Fiesta ST or Pug 208 GTi?

elrasho

elrasho

elrasho

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Looking to get either. Need a new car and want something more fun than my Focus 1.6 TDCi. Has to have 5 doors due to family.

Budget is £13,000 but can go a little higher if the car is special. Both look great on paper and watched some comparison reviews on YouTube but still undecided. The ST is slower off the line but more fun to drive around corners, but the ST comes with the stigma of a boy racer and the Pug is.... well French.

Anyone got thoughts on this conundrum?
 
Got to say the pug and I hate french cars. The Fiesta is a great car and I would have said the ST at one point. But after driving my friends pug, I have changed my mind, it’s a fantastic little hot hatch.
 
inflames said:
Got to say the pug and I hate french cars. The Fiesta is a great car and I would have said the ST at one point. But after driving my friends pug, I have changed my mind, it’s a fantastic little hot hatch.
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Thanks for the info, have you tried the ST aswell
 
carrot1401 said:
The main issue here is that if you want a five door 208 GTi you'll have to make one yourself; they don't exist.
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Oh dear how did I miss that!? Ah well ST it is then, secretly I wanted to 208 GTi but 2 doors isn't practical with family. I heard good things about the Suzuki Swift Sport but the interior build quality isn't as good
 
Having had a couple of RCZs and a 308 GTi, anything with the 1.6 THPS engine I would avoid... that goes for BMW's and MINIs with the same engine.

It's a great engine when all is well, but it has some chocolate parts to it that spoils the party.

I decided to chuck the DERV workhorse last year when I wasn't going to be doing the miles with the whole transitioning to remote working thing... Ended up with a Astra K 1.6T and its great fun with 200hp on tap and so understated that no one looks twice at it - another option if you want to fly under the radar.
 
Figo said:
Having had a couple of RCZs and a 308 GTi, anything with the 1.6 THPS engine I would avoid... that goes for BMW's and MINIs with the same engine.

It's a great engine when all is well, but it has some chocolate parts to it that spoils the party.

I decided to chuck the DERV workhorse last year when I wasn't going to be doing the miles with the whole transitioning to remote working thing... Ended up with a Astra K 1.6T and its great fun with 200hp on tap and so understated that no one looks twice at it - another option if you want to fly under the radar.
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Is that an Astra RSi? I'm struggling to find the K version on Auto Trader
 
Figo said:
Having had a couple of RCZs and a 308 GTi, anything with the 1.6 THPS engine I would avoid... that goes for BMW's and MINIs with the same engine.

It's a great engine when all is well, but it has some chocolate parts to it that spoils the party.
Click to expand...

agreed^

I had a 208gti (2014 plate) from new. Firstly I will say it was a fantastic fun very capable fast go-kart like car. A tiny bit quicker than the fiesta ST and had a much much better interior and vastly more comfortable seats. I’m not being completely biased as I currently own a 2014 focus St as a second car (which is ok but I don’t like it that much, interior is horrendous).

anyway - after 4 years of owning the 208, 1 year out of warranty and still owing £6,500 to settle balance to own the car, the engine fell to pieces. Mass failure across all cylinders. Needed a new engine. I decided to scrap it and got £2,900 for it rather than spend similar money on a new engine. I also had other problems in those 4 years, including high pressure fuel pump dying plus many many more problems.

In summary I loved the car but it was the most unrealible bag of bolts ever. It had a 200thp engine. At the same time my wife had a ds3 turbo with the 155thp engine and that also fell to pieces and had massive engine failure at around 4 years old. We actually managed to fix that for about £1,500 though then part exchanged it and got the focus st. I upgraded to the fk8 civic type r and love it so much. Solid build, very fast, Superb handling, great interior with arguably some of the best seats going. Also 5 door and a huge boot.
 
I agree, family car - get something bigger. I've got the older VRS, and whilst it's no Fiest ST/Clio Sport etc it's definetly still good enough. Yes it won't go through corners at light speed, but it's a lot quicker than an old focus. Let's be honest too, once you'd had that little fun, you soon realise that you just don't do it often enough with the kids in the back on the way to Tesco and wish you had something more practical instead.

My 2pence - get something bigger than a Fiesta but with enough grunt it isn't too boring. I.E - Leon/Octavia etc.
 
Isn't there an issue with the 208 where the steering wheel literally blocks the spedo if you're over a certian height?

Alternatively I'd be looking at Skoda as others have mentioned, or perhaps a sportier focus if you like your current car.

Focus ST-line X has 180bhp off the top of my head. I believe they used the brand new engine in some of the older shape cars right before the refresh so they're typically a bit cheaper.
 
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