Ford Budget Performance Comparison: 1995 Escort GT vs 2015 Fiesta ST

[mdanda]

I recently purchased a 2015 Fiesta ST, and a flood of memories returned when I saw a 1995 Escort GT parked near me at work. I used to own that car! I was inspired to write an article comparing the two vehicles: 1995 Escort GT vs 2015 Fiesta ST. I even dug up a few old pictures. I'd like to share my thoughts on the differences 20 years makes! Here's the first paragraph, followed by a link to the article on Medium:

In the summer of 1996, I bought the cheapest ?performance? car offered by Ford: a white 1995 Escort GT. Drove it 77,000 miles before upgrading to a kid hauler. Exactly twenty years after that purchase, in a painfully transparent attempt to relive my youth, I again bought the cheapest performance car offered by Ford: a white 2015 Fiesta ST. These two vehicles occupy the same low-end slot in the manufacturer?s portfolio, separated by two decades. Only they?re not the same. Not at all.

https://medium.com/@mdanda/ford-performance-bargains-1995-versus-2015-26dbb241f652#.fc422g56r

 

[frankiefiesta]

Cool read. I always liked the look of those escort GT's growing up.

 

[FatGuyInALittleCar]

As a fellow "GenX Suburban Cube Warmer", my FiST was the spriritual replacement for my '89 Probe GT and my '01 Mazda Protege. Between the two, I have only fond memories of fun, reliable, good looking cruising, (and spirited performance... at least with the Probe GT).
When I was tired of my overpriced and constantly broken Audi S4 4.2, those were my benchmarks and the FiST was the car that met the marks.

I enjoyed your post.

 

[BronxBomber]

Nice read. Reminds me of 1999 when I thought my 1992 8v 2.0liter Jetta was fast. I actually raced my friend who was driving his escort GT. I remember being a little scared at the speeds we were driving at the time. As I look back now, I routinely drive faster than that within the flow of traffic on my daily commute Yeah my Jetta wasn't fast, even with intake, headers & exhaust. At least it sounded good & With full Neuspeed suspension it handled at least. Ahh... the world moves on for better or worse. Definitely love my FiST, even more than my first car. Here's to lots of good memories in our FiSTs.

 

[jeff]

Great thread and article! I love this part:

"The low-end is not such a sacrifice. We live in a golden age of automobiles, of affordable and accessible fun, where even cheap cars can kick ass."


Being a genXer also, I could have written that article myself. My car back then was the 91 Sentra SE-R. My feeling about that car was that it was VERY similar to the FiST - it was such a step above other stuff out there at the time and was a true sporty car wrapped in sheep's clothing, just like the FiST. Not a sports car like a Mustang or WRX, but a very sporty car nonetheless. I would gladly give back the $2500 I sold it for 10 years ago, that was a mistake. But I needed the money then.....

Thanks for contributing.

 

[BronxBomber]

Great thread and article! I love this part:

"The low-end is not such a sacrifice. We live in a golden age of automobiles, of affordable and accessible fun, where even cheap cars can kick ass."


Being a genXer also, I could have written that article myself. My car back then was the 91 Sentra SE-R. My feeling about that car was that it was VERY similar to the FiST - it was such a step above other stuff out there at the time and was a true sporty car wrapped in sheep's clothing, just like the FiST. Not a sports car like a Mustang or WRX, but a very sporty car nonetheless. I would gladly give back the $2500 I sold it for 10 years ago, that was a mistake. But I needed the money then.....

Thanks for contributing.

I also owned 2 B13 SE-r. I love that car. Till this very day I have searched for 1 in decent shape, but they are exceedingly hard to come by. I went to a local Cars and Coffee event and saw a beautifully done example and started to immediately reminisce about the time I had with mine. Totally under rated and under appreciated car.

 

[jeff]

I also owned 2 B13 SE-r. I love that car. Till this very day I have searched for 1 in decent shape, but they are exceedingly hard to come by. I went to a local Cars and Coffee event and saw a beautifully done example and started to immediately reminisce about the time I had with mine. Totally under rated and under appreciated car.

Yeah I look for them on occasion and they are not to be found. I remember the first drive I took in mine before buying. My prior car was an old 240 Volvo. The SE-R felt so quick and nimble in comparison. I knew within 10 seconds of driving it that I would be buying it.

 

[jdubs]

Love this.

 

[zrxguy]

Thanks for posting, you wrote a great article!!!

 

[our guile]

Great article, thanks for sharing.

 

[Joes2016ST]

Awesome read thanks! Cars have come a long ways in twenty years, this is a great article.