2017 FiST STL area

Previous Focus RS owner, picked up a 2017 orange spice ST as a part time daily. I have been looking at a couple of RS again, hoping to find a 2018 with front LSD but no dice. Lots of heavily modified and salvage titled cars which was as expected but not what I was looking for. Then I ran across the Fiesta ST and since my brother in law had owned one decided to do a bit of research on the car. One test drive and I was hooked. There have only been a handful of cars (and I have owned 66 in my lifetime) that engaged me immediately and also represented a solid platform for some sensible tuning and the Fiesta definitely checked some boxes. At any rate I am a new FiST owner and here to research listen and contribute when I can. Past cars include 8 VW GTi's, MKIV R32 and a couple of MK1 Scirroco's, a couple of BMW 2002's, E36 M3 and Z3 MCoupe as well as a couple of bi-turbo S4's, an EVO VIII and DSM TALON GSX, 5 turbo Subaru's, a Grand National Buick, an RX8 and the Focus RS. I still have a GMC Syclone as well as my sons FD RX7 project and my other sons Type R civic sitting in the garage.

Bottom line is I am a pretty jaded guy when it comes to cars but the Fiesta ST definitely puts a smile on my face! In my experience for me personally its not about the top speed, 0-60 or 1/4 mile times but really how much fun is the car to drive. In a short period of time I can say this is very similar to the early 84 GTi rabbit which wasn't fast but super fun to drive. No nonsense driving fun. something like that on steroids . Anyway looking forward to enjoying the car and participating in discussions with like minded performance folks.

Welcome, glad you're enjoying it, the car really is a lot of fun and punches way above its weight. I had a similar experience enjoying the car after a lifetime of owning a variety of different cars, although not nearly as many as you have.
I've had mine for almost 8 years now, and am enjoying it as much as I did when it was brand new. It replaced an E90 M3, which was faster in a straight line but wasn't nearly as much fun to drive, and was of course way more expensive to keep running.

Dave

Welcome , 18 Orange Spice here , ya it reminded me of high school and my Datsun 510 again such visceral feel . I had to buy it . It got totaled and I rebuilt it , still just as fun I added s S280 turbo to the mix so now it’s fast as well . I am buying another daily after 6 years of ownership ( bought new in 18 ) but can ‘t seem to just get rid of it. It’s the toy now.

Welcome! The FiST is sort of a well-kept secret. People just don't expect such a car to be that fun, but it is.

Just took the wife for her first ride in the car today. Her assessment was it’s a nice car but rides rough, seats are too stiff and pinch her shoulders, and a bit on the loud side, exhaust wise. Oh yeah she also said “ok if you are going to drive it like that maybe we should sell it!” 😆

Basically a success I think overall !

WELCOME and CONGRATS!

Funny, my first two real 'hot hatches' were VDubs, a first year here '83 GTI and then a Mk2 GTI 16V.
YES, this car reminds me of those, being very light and 'tossable', just with much more torque and usable power.

Most still do not know about these cars, and think it is a Focus when they ever ask about it at all.
Other marque forums, you tube 'bros', and most other self-proclaimed 'enthusiasts' instantly dismiss these 'little engine that could' rides as useless and 'unworthy' simply due to the factory power level, FWD, or for being a product from a domestic manufacturer.
I plan on keeping mine until it either totally rusts out, there are no parts anywhere available to fix it if broken, or there is no more fuel to put into it's tank.

BTW; That 'project' FD in your garage would not happen to be an LSx swap, would it?? (I had a 4th gen LS1 Z28 immediately before this little street rally car, why I ask.)

So that’s interesting with the 83 gti. My ver first brand new car was an 84 rabbit gti. Silver with the blue interior. Man I loved that car!! I had owned an 80 scirocco and an 81 scirocco s with the sport seats prior to that and the S had a drake engine kit with big valve head, full exhaust, etc. I agree this ST is so similar but on steroids! I can only image what it would be like with a tune or possibly a big turbo kit.

Regarding my son’s FD it was bought as a roller with a partially installed Granny’s v8 kit. It had the granny’s subframe and v8 and 5spd transmission installed but the previous owner stopped the project when they realized the firewall had to be cut to allow for clearance for the distributor. The good news was that all of the original pieces including the 13b and transmission were all still there. We pulled the v8 and Chevy transmission and granny’s subframe and I reinstalled the rx7 subframe. The rotary motor was built by a local rotary gear head named Ernie and it’s still a work in progress. We have big single turbo set up sitting in a box as well as various other items. So that’s the FD story. I still have the granny’s kit and the Chevy v8 and 5spd sitting in my garage. Need to check on the Mazda forum to see if anyone has any interest.

Thanks for the response and feedback folks it’s appreciated!