2022 Fiesta ST-3 first time owner

[Tap5720]

Hello, saw this forum popping up all over when researching STs and bits and bobs.
I’m 21, a Police Officer in West Yorkshire and a first time sports performance car owner. My first car was 2017 fiesta zetec ecoboost.

I have been in love with Fords and fiestas especially since my first car, and it was my dream to buy an ST. When I settled into my third year as a coppa, I took the plunge and traded in my fiesta for a 72 plate mk8.5 ST-3. The car has re-ignited my love for driving, and it’s incredible to see so many people enjoying this line of car as well. I hope to make my car my own, and hopefully with others help and advice as I’m a bit clueless when it comes to modding or improving the appearance. Me and my car are looking forward to sharing our experiences here

 

[Capri to ST]

Welcome to the forum and to Fiesta ST ownership, that's a great looking car. We didn't get the newer three-cylinder model here in the US, here they sold the earlier four-cylinder version through model year 2019.I'm sure other owners in Europe can give you some good advice about this version of the car.I read that they are fairly similar, and if so,I'm sure it's going to be great fun for you to drive.

 

[D1JL]

Dave

 

[Tap5720]

Welcome to the forum and to Fiesta ST ownership, that's a great looking car. We didn't get the newer three-cylinder model here in the US, here they sold the earlier four-cylinder version through model year 2019.I'm sure other owners in Europe can give you some good advice about this version of the car.I read that they are fairly similar, and if so,I'm sure it's going to be great fun for you to drive.

Wow, didn’t know you guys didn’t get this one! Yes, had it sonce August and it’s a fantastic drive. Hoping to make it look more sporty than it already does. Thanks for the kind words.

 

[dhminer]

Welcome and congrats. Great looking car

 

[FiestaSTdude]

Welcome to the forum! I’m a little jealous that y’all get the Mk 8 but we don’t! Looks nice, enjoy your new ride!

 

[Tap5720]

Welcome to the forum! I’m a little jealous that y’all get the Mk 8 but we don’t! Looks nice, enjoy your new ride!

Cheers! Such a shame you guys don’t have the 22 model. I’ll try to keep posting stuff about it so you can hopefully get some enjoyment out of just seeing it😂

 

[Capri to ST]

Yes, it is too bad we didn't get the newer model in the US. I'm not sure if I would have gotten it, but it would have been nice to have the option. In any event, I'm at least glad we got the one that we did during the brief time when Ford had a philosophy called One Ford where they were selling the same cars all over the world. Before that, there was a lot of good stuff that we didn't get here.
Will be interested to see what you do with yours. How do you find the three cylinder engine? It's pretty intriguing to me.

 

[Tap5720]

Yes, it is too bad we didn't get the newer model in the US. I'm not sure if I would have gotten it, but it would have been nice to have the option. In any event, I'm at least glad we got the one that we did during the brief time when Ford had a philosophy called One Ford where they were selling the same cars all over the world. Before that, there was a lot of good stuff that we didn't get here.
Will be interested to see what you do with yours. How do you find the three cylinder engine? It's pretty intriguing to me.

Well I had never driven anything over a 1 litre engine until now, with my first car being the fiesta zetec from 2017, and this being my second.

The amount of power behind the 3 cylinders is honestly incredible. You’d never think that such a small engine could create the amount of pull that it does. Blows me away every time I put my foot to the floor!

 

[Capri to ST]

Well I had never driven anything over a 1 litre engine until now, with my first car being the fiesta zetec from 2017, and this being my second.

The amount of power behind the 3 cylinders is honestly incredible. You’d never think that such a small engine could create the amount of pull that it does. Blows me away every time I put my foot to the floor!

That's good to know. Even though we didn't get the specific model you have here in the US, I can make some suggestions about performance modifications based on my experience. That is to look at Mountune, they have a lot of experience tuning and modifying small Fords. They also have had a close relationship with Ford, so much so that they developed a tune for our four-cylinder version of the Fiesta ST that was factory approved and preserved the warranty. That tune then became the basis for a higher performance European version called the ST200. I have that tune and it's been great.
Their hard parts are also high quality and fit well. The customer service has been somewhat spotty here in the US, but they are headquartered in England where you are and I would hope that it would be better there.

 

[Tap5720]

That's good to know. Even though we didn't get the specific model you have here in the US, I can make some suggestions about performance modifications based on my experience. That is to look at Mountune, they have a lot of experience tuning and modifying small Fords. They also have had a close relationship with Ford, so much so that they developed a tune for our four-cylinder version of the Fiesta ST that was factory approved and preserved the warranty. That tune then became the basis for a higher performance European version called the ST200. I have that tune and it's been great.
Their hard parts are also high quality and fit well. The customer service has been somewhat spotty here in the US, but they are headquartered in England where you are and I would hope that it would be better there.

Thanks for this! A friend at work showed me their website today actually! Told me to get some cheaper bits first, like iridium spark plugs, and a roll restrictor just to get off the ground. I’m also getting some wind deflectors hopefully arriving on wednesday.

 

[Capri to ST]

Thanks for this! A friend at work showed me their website today actually! Told me to get some cheaper bits first, like iridium spark plugs, and a roll restrictor just to get off the ground. I’m also getting some wind deflectors hopefully arriving on wednesday.

I have their induction upgrade kit, which came with the tune. It gives you an extra cold air feed down low, which is helpful, and a bit of nice extra sound.
https://mountuneusa.com/products/mountune-induction-upgrade-kit-fiesta-st

 

[scooter123]

I just googled it and the 1.5 ecoboost uses a dry timing belt just like the 1.6 4 cylinder. That is a good thing because there are inspection ports for the timing belt so make sure ask to have it inspected for condition at every oil change. On the 1.6 they are typically good for 150,000 US miles, I'll let you look up the conversion to metric. Needless to say I am one of those who wished that Ford would have imported the ST3 to the USA, you guys get to have all the fun.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Wow, didn’t know you guys didn’t get this one! Yes, had it sonce August and it’s a fantastic drive. Hoping to make it look more sporty than it already does. Thanks for the kind words.

Yes, sadly, we never got ANY of the Ford hot compacts, going way back to the Lotus-Cortina, through ALL of the hot RWD Escorts, NO Escort Cossie (nor ANY of the Sierra Cosworth variants!), and none of the early gen STs, neither Focus OR Fiesta.

 

[Intuit]

Please note, it is illegal for Fiesta vehicles to get a speeding ticket(s). (more especially the blue or red ones)

.

 

[Tap5720]

I just googled it and the 1.5 ecoboost uses a dry timing belt just like the 1.6 4 cylinder. That is a good thing because there are inspection ports for the timing belt so make sure ask to have it inspected for condition at every oil change. On the 1.6 they are typically good for 150,000 US miles, I'll let you look up the conversion to metric. Needless to say I am one of those who wished that Ford would have imported the ST3 to the USA, you guys get to have all the fun.

Thanks for the advice with the timing belt!

I’m amazed you guys don’t get first dibs with Ford being an american company originally

 

[Tap5720]

Yes, sadly, we never got ANY of the Ford hot compacts, going way back to the Lotus-Cortina, through ALL of the hot RWD Escorts, NO Escort Cossie (nor ANY of the Sierra Cosworth variants!), and none of the early gen STs, neither Focus OR Fiesta.

Crazy to think since ford was founded in the US

 

[Tap5720]

Please note, it is illegal for Fiesta vehicles to get a speeding ticket(s). (more especially the blue or red ones)

.

Yes, there are certainly repercussions whenever I issue a ticket to an ST.

 

[Capri to ST]

Thanks for the advice with the timing belt!

I’m amazed you guys don’t get first dibs with Ford being an american company originally

i think it's a combination of buyer habits and profit motive. People here haven't been buying many small cars. I had hoped as gas got more expensive that might change, but instead companies seem to be switching to hybrids and EVs to deal with that.
As far as the profit motive, Ford might make $1,000 or two on one of our cars, and they probably make 15 or $20,000 and one of those big pickup trucks.

 

[Intuit]

I’m amazed you guys don’t get first dibs with Ford being an american company originally

The prioritization is on profit rather than service. The sales people here try to tell us we want big lumbering vehicles. No and not even a thanks. We'd rather sell you an inferior product multiple times over versus a quality one that's going to last you awhile. This quite naturally drove a lot of customers to other auto manufacturers. It wasn't until they were literally on death's doorstep where none of the private lenders were willing to bail them out, did they seek to mend their ways a bit more. But the underlying issue still remains... if the company heads figure out a way to secure more profit, (doesn't mater how,) they get to keep a portion of it for themselves. So, the dynamic that you mentioned, still remains.