Mk8 ST-Line X 140 early impressions

[Eric Bloodaxe]

Thought I should start a new topic rather than continue in the "Delivery Delays" thread, now mine is no longer delayed!

So, grounded due to snow after getting it home yesterday but roads had cleared a bit by 3.00pm today so ventured out to top up the tank (with a quick 35 mile diversion 😀).

First thoughts:

Looks much nicer in the metal than in photos and videos I've seen, the ST-Line bits give it a lift, and the race red which I was a little unsure of suits it very well.

Took quite a lot of fiddling to get a good driving position (lots of adjustability), but once sorted, very comfy.

Wanted a spare wheel so that ruled out the B & O option but the standard system sounds pretty good to me, though you really notice an increase in road noise around 60 and need to crank it up a bit.

I'm a bit of a technophobe, but paired the car with my android phone very easily.

Bit of technology which has impressed so far is the traffic sign recognition - seemed to work very well even on roadworks temporary speed limit signs.

Driving - although we've previously had 2 Mk 7's, had forgotten how quick the steering was,  perhaps a little toned down in this generation from previously,  but still very sharp by today's standards. Very little roll when cornering, overall very much the "go-kart" feel that MINI bang on about, the price being slightly jiggly ride on our rubbish roads, but not uncomfortably so.

Engine - I've not owned a 1.0 Ecoboost before but driven a few in 100 & 125 ps form. Looking forward to seeing if I can detect any difference in the 140ps version when I get it loosened off. Whatever, still a very enjoyable thing to drive, surprising amount of pull even in 6th and has a nice subdued growl. According to the computer my brief (quite brisk) drive yielded 46mpg so not a bad start

Will add more impressions when I've done a few more miles in better conditions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Matt12341234]

Keep the updates coming whilst we are all waiting. Agree the ST lines I've seen look so much better in the flesh than in any pics or videos I've seen. The ford configurator website makes them look terrible.

Looking forward to the MPG compared to my current 2 litre mazda getting 25mpg which is not good for a daily gridlocked commute. 

[nsw1995]

Any more thoughts from anyone who has been lucky enough to receive their MK8 Fiesta?

[Eric Bloodaxe]

Managed a few more miles in mine since the original post, which have largely reinforced my positive first impressions. Been on supermarket duty this morning and got the thumbs up from SWMBO, who thought it was very smooth, quiet and comfortable. Our full weekly shop fitted in no problem, one slight niggle space-wise is that the door bins (on a 5 door at least, not checked out the 3) are pretty useless other than for a pair of sunglasses and a duster, also there is a small cubby on the drivers side which I assume is meant for change etc but I can't even get my (admittedly fat) fingers in.

Continue to be impressed with the traffic sign recognition, though noted it can get caught out in some circumstances, eg this morning we were on a single carriageway running parallel to a dual and it showed 70 instead of 60, picking up the limit for the dual carriageway. Then later, we crossed the dual carriageway on a bridge and again it briefly showed 70, not the limit of the road we were on. Still a very useful aid though.

So my overall thoughts remain very much in line with my first drive, very much like the Mk 7/7.5 to drive, but with a sophistication that wasn't there before. I would sum up the difference a bit like this, if you jumped into a Mk 7 it said "C'mon! Let's go play!", But this one is more "I'm happy to play if you want to". Hope that makes sense!

 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

Further quick update, though not a lot to add.

Couple of minor irritants: on start up a picture of the interior comes up showing which seat belts are fastened. To get rid you need to press OK. Can't find a way to disable this.

Also, the lights default to the auto setting every time you start up and it seems there is no way to disable this either. You can of course turn the lights to any other setting but you need to do this on every start up.

Slightly more serious potential issue for me. I initially reported decent comfort after a lot of fiddling but having spent more time in the car now I'm not so sure. I should add at this point that I suffer from chronic back problems so what is an issue to me won't necessarily be a problem for others! Kept feeling that the edges of my back were resting on the seat bolsters stopping the middle of my back properly reaching the centre of the backrest and thus not properly supported. My wife has a SEAT Mii (VW Up! clone) which I drive regularly and have no problem with. Today I took a tape measure to both cars and found in the Fiesta the distance between bolsters at the widest part of the seat backrest was 12", on the Mii it's 13.5".

Funny thing is I never had a problem with the Mk 7 we had for 3 years, wondered if anyone would be kind enough to measure their Mk 7 or 7.5 seat  to check the width between bolsters, also same thing on Mk 8 (if anyone's got theirs yet!) just to see if mine is as it should be, taking account of the issues with seats/leather that have allegedly been causing all the delays. Thanks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BR36]

18 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Couple of minor irritants: on start up a picture of the interior comes up showing which seat belts are fastened. To get rid you need to press OK. Can't find a way to disable this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi, I have a Jag XE with the same feature which I also found annoying but on that, if you ignore the ‘please press OK’ prompt, it clears off after a few seconds, I wonder if the Ford set up is the same?

[Eric Bloodaxe]

Not found that so far. I left it the other day while I turned the car round in the drive, waited for a while to get out onto the road, and it was still showing, so I had to press OK in the end to be able to see the info beneath.

Something similar happens on the Sync screen, a kind of safety disclaimer comes up, can't remember the exact wording but that one does go off on it's own after a few secs!

 

[Jaminahat]

On 3/7/2018 at 2:18 PM, nsw1995 said:

Any more thoughts from anyone who has been lucky enough to receive their MK8 Fiesta?

I Recieved mine back in January and have only had positive experiences.

The 1.0T Ecoboost has plenty of grunt and is very fun to drive in the twistys.

Mine now has 1.5k miles and ive started to really test the car and it has only 2 very minor things that i do not like so far.

1) Doors do not autolock after you reach a certain speed and there is no way to set this up.

2) When you unplug your phone from apple car play the radio will start blaring out even if you turned the music off before unplugging your device from the usb port.

 

10/10 car though, would recommend to anyone. Especially younger drivers that need to worry about extortionate insurance prices. (Like me, unfortunately) 

[lwatson99]

As the new Fiesta has an upgraded infotainment system, was wondering if I could pick your brains..

Is it a good system (reliable etc and easy to use while driving?)

and is the CarPlay wireless or do you have to plug in on USB? I find charging speeds are always slower on USB.

Any advice/opinion would be much appreciated as I am looking to upgrade to the full ST when it releases but don’t want to get my hopes up too much on the interior /tech if it isn’t that good.

Thanks

[anyjungleinguy]

No wireless CarPlay. 

I can only think of BMW who offer wireless CarPlay at the moment. 

[merlin_gr]

On 3/9/2018 at 6:33 PM, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Couple of minor irritants: on start up a picture of the interior comes up showing which seat belts are fastened. To get rid you need to press OK. Can't find a way to disable this.

I have the st-line also. The seatbelt screen turn's off after aprox. 30 seconds. No need to press OK.  

[ThaiFiesta]

15 hours ago, Jaminahat said:

 

1) Doors do not autolock after you reach a certain speed and there is no way to set this up.

2) When you unplug your phone from apple car play the radio will start blaring out even if you turned the music off before unplugging your device from the usb port.

1. Likely to be changeable using Forscan as per the Mk 7.5

2. I read on a US forum that the latest software update fixes this. 

[Mavroz]

Early impressions are the Fiesta St Line X 140 looks really, really good. The brochure / Ford pictures do not do it justice.

Cabin is impressive and leaves my Mk7.5 behind. Seems initially complicated, especially the touch screen and the seemingly endless features it has.

Acceleration and engine noise initially doesn't seem as good as the 7.5, seems more revvy and tinny. Maybe with it being the gearbox having 6 forward gears.

Very smooth cornering, very tight suspension.

Again the external appearance with the all round calipers, new style alloys, gloss grille look the part.

No Footwell Lighting.......

 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

4 hours ago, merlin_gr said:

I have the st-line also. The seatbelt screen turn's off after aprox. 30 seconds. No need to press OK.  

Mine seems to take a lot longer than that. Will leave it next start up and see what happens!

2 hours ago, Mavroz said:

Early impressions are the Fiesta St Line X 140 looks really, really good. The brochure / Ford pictures do not do it justice.

Cabin is impressive and leaves my Mk7.5 behind. Seems initially complicated, especially the touch screen and the seemingly endless features it has.

Acceleration and engine noise initially doesn't seem as good as the 7.5, seems more revvy and tinny. Maybe with it being the gearbox having 6 forward gears.

Very smooth cornering, very tight suspension.

Again the external appearance with the all round calipers, new style alloys, gloss grille look the part.

No Footwell Lighting.......

 

Glad to see you're happy after your very long wait. I find the screen a bit much also, but then I used to think a push-button Radiomobile was the pinnacle of in-car technology!😀

[Zico]

5 hours ago, Mavroz said:

No Footwell Lighting.......

Are the bulb holders present? Some of the mk7.5's below Zetec level had the bulb holders and wiring present but without any bulbs in them.

[Mavroz]

No holders. Maybe due to the fact it has puddle lighting under the wing mirrors.

[Jeipii]

On 3/9/2018 at 6:33 PM, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Further quick update, though not a lot to add.

Couple of minor irritants: on start up a picture of the interior comes up showing which seat belts are fastened. To get rid you need to press OK. Can't find a way to disable this.

Also, the lights default to the auto setting every time you start up and it seems there is no way to disable this either. You can of course turn the lights to any other setting but you need to do this on every start up.

Slightly more serious potential issue for me. I initially reported decent comfort after a lot of fiddling but having spent more time in the car now I'm not so sure. I should add at this point that I suffer from chronic back problems so what is an issue to me won't necessarily be a problem for others! Kept feeling that the edges of my back were resting on the seat bolsters stopping the middle of my back properly reaching the centre of the backrest and thus not properly supported. My wife has a SEAT Mii (VW Up! clone) which I drive regularly and have no problem with. Today I took a tape measure to both cars and found in the Fiesta the distance between bolsters at the widest part of the seat backrest was 12", on the Mii it's 13.5".

Funny thing is I never had a problem with the Mk 7 we had for 3 years, wondered if anyone would be kind enough to measure their Mk 7 or 7.5 seat  to check the width between bolsters, also same thing on Mk 8 (if anyone's got theirs yet!) just to see if mine is as it should be, taking account of the issues with seats/leather that have allegedly been causing all the delays. Thanks.

 

 

 

 

 

The seats in my mk7.5 Fiesta aren't that wide either. At some point it just stopped bothering me. I guess the seats just molded into my body shape and now it feels ok to drive 4 hours without any back pain.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

Thanks for that. I guess I'll just have to see how it goes and hope my body weight beats the seat into submission!

[Mavroz]

With auto lights are we talking about the headlights? I know they can be turned from auto to manual on the dashboard rotary switch. Unless that is the auto main beam?

Seatbelt info doesn't stay on too long either on this one. Maybe there is a time setting for the message timeouts. There is for the courtesy headlights when getting out of the car.

What is the keyless entry optional extra for? We didn't get it but once the door button on the fob is pressed then you don't need the fob at all other than it to be in your pocket?

Reversing camera is very good and makes things easier although I still feel the need to use the wing mirrors and ignore it until I get used to it.

Doubt I will see much more of it or get to use it much more now her Indoors will be using it daily.

 

 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

5 hours ago, Mavroz said:

 

Seatbelt info doesn't stay on too long either on this one. Maybe there is a time setting for the message timeouts. There is for the courtesy headlights when getting out of the car.

 

 

 

Got the courtesy headlight delay adjusted early on. Been searching for something similar for displays without success so far, if anyone finds anything, please post the info, it drives me nuts (doesn't take much, says the wife)!😀

[Oldbean]

On ‎02‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 7:10 PM, Matt12341234 said:

Keep the updates coming whilst we are all waiting. Agree the ST lines I've seen look so much better in the flesh than in any pics or videos I've seen. The ford configurator website makes them look terrible.

Looking forward to the MPG compared to my current 2 litre mazda getting 25mpg which is not good for a daily gridlocked commute. 

Got my ST line x 140 last week so have only had a couple of trips to and from work on the M25 - currently getting 45mpg at average 30mph.

My old Titanium used to get 45mpg at average 35mph - so maybe the mpg will improve a bit if the average speed goes back up.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

11 hours ago, Mavroz said:

 

Reversing camera is very good and makes things easier although I still feel the need to use the wing mirrors and ignore it until I get used to it.

 

 

 

It's pouring down here, just dropped my wife off for an appointment and found it next to useless when wet! (No, I didn't reverse into anything!😀)

[Eric Bloodaxe]

23 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Mine seems to take a lot longer than that. Will leave it next start up and see what happens!

So, I left the seatbelt fastened message alone last start-up. It stayed on while I turned the car in the drive, waited for traffic to clear, and then drove about a quarter of a mile to a junction with a major road where I again had to wait for traffic to clear, before pulling out, when it finally went off. My wife and I both agreed it was around 3 minutes at least, which seems rather too long. One for the snagging list, I think!

[Jeipii]

Could someone take a picture of where the turbo upper cooling pipe/hose connects to in mk8 Ecoboost engine. Does it connect directly to the coolant reservoir or go somewhere else? Thank you :)

[Mach67]

3 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

So, I left the seatbelt fastened message alone last start-up. It stayed on while I turned the car in the drive, waited for traffic to clear, and then drove about a quarter of a mile to a junction with a major road where I again had to wait for traffic to clear, before pulling out, when it finally went off. My wife and I both agreed it was around 3 minutes at least, which seems rather too long. One for the snagging list, I think!

Still waiting for my st line x, can someone confirm what the standard keyless entry is- is it just bog standard remote key for opening or is the kind where you touch the door handle & vehicle unlocks?