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5000 mile review

Messages
31
Likes
10
Location
Near Knoxville
#1
I'm about to hit 5000 miles on my 2018 FiST, and thought I'd post my thoughts so far. First off, a little about me. I'm mid-50's and my last two cars were a Honda Fit and VW Jetta with the 1.4t. Pretty basic cars.

Exterior: I like the understated look of our cars. Mine's black, with the dark rims/red calipers, and I think it looks really sharp, but it almost never gets a second look, which is fine with me. I've only seen one other FiST, and one other FoST, since I got mine, so most people don't know what it is. Again, fine with me. I've already had a couple of chips in the paint, rocks I guess, and they really show up with the black finish. I need to get some touch-up at the dealer. I wish we had more options for mud flaps, but I guess I'll break down eventually and get some Rally Armors.

Interior: Not bad, at least for the passengers in the fronts seats. I have the standard, (non-Recaro), seats and find them pretty comfortable. I drove one with the Recaros and could have lived with them, but my wife would never had ridden with me if I'd gotten them. She's claustrophobic. Also some other members of my family are pretty big dudes, and it just wouldn't have worked. I do miss the extra bolstering occasionally, but find the stock seats work for me. They are a LOT better than the seats in the Jetta. In fact that was the biggest reason I traded it. I couldn't sit in them for more than an hour. They were just terrible. The rest of the FiST's interior is pretty standard economy car, mostly functional with a few odd quirks. The stalks on the steering column seem a little far away, and using the touchscreen is a reach. I also wish it had a more pronounced dead pedal area. But all in all, it's comfortable and functional in a simple kind of way, which is what I like. I've also had no rattles or squeaks so far. The back seat works for my grandkids and my dogs, and that's about it.

Engine and transmission: I know I'll eventually get a tune, but I'm pretty happy with the stock power. It still makes me smile, and it's nice to have power to pass when I need to. My jetta's 1.4t was smoother, though of course didn't make near the power. I like the transmission and the shifter, though I'm still trying to get things dialed in. I put a Mojo Manufacturing shift kit on, which makes some difference, but I'd like to see what else I could do make the shifts a little shorter. I may try a different shift knob, too. I also did the $3.50 stealth symposer delete as I got tired of pumped in sound. Made a big difference, and I would highly recommend it. I don't drop the clutch or drag race, and have had no issues with the rear motor mount, either. I'm averaging 29-30 mpg, which is not bad considering I tend to get in the turbo a lot.

Handling: The only other car I've owned that compares is a Ford Contour SVT I briefly had years ago. This thing is a go-kart. There are plenty of curvy roads near where I live and I am having a blast so far. I'm no where near the car's limits, in fact I still have the, "Training wheels," on, (Stability Control), but I'm still learning. I was a little concerned about the ride, having read some negative comments, but I really haven't found it to be too bad. I guess I'm lucky that the roads around here are in pretty good shape. I like the fact that I feel the undulations and irregularities; makes me feel more engaged. The handling is definitely the high point of the car so far.

Sync/audio system: ...And now for the low point. In short, the sound system stinks. It's not as good as the one in my Fit or my Jetta. I bought an underseat sub but haven't installed it yet, and will be replacing the door speakers. And my Sync is wonky. I'm taking it in this week to have it looked at. It died completely the other day, and has had other issues. Ugh.

So to sum up, I really, really, like my ST. Our relationship is off to a great start, and with a little work on the sound system I think I could be falling in love!

So tell me what you think of your FiST.
 


Messages
20
Likes
15
Location
Austin
#3
Nice review. I'm almost at 2,000 miles on my 2018.

When I first installed the shifter plate it was an improvement. It was still lackluster and I just installed Boomba short shifter this past weekend. It was a big improvement. Still not as short as my STI but it is more than adequate. Something you might want to look into.

If you end up getting the Boomba short shifter keep in mind the instruction are wrong for 2018. See here for the correct part to shave.
 


green_henry

1000 Post Club
Messages
1,028
Likes
757
Location
Pleasant Hill, CA
#4
I agree completely on the sound system -- it's definitely the most obvious wart on an otherwise awesome car. The tweeter position is really what kills it for me; if it were on the A-pillar or the dash, it wouldn't be nearly as bad. If you replace any of the stock speakers, please let us know how it goes!
 


Clint Beastwood

2000 Post Club
Messages
2,591
Likes
2,338
Location
Laguna beach
#5
Aw man I’m way behind, I had a string of arm surgeries right after I bought my fist so I’m just hitting 5k on my ‘17 lol

Smart move beastwood, buying a stick before arm surgery lol
 


Messages
411
Likes
98
Location
Bedford
#6
Yeah, going from aftermarket everything for sound on my old car with an 8" sub to this car's sound it was a let down. The Sync 3 touchscreen system is really pretty laggy way too often on my car. People say it's fast for them, so maybe I got a defective one. The one time I had the dealer look at it it worked fine. Pressing physical buttons usually work fine, but the touchscreen is the issue. It's not something I want lagging on me when I'm trying to drive and quick press a button on the screen... I'd just swap it out if the system wasn't so integrated into the car.

Other than that the Fiesta ST makes for a great daily driver and is still fully capable on the twisty roads.
 


Messages
106
Likes
22
Location
Lawrence
#7
I have just under 9k miles on mine. I am moderately modded. I do not drag, have not autocrossed it (yet, waiting to pay it off first). The car gets 30 mpg still. I have owned a true S13 while I was stationed in Japan, '74 mini, 91 GSX, '08 MSP3 and now my FiST. This has been, by far, my favorite car. Everything is still "like new" in my car and works great. Being a 2017 model, I use Apple Carplay so no complaints there. The speakers are weak, yes however, I enjoy the sound of my engine more so again, no complaints from me! Thanks for sharing, glad you are enjoying your FiST as much as me!!!
 


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