fiesta vs focus st (while taking your personal requirements out of the equation)

[Stkid93]

I understand that everyone on this thread owns a fiesta. And so they will naturally want to defend their purchase by saying the fiesta st is the better car. And for us, for our wants and needs. The fiesta is better. Just like how everyone on the focus st forums say their card is the better car. And for them and their needs, they believe their car is the better car.

Taking a step back, and taking your personal requirements out of the equation. which car do you think is the better car? Just In a general view of car vs car.

So example, you may have wanted something smaller and more nimble and more go kart like. Do not factor that into your decision because that’s what you were looking for in a car. However you can factor that into the equation as an overall plus for the fiesta. If that makes sense? For me…


The fiesta is smaller, doesn’t look quite as good or aggressive in my opinion, isn’t as fun in a straight line, and can be easily mistaken for a regular fiesta to a normal persons it’s also cheaper on the interior has a smaller engine and therefore less potential engine wise. But it’s also far lighter, more nimble, better on gas, and more fun to drive on twisty back roads.


The focus is bigger, more practical in terms of hauling stuff, nicer on the inside, better looking, more powerful, sounds better, has bigger recaros which matters for some people as the fiesta seats have been called too tight, and has more options.

But it’s also more boat like, not as fun on a back road or nimble, worse on gas, and they seem to have more engine problems that we do. (I know a guy with a focus at with a very mild tune and he blew his motor with only 80k miles.


For me the decision is extremely close and very tough when looking at the decision objectively. I think when I take my personal desires out of the decision, the focus may just edge out the fist.

What do you guys think?

 

[atlantaM3]

Having driven both, and owning both a fiesta and focus, I think it depends. If you are going to haul the family on a trip or to Costco, focus wins in a landslide. As an only car, prob the better option due to the extra space in the rear. Not a big difference in the front space to me other than width, that is noticeable with a passenger. Other things like one touch windows, etc. def make it feel more upmarket

As a fun commuter car with good mileage etc. the fiesta is a good choice. Since it's more narrow by a few inches , super easy parking, etc..

Car to car, the fiesta make a better daily car for me, but I use it as a runabout, not my only car for all purposes.

One car only, focus better overall.

 

[Dialcaliper]

I think it *entirely* depends on your priorities, wants and needs. You can’t really take those out of the equation because you need some sort of criteria to judge what “better” means.

Even “independent” reviewers like Consumer Reports, C&D, R&T, Top Gear, etc are establishing some criteria with which to judge cars by, based on some perception of what their “typical” demographics might want.

So instead, make a list of *your* priorities, needs and requirements, evaluate based on those, and then rate based on those.

Examples:
Size/interior space/parkability
Build quality
Acceleration
Handling
Feedback/driving experience
Fuel Economy
Price
Domestic/Import (less clear these days)
Looks/Prestige
Parts availability
Aftermarket support
Reliability/known issues
Gut feeling
Etc, Etc.

First principle of engineering, define requirements (both objective and subjective). Otherwise you’re just meandering with no context.

If you want to turn them into a value you can point to, you can do that too, for example, 1 point for the one that better meets the requirement, or more if you think some things on the list are most important. Knock things off the list that aren’t important to you. That way, when you add them up, you have some concrete value you can point to, which is especiallly important if you really can’t decide based on gut feeling, and the end result of the above “figures of merit” seems surprising to you.

In the end, cars are one of those things that are heavily influenced by personal preference. What’s important to you might not be important to other people (and vice versa)

 

[Dialcaliper]

if that seems overly formal, yes, it is. But it also can help you sit down and figure out what things are actually important for you. You may also find that it leads you to a sacrilicious conclusion that the best car for you might not be a Ford, but instead a comparable Toyota (GRC), VW (GTI/R) Honda (TypeR), Subaru, etc (I know, heresy!)

For me, I value driving experience, handling and fun factor over others, but I also had some hard requirements like 4 seats for family, reasonable budget, and daily drivable, so track prepped 2-Seat sports cars were out. Also I hate driving large cars, and I’d rather buy a car that is fun to drive, cheap and decent fuel economy. I could buy a slightly more expensive car, but I’d rather spend the extra money modifying the car to the way I want, because the “working on the car” part is part of what I enjoy doing. So I’d rather buy a sub $20k used car and dump $10-15k in parts on it than buy a $35k car and leave it like it left the factory. It also helped that I was buying the car cash after selling a previous car to a friend for similar money. (I’d rather own and not take a loan if I can avoid it) That led me to the FiST - in part also because one was available locally in good condition that caught my eye, and the test drive put a shit-eating grin on my face.

 

[M-Sport fan]

I did like that the FoST had 5 bolt hubs (NOT all that much better in Ford's requisite 108 PCD, as far as aftermarket wheels go, sadly ), and had more power right from the factory.
But, I did not like it's size, and extra heft, and just took for granted those factors would hurt it's 'tossability' vs. the FiST.

Personally, I think that our rides, when properly set up, beat the FoST in the looks/aesthetics department as well, yes, despite being slightly more 'upright/tall'.
(The Focus/FoST/FoRS almost look 'stretched-out' to me now.)

The Focus platform almost seems like a smaller mid-sized sedan/hatch to me at this point.

Also, of course I took into consideration that the Fiesta platform was the basis for Ford's World Rally Team cars, so I must admit to that weighing into my choice as well.

 

[NOVA_Ranger]

I'm betting there is a reason that Ford opted to build and sell both.

 

[Stkid93]

Great points all around. While I do agree that you need at least some personal preference to make this decision, there are parts that you can objectively judge. if you take personal wants out of the equation you can still judge build quality, reliability, practicality and stuff like that. However, I agree to really make a decision on which is the better car, you do need to factor the consumer in.

I’ve just seen almost every fist owner defend their car, saying it’s more reliable and more fun, but every focus owner says their car is more reliable and fun. So I was trying to get an idea of which car is better, without having the consumer defend their car just because they bought it. Obviously if you bought the car because you wanted something smaller and more nimble, you are naturally going to say the fist is better because the fist has what you look for in a car. So the judgment isn’t exactly fair.

The fun aspect cannot be judged without taking the consumer into the equation because different people define fun differently. I like being in 3/4 gear and rolling into the throttle and feeling that torque push me back. I would say I prefer that feeling over twisty back roads any day. And there is no doubt that stock for stock, the focus st pushes you back more than the fiesta.

With all that being said I am really most curious which is the better car in terms of reliability, which is hard to tell because they made a lot more focus sts. So, the power of numbers is in our favor. More total cars means more failures. But, if you break it down by percentage of failures vs the total number of cars built. I would be very curious to see which car comes out on top. If someone was able to get a decent sample size from both vehicles and put together a spreadsheet that has total number of vehicles sold and total Number of failures that would be very interesting information.

 

[dhminer]

Both cars met my needs at the time of purchase. I had every intention of buying a Focus RS but the seating position on all recaro equipped focuses and fiestas was so bad that I couldn’t get over it - hence the fiesta with non-recaros. Real shame because the RS was amazing to drive. No regrets whatsoever on the fiesta, especially now that it’s been off daily driver duty for 4 years and I can throw stupid parts on it and if it blows up, I’m not without transportation. That said, in 4 years of daily driver duty during which I amassed 72k miles plus 13k with a big turbo in the 4 years since retiring it, I’ve had zero unscheduled maintenance outside of the blend door actuator.

I do like how the focus rear seats fold way better than ours.

 

[Dpro]

Here’s the deal owmed a Focus for Uber and Lyft fun to drive for that type of car. Had a better turning radius than the FoST. Test drove a FoST bad turning radius like horrible. Massive TQ steer like horrible . These things do not make a car more fun to drive. Let’s move on to seating position. While you can sit a little lower in the FoST the seating position for all intensive purposes sucks and you seriously need to play with seat adjustments to get even near a somewhat ok position still not ideal. Looks wise ya it’s a nice looking car. Handling wise it needs work and just does not feel as connected. Ford came close to building what could have been a great car but ya missed. Not a bad car just too many take aways.

Now let’s move on the the FiST , much better turning radius , noticed that right off the bat . Seating position as well right off the bat on base seats sat right with decent positioning. Car is a point and shoot device it handles that well . FoST is not s point and shoot device still handles but not like a FiST. Ya stock FiST does not have as much power but also has negligible TQ steer. Almost none in fact, granted with a tune or bigger turbo you get some but that’s a different story. Better gas mileage to boot. smaller engine lighter car.

Build quality? Meh Michigan built still has shitty paint on the FoST like the FiST, FoST’s still have rust problems , . The 2 liter though it has a timing chain has its own issues and drawbacks. While not a bad engine .

The 1.6 liter in the FiST is arguably a stouter engine. interior on the FoST still cheap Ford plastic not much difference. Remember I owned a Focus.

Let’s just get this in the clear here Fords are ok not great. They are not say Toyota level of quality.
They will last but interiors are cheap and tend to fall apart and wear out within a 100k

After test driving both cars back to back I walked away wanting the FiST had no interest in the FoST contrary to the OP’s opinion the cars are not that close . Differences are large and apparent as I have outlined . The only reason for choosing a FoST would be need larger car and quite honestly a non FoST Focus is almost a better car than the FoST. The FoST was built for America and Americans. The FiST was built for everyone else. Ya I said it , American car , bigger , heavier moar poweeer . Becaus fuck ya America don’t do small. 😂 Hell Ford did not even try to market the Fiesta here even though they sold it. Yet we saw Focus ads all the time . To Americans the Focus was the small car even though it was borderline mid size..
Its had not to be cynical about the subject and thread due to the glaring differences . ”
As for the RS brilliant idea that Ford screwed the pooch on. For a number of reasons including way overly stiff stock suspension for a street car. Label 30/70 mode drift mode making people think it’s some kind of gimmick. In the end the GR Corolla is a much better car in part because of it overall cohesiveness in comparison. Ya lots of former FoRS owners now driving and loving GRC’s.

In closing …..
FoST is fun in a straight” Really? I guess if you don’t mind wrestling your car down the street trying to drive the straight line while punching it . Fuck I hate TQ steer it’s the worst. That’s always been the bane of FWD cars for the most sake.
You want fun in a straight line? Hit the gas in A RB25DET( skyline Gt turbo 6 cylinder) powered 240sx while passing supercars not knowing now the hell a stock looking 240sx can even hold a candle to them. Hit the gas in a 911 Turbo Or A BMW M car, or GT350, or any high powered RWD car. Ya FoST just isn’t that and never will be.

 

[rallytaff]

Bought mine after a quick test drive. Had driven the FoST but it was too big and I don't like big cars. Drove them both again at the Academy and the FiST beat the FoST hands down. Many of the FoST owners wished they'd bought the FiST instead. The car is nimble, fast and great fun to drive, even on the street. Only my wife and I so I don't need a bigger car. Plenty of room for everything I've needed it for. Wouldn't swap it for anything else!

 

[NOVA_Ranger]

For me, I wanted a street legal go-kart to commute with, and this is as close as I could get to that.

 

[atlantaM3]

ditto to that, was exactly what I was looking for too.

 

[gtx3076]

FIST trunk space is terrible. I honestly didn't look at it that hard until after I bought it when I had to load it up with my tools. The company I worked for gifted the crew the Milwaukee rolling packout tool box and I had to put the seats down to get it home.

Decent commuter, decent on gas. Fun enough. I think the FOST would have fit me better since I drive in a straight line and the speed limits are 70 mph where I live, but the FIST was $9,999.

 

[Stkid93]

I do get what you’re saying about torque steer. With an e30 tune I’ve noticed the fiesta has it too. The only front wheel drive cars I’ve ever driven without much torque steer at all was the new civic type r. And the neon srt4. Both of these cars utilized equal length half shafts and tons of suspension geometry tricks to mitigate torque steer. And they did a pretty good job.

I do have to say I wish dodge still sold something like the srt4 today. The closest thing they have now is the dodge dart. But it’s not even close that thing is junk and isn’t fast. It’s got a 1.4 liter turbo while the srt4 had a 2.4 turbo with a Mitsubishi turbo.

And it was capable of handling huge power on stock internals. Dodge made a car for under 20 grand brand new, and it was the fastest fwd car for a long time, the 2nd fastest dodge product next to the viper, had almost no torque street even with mods, was capable of 350 wheel horsepower on the stock turbo with e85 @2900 lbs, and had an engine capable of 500+ horsepower. There were obvious quirks, such as manual windows in the back seats to save money and keep the car cheap. It’s too bad because with how bat s*** crazy dodge has been in the past decade with their cars. They could have created an absolute monster if they really wanted to.

But that’s another topic for another day.

 

[Intuit]

Back in 2016, the brand new 2016 FoST that the sales person had me test drive (against my wishes) did perceptions no favors.
It was one they had sitting around too long; flat spotted tires with a missing loping idle.
It seemed very heavy, lethargic.

I did like that the FoST had 5 bolt hubs (NOT all that much better in Ford's requisite 108 PCD, as far as aftermarket wheels go, sadly ), and had more power right from the factory.
But, I did not like it's size, and extra heft, and just took for granted those factors would hurt it's 'tossability' vs. the FiST.

Personally, I think that our rides, when properly set up, beat the FoST in the looks/aesthetics department as well, yes, despite being slightly more 'upright/tall'.
(The Focus/FoST/FoRS almost look 'stretched-out' to me now.)

The Focus platform almost seems like a smaller mid-sized sedan/hatch to me at this point.

Also, of course I took into consideration that the Fiesta platform was the basis for Ford's World Rally Team cars, so I must admit to that weighing into my choice as well.

Ignorant of the World Rally connection, my thoughts as well.
Driver seat on the FiST is quite fine. The only thing I'd tweak is the passenger front seat.
I've been able to haul whatever I needed to with the FiST including eight wheels with one set of mounted tires... don't need fatter, heavier, sloppier.
FiST stops like, BOOM. Get some heavier, slightly wider, much stickier tires and sprints okay.
The stability control and torque vectoring on stock suspension handles the car well for cornering though, maybe robs power for exits. (just have to compensate with more throttle)

FoST... well... just looks a fair bit W I D E ... for my taste. But meh, guess it's okay.

 

[Zormecteon]

I was coming from a Focus. I had my eye on the Fiesta since I saw that it was the same car as the Mazda 2. ..

I stood beside the (then) new Focus and thought "this car is too big" .. I read about turning radius and the FoST was (to me) huge, most especially compared to the FiST. ...

The car was to be my "retirement" car. I wouldn't be needing so much space, and the better fuel economy could be a factor on a fixed income. Also, over the years I have seen far too many people (of a certain age) buying their last car and making it a big Caddy, or other large luxury sedan and then being afraid to drive it as they age because it's soooo big AND not being able to afford the gas. I figured that a small car, good fuel economy (if one wants to drive a FiST that way) made sense. Also I'm not a tall guy and I won't buy a car that I can't reach across the top at least half way to be able to wash it. .. ..

(turns out it wasn't my last car purchase or even my last new car .... but that's another tale, or two, or three.. ..

 

[LilPartyBox]

I owned both for 3 years. I still own the FiST...

I traded the FoST for a Miata and have no regrets. The focus was an absolute boat & not really fun to drive. My brother's got a BT kit on his and STILL not fun to drive lol. But, without question, the build quality & features of the ST3 package on the focus is head & shoulders above the economy interior of the fiesta. Dare i say near luxury. The plethora of wheel options doesn't hurt either. And as a grocery getter it was always the first choice. But I also have a Mazda 5 for those duties so keeping another large car didn't make sense. And in case you haven't heard, Miata is always the answer

 

[The_Ryan]

I definitely think the FiST sounds better than the FoST. The integrated exhaust manifold just makes 4 cylinders sound like trash. E888 is the same story, sounds like trash.

I will say, I was dead set on the Focus ST for almost all of the reasons you stated, until I drove the Fiesta.
I even had an offer and a deposit on a Focus ST, and a friend convinced me to at least test drive a Fiesta.
The choice for me was a no brainer. Right after I drove a Fiesta, I called to get my deposit back on the focus. The fiesta was just more fun, plain and simple.

 

[Zormecteon]

[QUOTE="LilPartyBox, post: 508635, member: 3773"

I traded the FoST for a Miata and have no regrets.. And in case you haven't heard, Miata is always the answer [/QUOTE]

I picked up an NC2 Miata to go with the FiST.

The Ford
Gets better mileage
Is faster
Is quicker
Holds more stuff
Carries 4 people
Handles nearly as well (on the street, no advantage)
But .. .The top doesn't go down... .

I traded off the Miata to get a C8.. .. Then missed it so much I bought another one!

Miata IS always the answer.

 

[M-Sport fan]

^^^HOW did you afford a C8, and it's insurance, on a 'fixed income'?!?

(Taken out of 'very good' investments, I am guessing? )