Fiesta ST's... whats to know?

Stormster

Stormster

Stormster

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
4,671
Location
Stoke-on-Trent
Can't find much via search...

Basically, just after a bit of info on Fiesta ST's...

- What goes wrong
- What to check specifically when buying
- Are they generally dependable, reliable, niggle free
- How do people rate their handling, performance considering price - cost of car, insurance, tax etc.
- Are they as fun as people make out?
- Sort of interested in ride quality comments... how compliant are they, or are they a crashy mess? Does fitting Eibach 30mm-ish springs keep the ride the same, worse, better? As I've read differing opinions here and there from a quick google. I know reviews say the Zetec S is a better drive day to day but it's clearly not going to be as quick...
- Real world results from a full exhaust inc manifold, sports cat and a decent induction kit?

Don't know what else to ask about really but the usual stuff worth knowing about the car. Don't need any "get a 182" comments, I know they're faster, I purely want to find out about Fiesta ST's :)

Thanks chaps and chapesses.
 
Last edited:
atpbx said:
Its one of the cars I'm looking at getting for the wife, quick enough for town, reliable enough and they look quite funky, so thats as far as I am Interested in them, that and they are quite cheap, very easy to find a low mileage (sub 40k) 4 year old model for 5k.

Just look on autotrader, push it another couple of hundred quid and its a even lower mileage.
Click to expand...


Pretty much sums up why I'm interested in them. They're pretty cheap for age and milage, cheap as chip bits.. but just don't know much about reliability of them.

I don't really do much motorway work, only when I travel out of the city which is rare. At best I go on the A500/A34 which are dual carriageways and I aren't on them for more than 20 mins at a time anyway... predominantly I drive around town at lower speeds but if I wanna go down some country roads it'd be nice to have a small car again for some fun.

Only problem is, I aren't female haha... but they seem a good car for the overall purpose in hand.

My car does everything ok as it is but it's a bit dull, getting old, on 141k and I want to consider getting rid before it costs me more money and is worth less due to the milage. It drives good for it's age and milage but that means nowt to the next man when it comes to resale value. I'd like a new car because I'm bored of it and even though my VW has been ok for an older car, they're not what they're made out to be in terms of reliability nor interior quality. My Corsa B rattled and creaked way less than this does :)

Anyways back on to the Fiesta :D Any more opinions gratefully taken on board.
 
Wow, 3 pages! Thanks for all the replies, I will get this thread saved and make a bit of a checklist worth keeping hold of for stuff to check on these cars, appreciate all the input.

No major problems all in all then, I guess it's all a cheap and easy fix for the most part on any issues being a simple ol' Ford?

Special thanks to Overlag (sure I've seen some vids of your car on youtube? Sounds nice :)), rjkoneill and especially Will, for their very informative posts. Will make a good read if anyone else tries to search for Fiesta ST info on OcUK motors :) Would like see/hear more of your car Will, sounds fun!

A comment on the MPG side of things, just how bad are they? In my Golf pootling around town with fuel at about £1.20 a litre I am getting 110 miles tops to 20 quid currently... if I ever give it any, properly, then this changes drastically lol. If you drive these things like Miss Daisy do they do ok around town?

A mountune one would be great but a bog standard one which has had an easy life would be fine. I like to modify cars a bit and I tend to get more from it if I have a blank canvas to start with. My Corsa B sport was loved by me more than my Golf, which is ultimately a better car, because I made it my own from a standard well looked after car... and if I make the change I want to keep it for 3 years.

Insurance won't be a problem modded or not, I've always had modified cars. I'm 29 and pay 450 on my Golf with all mods declared living in a bad postcode with protected NCB, fully comp with all the trimmings of course via Chris Knott (Highway). Fiesta will be similar money due to value of the car.

I'd be looking for a facelifted car, with the nicer looking dash and front lights.. so 55 plate on? Ideally the newer the better with under 40k.

Are engine mounts, gearbox mounts all quite cheap to replace? It can make a huge difference to how smooth the car feels and something worth doing regardless as time goes on (it's been done on my Golf, with a polybushed dogbone gearbox mount also).

Stoke1863, no I live near Longton but work in Clayton so travel through there and trentham, the car you're on about is a 5 door and I drive past it daily. I have a rare one with it being 3 door and turbo'd, never seen another in that combo.

Prefer the Fiesta over the Clio and Civic and anything similar predominantly down to cost. Fixing a Ford is always gonna cost peanuts in comparison and I'm sure the Fiesta is less niggly, less rough and nicer inside than a Clio. I also think the Fiesta looks less dated. I've thought about all the others but cost of ownership being as cheap as poss but still a fun little car suits me. My Golf aint a hugely expensive car to own, but I paid 2250 for it and I've owned it 16 months and it owes me £3700.... thats not including any fuel or tax or anything like that, so say no more. Don't wanna spend much more on it and most of the money hasn't been on mods at all, just maintenance and replacing stuff (admittedly in a lot of cases for peace of mind and that I'm picky).

I'm not after it purely to rag around all day. I want it to be a nice town car, good looking for what it is, easy to drive, with a comfy enough well built(ish) interior with the potential to be fun and cheap to keep going for years to come. A same age/milage Civic is loads more money... as are most other alternatives it seems.

I would like to spend around £5k if I go down the Fiesta ST route. Not a lot else lights my fire at all for 5k and I really am not into big barges and all that sort of stuff.

I think the new Fiesta Zetec S's look cracking, shame like some have said there's no ST version yet, been talk of a turbo'd 1.6, could be fun and easily modified for mo' boost.

PS: I too have been banned a couple of times, it's all good lol can't beat this place for a bit of banter :D
 
Yeah I wouldn't want tooo much vibration in the cabin, I get a little bit at the mo with powerflex polybushes on my dog bone at lower RPM but not too bad. If it came to replacing mounts, new OEM ones would probably last for however long I'd own the car.

However the cheaper Vibratechnics torque link looks a cheap quick fix, cheaper labour if not having to press bushes in and all that palava.

Ta for the info :)

Max Powah, out of interest what sort of money is he putting it up for? Just finding my feet with what they're truely worth.
 
Loads of cheap pre-facelifts..

I just don't know if I'd feel hard done by not having the nicer dash... Could always replace the front lights I guess lol.

Are there any other differences actually between pre and post 55 reg cars?? Just dash and lights?
 
Will said:
I liked the 182 a lot but was put off by the horror stories in terms of reliability and running costs (exhausts, driveshafts, electrical gremlins, expensive cambelt changes) and I didn't like the interior at all. In my view the Ford looks significantly better inside and out and costs less to run....for me that swung it. The 182 is probably the better drivers car if thats all you cared about, but a better everday car? In my opinion the pluses in pace did not override the things that concerned me about it as an ownership prospect.
Click to expand...

Think that sums up my interest in them as noted earlier... just cheap cheap cheap and still decent inside and out aswell as being fun :)

pdw8, thats a fair old list of changes, makes the facelift a definite now, no prefacelifts after looking at that list. Is that all largely standard kit??

RSClio lets not lie to eachother, the Clio will break more, and thus cost more to run long term when you have to fix stuff :) So what if it's a bit faster. I picked my Golf over a 1.8 or 2.0 Zetec Focus for the same money because it's faster. And...it's cost me, and took some of the fun away. I was looking at 172's seriously at the time of buying the Golf... and I ventured away from them due to reading expenses such as driveshafts, gearboxes, exhausts falling off, expensive belt changes and so on. I don't want to be paranoid about giving it abuse, which seems par for the course when you own a french car. The Ford reminds me of my old little Corsa Sport. Give it abuse and not worry about it and if something menial breaks it's a few quid to replace. Rather than the potential of common driveshafts and stuff breaking. I'm no expert but ultimately the Clio's look dated now and do nothing for me. However a 197.... :D but, well out of my price range.

The Golf has cost me a lot in the time I've owned it however, so I guess I can eat my words a little bit, but I genuinely don't doubt the Ford would cost loads less to run and fix than the Clio 182 and even my Golf.

Running costs, simplicity to work on the car etc, in my opinion favour the Fiesta. I love Civic Type R's and all that stuff but as said earlier they're a step above and cost more to buy anyway. 5k would be prettttty damn close to my limit, I'm not minted.

But it's all good to discuss it :)
 
Yeah, my golf is due ball joints, wishbone bushes etc... but I was hoping if I can find a newer, lower milage car I can enjoy the sort of "newer car" ownership aspect without replacing everything straight away, which is what happened with my Golf lol. A 4 year old car would feel pretty new to someone like me...in theory anyway, providing it FEEL's new and behaves new.
 
Thats the kinda thing I wanna experience for a year or 18 months without having to replace stuff... I've had my Golf 17ish months now and it's had a new flywheel and clutch, cambelt, waterpump, thermostat, loads of stuff really too much to list... so you can gather what I've spent, which has taken the fun away from it being around 200BHP. Then of course the front end is now feeling a bit loose so more money needed... I'm tempted to just cut my losses and get a car I can feel I will enjoy if the new car experience does indeed last :)
 
RSClio said:
. If you are looking into reliability look at a BMW or Audi etc!
Click to expand...

:D :D

Or don't in my experience and I drive my car like a girl for fear of breaking it!

I still think all in all the Ford would be a cheaper ownership prospect. Doesn't matter how fast or fun a car is, how well it handles, if you have no faith in it's reliability and are shelling out on stupid electrical stuff every week. I don't want a 30-40,000 mile car popping loads of stuff like wiper motors and what not - who would?

True though some cars are great some cars aren't, my Corsa B was the most reliable car in the world haha, and it had a pasting a lot! It was a peach, it drove well (to me, and I'd driven a LOT of Corsa's to compare it to), was reliable and just kept on going no bother.

The Fiesta seems that kind of car. The Clio... not so sure. You hear more bad than good online of course for anything which goes wrong but I've heard a lot more with the Clio's than Fiesta's.

But, I'm not looking at a new car JUST to abuse around country lanes, a lot of the time it'll be used in town... no waiting for turbo's to warm up and cool down, nice looking, nice and small for zipping in and out of traffic... cheap to run etc etc... but if I want to go for a razz on a Sunday afternoon I can enjoy it, but, I'm no racing driver so it's unlikely I'd be near any cars limits anytime soon.
 
Epic thread :D As expected lol

Think on the Fiesta score I have plenty of info, thanks to those who threw the details my way.

As for the rest of you! You should be ashamed! This is still rather too tame :p
 
Nice, get some pics of it up when the coilies are on :D

I was looking @ Civic Type R's but with the cost of tax going up, the fact I would HAVE to modify it and it'd cost a packet to do as I can't leave stuff alone, I think I'd actually enjoy the slower car more as I can get a much newer, lower mile car for the money and do plenty more bits and pieces to it for less cash if the mood takes.. :)

I do loads of town miles and it can't be doing any favours to my old Golf's turbo, it's started to take ages to get up to temp and I only had a new thermostat because of that 15 months ago tops. Fiesta would be good for zipping about and decent on fuel around town so I hear.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom