SPhilli911's Fiesta ST

[GDII]

We never got the GC/F WRX or STi here, nor are they legal for importation yet. (Sean if you can wait two years...) Our 2.5RS was a DOHC or SOHC 2.5 L (EJ25D or EJ251) and had larger brakes than the standard car. I'm sure it had different spring rates and sway bar sizes. Also the most beat up STi's out there are $10K+ while he should be able to get a 2.5 RS for $5K.

Ah that makes sense. NZ has it lucky then. Although the GDB Impreza is my favorite. I do like the GC/GM/GF Impreza shape. Especially the GC8G and even the GC8C STi.

I sort of know what you mean about not being able to see the car from inside. I don't drive many modern cars (Both mine are 26 years old) but when I do I can't see the bonnet or boot. When I sit down I am far taller than most people even though I'm only 6'. In the MR2 I can see all the way down the bonnet to the rear of the front light panels and the whole rear of the car from the rear window to the end of the spoiler. Driving my brothers 1998 WRX Ltd was quite cool being able to see the bonnet scoop although it is far smaller than the GDB scoop.

 

[SPhilli911]

I was just thinking, maybe you should change the name of this to SPhilli911's ST but then I read this and thought you should just buy an STi and leave it .

Why a 2.5 RS over an STi? We don't get the RS model here so not sure what the differences are.

Just to be clear, I am talking about the GC 2.5 RS and not the GD version (the one no one cared about haha) and I'm also looking to get a second car, not replace the Ford. That said, it mostly it comes down to price. I think at this time, a cheap project car is more appealing to me than an expensive STI. Something I can tinker on. Sure you can find an older STI as low as $10,000 (for a real bad model), but they can get expensive fast and I don't have that kind of money to spend. As much as I like the idea of owning another GDB STI, I had my time in my dream STI already. To go down the same road, do the same work, same maintenance, same mods wouldn't be too exciting. I'll give another car a go this time.

BUT! The 2.5 RS is super rare to begin with, something like 15,000 were sold in the US? And in my area, and surrounding areas, they are rusting away (the last 2.5 RS I had, 1998 version, I abandoned due to serious rust). To find a good, rust free car is going to cost a lot and I'm going to have to search all of America. Let me put it this way, before I bought the Ford ST I was looking at buying a perfect 2.5 RS to have as my only car. I found one 10 minutes from where I live, it was shipped from California to a dealer here in Connecticut and had no rust and low miles and the dealer was asking a seriously high $8000 (!) for a stock four door 2.5 RS. As I drove out to buy it no questions asked, someone else already bought it before I arrived. They are out there for less, but they sell quick.

Who knows how this will pan out. I would love to import an Australian GC Impreza. One of those Evo Club versions I think they are called? Something like that. They must be getting close to 25 years old. I'd sell the Ford for that.

 

[SPhilli911]

We never got the GC/F WRX or STi here, nor are they legal for importation yet. (Sean if you can wait two years...)

Oh, I can most certainly wait 2 years. I would love to import a car.

Funny thing is though, I might not have to import a car to own my dream Subaru. I've been trying to move to Australia for 5 years.

 

[Cale]

That's true I've forgotten all about that.

 

[SPhilli911]

I got rid of my white Team Dynamics Pro Race 3 wheels and ordered some OZ Superturismo WRCs, also in white with some new summer tires. I wanted these wheels originally, but they weren't available at the time. Although, it's winter now I won't have them on the car a while.

Suppose it will look something like this, but on a 4 door blue ST:

 

[GDII]

That should look good. I do like the white 5 spokes too. White on blue looks great IMO!

 

[SPhilli911]

That should look good. I do like the white 5 spokes too. White on blue looks great IMO!

The 5 spoke ones I had were falling apart (as in paint chipping away), they weren't the best quality wheel in the world, despite the price I paid for them. It's disappointing, but I sold them to another Fiesta ST owner for strictly track/ auto-cross use, so he didn't care what they looked like.

In other news, when the guy came by to pick up the wheels he told me a nice bit of fact about the Fiesta ST. Rust! They rust in the areas under the doors (and the trunk I think he said) since the water drainage is poor and water collects. Living in the North East with roads covered in corrosive 🤬 during the winter, the rust happens fast. This guy already had rust issues and his car is a 2014 model year. Great! I'll have to research ways to prevent that. I also want to protect the underside of the car.

Edit: Also got BC Racing Coilovers and a Maxton front lip. Why now when it's winter? No idea! But once spring comes around I've got things to do I guess.

 

[Katiegan]

Fiesta STs rusting already? Oh, Ford. When will you learn?

 

[SPhilli911]

Fiesta STs rusting already? Oh, Ford. When will you learn?

Coming from Subarus, I was hoping to escape from rust, but unfortunately the area I live in will destroy just about any car over time. Was just hoping that a car as new as the Fiesta ST would at least start rusting way down the road, not within 2-3 years.

 

[SPhilli911]

I couldn't wait until Spring to see what the OZs looked like on the car, so I put one on to see. I really like it, and I'm glad I got coilovers too since the car can benefit from a slight drop in the ride height. Can't wait for Spring!

 

[SPhilli911]

Gonna bump this with some updates soon, but for now...

My old car is for sale, I wish I could re-buy it!

Current owner/ seller put on UK STI style wheels for winter use, which is exactly what I wanted to do. (picture is from the online ad, which limits the quality)

 

[TurboBoxer]

Hey Sean,

I know - I'm really bummed to be selling the STI (we call her Stacy). Its such a great / fun car, but I have too many cars and not enough space and this is the one that makes the most sense to sell at this point. I keep thinking that somewhere down the road, there will be a point when I'll get another Blue/Gold '04 STI, but I have a friend who keeps cautioning me that you had set this one up so well, that it might be difficult to replicate everything about it! (He has a 997.2 GT3RS and has had a number of great cars and really thinks you did something special with this one).

I thought you might like to hear a couple of my favorite stories from my ownership (besides the endless thumbs ups from other WRX / STI drivers that I honestly don't get tired of).

The Train Station:
Early on in my ownership, I would drive Stacy to and from the train station on my commute into NYC. At the station, you just pick a parking spot in the morning and then sometime between 10am and 11am, someone comes through and puts a $5 ticket on your car. You need to pay it online in the following 2 weeks and that's how you pay for daily parking.

One night, I went out for drinks after work, so instead of taking Stacy home from the train station, I took a cab. The next morning my wife dropped me off at the station and I was going to drive Stacy to a meeting and I was hoping to get there before she got a parking ticket for the second day of parking at the station. It was about 10:00am and just as I'm walking up to the car, I see a police officer / parking attendant walking briskly towards me. I figured he wanted to make sure he got me with a ticket for the day before I drove off, so I said "hi" and held out my hand for the ticket.

He said "Nah, don't worry about the ticket. I just wanted to talk about the STI." Turns out, he has a white '05 and he showed me some great pics of it and we chatted for a while. Really nice guy. After that day, there were a number of days, when I would get back to my car after work and the cars around me would have parking tickets for the day, but Stacy wouldn't.

The Car Wash:
There is a good drive-through car wash in town that I use because it is gentle on cars. Its one of the ones where you drive up and an attendant sends the car through for you.

One day I drove up and the car in front of me was a beautiful, dark green, Ferrari FF. After paying, I'm waiting on the other side of the car wash admiring the FF while the owner of the FF watches the attendants polish it up. Just then, another attendant starts Stacy up and drives her out of the car wash. As you know, she has this great, deep, sound when you start her up. As the owner of the FF walked over to his car, he pointed at Stacy and said to the attendant "Now THATS a car." And then he got in and drove off. I thought that was pretty cool.

Its a special car and I now know how you felt when you were selling it. I'll let you know how it goes!

 

[SPhilli911]

Fred,

Thank you for the stories, and I am glad that the car (Stacy) went on to someone who enjoyed it so much! I am sorry to hear you have to pass her on too, it's going to be tough to find another one like it later on, that's for sure. The car certainly attracted attention, sometimes good and sometimes bad. While the blue STIs with gold wheels are not uncommon, a clean, fairly stock STI one is nowadays!

It's probably pretty rare to keep tabs on a car you've once owned, so I appreciate you coming on here to share. The only reason I knew the car was for sale again was because a potential buyer contacted me about it directly, trying to reach you (don't worry, I didn't give them any personal details). To be honest, I felt very excited to see it again and I strongly considered contacting you to buy it back myself! But, that's just not possible at this time, so I hope it goes on to someone else to enjoy it.

Thank you so much for sharing! Goes to show how a car can mean something to us. Also, thanks to your friend for the comment. As a massive Porsche 911 fan it's nice to hear approval from a GT3 RS owner.

-Sean

Edit: Here is a story of my own. The day I drove the car to the DMV to hand you the keys someone approached me to talk about the car while I was waiting for you. He was a younger guy, but always wanted a Subaru STI. I told him I was there hand over the title and it was my last time with the car. I think he said something like, "Oh that sucks, sorry to hear." That was a moment of regret, for me, but also a moment that I realized I had something special.

Having owned my Fiesta ST for 3-4 years now I can say that it's nowhere near as special as the STI was (it's a good car in it's own right, though). Being a new car, I don't get to work on the Ford so much and it lacks that old, "mechanical" car feel that the STI had, man, do I miss that bolt-action short-throw shifter that clicked right into place. I did some minor "mods", but it's not been as satisfying, unfortunately.

 

[SPhilli911]

Been a while since I have made an update. Not done a whole lot, really, but I would like to now that I have the time, so figured I'd post.

Firstly, damage report. Over the winter I backed into a pole and scratched up my rear bumper pretty good in my parking garage, as I was in a hurry. Stupid mistake, but the wonders of buffing solved the problem. All that remains are small scratches that I intend to use touch up paint for soon.

Before:

After:

Second, I replaced the rotors and pads. Nothing exciting, just maintenance, only front pads are "performance" pads, everything else is OEM. Rear guide pins were completely seized on both sides, so I needed to order new brackets with guide pins. My bike rotors are bigger than these rear brakes.

Third, I put diffuser fins on the car. Not going to be everyone's cup of tea, but I like the look and they are easily removed if I no longer want them.

Lastly, the mod I have been dying to do but I have been putting off since my only workspace is my parent's garage and I don't want to visit them at this time (pictures above are pre-virus) is new Bilstein dampers/struts and Mountune springs. Should improve handling while still maintaining the comfort level of the OEMs with a ~1 inch drop in ride height all around.

'Tested on the Nurburgring Nordshleife" must be a good thing!

And a picture of the car as it sits now, but imagine this in a parking garage collecting dust instead since this pic is a few months old. The bike rack has been pointless, since I am not riding at this time, so I may remove it.

 

[SPhilli911]

Before the world changed dramatically I had started planning a 7,000+ mile drive across the United States and back hitting as many states as I could. I've put the plan on hold, but I still want to begin doing things to my car to prepare. Sorta like an "adventure car" kinda thing.

Firstly, I bought some Hella 500 driving lights many years ago but never got around to properly installing them because I need to remove the bumper and do some wiring. Put them on temporarily a while back just to see, but I might only do 2 lights, not the 4.

Second, I've already got a roof rack on the car for my bike (which I would bring along with me), so I may get a roof cargo basket to carry tools and bike stuff because part of the journey would include meeting friends along routes for some days, so space is needed.

Lastly, I would like to do something about protecting the front of the car from damage, especially in the desert areas of the country. Not sure what the plan is yet for this, but there are plenty of specialty shops around (and hopefully will be around) that do clear film paint protection.

 

[Clark]

I think you should lift it and get some rally tyres

 

[SPhilli911]

I think you should lift it and get some rally tyres

The thought has crossed my mind.

But it conflicts with the Bilstein suspension kit I got that will lower my car about an inch all around. I do want my car to handle at it's best since the plan of the road trip is to hit many scenic driving routes such as the Tail of the Dragon and the Pacific Coast Highway.

 

[GDII]

The thought has crossed my mind.

But it conflicts with the Bilstein suspension kit I got that will lower my car about an inch all around. I do want my car to handle at it's best since the plan of the road trip is to hit many scenic driving routes such as the Tail of the Dragon and the Pacific Coast Highway.

Who said they had to be gravel spec tyres? Go for some Michelin Pilot Sport R GT?

 

[SPhilli911]

Who said they had to be gravel spec tyres? Go for some Michelin Pilot Sport R GT?

I'd be more concerned with the risk of rolling the car over with any sort of lift to the car's stock height

https://leftlanenews.com/ford/fiesta/ford-fiesta-banned-from-scca-over-rollover-risk/

 

[GDII]

I'd be more concerned with the risk of rolling the car over with any sort of lift to the car's stock height

https://leftlanenews.com/ford/fiesta/ford-fiesta-banned-from-scca-over-rollover-risk/

Should have kept the STi! They just understeer.

 

[SPhilli911]

Should have kept the STi! They just understeer.

I really should have, yes. I always think about buying another one, but it's not a good idea financially and they're getting harder to find in good shape.

 

[Clark]

I would’ve said a used M135i/140i but I don’t think you got them

 

[SPhilli911]

I would’ve said a used M135i/140i but I don’t think you got them

Just add to the list of "good cars that will never be sold in the US".

 

[SPhilli911]

Finally got around to installing the new struts and springs and I absolutely love the way it feels cornering. It was good before, but the Bilsteins really made a difference. The springs were meant to lower the car about an inch all around but the Bilstein dampers keep it closer to stock height, which is fine, it's more about handling than appearance.

-Also ended up removing the bike rack since my bike is out of commission anyways. I like to ride, but don't like racks!
-Removed the rear diffuser fins because I accidently knocked one off and the adhesive got messed up. I'll possibly reattach.
-I installed an adjustable BOV (don't judge!) for a little more turbo sounds.
-I deleted the sound "symposer" thing that pumps engine sound into the cabin.

-Ended up jumping on a good deal for new wheels/ winter tires. Sparco Terra in 15" with Michelin X-Ice snow tires. Can't wait to see how they look on the car. I think I will end up getting a new set of summer tires too. Not sure what yet.