Hello all,
I've been a happy camper with my Chevrolet Cruze for the past 6 years, until I started taking more highway, driving more aggressively, and the performance started bothering me at hot weather.
I loved everything about it, save for the media player system, the summer performance, and my worries about the heater core leaking.
Plus, I wanted to drive stick shift again.
So, I bought the Ford Fiesta ST.
Not the regular Fiesta, but the sports version; kind of like the Chevy Sonic with 1.4 liter Turbo, only faster.
Right off the bat, I can tell that the Cruze was much better engineered in most things, save for performance compared to the Ford.
Some pics of a guy doing an oil change on a 2013 model, showing superficial rust under the body, isn't confidence inspiring, however it won't really be an issue until perhaps 7 years down the line.
The cruze was:
- Quieter
- More comfortable
- Easier to drive
- Much more confidence in it's ability to outlast the Fiesta.
The Fiesta's benefits are:
- Not as much affected by heat soak
- COLD AC! (My cruze had trouble keeping up above 90F)
- Performance (about the same gearing as the Eco, but with a 1,6 liter Turbo, +50HP and TQ, and about 500LBS lighter in weight).
- Radio (I got the 2017 model, so the radio is much better than the stock radio of my previous 2011 Cruze).
About the Radio:
Both the Cruze (6 Spk) and Fiesta seem to sound too sharp. In both cars I need to dial out the brightness by -12 on the dials.
The mids of the fiesta is cut.
The lows of the fiesta sound louder, perhaps due to it having a smaller body for the waves to travel through; but, aside from the brightness, I have to say that the sound system in the Cruze is much better engineered (linear).
The Fiesta plays back almost all audio formats on the internet (including the age old ASF, OGG, WMA, and the Apple M4A format, all in VBR or CBR). I'm not sure what the modern Cruzes are able to do, but the older ones with the dot matrix display, only played back MP3 format.
Ride quality:
The Fiesta (ST version) suspension is a bit harder, less travel.
Road noise from the tires is about even, since it has even thinner profile tires than the Cruze, and hitting potholes or bumps are felt a lot more.
But the engine on the cruze is a lot quieter.
The fiesta and the Cruze are on par with normal acceleration, however when I step on it, I can hear the engine making sound levels like a normal conversation inside the cabin. Not so much in the cruze, where driving with manual gears, based on engine sound, would be quite hard, as the Cruze is basically dead silent until it reaches past 4k RPM.
The gear shifts are smooth and snappy, and the gearbox doesn't suffer from sticky gears as the Cruze did.
The tires are quite low profile, and from the stock 205/40R17 to the maximum 205/45R17 is not a lot of increase in tire tread.
They do sell 16" wheels, but because of the 4 bolt pattern, the selection of rims is very small.
Acceleration:
The Fiesta is a little slow off the bat. The turbo starts kicking in at around 3k RPM, vs 2k RPM on the Cruze.
So until then, it accelerates like a regular car.
Once you press it, it does go a lot faster; however not fast enough to give me the creeps.
I guess my years of motorcycle riding have raised my personal standards on what fun is.
The Cruze Eco would start boosting around 2k RPM to 3K RPM, after which the engine would vibrate more, but give about the same output until 4k RPM.
After 4k RPM, the engine starts losing acceleration.
The Fiesta starts boosting from 2,5-3k RPM until well past 4,5k RPM. I haven't tried more; but suspect it'll taper off after 5 to 5.5k RPM.
Gas mileage:
The gas mileage of the Fiesta is worse than the Cruze Eco;
On average, the Cruze gave me 37.8MPG with regular tires, and 32.5MPG with those crappy Milestar tires.
The Fiesta so far, is hanging in at around 30MPG. If I were to drive it like my cruze, I would probably be able to get 32-34MPG avg, so it's not that bad.
Also, over time, gas mileage should get better on this car, since it barely has 100 miles on it right now.
Interior:
The interior of the Fiesta isn't bad. Despite it's small size, it's still roomy enough to feel comfortable with 4. 3 on the back seat might get tight.
The Cruze had a slight advantage on a wider center console (the Fiesta has one for 1 arm to rest on, with the cruze even the passenger had support). Not an issue for me, since I'm mainly driving by myself.
A few other things I prefer over my Cruze:
1- The dash is made of a soft type of mix of 'foam and rubber'. Not sure what to call it. It's like rubber, but dents like foam.
2- Telescopic steering wheel reaches further
3- Handbrake actually works at position 25%, not 80-90% like with the Cruze.
4- I got a nice leather binder with my car's handbook, unlike the cruze which came with just a handbook.
5- Side mirrors have a wide angle fisheye mirror built in.
6- Color LEDs in cupholder and under dash included.
However, I'm tall! And being tall, the Fiesta has a few major drawbacks:
1- My seat needs to be scooted back far enough for the rear passenger to be a child or less. An adult won't fit behind me.
2- The door armrest starts about 5-6 inches too far forward
3- The center arm console isn't long enough to rest my arm on, while holding the steering wheel, and isn't telescopic (unlike the Cruze which is very comfy in that area).
4- I'm so tall (6'4"), that my seat needs to be set all the way down, the rearview mirror all the way up, with the nightview switch up, and even then I need to duck by about half an inch to be able to see behind me. The mirror is just not getting the right angles for me, but at it's maximum settings, it's passable.
5- The gearstick is a bit lower than I'm used to, and it's hard to find extensions
Overall, I'm content with my purchase.
When my LeEco phone had a blown battery, I downgraded my phone for something cheaper.
And while it's not as powerful, it still does anything I want it to do, while holding charge (I couldn't find replacement batteries for my LeEco).
I feel it's somewhat the same with the Fiesta. I 'downgraded' in some areas, yet I also don't have to worry about sluggish performance on the highway.
Just because I felt like I wanted something more fun to ride, and the newer Cruze was offering me almost the same; if they only had upgraded the engine to near 200HP, I would have chosen chevrolet again for sure!
But for now, Ford won me over, and I will be driving the ST for the next 10 years or so, I hope!
I've been a happy camper with my Chevrolet Cruze for the past 6 years, until I started taking more highway, driving more aggressively, and the performance started bothering me at hot weather.
I loved everything about it, save for the media player system, the summer performance, and my worries about the heater core leaking.
Plus, I wanted to drive stick shift again.
So, I bought the Ford Fiesta ST.
Not the regular Fiesta, but the sports version; kind of like the Chevy Sonic with 1.4 liter Turbo, only faster.
Right off the bat, I can tell that the Cruze was much better engineered in most things, save for performance compared to the Ford.
Some pics of a guy doing an oil change on a 2013 model, showing superficial rust under the body, isn't confidence inspiring, however it won't really be an issue until perhaps 7 years down the line.
The cruze was:
- Quieter
- More comfortable
- Easier to drive
- Much more confidence in it's ability to outlast the Fiesta.
The Fiesta's benefits are:
- Not as much affected by heat soak
- COLD AC! (My cruze had trouble keeping up above 90F)
- Performance (about the same gearing as the Eco, but with a 1,6 liter Turbo, +50HP and TQ, and about 500LBS lighter in weight).
- Radio (I got the 2017 model, so the radio is much better than the stock radio of my previous 2011 Cruze).
About the Radio:
Both the Cruze (6 Spk) and Fiesta seem to sound too sharp. In both cars I need to dial out the brightness by -12 on the dials.
The mids of the fiesta is cut.
The lows of the fiesta sound louder, perhaps due to it having a smaller body for the waves to travel through; but, aside from the brightness, I have to say that the sound system in the Cruze is much better engineered (linear).
The Fiesta plays back almost all audio formats on the internet (including the age old ASF, OGG, WMA, and the Apple M4A format, all in VBR or CBR). I'm not sure what the modern Cruzes are able to do, but the older ones with the dot matrix display, only played back MP3 format.
Ride quality:
The Fiesta (ST version) suspension is a bit harder, less travel.
Road noise from the tires is about even, since it has even thinner profile tires than the Cruze, and hitting potholes or bumps are felt a lot more.
But the engine on the cruze is a lot quieter.
The fiesta and the Cruze are on par with normal acceleration, however when I step on it, I can hear the engine making sound levels like a normal conversation inside the cabin. Not so much in the cruze, where driving with manual gears, based on engine sound, would be quite hard, as the Cruze is basically dead silent until it reaches past 4k RPM.
The gear shifts are smooth and snappy, and the gearbox doesn't suffer from sticky gears as the Cruze did.
The tires are quite low profile, and from the stock 205/40R17 to the maximum 205/45R17 is not a lot of increase in tire tread.
They do sell 16" wheels, but because of the 4 bolt pattern, the selection of rims is very small.
Acceleration:
The Fiesta is a little slow off the bat. The turbo starts kicking in at around 3k RPM, vs 2k RPM on the Cruze.
So until then, it accelerates like a regular car.
Once you press it, it does go a lot faster; however not fast enough to give me the creeps.
I guess my years of motorcycle riding have raised my personal standards on what fun is.
The Cruze Eco would start boosting around 2k RPM to 3K RPM, after which the engine would vibrate more, but give about the same output until 4k RPM.
After 4k RPM, the engine starts losing acceleration.
The Fiesta starts boosting from 2,5-3k RPM until well past 4,5k RPM. I haven't tried more; but suspect it'll taper off after 5 to 5.5k RPM.
Gas mileage:
The gas mileage of the Fiesta is worse than the Cruze Eco;
On average, the Cruze gave me 37.8MPG with regular tires, and 32.5MPG with those crappy Milestar tires.
The Fiesta so far, is hanging in at around 30MPG. If I were to drive it like my cruze, I would probably be able to get 32-34MPG avg, so it's not that bad.
Also, over time, gas mileage should get better on this car, since it barely has 100 miles on it right now.
Interior:
The interior of the Fiesta isn't bad. Despite it's small size, it's still roomy enough to feel comfortable with 4. 3 on the back seat might get tight.
The Cruze had a slight advantage on a wider center console (the Fiesta has one for 1 arm to rest on, with the cruze even the passenger had support). Not an issue for me, since I'm mainly driving by myself.
A few other things I prefer over my Cruze:
1- The dash is made of a soft type of mix of 'foam and rubber'. Not sure what to call it. It's like rubber, but dents like foam.
2- Telescopic steering wheel reaches further
3- Handbrake actually works at position 25%, not 80-90% like with the Cruze.
4- I got a nice leather binder with my car's handbook, unlike the cruze which came with just a handbook.
5- Side mirrors have a wide angle fisheye mirror built in.
6- Color LEDs in cupholder and under dash included.
However, I'm tall! And being tall, the Fiesta has a few major drawbacks:
1- My seat needs to be scooted back far enough for the rear passenger to be a child or less. An adult won't fit behind me.
2- The door armrest starts about 5-6 inches too far forward
3- The center arm console isn't long enough to rest my arm on, while holding the steering wheel, and isn't telescopic (unlike the Cruze which is very comfy in that area).
4- I'm so tall (6'4"), that my seat needs to be set all the way down, the rearview mirror all the way up, with the nightview switch up, and even then I need to duck by about half an inch to be able to see behind me. The mirror is just not getting the right angles for me, but at it's maximum settings, it's passable.
5- The gearstick is a bit lower than I'm used to, and it's hard to find extensions
Overall, I'm content with my purchase.
When my LeEco phone had a blown battery, I downgraded my phone for something cheaper.
And while it's not as powerful, it still does anything I want it to do, while holding charge (I couldn't find replacement batteries for my LeEco).
I feel it's somewhat the same with the Fiesta. I 'downgraded' in some areas, yet I also don't have to worry about sluggish performance on the highway.
Just because I felt like I wanted something more fun to ride, and the newer Cruze was offering me almost the same; if they only had upgraded the engine to near 200HP, I would have chosen chevrolet again for sure!
But for now, Ford won me over, and I will be driving the ST for the next 10 years or so, I hope!
