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My Personal Review Of The Fiesta St


The Dark Knight
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Please take time to read all of this even though it is lengthy and bear in mind that this review is personal to me and not meant to be something for other buyers to rely on so don't start a slanging match over it. I just wanted to share my experience of the ST today.

Introduction

Firstly about me: I am 29 years old with a clean licence and have always been very much into cars. I have owned a variety of cars over the years from economical diesel cars, to hot hatches and 4x4’s. I have done 2 track days, one in a Ferrari 360 and one in an Aston Martin DB9 and on both occasions, I scored just shy of 100% because I listened to the pro’s and have a natural driving ability and good instincts (according to the very kind instructor – probably says that to everyone lol).

Secondly about my circumstances: Completed my law degree in May (got a 2:1) and starting the Legal Practice Course next month so with the crippling Uni fees, the pricey Freelander 2 had to go. I have had a 13 plate Zetec-S Ecoboost in red for the last 6 months and it is a superb car. Nippy, economical, well enough equipped, free to tax, cheap to fill up and cheap to insure. Just what the doctor ordered.


Why the test-drive?

I knew it was too expensive for me even with finance (I was proved right) but I wanted to drive one anyway and TCH Derby was having an ST event today with big discounts and 4.9% APR finance. So, off I went and took it for a spin…

Which one was it?

ST-2 in black with options of climate control and sat-nav and also the Mountune kit was fitted!

The positives

Right from climbing aboard and into the phenomenal recaro sports seats, it was obvious this was something special. I duly hit the start button and the engine burst into life with a fabulous burble, which quickly became an intoxicating exhaust note even under steady acceleration. Once out of the dealership, I flung it around the roundabout and the suspension setup coupled to the aforementioned seats meant that there was no sensation of rolling, just a surefooted planted feel to the turn with confidence inspiring grip – later seen again on some country roads. The brakes proved to be so immense that even at low speeds I thought I was going to smash my face into the steering wheel!

Now for the bit we all want to know about: Power and acceleration! I joined the A52 towards Nottingham in 3rd gear and promptly floored it. No sign of jolting but the turbo surge was an immense linear experience with a wonderful exhaust note and turbo whoosh that catapulted me forward at an alarming rate. A short throw of the gear stick into 4th and the turbo kicked in once more until I backed off at some mph. 5th gear proved to be mighty flexible but the biggest surprise was 6th. Here, it provided a calmer experience (relatively speaking) and yet would eagerly accelerate without the need to drop to 5th. Overall, the ST’s performance figures do not do justice to how it feels behind the wheel and the confidence it inspires.

At lower speeds the Fiesta maintains composure through the bends and certainly turns some heads with its burbling exhaust note and the build up of traffic gave me time to admire the interior of the ST-2. The Sony system brings a touch of luxury to the centre console and the steering wheel itself is a suitably sporting element. Other than that it is much the same as the standard setup. This car is worthy of the high praise it has received but there are some issues to address.


The negatives

You do not buy a hot hatch for affordable running costs, end of. However, even the 6 months road tax for £60 and claimed 50mpg do not speak the whole truth here. The fact is that the intoxicating driving experience makes you want to floor it and feel the power at every opportunity and as such, the mpg can drop into the high 20’s apparently. I can hammer the ZS and still see 40mpg (take it steady and high 50’s is easy), but the ST is a thirsty little so and so when worked hard.
Moving away from facts and figures though, I have to consider the real world. The real world driving such as the morning and evening rush hour is something that will be encountered far more often than a blast on the open road and here, even the ZS feels like a luxury car compared to the ST. The wonderful seats now feel hard and unforgiving, the suspension feels jittery and hard over bumps (though not as hard as some cars), and the exhaust note and engine noise would be tiresome after a hard day at work when I feel tired.

Interestingly, when under normal acceleration but with the turbo still coming into play, the ST to my surprise is no faster than the ZS. I expected to climb back into the ZS and feel like a sloth but the turbo in the ZS at normal speeds propels you along at the same rate. Therefore, showing the superiority of the ST requires giving it the beans and unleashing the potential which in the real world, is sadly not a common enough occurrence.

I did not come to these negative views through a calculated assessment. Instead, it was just gut instinct as I progressed through the test drive so how about a conclusion then?


Conclusion

Despite the negatives, would I buy this car if my circumstances were different? YES! Without hesitation! More than that, I would enjoy the experience and revel in the power because this truly is a great car.
Would I sing to a different tune about the negatives if I owned one? No because I know instinctively that in the circumstances mentioned, I would find the ST’s attributes downright annoying.
The ST is the ace of the hot hatchback trade whereas the ZS for me is the jack-of-all-trades. Right now, my circumstances dictate the game that I can play and in the game, the jack is the card that gives me the high hand.

Final word


It’s the car I deserve but not the one I need right now. So I’ll criticise it because it can take it, because it’s not a car; It’s a hot hatch guardian, a watchful protector, a Fiesta ST!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Great review, I do believe I'll be able to achieve around 33-40MPG in mine however it isn't as important anymore as it's a performance car, I understand that.

Looking forward to getting it however, only because I'm in the position to do so and may as well pay £3,000 extra to get an ST rather than a ZS.

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The thing with the mpg i get 31 mpg whilst driving it hard and on boost most of the time.

But i do agree with you the car makes you want to drive it hard but i think the mpg does bother people now, but i do come from an insainly thirsty rx8.

you say about the sound haven't had chance to try the st with the mountune kit fitted but it has been said it makes the engine abit noisier, In my opinion after having had the car a few months i do wish it was a little louder i plan to get the mountune kit fitted next year which will probs be just right for my personal preference, also the st does have a tube that goes through the dashboard from the intake to give the car a sporty noise inside the car without being to loud outside.

and to be honest in my opinion the things you don't like about the st are the very reasons people would buy a hot hatch. But there is no way the zs can be as quick as the st as the fiesta has around 80 lb ft more torque and around 65 more hp plus with the mountune upgrade the difference would be even bigger. It all depends how you want to drive.

But i think you are making the right choice keeping the zs as it sounds more suitable for what you want.

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Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting the ZS is as fast as the ST at face value (clearly not as you say) but when just applying a touch of power that introduces a hint of turbo boost, I honestly didn't feel the ST was any quicker. Perhaps the turbo in the ZS is just a placebo that makes it feel that way.

Maybe my iffy back and getting older didn't help with the review lol! Would defo buy one though if it wasn't for Uni and buying my first house within 3 years. The insurance isn't bad either.

Out of curiosity, have you had any trouble with other drivers trying to blow you away? Naturally the ST could blow many away where safe and legal to do so but I notice Audi drivers sometimes in quite fast versions tend to tailgate virtually anyone to show how 'superior' they are lol. Is the ST a magnet for idiots?

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its not been too bad so far, i get admirers more than idiots luckily. I have been smoked by a fellow vauxhall driver though! absolute sleeper car - i only noticed the V6 turbo badge when it understeered onto my lane at a slip road!

possibly remapped too? we still to this day have no idea!

the only other car i've tested against was a clio 172 - the car that made originally me decide to get this ST - and not surprisingly, the ST crept away fairly easily against it.

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Picked mine up this morning done nearly 200 miles already lol, have to say its everything I hoped it would be!!! Your review is a great one though

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Cheers. Hope you enjoy it. When I was at the dealers, there was a 1988 black Sierra Cosworth in the showroom. It belonged to a technician and wasn't for sale but was so well kept that it looked new

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Good review Dave. I drove one at the weekend as well, not a Mountune one but a ST2 in white with red seats. I am in a 2012 ZS with no turbo, although I have had turbos before most notably the Imprezza. I won't have the red seats I'm a bit old for that, 53, and would prefer the Spirit Blue.

I really don't want a "noisy" exhaust note and have to say I found the basic one absolutely fine, yes it does growl when the loud peddle is pressed but that's fine. In normal town mode it was only a litle more than my ZS.

I also noted the less refined ride but guess that is the pay off for more sporty handling. Will I be able to live with it if Ibuy one, I think so not sure the missus will be too happy I sort of skipped the downsides when I described how excellent it was,oops,anyone got a spare room?

Overall I agree with Dave these are excellent litlle pocket rockets and according to Top Gear magazine better and cheaper then the new Clio and 208

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Cheers Phil. Ford are king of the hill with the ecoboost petrol engines at the moment. Whether its the beastly ST or the 99ps model, they are supreme all rounders with the 99ps and 125ps models boasting free road tax (VED strictly speaking lol). No wonder the engine has won awards.

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any idiots i do see i just let them go really isn't worth it especially when their crappy corsa's and such that i know the st would beat on a track hands down.

In my first few years of driving il admit i would have had a go but after losing my licence i learnt its very stupid and wouldn't even think about it now.

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Cheers Phil. Ford are king of the hill with the ecoboost petrol engines at the moment. Whether its the beastly ST or the 99ps model, they are supreme all rounders with the 99ps and 125ps models boasting free road tax (VED strictly speaking lol). No wonder the engine has won awards.

yeah those engine awards are rubbish i had an rx8 with the rotary engine that won awards and they are no better than the rotories in the rx7 in fact mazda attempted to solve issue's and made it worse. those awards don't take engine life into account.

i haven't heard of many problems with the ecoboost engine apart from the ones they fit in some 4x4's in america i think it was. so the award could be justified in this case.

http://www.ukipme.com/engineoftheyear/rules.php

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any idiots i do see i just let them go really isn't worth it especially when their crappy corsa's and such that i know the st would beat on a track hands down.

In my first few years of driving il admit i would have had a go but after losing my licence i learnt its very stupid and wouldn't even think about it now.

Yes I agree. When you know you could beat the pants off a crappy c***a why even bother, let him go bragging to his chavvy mates at the local car park how he blew you away, lol.

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Quick question about the ST - what does it have in the way of ambient lighting? I'm thinking glovebox strip, cupholders and footwells, any others? And what colours are they? Cheers!

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i think the ambient lighting is orange in all of them and they are in places you mentioned.

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I made a 1.2 Corsa look like a right boob today, I revved the engine at the lights, and he did too, he set off with a squeal and stalled... I was turning left and not even going on, so the dude looked like such a twerp. I just cruise if I get the ST out, it drives hard on a track which is where it should >_>

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I'm considering one although I'm really happy with my Cooper S at present........agree with Dark Knight's review as when I test drove the ST in May I didn't think it was as responsive as my S but with the Mountune kit fitted it would be a different animal I suspect.

That said, we do have a beautiful Fiesta 1.0 125bhp Titanium X in frozen white (my wife's car) and that is a real joy to drive; lovely comfortable seats, no road tax, cheap insurance and even though Janet only drives a handful of miles to work and back most of the time with the air-conditioning on, it's still returning nearly 40mpg which will get better (hopefully depending on how much she likes the loud pedal) as the car has only done 500 miles!

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  • 7 months later...

I made a 1.2 Corsa look like a right boob today, I revved the engine at the lights, and he did too, he set off with a squeal and stalled... I was turning left and not even going on, so the dude looked like such a twerp. I just cruise if I get the ST out, it drives hard on a track which is where it should >_>

Been browsing the threads on here and have to say this made me smile! Much better post than too many I read on here where owners brag about 'racing' someone who's in whatever vehicle and seemingly are genuinely puffed up that they left them on a dual-carriageway or round town or at some lights etc.

I've had cars almost as fast as an ST in the past and I never once felt the need to do something like that against a random motorist who doesn't even know you - I just enjoy driving whatever car I've owned regardless of its speed. If I had something seriously fast like an Evo I would still be the same.

It honestly puzzles me. Is it just an ego thing as to why guys still do it, even nowadays? It doesn't even look cool. :)

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