2019 Fiesta ST or 2019 Subaru BRZ
 

I'm thinking of buying a new car. These are my options:

Ford Fiesta ST Mk8 (with LSD option)
Subaru BRZ (automatic transmission, its the only option here)

I'm 1.84cm tall and around 122kg. Fat for these cars I know :(
I'll use it almost every day, mainly on low traffic areas, half nice village roads, half highway (autobahn.) (I make ~25000 km a year)
Cargo space and fuel consumption is important (... for my wife ... who rules the earth! )
I love karting and want a car that would give me some feelings like a go-kart does.
Winters are around 0 to -10 degree Celsius here, and it snows for a month or so, every year.
I'm not a fan of how FiST looks. I'm in love with Subaru BRZ. It gives me similar feelings when I look at a Ferrari 360 Modena. But I just want choose the one that I would have more fun while driving it.

It is impossible to have a test drive these cars in where I live. I haven't seen a Fiesta ST yet but sat inside a BRZ. Its driving position was really nice, but I would want the steering wheel could be extended more, I like it closer.

I don't have much experience on RWD cars, except karting. In driving simulations, I like to choose FWD cars more; and drifting is not my thing. However I like making some donuts when it snows.

I will not modify the car. I want to use it the way it is designed.

Any thoughts are very appreciated.

Get the FiST if you can only get an automatic twin. It's also a more practical DD for a family scenario.

One of my best friends has a FiST which I ride in regularly and have driven.

I love the Fiesta. I think it's good looking (especially 2019), and feels way faster than the BRZ because...you know...torque. Plus, it's easily tuned since it's got a turbo.

Even though I like the look of the FiST, to me, the BRZ looks better. I mean, it's a low slung sports car compared to a compact hatch. The BRZ gets better fuel economy (I average 29-30mpg, or 7.5L/100km). It handles better than the FiST as well. Also, 10 8-foot 2"x4"s fit in the BRZ but not the FiST...ask me how I know lol.

If I were to put it into karting terms, the BRZ is more of a gas kart with a centrifugal clutch where it takes a little time to get going, where the Fiesta is more of an electric kart with instant torque.

If I was in your position, I would get the Fiesta. It feels faster around town, and you can get it in a manual. Not that the auto BRZ is bad, but that's just a personal preference.

Every single cell of my brain and my wife, tells me to buy a FiST.
My hearth tells to go and get that blue Subaru BRZ.. Strong :wub:

I thought BRZ has worse fuel economy. I didn't know that.. With this argument I may convince my wife perhaps :)

I'm from Turkey, we use centimeters, meters, kilograms.. I was unable to understand "10 8-foot 2"x4"s" I googled it and get 10 meter :) So do you mean, you are big like me and can fit in a BRZ but not in a Mk8 FiST?

Your karting analogy made me get into a confusion.. more... I wish FiST wasn't that good, so that I'd buy a BRZ without hesitation.

Past Fiesta ST owner here...

Get the Fiesta hands down (if you can only get the automatic BRZ). Hands down.

Mr Goose (savagegeese) reviewed a GT86 automatic and said it is OK. Why do you think AT is that bad?

The BRZ gets really good meilage, On the highway I get around 36mpg, but daily routine, including autocross I think my average is 29.5mpg.

Sorry about the units. I did the L/100kg conversion, but forgot about the inches>metric one. A "2x4" here in the US is a piece of lumber used to build things. Its 8 feet long (just under 2.5m), and 1.5in x 3.5in. see photo. the Fiesta was just a little too short to fit the whole thing.

I am 6'1", 195lbs (185cm, 88kg) and I fit well. There are guys bigger than me that fit as well.

https://www.canfor.com/images/defaul...rsn=cd8fe991_2

I don't buy my cars for them to be just OK. For me cars are about fun, and the manual is just much more engaging of a transmission.

Disclaimer: I've driven almost every automatic transmission on the market including PDK's, and they don't do much to me.

Additional point: Not only is the automatic BRZ heavier than the manual, but it gets the older outdated engine compared to the MT.

Oh I see :) a few days ago I fit 5 of these woods which were 3 meter long (~10 feet), into a Renault Clio.. It was tightly bounded but very scary for me, since the trunk had to be kept open. If I had a BRZ, I could say to my wife "hey my car is too small, lets pay for it and get those woods with a proper truck". So I wouldn't have to clean the small pieces of woods inside my car :D

Don't get me wrong. I don't judge or criticize what you say. I have no experience on these cars, and want to learn how you feel driving them. I don't like AT as well. It's a big negative for me for BRZ. But they also say, the tuning made to manual GT86/BRZ's does not change anything. BRZ with AT is also fine and gives you the same feeling. However, if you dislike a PDK, I guess you would hate BRZ with AT. So I say nothing :)

I had a mk7 Fiesta ST for 3 years at the same time as my BRZ. I still have the BRZ, and got a WRX once the FiST lease was up. Yeah, I leased a Fiesta...

For driving, the FiST encouraged me to drive like a lunatic, while the BRZ has helped to make me a better driver. I was more comfortable taking corners faster in the FiST at first, and the torque of the turbo made it way more fun to floor it -- probably too often. Alternatively, the BRZ's steering feels more directly connected to the wheels and it is way more fun carve a good line with. The way the BRZ is balanced will help you to learn how to properly manage weight in a RWD car. This will help to take turns with more speed without the traction control farting. Depending upon what your current experience driving is. I only drove the FiST in the snow because I'm a wuss, but with good tires I had no issues. Despite living in farm country with a lot of elevation changes.

I know the mk8 FiST went to a 3 pot turbo, but the old 1.6 felt faster than the BRZ, even if it wasn't. Once the FiST came off overboost, the BRZ would pull away at higher speeds. Still, the FiST was more fun around town and power delivery easier to live with for running errands and what not. From a dig, with an automatic BRZ, the FiST will be faster.

For the seats, if you get the Recaros in the FiST at ~120 kg you'll likely feel too squeezed in the seat. I was just barely okay at 185 cm and 99 kg. If you get the normal Fiesta seats they won't hold you as well, but there will be more room than the BRZ. I could put on quite a few kg with the BRZ seats and still be comfortable. The mk7 Fiesta infotainment was unquestionably better than the first BRZ unit, but if you're comparing the new Subaru unit to new Ford one, it's likely a wash. That is if the new BRZ unit is anything close to the one in my WRX. As for cargo space, the BRZ will hold more front to back (both with the seats down and up), while the Fiesta holds more overall, and specifically vertically. Something to note about the mk7 Fiesta is that while I'm not picky about interior bits, it did have a slight problem with trim and some hvac pipes falling off while driving. They were easy enough to snap back in, and usually it wasn't the same part twice. The driver's side footwell hvac pipe falling off seems to be a problem with the car, but that may not have carried over into the mk8. Not an issue I had with the BRZ. Another note is that we only had the 4 door Fiesta in the states, and at my height my shoulders and head were slightly behind the b pillar. It probably looked silly from the outside, if you care about that.

That ramble aside, there really isn't a bad choice. I'd encourage you to drive both cars back to back for as long as the dealership will let you. If it is permissible in Turkey, ask to go on a longer test drive than whatever route the dealership has planned. Make your decision on your own opinion rather than others; however, hopefully this gives you something to think about while driving them.

Thank you very much, these are very valuable information for me. They don't let us test drive these cars, since there are only 3 BRZ, zero Toyota 86, and zero Fiesta ST in Turkey dealers at the moment :)

Wow, I was hoping you meant figuratively impossible with no stock yet. :) Might be worth noting that if the FiST was a 3 door, I may have kept it. Even with the trim falling off from time to time.

The dealer told me that in a few months, a 3 door, fox-gray ST-3 with an LSD and LED lights would come here. I said: "I want nothing but the car. Get rid of all the accessories, even take out the radio, infotainment stuff, put on 17'' wheels, or smaller, and give me that car, why can't I get a ST-2 something.." He replied "No way! Shut f. up and buy the ST-3! and be thankful for that!" And he got a point. I found that man by chance; after going 3 dealers, making phone calls to Ford center. Other dealers told me something like: "there is no such model, are you mad?", or "yes we have a ST-line here, its the same car, look, its lovely, buy it!", "you see a Fiesta ST in your dreams, there is no way you can buy it!"
I don't care about trims falling off, or 0-60 drag times, or other people to look at my car and say "wow". I just want a car that goes like a go-kart..