[Closed] Fiesta ST 3, Opinions please?

Is it a daily driver? If so worth knowing that the suspension is properly stiff and the seats aren’t the most comfortable. Fine for a hour or so but you’ll want to be elsewhere after that. Engine is good, handles well, boot is ok. Never found a place in our hearts when it was following on from our Clio 182 though

Oh, and the stereo layout looks like it was designed when someone sneezed on the dashboard and went “that’ll do it”

Thanks mashr! I've done a few K miles in a 182. How do they compare?

It'll be my only car, but for the last 4 yrs, I've been doing between 5 and 6 k miles per year.

The heated seats are great as is the heated screen. Suspension is a bit harsh. It's a very quick car when you give it some beans but front wheel drive feels a bit twitchy in the wet when it's been Mountune'd. Great mpg though, and the wife loves it more than her Type R that she had before it.

I had a test drive in one. It wasn't particularly comfortable and I felt about 15 years to old to be driving it.

I got a polo GTi instead, much more sensible & grownup but still quick.

@choppersquad - dc2? I loved mine, superb car!

@ste_t - I'll look at the polo, cheers!

I like the look of them, would love to drive one but suspect the fuel bill will cripple me as I'll just go for drives in it.
Risk with those is if it has been thrashed and not maintained, but a fsh should help ease those concerns.

I've test driven a GR Yaris and it is a car in a lifetime, if budget allows it's just AweSoMe, collect ours 6th January, Covid restrictions permitting.
Apologies I didn't read it diligently enough, I am a stupid boy.😐

Thanks mashr! I’ve done a few K miles in a 182. How do they compare?

It’ll be my only car, but for the last 4 yrs, I’ve been doing between 5 and 6 k miles per year.

ST had a better driving position, was better screwed together, more reliable..... and completely dull in comparison. 182 out brakes, out steers and out handles the ST, whilst the revvy engine is far more fun to use (and only gives away around 1mpg in my experience of 3 years owning each). The ST would probably be faster against the clock but only the 182 would tempt me back to ownership. However the age of them means it’ll likely never happen

The 182 I drove was a work car. I've owned two "family" Renault's in my time. Never again!

GR looks lovely, but too much pennies for me 😥

We were considering one when our Fabia VRS got written off by an old guy driving round a cyclist. It was good, but we ended up with a Peugeot 208 GTI. The suspension on the 208 was really well set up, and it was more comfortable for most of the time you're in it and 99% as good for b road fun. As I say, the suspension set up was excellent and really made it a joy to drive.

The interior in particular was massively better than the Fiesta- the Fiesta has a dashboard that looks like someone has sneezed buttons all over it, it was unfathomable, while the 208 had a decent touch screen and felt very luxurious.

@munribiker - ooh, that's a shout! My friends father had 205 GTi, back around 1990. It was incredible!

208 added to research list!

I would seriously look at an MX5 much more fun, and nicer to live with

Go for it.
It's a super mini hot hatch made by ford.
If you are not a brand snob and can deal with the fact it's a fiesta then you are winning.

Sublime handling. Practical. Well reviewed.

Oh look, top gears' 20 best cars of the last decade:

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/electric/20-best-cars-last-decade

Always wanted one but being tall, I couldn't fit in the previous incarnation. However, the latest version has a low seat position so I didn't even start the engine before being sold. Moving from a Golf R DSG, it's obviously slower but a way more engaging drive. It genuinely puts a smile on a 47 year old face every time I drive it, unlike any of the string of hot hatches I've owned in the past.

I test drove one with the Mountune remap and exhaust. It felt flat, uninspiring and not all that quick. What really killed the deal was the insurance cost being 4x more than my other 2 cars together!
Ended up with a Kia Pro_ceed GT, the Korean Golf GTi 😁

What really killed the deal was the insurance cost being 4x more than my other 2 cars together!

Interesting, mine cost buttons to insure

The Fiesta ST is magic. The first one (mark 6) was a bit meh, but since then it's an entirely different specimen.

It's the most well received, highly rated and best selling hot hatch of the last decade. For that very reason you'll have experts lining up around the block to tell you how over rated it is.

Just drive one, you'll soon know if you like it. Seats are mint, suspension is jiggly. It doesn't have mega power so won't stun you in a straight line but they're awesome on twisty stuff. Not the sharpest track weapon of all time but quiet and comfortable.

The main criticisms (hard suspension, high seats, ugly dashboard etc) have mostly been fixed for the mark 8. Not sure what the prices are like for the earliest ones.

Insurance for us on a Mk8 PE is only £100 more than our Panda was and my mrs. has only been driving for 2 years.

I would seriously look at an MX5 much more fun, and nicer to live with

The OP has stated he needs four seats, so I'll suggest two MX5's.

It's on my list to replace my Cupra ST 4drive in a year or two. As I'm buying a van soon, I'll only need a hatch to get to work. The Cupra is great but has zero driver involvement.

I was equally surprised by the insurance, being 40 with 12+years NCB I just assume that all insurance will now be cheap.
My other 2 cars at the time were a tuned Mk1 TT and Mini Cooper S (the supercharged original new Mini) so nothing particularly bland or averse to being crashed by Yoofs.

I have checked the insurance, around £80 a year increase!

I'm in now rush to buy, so i think i will give it a wee while and see what happens to used car prices in Q1 next year!

I have checked the insurance, around £80 a year increase!

Mainly ‘cos they’re so easy to steal. We had a 65 plate ST3, and whilst it was ace for shortish drives and twisty roads, it eventually got replaced by a Golf as we did find the seats uncomfortable, the ride firm, and the infotainment system unentertaining.

It did however manage to use half as much fuel as the Supercharged Cooper S we had for a given distance.

A friend had one but it was constantly vandalised. By vandalised I really mean bodged attempts to break in, in the main. It also attracted keys a bit...

I would normally blame it on the owner upsetting a few people but he is a really nice bloke, not sure he knows how to upset people.lol

He moved it on after the last time it got done over. He did enjoy it as a car though, just attracted too much bad attention. I should add, it wasn't garaged, just parked on his drive.

I'm a bit of a fan of VW and Mini but if I was treating myself I wouldn't get a VW - just very bland (not saying they aren't good cars). Mini on the other hand I find makes every trip a bit more of an event. For example, 12k gets you:

R55 Clubman JCW (although I think an 11 plate JCW gets the N14 engine and not the N18): https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011126046312?include-delivery-option=on&postcode=yo241jj&advertising-location=at_cars&aggregatedTrim=John%20Cooper%20Works&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used&model=HATCH&sort=price-desc&make=MINI&radius=1500&price-to=12000&page=1

R56 JCW with the N18 engine, decent spec and from a main dealer: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202009013166294?include-delivery-option=on&postcode=yo241jj&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used&model=HATCH&advertising-location=at_cars&sort=price-desc&price-to=12000&aggregatedTrim=John%20Cooper%20Works&make=MINI&radius=1500&page=1

I'd (personally) take one of those over a Fiesta any day of the week despite never hearing a bad word said against the Fiesta ST.

If you want a stiff, good handling, 4 seater car with around 200bhpish - why not save yourself £7000-8000 and buy a Civic FN2? Likely to be much more useful that a Fiesta as the boot is gigantic.

Weirdly I'm looking at FN2s at the minute as a cheap project/3rd car. 12k should easily get you into one of the run-out championship white limited edition ones.

I've got a milano red FN2 I picked up for £2500 @ 90k. Solid car, not much touches it for reliability / performance / value. Not the most comfortable of rides but it is a hot hatch!

I think you can pick up a champion white FN2 for around £5/6k or go all in for a the Japanese FD2 at £12k and watch it go up in value...

If you can get an decent FD2 for 12k then I'd be all over that.

R55 Clubman JCW (although I think an 11 plate JCW gets the N14 engine and not the N18):

£12k for an almost 10 year old mini with 6 previous owners, what a great shout. Anyone that quotes model and engine reference numbers is an instant expert.

Weirdly I’m looking at FN2s at the minute as a cheap project/3rd car. 12k should easily get you into one of the run-out championship white limited edition ones.

Why mention it’s a 3rd car, no need to show off.

We recently got a 208 gti by Peugeot sport. It’s amazing! The half matte black, half blue looks great (to us!) it handles sublimely (different suspension set up and a limited slip diff) and the seats are great for me at 6’4’’ and my girlfriend at 5’2’’ for around £12k I would highly recommend one! Especially if you like things a little different!

I had eaxctly this car- I kept it for 8k & 8 months before I couldn't deal with it anymore.
The car is fantastic and eventful in terms of handling, fun and feeling like an event.
The problem was that the suspension was unbearably firm. When you were on it, it was fantastic! The backroads with that handling, manual & noise and I was in heaven.. the problem is all the other times. The suspension was relentless and I used to swerve anything more than a wet leaf, and wince when I couldn't. It would shake me up and leave me with a headache on the morning commute on the country roads. On the motorway it was dronny and got tiering after anything more than 30 mins.
If I could have it as a fun car- I would adore it and keep it forever, but if I even have to use it for anything else I wouldn't consider it. It's almost like the car is taking every pothole personally.
I'm mid-20's and have had other hot hatches, so used to a firmer ride anyway but this is something else.
It broke my heart selling it and keep thinking about another, but then remember the headaches and punishment. On another note- it was cheap to run, reliable, boot was fine and the ST3 toys were good. I quite liked all the buttons & screen over modern single touchscreen things.

Once lockdown is over I'm going to test the Mk8 ST- review suggest it's more gornwup and easier to live with but remains fun. Fingers crossed it's more softly sprung. You can pick up an ST2 Mk8 from 14k too!

It’s almost like the car is taking every pothole personally

He he, this sounds just like my R56 Mini, Cooper S with some JCW upgrades on it. On the motorway one learns to time it just right changing lanes as just hitting a catseye is unpleasant, like a hammer blow to the palms. I've hit potholes before where I've had to pull over afterwards to double check the thing hasn't snapped in half. The upside to this 'directness' is that on the right (smooth) road or track it is sensational, and has a pleasing level of fizz to it. But yeah, cars like this if you are tired and not in the mood are a pig. Though maybe just a sophisticated set of dampers short of being more of a daily. For what it's worth I've test driven a few FST's and preferred the chassis feel...not enough to buy one though over the R56...GrYaris is the only thing i'd swap it for.

I’ve hit potholes before where I’ve had to pull over afterwards to double check the thing hasn’t snapped in half

Yes, exactly this! I forgot having to do this. There were a few times I was just driving along when I hit a pothole on a wet dark country road. I thought I had hit a boulder/lost a wheel/disapeared into a sink hole. Horrible horibble feeling. It would also tramline a hell of a lot.

Some FST Mk7's seem to have all the tyre sidewall height of a rubber band stretched over the rim, maybe on 18/19's, which is never the greatest solution to chassis dynamics on pothole strewn roads - Maybe wrong, but from pictures The MK8 seems to have rectified that with a more sensible tyre spec.

The suspension was relentless and I used to swerve anything more than a wet leaf, and wince when I couldn’t. It would shake me up and leave me with a headache on the morning commute on the country roads. On the motorway it was dronny and got tiering after anything more than 30 mins.

That sounds exactly like our Panda 100HP. Handled like a go-kart but had the suspension of a skateboard.

The 2 people I know who still use MK7 ST's as a daily both have 15" wheels and bigger tyres.

Once lockdown is over I’m going to test the Mk8 ST- review suggest it’s more gornwup and easier to live with but remains fun. Fingers crossed it’s more softly sprun

I haven't driven a standard one but we've got the performance edition with the adjustable coilovers. All the reviews say it's plusher than the standard car but it's got twiddly knobs to enstiffen it. Might be worth looking for when when you're on the hunt.

It's a massive improvement over what we're used to especially on the smashed up roads of Sheffield.

My only concern at the minute is that the super sport tyres aren't the best when it's cold and greasy. I'll keep them because they were awesome in the summer but I want some spare wheels and winter rubber. The regular PS4's on standard ST's are supposed to be a much better all rounder.

I've put 18" alloys on my Cupra as the 19" were brutal on UK backroads and it was a matter of time before the nice diamond finish would get trashed.

The extra tyrewall has made a HUGE positive impact in the car's driveability on country lanes. It also means the 18" allseason tyres are cheaper too!

Why on earth in the UK do they spec stupidly large wheels on cars? They don't look any better and they don't have any advantage off the track...

Should add that the ST Mk7 had a slight revision from Aug '15 onwards to dampen the ride more.
They changed to stiffer rear torsion beam, thicker front anti-roll bar, recalibrated steering, altered springs and damper rates. Most people said it improved the right vastly, so some reviewes maybe from the older girder setup.
I did have the older suspension setup..

I haven’t driven a standard one but we’ve got the performance edition with the adjustable coilovers. All the reviews say it’s plusher than the standard car but it’s got twiddly knobs to enstiffen it. Might be worth looking for when when you’re on the hunt.

I've been following and posting in your thread 🙂 ! The Perfomance edition is definitly on the radard. Just need to decide if I can live with 3 doors.. apart from that I love the colour, suspension & wheel upgrade. Looks lovely!

I’ve been following and posting in your thread

Sorry it's hard to keep track of these things. So you know it's my first ever new car. We actually went out to look at a 3 year old Octavia wagon that day!

There's just something about it. The regular ST's are great but the combination of upgrades and the lairy colour, I couldn't resist it. I only get to drive it when the mrs. isn't at work so we've been for a blast today and it still feels amazing. Can't wait to take it on a big trip somewhere.

3 doors is fine as there's only ever 2 of us. But it's a good job I got it when we did because there's another first time experience due to arrive in June 2021. The next car might be a little more family friendly!

@mikertroid I couldn’t agree more about cars being spec’d with wheels which are too big. The only reason to have huge wheels is if you need clearance for equally huge brakes behind them, but most of these hatches on 19s have tiny front brakes!

18” tyres are probably a lot cheaper to, as I a set of Goodyear Eagle F1s fitted for not much over £300 in the summer.

Be very careful about ride quality - it might be exciting to drive but you will end up avoiding anything in the road.
I had a R58 JCW mini and it was pretty brutal - had to go in the end when the wife basically refused to go anywhere in it. Replaced with a Golf GTI which has a pretty good ride but is still very much a drivers car.
I'm not pushing the GTI as an option just pointing out that a quick blast as a road test is different to actually living with the car.

but most of these hatches on 19s have tiny front brakes!

18” tyres are probably a lot cheaper to, as I a set of Goodyear Eagle F1s fitted for not much over £300 in the summer.

Pretty sure the ST in question is running 225/45 R17s. Not ideal for rough roads but not the madness you mention

Pretty sure the ST in question is running 225/45 R17s. Not ideal for rough roads but not the madness you mention

That size doesn’t sound too bad in 17”, should be able to get a decent ride if the suspension is compliant enough. I remember looking at previous generation Civic Type Rs and Leon Cupras that had 19s 10 or more years ago.

That size doesn’t sound too bad in 17”, should be able to get a decent ride if the suspension is compliant enough

That’s the issue, it’s not compliant in the slightest (unless “making progress”)

Jeez! 19's? My '72 mini had 10's 🤣🤣🤣

But I get the point being made. My Dc2 had 15's... Great ride quality and very little tram lining.

@mashr I wonder if some decent adjustable Bilstein shocks would sort the ride out.

@pandhandj 15s do look a bit small though! Myself and my dad used to have E30s M3s and we ran those on 15s at standard ride height as they drove better on the road, but I was always jealous of people with 17s and low suspension with the touring car look!

I broke my Dc2, for the engine/gearbox, to go into my mini. Any more than 13's on a mini look weird! But the b18c6 from my Dc2 was geared for 15's. Don't ask me how much I paid for a nw final drive to replace the standard one in the itr gearbox...

If I remember correctly, the Dc2 ran on potenza re10's? Maybe 55 walls? Honestly can't remember!

"If I remember correctly, the Dc2 ran on potenza re10’s? Maybe 55 walls?"

Well remembered, 195/55 15's, the Bridgestone's did have a stiff sidewall, lovely tyres whilst you could get them.

Why mention it’s a 3rd car, no need to show off.

I'd search for the Vic and Bob handbags gif if I could be arsed but I wouldn't want to hurt your feelings anymore than I already have.

Oh, and the stereo layout looks like it was designed when someone sneezed on the dashboard and went “that’ll do it”

That was true of all Fords about five years ago, Vauxhalls were similar, but not quite so bad, and Volvo stuck a bloody phone-style qwerty keypad on the dash! Not distracting in any way whatsoever! We had a Focus ST in work a while back for an insurance repair, a 17-plate IIRC, and that type of dash looked so cheap considering what the car was about - my EcoSport is much better in that regard, but then all Fords now have a much simpler and clearer dash setup, with the floating display and knobs for controlling environment and radio volume, much, much better and safer than touch controls when actually driving.
Harshness of ride, as has been pointed out, is often as much due to large diameter wheels and low-profile tyres, and run-flat tyres are even worse, as fitted to BMW and Minis; I had to pick up a 4 Series BMW from a bloke in Bristol once, and he said it was his first opportunity to get rid of it, and he hated it! I asked why, and he said the ride was noisy and harsh, and very tiring to drive, he was swapping to a Mercedes.
It didn’t take much more than half a mile on regular Bristol roads to see exactly what he meant, it was horrible! It crashed and banged over every little road imperfection, and road noise meant the radio had to be turned up to an uncomfortable level to be able to hear anything.
Heading north into Melksham on the A350 the road surface is really badly broken up, it’s uncomfortable even with the larger volume tyres on my car, I can imagine what it must be like with low-profile run-flats on a Mini or BMW, having driven them before; I couldn’t live with it everyday.
It also results in trashed alloys as well, there’s virtually no sidewall protection from the tyre, and the rims get wrecked the first time the car gets parked next to a kerb. Ridiculous things to put on big SUV’s like Range Rovers, but hey, it’s cool, innit!

This is the EcoSport dash from 2014, same as most other Fords, just a mess:

This is the current Fiesta/Focus/Puma/EcoSport layout, just so much easier to use when driving - difficult to understand how designers could get things so wrong previously.

I drive over 20k miles a year so these sorts of small fun hatchbacks don't fit my criteria one bit but interesting to read other peoples comments on tyres.

My past two cars have been a 330d and a 640D but both are non M Sport models so thankfully only have 18" wheels and not 19" or 20" which some of the 6 series are on.

The big wheels do look nice but are just so unnecessary.

I've always been impressed with the way any fast Ford drives but feel the build quality is still not there with VW.The Polo GTi or Fiesta ST are both seriously rapid with a few tweeks.

christ id prefer that first image rarther than the floating screen any day.

christ id prefer that first image rarther than the floating screen any day.

I have a fiesta with the second pic dash right now, and had a Ford with the first pic dash before. It’s miles better now and works really well and is pretty intuitive too.

I don’t know why anyone would ask about cars on here, most people seem to have whatever boring Audi is on trend right now (and an S3/4 etc are still boring) or a knackered old Skoda cos they are too cool to have better cars.

If the OP likes the ST3 I say go for it. Don’t listen to anyone else, if you like it go for it. I have a Fiesta Titanium X right now and it’s brilliant to drive, would love the same thing but with more power, would be amazing.

Hard suspension? Badge kudos? Only a problem if you’re a middle aged IT salesman.

I’ve always been impressed with the way any fast Ford drives but feel the build quality is still not there with VW.

The Ford will be more reliable.

https://www.carwow.co.uk/blog/most-and-least-reliable-car-brands-revealed

Hard suspension?

Don’t be an arse. The old STs suspension is stiff enough that when driving over a slightly rippled patch of motorway near me it would take my breath away if I was mid-sentence. My (still stiff) old Clio was far more pleasant to live with despite also being the better handling car. Sporty does not necessarily mean overly stiff

I don’t know why anyone would ask about cars on here, most people seem to have whatever boring Audi is on trend right now (and an S3/4 etc are still boring) or a knackered old Skoda cos they are too cool to have better cars.

If the OP likes the ST3 I say go for it. Don’t listen to anyone else, if you like it go for it. I have a Fiesta Titanium X right now and it’s brilliant to drive, would love the same thing but with more power, would be amazing.

Hard suspension? Badge kudos? Only a problem if you’re a middle aged IT salesman.

You have read the rest of the thread, right? No boring Skodas or Audis mentioned..but rather people that have owned the car in question and other hot hatches offering reviewes.

Middle aged IT salesman? Not even close.

The ST is nothing like a regular cooking Titanium X... so what's your experience of the car in question? Bizare comment.

Re tyres and ride comfort I swap low profile summers to smaller wheels with higher profile winters (softer rubber) in Nov and the change in ride quality across our broken roads is appreciable. Worth considering.

I don't find the suspension hard on my Mk8 and that's despite driving some of the crappiest roads in Scotland and running 18s. Used to commute a 70 mile round trip in it too and I never considered comfort an issue.

and that type of dash looked so cheap considering what the car was about

I’m afraid that the dash and interior of the ST made me not even bother going to look at one, I agree they were horrendous. We bought a Polo GTI instead. It was my wife’s car anyway and I think the Polo was easier to live with day to day, but not as fun to drive, which suited her better.

(It’s been replaced with an i3s which is a whole different thing).

Re tyres and ride comfort I swap low profile summers to smaller wheels with higher profile winters (softer rubber) in Nov 

But only if you have front discs small enough to allow that - certainly not an option on my car.

christ id prefer that first image rarther than the floating screen any day

You wouldn’t if you’d ever tried to set a destination in the sat nav, change the radio station or use your phone for music in an ST3. Intuitive it is not.

Cant comment on the Fiesta ST3 but i do have a 2016 Focus ST3

Had fast Fords since i passed my test at 19 and im now 43 (ive had xr3, xr3i, RS16i, RS Turbo S1 and S2)
Last car was a fast'ish Audi A4 Avant (estate) 2.0T Special Edition with 220bhp

Go for a proper test drive down the bumpiest road you know and see how you feel about the suspension and wheels, My Focus ST3 has 19in wheels and is 280bhp (Revo remap) and its fine on some of the roughest roads i know

I would have liked a Fiesta ST3 with a Montune 230bhp kit but i need to fit the wife, boy and my MTB in the car so the Focus made more sense

The Fiesta's stereo/sat nav does look a lot more awkward/hard to use compared to the Focus ST3 sync2 and sync 3 stereo/sat nav systems

UPDATE -

my birthday has been and i i found a nice wee fiesta st.

Then i remembered that my 17 year old daughter is learning to drive...

Once she passes her test, the best i can find without a black box is £3,500 per year for insurance!

looks like I'll have to wait a few years till i get my mid life crisis car 🙁

Once she passes her test, the best i can find without a black box is £3,500 per year for insurance!

How does this affect your finances?

Sorry, I know this isn't how it works now but I never had a car until I could buy and run one myself. When my insurance quotes were in 4 figures I had a buss pass.

Take 2k off your budget, 1k each for her car and her insurance?

It may not be cool but at the end of the day it's transport.

You wouldn’t if you’d ever tried to set a destination in the sat nav, change the radio station or use your phone for music in an ST3. Intuitive it is not.

Just trying to search for a station is ridiculously tedious, and there’s no satnav anyway. The floating screen is much neater than anything Mercedes came up with, and it’s bigger than pretty much any screen that’s actually set into the dash. I think Ford have about the best infotainment setup in any cars at the moment, with the possible exception of Tesla, but theirs are ludicrously big! Having the option of the screen divided into three, or having the navigation screen full-size is excellent, using TomTom in my EcoSport is fantastic, so much easier than peering at my phone screen stuck to the screen about six inches further away, and a third the size.

Just trying to search for a station is ridiculously tedious, and there’s no satnav anyway.

There was on the old ST3, it took me down some very ropey routes