I bought a Fiesta in summer of 2012 because I fell in love with the driving dynamic of the car and the look and options. Before long, I wanted more power. Looked around to put some mods in it... but as you probably know, it's a bust for the base Fiesta. Then, they announced the FiST. Oh boy did I wanted that car. I went for a test drive in the first one my dealership got and it was everything I thought it would be and even better. Unfortunately, at that point in time the money was not there, so I had to wait.
In the meantime, I was able to test drive the competition. If I'm going to eventually change my car, might as well go for the best in the segment, maybe go a size bigger with more power... Well the best in the segment is the FiST.
Test drove the Focus ST, felt too big and just a Focus with more power.
Went for a GTI (current and previous gen), again just felt like a faster car without much more.
Mazdaspeed3: was probably the closest for me, but older and felt much bigger.
The WRX had the big advantage of AWD, but the fun factor wasn't there as much as the FiST.
I tried the Veloster Turbo, but that was probably the worst for "I'm just faster than the base model and nothing else", lots of turbo lag.
I eventually was able to get a used 2014 FiST with 42000km for a good deal and that's easily the best and most impressive car I ever drove.* All of those cars were really good, but I was always coming back to the FiST. On paper, I wanted to go for the GTI. Then I drove it. Then I wanted the WRX. Then I drove it. Then I wanted an RS. Then I saw the price.
I don't understand how Ford managed to get everything so right for so cheap. I'm confident in what they can do with the new one coming in 2018, but boy would I love if they made a Fiesta RS (and yes I want AWD with around 250hp)
*I never drove a Ferrari, GTR or the likes