2014 Ford Fiesta ST vs 2014 Subaru BRZ

[ScoobsMcGee]

Originally Posted by thill

Good point, those body kits add what, 8-10 hp?

That's 8-10 hp per STi logo, thank you.

[WolfpackS2k]

And here comes the Fiesta RS...


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[gutbomb]

I traded my FR-S in for a Fiesta ST in January and I'm in love with this car. I also loved the FR-S and it was a great car, but there were a couple of reasons to move away from it.

I'm not racing my car but I want to feel some power when driving and the FR-S wasn't delivering the street fun I craved. Sure I could kick the back end out on a roundabout, but then coming out of the roundabout back onto a straight it had no guts.

So I started modding the car but I wasn't going to go nuts. I put Pilot Super Sports on it and unfortunately lost the ability to kick the back out at such a low speed. I got an OpenFlash tablet and ran a 93 tune for a while and the difference was there, but it wasn't dramatic. I tried an e85 tune and it again had more power and the torque curve was a little bit better but still not enough, and besides, the car didn't want to start in the cold (took 40 minutes once) and e85 is a pain in the ass to find in Boston. I put an exhaust on and it finally sounded like I thought it was supposed to, but still, just kind of weak. And don't even get me started on the road noise / cabin vibrations. Nor the fact that the layer of paint on the front bumper is most likely applied by driving through an extremely thin mist of paint.

My wife is pregnant and we both need to be able to haul the baby and there are no rear facing baby seats that will fit in an FR-S with a passenger seated comfortably in the passenger seat. Even if there were, dealing with that in a two-door car would be ridiculous. So it was time to start shopping for a car. I test drove a Mazdaspeed 3 (loved it), Golf R (it was boring), WRX STI (felt like a truck), Evo X (loved it, but it was too loud for a baby), Veloster Turbo (pretty, but horrible), BMW 335 xi (boring) and a Fiesta ST. I obviously ended up with the Fiesta.

Everything that I was missing from the FR-S was there with the ST, lots of torque and available down low, where I'm actually driving it on public roads. Great handling that feels better than any other FWD car I've ever driven. The gear shift feels very similar to the FR-S, power delivery is much more fun with the turbo. There's much more room in the cabin so it's family friendly while remaining small, and to me, with where and how I drive it's just more fun. And the best part, it's so cheap.

It's not a perfect car by any means, I do have a few niggles with it. the car doesn't have a front or rear jacking point to jack up half of the car at once, so I end up having to jack it up one corner at a time and squeeze the jack stand in next to the jack. Also I can't install a double din head unit so I'm stuck using Ford's crappy (but still better than the scion/subaru option) head unit.

Those problems don't compare to the laundry list of things that I was dissatisfied with on the FR-S. Is it going to be for everyone? No. But for how I enjoy a car it's perfect. I'm sure an FR-S can be modded to be as fun as I find the Fiesta ST, but it will be costly and it will never be as practical, and probably never as comfortable.

[Zyo81]

For many of us the practicality argument is irrelevant. I'm single, hopefully will never have kids, live in a condo. My car fits a dog, good enough. It's more practical than my mustang convertible.

Anyway, I test drove a fiesta st and focus st 2 weeks ago back to back. I was initially excited to drive the fiesta, having an automatic rental that I thought was fun. The st though, the seating position with manual controls seemed a lot worse, I just couldn't get comfortable. I'm 6' with a 32" inseam. The power was decent, but it didn't feel any faster than my fr-s. Well I guess it's not, but for all the talk of torque I expected more.

I test drove the focus after. That car was comfortable, better laid out, definitely faster. It was fun but reminded me how hard it is to get power down with FWD. Also neither car could I comfortable sit behind myself. Makes me wonder what you're really getting as far as practicality is concerned. Storage I guess.

[bfrank1972]

Originally Posted by Zyo81

For many of us the practicality argument is irrelevant. I'm single, hopefully will never have kids, live in a condo. My car fits a dog, good enough. It's more practical than my mustang convertible.

Anyway, I test drove a fiesta st and focus st 2 weeks ago back to back. I was initially excited to drive the fiesta, having an automatic rental that I thought was fun. The st though, the seating position with manual controls seemed a lot worse, I just couldn't get comfortable. I'm 6' with a 32" inseam. The power was decent, but it didn't feel any faster than my fr-s. Well I guess it's not, but for all the talk of torque I expected more.

I test drove the focus after. That car was comfortable, better laid out, definitely faster. It was fun but reminded me how hard it is to get power down with FWD. Also neither car could I comfortable sit behind myself. Makes me wonder what you're really getting as far as practicality is concerned. Storage I guess.

Storage, adult-ish useable back seat, many people feel more comfortable with front wheel drive in inclement weather (though it's moot unless you swap tires). They're hard to beat for overall cost, utility and performance. If you're having kids, they're really still too small - time for a wagon, van, or SUV.

I might have to go to one of these in the future when my kids get a bit bigger, right now at 8 and 10, they still fit perfectly in the back of the FRS sitting criss cross - no legroom but the FRS seats are very deep. I especially love the 'clown car' effect when we pull up and all crawl out of the car And though I love the way the Fiesta ST looks, the FRS just looks so much better.