Just picked up a 2019 Fiesta ST

[Geese1]

Hello to everyone in the community!

Just took possession of a 2019 Ford Fiesta ST this afternoon. Actually had paid for it a few weeks ago, but the previous owner was waiting for the title to arrive before we could have the car transferred over into my name. I was looking for a new daily driver, as my wife is now working from home while I work away in the office and I was taking our 2021 Honda Ridgeline to use as a daily and leaving her without a car to drive. Technically, I have a 2022 Camaro 2SS 1LE and she has a 2007 Saturn Sky, but those are both fair weather, weekend cars only, and our currently stored away in our garage for winter. I was actually planning to buy a new 2023 Mazda 3 hatch (with a manual), but I'd heard a lot of great things about the Fiesta ST so a few weeks ago I just started searching around for the heck of it and stumbled across this particular model which was only about an hour away from me.

Now the car had quite a few performance mods, which I wasn't sure about, but after talking with the owner (who is a Ford mechanic) and seeing/test driving the car, I felt pretty comfortable on buying it. I wasn't planning on doing any sort of mods if I bought a brand new car, but since this has already gone down that road, there's a few things I may want to do with it (after the proper research, of course). The only things right now are to replace the current window tinting with some new, darker ceramic tint (since this will be stored outside), replacing the interior and exterior lights with LED bulbs, and probably some lighter weight summer wheels (the owner has winter tires on the stock wheels, and then aftermarket wheels with summer tires). Have a few other thoughts in mind, but I want to drive it for a bit now to see how I like it and if I feel the need to make any changes.

Anyway, just wanted to introduce myself, and I'm looking forward to learning all I can about the platform.

 

[D1JL]

Dave

 

[dhminer]

Welcome and congrats on the new ride. Throw up some pics

 

[FiestaSTdude]

Welcome to the forum! Congratulations on your new ride! Like dhminer said, definitely post some pictures once you get it

 

[Geese1]

Welcome and congrats on the new ride. Throw up some pics

Welcome to the forum! Congratulations on your new ride! Like shimmer said, definitely post some pictures once you get it

Thanks for the warm welcome, guys! There's no real cosmetic mods on the car right now other than window tinting and Spec D taillights; almost everything done to the car by the previous owner was performance oriented. He did have it lowered on H & R Supersport springs, but the drop was about 2" or so and was a little low for my tastes. He had a set of brand new OEM springs so he put those on for me before I took possession of the car so now she sits at stock ride height. I may look at doing either coilovers or a less drastic spring/strut combo later on, but I haven't decided as of yet.

All that to say is she doesn't look much different than any stock ST. Plus, being winter, she's pretty filthy. Once spring rolls around I plan to do a full polishing/paint correction before putting on a graphene coating. I also should have her summer wheels/tires put on at that point, and maybe a few other things. I'll be taking some pictures then, but for now I'll have to wait until I at least get her washed before even thinking about snapping a few pics!

 

[M-Sport fan]

WELCOME and CONGRATS from a former 4th gen LS1 Z28 (which I daily drove, year 'round) immediately previous to buying this ride new, owner, and former (albeit eastern) Pennsyltucky resident.

 

[Capri to ST]

Welcome, that's a nice find, you've got a car from the last year that they were available here in the US. You'll learn a lot on here, there's a lot of good information and some very knowledgeable people.
I have really enjoyed the car, it punches way above its weight, and I think you will enjoy it too.

 

[Mycooking]

Welcome and great find on the final year. Great people here, very friendly and helpful.

 

[XR650R]

Welcome! Bought mine in '17 because I thought that would be the last year. I was wrong. Still, they're great little cars. I'll never sell it. There's just nothing like it out there right now.
As has already been said, this is a friendly and helpful community. A rather diverse group, but we're all united by our love of FiSTing.

 

[Capri to ST]

After looking at the specs of the car you bought, I think it's good that the previous owner put the stock springs back on. I think a 2" drop is way too much on these cars.

 

[Geese1]

After looking at the specs of the car you bought, I think it's good that the previous owner put the stock springs back on. I think a 2" drop is way too much on these cars.

Even he admitted if he had to do it again he probably wouldn't go that low. I've been thinking about purchasing coilovers, but I'm not sure if I want to spend that kind of money for good ones. An alternative is the Mountune springs paired with Bilstein shocks, as this seems to be a good and popular combo from what I've seen. It's difficult because right now the winter tires on the stock wheels fill the gap in pretty good. Once I go with summer rubber on aftermarket wheels though that may change. Coilovers would give me more flexibility to adjust the height depending on what wheel/tire setup I'm running, but I like the ease and lower cost of the spring/shock combination as well.

 

[M-Sport fan]

^^^Coil overs also take a real beating in the 'salt soup' winters of that (or any northeastern/upper midwestern) area as well, even if slathered in Fluid Film, or some other anti-corrosive, protectant coating on the treaded collars/lock rings.

There are also very few coil over setups out there for our cars which will allow you to go to even the factory ride height, let alone even a quarter inch above that.

 

[XR650R]

Even he admitted if he had to do it again he probably wouldn't go that low. I've been thinking about purchasing coilovers, but I'm not sure if I want to spend that kind of money for good ones. An alternative is the Mountune springs paired with Bilstein shocks, as this seems to be a good and popular combo from what I've seen. It's difficult because right now the winter tires on the stock wheels fill the gap in pretty good. Once I go with summer rubber on aftermarket wheels though that may change. Coilovers would give me more flexibility to adjust the height depending on what wheel/tire setup I'm running, but I like the ease and lower cost of the spring/shock combination as well.

Here's a thought. https://www.mountuneusa.com/Clubsport-Mrxsuspension-Upgrade-Fiesta-St-p/2364-csu-ba.htm
Adjustable damping. Best of both worlds.

 

[Geese1]

^^^Coil overs also take a real beating in the 'salt soup' winters of that (or any northeastern/upper midwestern) area as well, even if slathered in Fluid Film, or some other anti-corrosive, protectant coating on the treaded collars/lock rings.

There are also very few coil over setups out there for our cars which will allow you to go to even the factory ride height, let alone even a quarter inch above that.

Hadn't thought of that. Never had coilovers before, and the cars I've had which have had a nice suspension have never been driven in winter. Something to definitely consider when considering a purchase. Thanks for the heads up.

Here's a thought. https://www.mountuneusa.com/Clubsport-Mrxsuspension-Upgrade-Fiesta-St-p/2364-csu-ba.htm
Adjustable damping. Best of both worlds.

Those look pretty nice, and are half the price of some of the coilover setups I was looking at. Will definitely keep these in mind when researching.

 

[esp_martin]

^^^Coil overs also take a real beating in the 'salt soup' winters of that (or any northeastern/upper midwestern) area as well, even if slathered in Fluid Film, or some other anti-corrosive, protectant coating on the treaded collars/lock rings.

There are also very few coil over setups out there for our cars which will allow you to go to even the factory ride height, let alone even a quarter inch above that.

This is a big reason I never considered MeisterRs. It's my daily and I live in Southeast PA with no garage. I've read it's a smart idea to completely disassemble the coil over and check/clean everything at least once a year and that's a lot of extra added maintenance I would not be able to do on my own.

+1 for the b8 bilstein/mountune spring setup. that's what i'm going with as the b8 mitigates the lowering of the springs. for FWIW, you can add camber in the back with camber plates. either buy from an aftermarket company or get @Dpro 's camber plates he sells here. for the front, Ford Fiesta St150/180 Adjustable Front Suspension Top Mount (PAIR) 2-Piece Fully Guaranteed - CompBrake seems to be the best option if you want to keep the stock strut setup. this is the route I'm taking. DNA racing makes their own sets of each but are a more expensive purchase.

 

[Bull Run]

Even he admitted if he had to do it again he probably wouldn't go that low. I've been thinking about purchasing coilovers, but I'm not sure if I want to spend that kind of money for good ones. An alternative is the Mountune springs paired with Bilstein shocks, as this seems to be a good and popular combo from what I've seen. It's difficult because right now the winter tires on the stock wheels fill the gap in pretty good. Once I go with summer rubber on aftermarket wheels though that may change. Coilovers would give me more flexibility to adjust the height depending on what wheel/tire setup I'm running, but I like the ease and lower cost of the spring/shock combination as well.

I went with ISC coilovers since can do stock height (or even greater) if needed. I had a Mustang with 1.25" drop and it was scraping on taller speed bumps so I wanted the adjustability for the Fiesta. I initially dropped my car by around 1" or so thinking if 1.25" drop was too much for the Mustang, 1" should be OK for the Fiesta. While the 1" drop passed the speed bump test, I had a slight tire rub on moderate to hard turns as I have wider-than-stock wheels and tires (215/40/17), which wasn't an issue with the Mustang even with the 1.25" drop since it has more space in the wheel well. Raising the Fiesta by .25" (so around .75" drop) took care of the issue with the tire rub.

You can purchase covers for coilovers to keep the dirt out, but not sure how well they work with snow.

 

[esp_martin]

I went with ISC coilovers since can do stock height (or even greater) if needed. I had a Mustang with 1.25" drop and it was scraping on taller speed bumps so I wanted the adjustability for the Fiesta. I initially dropped my car by around 1" or so thinking if 1.25" drop was too much for the Mustang, 1" should be OK for the Fiesta. While the 1" drop passed the speed bump test, I had a slight tire rub on moderate to hard turns as I have wider-than-stock wheels and tires (215/40/17), which wasn't an issue with the Mustang even with the 1.25" drop since it has more space in the wheel well. Raising the Fiesta by .25" (so around .75" drop) took care of the issue with the tire rub.

You can purchase covers for coilovers to keep the dirt out, but not sure how well they work with snow.

Yeah I've read it's the salt/brine that gets put down for icy roads that you really need to be careful about with coilovers. and even if the covers work, that's still something you need to inspect by uninstalling and disassembling if you're doing your due diligence which is the biggest hurdle for me (only street parking for my house; no garage to do any regular maintenance)

 

[Geese1]

Yeah I've read it's the salt/brine that gets put down for icy roads that you really need to be careful about with coilovers. and even if the covers work, that's still something you need to inspect by uninstalling and disassembling if you're doing your due diligence which is the biggest hurdle for me (only street parking for my house; no garage to do any regular maintenance)

I've got a two car garage and a QuickJack lift, but in the winter both bays are taken up with my Camaro and my wife's Sky, which are stored during the winter months with no way to really move them, so I'm leaning away from coilovers and will probably just go with a spring/strut combo if I do anything.

 

[New_Daily]

The other thing to think about with coilovers, all the adjustments seem cool and you have the ability to get it adjusted just how you want, but you have to actually spend the time making all the adjustments and it can get to be quite a bit of time and effort. Especially when you consider the coilovers with camber adjustments, those adjustments are not accessible once installed. So if you want to make adjust the camber, you gotta pull them back off.

So far I like my Meister's but they've been on the car almost a month now and I was still making adjustments yesterday.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Yeah I've read it's the salt/brine that gets put down for icy roads that you really need to be careful about with coilovers. and even if the covers work, that's still something you need to inspect by uninstalling and disassembling if you're doing your due diligence which is the biggest hurdle for me (only street parking for my house; no garage to do any regular maintenance)

Same here, NO working on the car allowed at all, and NO 'DIY' garages anywhere within a 4 hours' drive (and even that one gets almost $40.00/hour for the use of their bays).

It would be an added $600.00+ expense every single spring just to do the above at a garage/dealer (IF a local dealer would even touch a car with coil overs in the first place!).

Not at all worth it for me, especially since I cannot afford the coil overs which I would want/would suit my purposes anyway.