The fiesta st has two modes - the gear you are in, and the ones below. I've had mine now upto 1500 miles and at first i was a little annoyed. Running the car in it felt a little tight, like it wouldn't open up, i just wasn't sure what it was trying to say to me. I couldn't stand it any longer and at 800 miles i had to surpass the 3500 rev limit i set myself and take it up to 5000. These brief little nips into the higher rev range gave real food for thought. Sure it still felt a little tight, but on the edge of 4500 - 5000, as i hovered for at most 1/2 a second, i felt something stirring. I was happier, perhaps something pleasant really did await me.
I am now up to 1500 miles and the car has come a long way since 1000 miles running in. The car still felt a little tight right up until around 1500 miles. Thats when the sun came out and i had a day off. So let me take you back to those 2 modes.
Mode 1: If you take this car out for a little drive around town, keeping the revs low, higher gear, pottering around as it were, the car seems a little sluggish compared to say my family focus 2.0 tdci; it's a little slow to respond to a depressed accelerator, not much pulling power (torque - not chicks ;-), no turbo kicks in to
lift you out of troubles way (it ain't got a turbo). In this mode you are probably in 4th or 5th gear doing tween 25-40 miles an hour and putting your foot down will not get you anywhere fastish - even in 4th. You are driving this as a family car, and the fiesta happily obliges and its here you'll get that fuel economy mentioned in other reviews. However, remember that you are in family mode and if you need to nip out and around that truck you got to drop two gears.
The same situation occurs on the motorway. You are crusing maybe at 70-75mph and in 5th gear. You want to nip around that truck before that mondeo rep bears down and cuts you up but you are in the wrong gear. You need to be in 4th already. You need to be in mode 2.
Mode 2: Ok, so perhaps this is why you chose the fiesta st? You wanted a drivers car. In this mode you only got 4 gears (at least this is the way i view the car). 5th gear is for fuel economy and for that last climb above 100 (4th gets you to 100, so i am led to beleive ;-). 2, 3 and 4 will take you to where you want to be quite nicely and 5th will hold you there (now this is hearsay ;-), but 5th also kicks in quite nicely at 5000 to take you up to 130 mph).
The key to this car is not to let go too early. When the fiesta purrs at 3500, it it is saying, get me to 4500 plz. At 4500 it gives you a burst of power, a kick as it were and then a another nudge at 5500, "go on, take me to 6000+": in fact it requires you to use up every last pint of horse juice. If you do this you will not be dissapointed. Think long gears, hold it, hold it....now change!!!. Keep the foot down for a fast change, and this car truly really does do a nice gear change.
In town, mode 2, you need to keep the revs above 2200, so you got the ability to tank it up; stick in 2nd and 3rd if you need to dart around that lorry which just braked in front of you, or get in a lane when no one wants to let you in, or basically use that lane which is mentioned in the highway code but which no one uses because it feeds in to the left lane. It is a prereq that you need to be in 2nd or 3rd if you wish to use all the road you paid for in your anuual vehicle tax.
On the motorway, unfortunately of which i do a lot, there isn't much to say about the st. It does rev high and could become arduous on long journeys. As mentioned in a prior review the joy comes from leaving the motorway, and lorries permitting, on dual carriageways roundabouts. That aside, if you are travelling 40 miles or less each way on the motorway/dual carriageway day in day out as i do, the task is not troublesome and indeed there are highlights to be had in any case, espcecially for mode 2 drivers.
BTW, this car is tuned for nosiy; in a nice way. If you aren't hearing that sound, you needed to buy the model below. As for looks, this car looks so nice. I got the performance blue (2006 model btw), white stripes down the side, and it really does stand out. The car gets a fair number of looks from the fairer sex, and quite a few not so nice looks from the grimy class (you know the ones that snigger/snarl/laugh? to their mates at someone in a new car, to hide the pain that lives inside them which deep down rips into their hearts shouting "you'll never afford one of them on the dole kid, so how's about you just try and ruin it for everyone else so we're all in the sh1te together!!!").
Now onto the cornering. This car has only 1 mode for corners.
Mode 1: straight line.
Corners are yesterdays news. You'll see them all off in your rear view mirror. The difference between a fiesta st on a straight and on a corner is a little hard to find. If there is one difference it is the fact that your heart rate has risen to 150 and the car feels 10 times more exciting. But that is all down to you my friend, because this car hasn't even broken into a sweat. I'd swear i was rolling on glue, and the fact that this car isn't yanking 180 bhp straight to the wheels is because it has must have embedded 30 horses straight into the tarmac (leaving the final ~150 for you to use in a forward motion ;-).
Oh yes, and its got a pounding 6 cd changer (didn't seem as nice at first as the one in my focus but that's cos like everything on the st you have to turn it up! When you do that you'll note that the bass and tonals hold and don't end up distorting, but at lower listening levels i much prefer my focus audio). I am not going to talk about the interior, look in the literature and read what the other reviewers have got to say, suffice to say you won't be dissapointed, it's really nice and comfortable, big inside, and pretty impressive.
Finally, it's a pretty neat family car, comfortably fits my two kids in the back (that's me in mode 1 btw). Luggage space (maybe some shopping and a pram).
Hope you enjoyed my review.
Cheers.
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Advantages: Cheap thrills, practical, easy to afford, you won't destroy the environment Disadvantages: not too fast and involving as some of its competitors. Thats it
rambo 04.07.2005 (18.10.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Ford Fiesta ST
Advantages: Looks, handling and performance - easy to tune Disadvantages: brakes arnt as good as expected (i was used to a lot lighter car with uprated brakes)
matt_t1986 21.08.2008 (21.08.2008)
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Review of Ford Fiesta ST
Mar 28th, 2006
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