2015 Ford Fiesta ST Oppo Review

"thebigbossyboss" (thebigbossyboss) 07/20/2016 at 10:00 • Filed to: FiST, Fiesta, Ford Fiesta, Oppositelock Review

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Hi Oppo. I realize, a lot of you drive Fiesta ST’s. Well, I am here to add to our growing pile of Fist reviews. After all, how many ST’s do we have with a Cobb stage 3 tune? Not many I am guessing.

Full disclosure: Ford wanted me to drive this car so badly they got me to buy a 2010 Mustang GT, and then trade it to my friend for 5 days so I could drive this.I don’t really think Ford knows what went on with this car, and if they did they wouldn’t be honouring any warranty claims.

Exterior: Tree out of 10.

Just kidding. But I can’t resist a good pun. Indeed, this particular Fiesta ST is rather tree themed, but I sort of like it and give it a solid 6 out of 10. Certainly adding to the exterior greatness are the darkened wheels which were resprayed.

My favorite part of this w(hole) thing, the speed holes which the owner cut into the hood and bumper. I demand more speed holes. These holes, cool the air coming into the intake down to about 30 degrees centigrade which is about 95F. The owner of this car cut the holes himself and did a pretty good job. Such holes. Many cools. Very wow.

The decals aren’t for everyone, and I get a lot of comments on them. Some people think (in the words of one pedestrian a few days ago...”it’s sick”) some people (notably my mom) think it’s cute, and some people like my fiancee think they are terrible and refuse to be seen in the car.

It certainly is a rolling trolling machine.

Let’s move on....

Interior: 9/10

Awesome. Is a word I would use to describe the interior. The seats are really supportive. However, me being 217 lbs, I am near the maximum size for these seats. If you are much more than that they might be too small for you.

The pedal placement is excellent. Most controls are still tactile and I much prefer the controls in this car for the heat and A/C to that in my mustang. It is a lot easier to use. The shifter is well positioned, and due to the stripping of the entire back seats and all rear sound insulation, the trunk space is goddamn enourmous. Also, the noise the engine makes inside the interior with no sound insulation is awesome.

Now this may bug my friend, my my main critiques are the remaining pieces of creature comforts left in the rear such as the rear speakers. He says he likes them and it’s his car, but just think of the literal grams of lightness one could add to the car by removing them!

Acceleration: 8/10

With the Cobb Tue this thing is putting a maximum of 243 HP to the wheels. That’s insane for a car that now weighs somewhat less the original curb weight of 2600 Lbs means that this thing hauls ass. If you really stomp it a terrible high pitch whine comes into the car. I always figured that was the sound of my brain compressing against the back of my skull. Turns out, that’s the turbo working overtime.

It’s the “go fast” noise. The response to mashing the pedal is almost instant and terrifying. I didn’t take this car too fast overall (probably 90 mph) but I assure you a throttle mashing zero-90 MPH run is a thrill and incredible experience.

Even for overtaking in the city this thing is pretty good. Just gear down and stomp it and you can overtake in the smallest of spaces.

She goes.

Braking: 9/10

Because of the relatively large sizes of the discs and the lightness of the car, if you’re not an excellent master of brake pedal modulation, prepare to plant your face into the windscreen when you come to a sudden halt.

I have never driven a car that brakes like this one. It can actually be fairly hard to brake properly in traffic as the car comes to such a quick stop you have to make sure the car behind you can also stop because invariably they will stop way slower than you. The braking is almost so good, that it’s bad. No, I did not mean to come to a screeching halt from 60 mph to zero in 30 feet. I meant to just slow down a little.

The amount of times I have almost planted my face into the windshield is unknown but sure to be very high.

In addition, brake fading should not be much of an issue as the owner of this st removed his fog lights (added lightness) and replaced it with dryer vents which provide cooling air directly to the front disc brakes. Check it out, also apologies for my excellently drawn circle.

Ride: 5/10

This fiesta is very grounded to the ground. The steering is nice and tight, but by goodness boy, is this car “jouncy”. You are constantly being rattled around, and every damn pothole or expansion joint it’s a god damn catastrophe.

It reminds me of my Cavalier when it was sitting on it’s bump stops, although to be fair it’s not quite that bad. Once you get out of Edmonton’s ridiculously potholed roads things seem to be a bit better.

I think overall, this is a car suspension that was built for ideal situations. On a smooth road, it’s great there’s not much body roll, the and it does have a nice grounded to the ground feeling. It’s great in places like Elk Island National Park which has great roads. When you’re on the Yellowhead highway a major, beat up, industrial traffic route, you aren’t going to enjoy yourself nearly as much.

Handling: 8/10

This is the best handling car I’ve ever driven. Full stop.

Now you may say “bigbossyboss I drive a porsche and it handles wayyyy better than an ST!” Or you may say “I drive an Aston Martin DB7 and it handles wayyyy better than any ST!”....and you may be right. I don’t get to drive a lot of cars.

This car handles better than the orange dart I drove. It handles better than my Ford Mustang. It handles better than my Cavalier or my Ford Tempo ever did. I won’t exhaustively list every car I’ve ever gotten behind the wheel, but it’s been a fair share of bangers, minivans and wagons. This thing handles better than any of those things.

It even handled it’ s way straight into my yard. Such camouflage!

Gearbox: 7/10

The Fiesta comes with a six speed manual, which annoyingly puts reverse near first gear. I tend to prefer the 5 speed pattern which puts first underneath 5th so that you can’t hit it accidentally.

The transmission has a reverse gear collar, but because I spent most of the previous 6 years driving !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! with a broken reverse collar, I sometimes have a habit of pulling up on them for no reason. This means I hit reverse once while trying to go forward. Luckily I barely let off the clutch and noticed my mistake before I plowed into the Camry behind me.

Thank GOD!

So I’m not the biggest fan of that.....but shifting the gearbox is easy. The gearbox wants to go where you want it to go, and missing a gear is damn near impossible.

I am used to the clutch on the 4.6L V8 Mustang now. That thing has “clutch”. It weighs about 10 lbs. It was a huge adjustment coming into the Fiesta which has a very light clutch. And for the friend who borrowed the Mustang he texted me right after we swapped “holy clutch” he said.

I remember when I had both the Mustang and the Cavalier, switching back and forth was difficult.

Toys: 10/10

It’s kind of hard to judge the toys in this car. The entire car is a toy. Most “functionality” has been removed. Except the go fast functionality. Maybe I can convince my friend to remove the rear speakers and have his car become even more spartan on the inside. I hope so.

Audio: 9/10

For the first few days I drove this thing, I didn’t even know how to turn the radio on. But the sound from the engine is just fantastic. You can hear the turbo make turbo noises, and then pressure release. Here to give you an idea is Daniel...Javanovic (sp?) from Australia’s got talent. It’s at the 57 second mark.

The car sounds incredible.

So this totals to......

71/100

Pretty great car, that sounds great and is rolly polly trolly mobile. Everyone every where you go has a strong opinion on this one.

Complete strangers will approach you to tell you that it’s sick.

Random coworkers will ask what monstrosity is in your parking space.

And my fiancee nearly disowned me.

I give this car about 8 trolls out of 10.

And lastly 7 out of 10 racecars.

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPP

Rainbow > thebigbossyboss 07/20/2016 at 10:08

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Wait, do those dryer vent things actually work? That’s pretty clever.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > thebigbossyboss 07/20/2016 at 10:10

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The thing people keep forgetting to mention in their reviews of the FiST is how damn versatile it is in terms of performance. You can rallycross, you can track day, you can autocross, and even drag race (bracket racing a FiST is fun!) and the car just soaks it up and asks for more.

TysMagic > thebigbossyboss 07/20/2016 at 10:27

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“Ride: 5/10

This fiesta is very grounded to the ground. The steering is nice and tight, but by goodness boy, is this car “jouncy”. You are constantly being rattled around, and every damn pothole or expansion joint it’s a god damn catastrophe. “

I recently experienced the immediate back and forth difference of this. My daily is an Abarth. I have a very specific path I take to work with well timed slow downs to prepare for the “jounce.” I occasionally drive my wife’s MKC to remind myself, not all cars are go karts. I can drive over that slight bump and not feel it in my spine.
Fun review!

fourvalleys > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 07/20/2016 at 10:42

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Oh hi, hello. Don’t mind me, just passing through.

yitznewton > thebigbossyboss 07/20/2016 at 10:53

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I loved the concept of this car, but every time I sat in one, the shifter felt uncomfortably forward for my arms, and I never actually drove one for that reason. I generally pull telescoping steering wheels all the way out, so perhaps it’s my body proportions.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > fourvalleys 07/20/2016 at 11:05

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Please, have at it, I’m just playing in the mud over here

fourvalleys > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 07/20/2016 at 11:24

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Your rallycross course looks a lot different than ours!

I like my bumpers and suspension too much to take the Party ST to rallycross on a motocross track. This is what I take instead:

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > fourvalleys 07/20/2016 at 11:27

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Meh. I’ve jumped it. It likes it. Bumpers are cheap enough. There’s a FoST in my area with red mirrors and front bumper. It’s a yellow base color. My guess is he had fun with it. I might do the same.

thebigbossyboss > TysMagic 07/20/2016 at 11:27

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Glad you enjoyed it! I drove a car that sat on it’s bump stops. It wasn’t jouncy because it didn’t bounce, but even running over a painted line rattled the spine a little. There were certain roads I just avoided completely.

thebigbossyboss > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 07/20/2016 at 11:28

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Or you can overtake in smal spaces.....WEEEEEEEEEE

fourvalleys > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 07/20/2016 at 11:30

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I’d rather buy a $500 car than do $500 in repairs, but maybe that’s just me.

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > thebigbossyboss 07/20/2016 at 12:33

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I think I can guess who owns this, and it’s the one person I know who can go to this level of no shits given on a new car.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > fourvalleys 07/20/2016 at 12:46

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Git gud son, then you don’t need to do repairs :P

norskracer98-ExploringTheOutback > thebigbossyboss 07/20/2016 at 12:49

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Ifeel like I may know who owns this car. Only person I can think of doing something this unique for such a new car.