and that engine, so costly to make power and be reliable in the WRX and STI, not sure I would want to boost it very high. At the track there were 5 or 6 of them, one quite nicely modded for track use, with just over 200WHP I was not that much faster on the main straight but easily kept up in the corners and passed it on shorter straights as well. If you could just fit an LS under the hood, it would be a very cool car but that engine.......

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RS Fiesta, I would not hold my breath for one to come out, especially in the current model cycle, I would not want one in AWD as I find AWD far less fun than RWD or FWD, I doubt I will have any issues dealing with on one the track if it does come out either but my car is quite far from stock.

But I would probably want one anyway it came, it could be my street car and my current one could become my track car

 

[Teezlr]

I've been considering a switch from my '13 370z to a FiST and had a few questions I'd like to get your opinion on. How many of you have switched from sports cars to the FiST and would you do it again? Has the fun-to-driveness worn off at all over time? It seems like their are a good amount of aftermarket support which I like. And the forum seems to be active with a lot of helpful people which is always a plus in my book!

You won't be dissapointed, its hard to go back to big heavy sports cars after driving a torquey and responsive light weight car with quick steering and tight suspension.... plus all the modern tech!

 

[horrorbiz]

I like the BRZ but far to small to fit our dogs and that engine, so costly to make power and be reliable in the WRX and STI, not sure I would want to boost it very high. At the track there were 5 or 6 of them, one quite nicely modded for track use, with just over 200WHP I was not that much faster on the main straight but easily kept up in the corners and passed it on shorter straights as well. If you could just fit an LS under the hood, it would be a very cool car but that engine.......

My BRZ has header + catback and drop in filter and it's just under 200whp. The torque is still pretty low at around 160... but with the sticky tires I have I can't imagine the FiST being faster on a track. Don't get me wrong, I love my FiST and it's very fun to drive, the BRZ just has an amazing balance to it.

In terms of the WRX and STI, the STI is still using the old EJ25, the '15 WRX has the FA20 and is making a ton of power with a tune and minimal mods. The FA20 is proving to be a strong motor. Many people are running very reliable supercharger setups on the BRZ with minimal boost, putting out high 2XXwhp. That said, the BRZ is not the most practical car, so if I couldn't have both I'd have to let it go.

 

[RAAMaudio]

Thanks for the info, glad the FA20 is working out so well, I had to let a very highly modded and very quick on track FXT due to the cost to make the power I wanted from it.

I was honestly shocked to be able to get around that BRZ though my car is far more modded than most FiSTs so an equal mod BRZ may of not been passable by my FiST. Of course how much one pushes the car can matter, I go all out, all the time, some drivers choose to take it a bit easier.

I actually wanted to buy one and still would not mind having one but the FiST was the only car that fit all my needs expect the 332ti I was building which is an old car, old safety issues, harder on fuel on the street. It was going to be 100% rebuilt which is even more work than all the mods on the FiST and simple just not as cool no matter what I would of done. I parted out the ti and gave the chassis to a disabled buddy as he needed something to play with and loves them. I did love the huge sliding sunroof on a quite rare car, that I miss.

 

[RAAMaudio]

Back on topic here, The FiST is an amazing little car that can fill many needs but might not make everyone as happy as most of us are so make sure to really check them out before making the change

 

[sharpie]

I went from a '99 M3 to this. I miss the infinite torque, but that's about it. And when I say I miss the torque, it's really just in gears 1, 2 and 6. The M3 was a 5-speed, and the Fiesta's first two gears are torque-limited.

 

[horrorbiz]

I went from a '99 M3 to this. I miss the infinite torque, but that's about it. And when I say I miss the torque, it's really just in gears 1, 2 and 6. The M3 was a 5-speed, and the Fiesta's first two gears are torque-limited.

That limiting in the first 2 gears is easily corrected with a tune via the Cobb Accessport. My car with the Cobb stage 3 package has more torque than this little car knows what to do with.

 

[shook sez]

2010 Camaro 2SS/RS ---> 2010.5 SVT Raptor with the 6.2L -------> 2014 Fiesta ST (over a year now.)

I don't miss the Camaro one bit to be honest. Driving the FiST is way more fun for myself personally. It's cheaper on gas+insurance+purchase price, more practical, absolutely love the handling. Sure it has less power, but I was never nearly as happy in the Camaro as I am daily in the FiST.

I do miss my Raptor. I would love to have it back. I hope to get another in the near future.

Zero regrets buying a FiST though. I don't see myself tiring of it anytime soon.

To me, the Camaro was the hot chick that just lay there and dug holes in the wallet. Whereas the FiST is the super fun cute chick, with never ending energy and all the right moves.. but somehow still low maintenance. One's a keeper, and one was a fun while it lasted memory.

I too had a Camaro, 2013 RS convertible. by no stretch of the imagination do I consider it a sports ca. r overweight, blind spots, too damned big. It took tug boats to park the thing. t'was a beautiful car though. driveway jewelry is what it is.
love the fist, good riddance to the camaro

 

[me32]

It depends what you need the car for. The 370z is alot more powerful and faster. The ST really is just a great fun DD thats great for commuting. For all out fun for me nothing beats the power of the mustang an looks.

 

[AT-ST]

I went from a '99 M3 to this. I miss the infinite torque, but that's about it. And when I say I miss the torque, it's really just in gears 1, 2 and 6. The M3 was a 5-speed, and the Fiesta's first two gears are torque-limited.

Yeah, I miss having more torque in 1st/2nd as well. It's not a big enough issue to bother me that much.. But I certainly could go for some more.