Ford Fiesta Thread: MK8 ST with 200 BHP 3cyl EcoBoost

[Dave A]

The Fiesta is a good car, it's not the best but there is nothing that stands out as a big problem. The Fiesta ST (current one) we get is a very fun car to drive. It's faster than a Lancia Delta Integrale round a track by a lot.

Yes I've read the latest Evo.

 

[JCE]

YSS, I like that Focus ST.

 

[JohnBM01]

I still think we should have gotten the European-spec focus and not the atrocitious Focus we have now. And after all, don't tell me that we don't need something like the Euro Focus or this Fiesta (which I will get to in my next paragraph). After all, I'd rather something like this new Fiesta than the latest Hummer or some other big-ass machine.

This newer Fiesta is more like the Ford Focus once the Ford Focus just landed in the States. I can easily change up the pale color of this machine with something similar to Midnight Blue or maybe even some rich red color. Something about me- there is no such thing as "too cute" in design of small cars. I'm not going to feel uneasy or smash up something because of something being too cute or girly. To me, the front of the Fiesta somewhat reminds me of a Peugeot. I would have vertically widened the front grill to be proportional with the inner edges of the headlights. I'm still not buying the "mustache" look that makes grills look larger than it actually is. It's not used for the minute grill bearing the Ford logo, but it's for the extended front bumper grill. I personally think a huge grill is out of place for a small car. Much like how the Daihatsu Copen has that huge front grill. I have no complaints with the rear or sides of the car. In fact, the sides of the Fiesta have an aggressive edge. The strakes along the side of the Fiesta suggest something like a side-air duct near the front tires. It has some aggressive character to it from the sides. I mentioned earlier this car reminds me a lot of a Peugeot. Well, I can somewhat see a classic Peugeot 206 or 207 in its profile.

I think of this as a baby first-gen Focus. The lines are suggesive of that Verve concept. I think the Yaris is very cute and several hundred-thousand times better than the Echo we were stuck with in the late 1990s and early 2000. I don't think of the Yaris as a cutesy car. I've always loved the Fit/City/Jazz, so no fault there. You all know I never fall into any pro-American standpoint. So I'm glad Ford's bringing over this car. I'm sure economy car and sport compact types will both embrace this car with loving arms and true appreciation. That is, unless, you HATE Ford. Even still, I approve this car by 97% percent.

 

[SlipZtrEm]

The new Fiesta certainly looks better then a Yaris, but that'd probably be it as far as it goes for "The Fiesta is better then the Yaris"...

I like it though, the design suits this chassis more then it does on the new Mondeo in my opinion 👍

Your fanboy roots are showing.

Even I have an unhealthy admiration for the Yaris (since we got the first-gen hatch hear for a year or two), but the car's a gaping yawn-fest compared to the Fiesta. Have yet to read/hear a single thing about it being anything other than middle-of-the-road in Europe's minicar ranks.

Its actually already here, just in disguise:

As I recall it shares the same floorpan and engines, no?

Nope. That's just a Fiat, actually. It's bigger than the Swift too.

 

[forza2.0]

The ST was a good car except it did not have enough power. Its a warm hatch.

 

[YSSMAN]

YSS, I like that Focus ST.

They aren't bad cars, but I was demonstrating how a name can be completely boiled down to nothing in the US market. For all intensive purposes, the ST was probably the best Focus besides the SVT given the Mazda engine, decent chassis tune, and the low-low price. But, yeah, its still not the ST that we really want...

 

[Venari]

What the heck is this?!

Don't tell me that's your new Focus?

What a turd!

No wonder Ford US are going down the crapper. They really do need Ford Europe... to design all their cars for one thing!

 

[TopHat]

Define "new". It's the MKI Focus with its second facelift.

 

[Tornado]

The new Fiesta certainly looks better then a Yaris, but that'd probably be it as far as it goes for "The Fiesta is better then the Yaris"...

Only if Ford pulls off a massive clerical error and starts selling old Festivas underneath the bodywork.



On the SX4: It is certainly Swift based, yes, but it is Swift based in the same way that the Mazda CX-9 is on the Mazda 6-based.

 

[Leonidae]

I wonder if there will be diesel ST in the europe.. after all, VW anbd other have been pushing out sporty diesels for a while.. Imagine the hilarity that ensues when youd buy your new, sporty diesel ford, and then on coffee break, declare to your colleagues..

" I have Ford STD."

 

[YSSMAN]

Define "new". It's the MKI Focus with its second facelift.

*cough*third*cough*

===

Only if Ford pulls off a massive clerical error and starts selling old Festivas underneath the bodywork.

Pretty much. I can't ever recall hearing much positive about the Yaris other than "its cheap" and "its a Toyota," which hardly qualifies it to be any better than a Kia or Hyundai these days...

 

[Jim Prower]

Pretty much. I can't ever recall hearing much positive about the Yaris other than "its cheap" and "its a Toyota," which hardly qualifies it to be any better than a Kia or Hyundai these days...

Fun Fact: Festiva was a rebadged Kia.

 

[The Vanishing Boy]

->...

No Bold grille? Goood. This is a great looking car. I wonder how it will do against a Polo.

^ Well, we just have to wait and see for Ford NA ruins it, just look at the 1st gen Focus' history. And I also bet that we'll keep this Fiesta for the next 20 years.

They might want to rename it for the U.S. Market. Too close to this Kia-built Metallic hamster, the Festiva.

Which would be a shame, because this is definitely NOT a tossaway car.

^ That Festiva (aka. Kia Pride), is a decent little Korean car especially someone stuffed a Ford V8 in it. That car (the Pride) was all over Manila last time I recall.

-> I'm not terribly excited on the Fiesta coming on the Stateside, it will be ruined once the US design crew implemented the 'Bold' (aka. Gillette Mach 3 Turbo) design theme.

-> Still, I'm waiting for the Polo and the 2nd-gen Fit if not this year, maybe next year.

 

[Jim Prower]

-> I'm not terribly excited on the Fiesta coming on the Stateside, it will be ruined once the US design crew implemented the 'Bold' (aka. Gillette Mach 3 Turbo) design theme.

Everything I've heard is that they won't be restyling it.

 

[The Vanishing Boy]

JP-> I hate false promises though, we may never know though.

 

[a6m5]

Fun Fact: Festiva was a rebadged Kia.

And based on a Mazda design. Mazda designed, Kia built, sold by Ford.

 

[The Vanishing Boy]

^ You mean this dude:

-> I like the way Kia re-design the little hatchlet.

 

[V1P3R]

Mazda designed, Kia built, sold by Ford.

 

[Eric.]

I agree. I don't like the design of this at all.

 

[buickgnx88]

The things I don't like about the design are the headlights that nearly touch the side glass, as well as the beltline which goes so far up it looks like a cat putting it's ass in your face! Plus, it looks a bit too tall...namely the front fascia and the rear quarterpanels.

That's the thing I hate about most new designs are the beltline which goes up, and the roof that slopes down making the rear side windows tiny and makes it harder to see around outside the vehicle.

 

[YSSMAN]

Which reminds me: Now that I'm kinda market in the new car Ford, it would be nice if you could get this car to the US a bit sooner than later...

 

[mustangGT90210]

Click on the photo for the full press release...



Huzzah! I'll take this over the Yaris any day, and if they can get the chassis sorted out properly, I see no reason why this wouldn't be a great alternative to the Honda Fit/Jazz as well.

Good job Ford!

Wow. I like it. But, it looks like the tail light needs some work... I think it should come in at about 10,000 just because the Focus starts around 14,000.

 

[zdenko]

The things I don't like about the design are the headlights that nearly touch the side glass, as well as the beltline which goes so far up it looks like a cat putting it's ass in your face! Plus, it looks a bit too tall...namely the front fascia and the rear quarterpanels.

That's the thing I hate about most new designs are the beltline which goes up, and the roof that slopes down making the rear side windows tiny and makes it harder to see around outside the vehicle.

I don't mind high beltlines cause they are a good safety feature. Better then just glass down low. Metal will give you a better chance of surviving if you get hit in the side by a 4wd then low glass windows.


Also what the hell. The post about the Jazz/fit. Of course the Ford will have a good chassis. I guess you have never driven a euro Ford small car. The old one allready hammers most of the class for driving dynamics so this will probably be even better. Oh and by the way, the Jazz is a terrible handling(not really just compared to others in class) car, so rolley. Then again you wouldn't have much to comapare to in the US.

 

[forza2.0]

Yeah the jazz sucks if you wanna drive faster with sharp turn ins etc.

 

[YSSMAN]

Also what the hell. The post about the Jazz/fit. Of course the Ford will have a good chassis. I guess you have never driven a euro Ford small car. The old one allready hammers most of the class for driving dynamics so this will probably be even better. Oh and by the way, the Jazz is a terrible handling(not really just compared to others in class) car, so rolley. Then again you wouldn't have much to comapare to in the US.

The last Euro Ford we received "new" in the US was the MKI Focus in 2000. So, yeah... Haven't driven too many Euro Fords.

Per the question of the Jazz/Fit, what model are we talking about? Last I checked, the Fit Sport was one of the best-handling cars in the segment. I think the only car that even holds a candle to its capability and otherwise "zippy" nature is the Suzuki SX4 Sport (sedan).

 

[The Vanishing Boy]

Also what the hell. The post about the Jazz/fit. Of course the Ford will have a good chassis. I guess you have never driven a euro Ford small car. The old one allready hammers most of the class for driving dynamics so this will probably be even better. Oh and by the way, the Jazz is a terrible handling (not really just compared to others in class) car, so rolley. Then again you wouldn't have much to comapare to in the US.

Yeah the jazz sucks if you wanna drive faster with sharp turn ins etc.

^ Say what? Are you guys implying the Fiesta ST to the Jazz S 1.4? So yeah, that would be unfair. I've pushed the Fit (Jazz) Sport 1.5 to any long sweeper corners. It handled better than my stock WRX wagon (not anymore), and executed it with fast and predictable speed. Rolly? You've got to be kidding, the Fit/Jazz handled faster than the awesome Corvette [C6] ZO6 on the slalom (65+ mph), and the USDM is tuned to be 'softer' compared to other models globally. Its just you guys didn't got the chance of having the L15 in Euro-land.

Per the question of the Jazz/Fit, what model are we talking about? Last I checked, the Fit Sport was one of the best-handling cars in the segment. I think the only car that even holds a candle to its capability and otherwise "zippy" nature is the Suzuki SX4 Sport (sedan).

^ In Euro-land, they never got the sportiest Jazz/Fit. Which is the Sport model WITH the L15 1.5L VTEC, those chaps only got the L14 1.4L non-VTEC. So I don't blame them.

Last Gen Jazz:

Future Jazz:

^ So yeah, I'm not following this over joyness of the Fiesta, plus I usually don't like high beltline-type cars. It feels claustrophobic, as evidenced by the Magnum SRT-8.

Magnum SRT-8

New Fiesta mule

-> Of all the small Euro-hatches, I'd take the Polo.

 

[forza2.0]

The polo would be my last choice unless I was looking for the most sensible, grown up small car on sale.

 

[Thirdeye]

I'm rarely a fan of domestic cars, but I actually like that new Fiesta.

 

[Keef]

Woah woah woah...you're telling me the Ford Metro I've been calling a Fiesta for years is actually a Festiva? Hmph.

I think bringing the European Fiesta here is a genius idea. But obviously there's lots of people that are going to remember the Festiva.

 

[Dave A]

I'm rarely a fan of domestic cars, but I actually like that new Fiesta.

The Fiesta's not domestic if your from the Grand Rapids, or anywhere in the US .