Ford Fiesta ST Forum banner

Molten Orange ST Test Drive Review

16K views 56 replies 15 participants last post by  Sil3nt611 
#1 ·
This will have a lot of pictures so I just put it up in the pictures section.

I'll be doing some comparisons between my modified 2003 Ford ZX2 and the Fiesta ST because that's what I've been driving for the past 5 years.

Here's my review of it from the viewpoint of an everyday driver of a modified Ford economy car that enjoys driving cars and doesn't do any autocross or track days.

Some of you have already seen the previous pictures I've posted of the ST at my local dealership. I went back because it was closed on Sunday and Labor Day so I could actually get good interior pics and hopefully a test drive. Well they let me do a test drive right off the bat. I barely even got to look inside. lol I took about a 10 minute drive down a less traveled highway in the area. It was not hard to get the car to 80. This is the first turbo car I've ever driven. But I could tell right away when the turbo kicked in and it was quick. I was cruising down the highway in 5th gear and it seemed fine at about 70 so I shifted to 6th. Then I put my foot down. It still had some get up...at 70 in 6th. You can forget about doing that in my N/A ZX2 in 5th.

The sound symposer, or whatever it's called, wasn't overly loud like I thought it might be. It makes about the sound you'd want to hear when accelerating (I mean I'd assume if you want an ST you probably want to hear the engine noises) and quiets down when you're not on it. The cabin was pretty quiet on the highway (in my standards) for having low profile tires and generally being an econobox car. My ZX2 is lowered with 17" wheels and low pro tires and it's pretty hard to talk to the person in the passenger seat without talking loudly, and talking loudly is not my strong suit. I could talk to the salesman in a normal talking voice and he could hear me fine. Yeah it's got road noise still. If you happen to be coming from some type of luxury car with oodles of sound deadening, it's gonna be loud in comparison.

The shifter wasn't as short as I had hoped it would be. I don't really know if it's short at all since I've never driven the 5 speed Fiesta. I have a TWM short shifter in my ZX2 and it definitely makes a difference. I think the one thing I'd change on this car is swapping in a shorter shifter. Is it terribly long? No. But being that it's a performance oriented car in the first place, a short shifter belongs on this car no doubt. Like i've said in the past (and I even said it to the salesman), if I had a factory (stock, no mods) car with a manual transmission and I could only change one thing, the short shifter would be the one thing I did. That being said, my lowering springs for handling are my favorite mod on my ZX2...yes, that didn't make any sense... :p Oh yeah, For those of you not in the know (I didn't know until I drove it), you pull up on the top of the shift boot and it disengages the reverse gear lockout. So you can't accidentally shift into reverse instead of first. That was one thing I was worried about.

Having driven a could 2012 Fiestas I got a test drive in a 2012 SES with a leather steering wheel. The leather steering wheel in my ZX2 is excellent. It feels good to touch and is soft. That 2012 leather wheel was absolutely horrid. That was the hardest most plastic-y leather I've ever felt and I was hoping beyond all hope that it didn't carry over into the future Fiestas and ST. Yay! The leather wheel on the ST is excellent. Great to touch, soft and not loose on the wheel either. My one complaint about the steering wheel (and it goes for all Fiestas and many Fords in general lately) is that I can't hold the wheel at the very bottom like I like to in my car. The middle of the wheel kinda comes to a point right there at the bottom so I gotta hold it at the top or either side of the bottom part. Really not a big complaint and I'd get over it quickly once I took delivery of an ST, but something to think about.

The AC controls were easy to use for me and I definitely had to use them, it's too hot out there. Might be a bit confusing for the less technically minded at first. I guess the knobs are all digital now so when you change the fan setting or temp setting there is that slight delay from when you turn the knob to when it changes on the screen and turns the fan down or up. Just something worth noting for people like me that have only used the mechanical AC controls. I didn't use the My Ford Touch unit, but it really seems fairly straightforward to use (again for the technically minded). All the vehicle controls were right where I thought they should be (fairly similar to my ZX2). BRGT350 complains about the armrest as the worst thing on planet earth...ok well maybe not, but he hates it because it's useless for him and he hits his arm on it while shifting. He's shorter than me. I'm about 5'10" tall or so. I didn't even notice the armrest being there. I don't care for center console armrests because i think they get in the way like he does. I don't know how useful it would have been as an armrest as you can see in the pictures where I have my seat is right up next to the armrest making generally useless with the Recaros. As long as I don't hit my elbow on it I really don't mind. The inside of the armrest sports the 2 USB ports and SD card slot and a small storage area. A great place to collect a bunch of junk...at least it has a cover so you can hide said junk without it looking unsightly. It has a powerpoint in the center console near the shifter and handbrake, and one in the rear by the rear cupholder. Like my ZX2, the rear cupholder doesn't seem real deep, so I'd probably refrain from using it for cups with liquid in them. Push to start is cool and you don't have to deal with pulling out your keys or your keys dangling by your leg, but it's not one of those necessary things. If it didn't come standard I'd likely skip it. On the subject of the keyless, the salesman got out of the car to move a golf cart and the car chimed and showed a message on the screen that the fob has left the car since he had it on him. I believe once you start the car you can go without the fob until you turn it off and turn it back on so if it happens to fly out the window while driving, just be sure to keep it running and keep the tank full. :p

The Recaro seats felt great. I had no problem fitting into them. I wear a 34 waist pants size for general reference. I have high thigh bolstering seats in my ZX2 as well and after a long drive it kills your back, your wallet is eating into your butt...in other words you're miserable and can't wait to get out of the car. While a 10 minute drive is hardly a 4 hour trek, I never felt any discomfort and i think I wouldn't have any problem driving the car for a long trip. The Recaro seats are a must for the ST. I didn't really think about sitting in the regular seats of one of the sedans they had to get a feel for the regular seats, I don't think they'd even hold a candle to the Recaros. The one big problem with them is getting into and out of the car I rubbed on the thigh bolstering. Unless you changed how you got into the car that would likely become a very large hole in the seat. I don't like leather because it tends to get hot in the sun and the car was sitting in the sun but the partial leather didn't really bother me. If it was all leather I'd probably have a different opinion.

The molten orange is a great color. I can't seem to take a great picture with it not looking so red, but believe me you have to see it in person; it's a great color (so long as you like orange).

The dual height floor in the hatch...I'm not really sure how it works. I put it down in the lower position, but it doesn't work like BRGT350 showed because the spare tire is too big. So I'm not sure how he made that work. The salesman didn't know either. I was the one who told him about it. I would keep it in the higher position anyway so I really don't care.

That's all I can really think of right at the moment. If I think of something or you have questions I can post it later.
 
See less See more
#9 ·
When you see it in person it is more obviously orange. That being said it's a red-orange. I'm not crazy about red, but I love the orange and you can tell it's orange in person in the sunlight and the sunlight is always where it's going to look the best. I've seen some better pictures that show the orange better, it's just really hard to photograph, believe me, I tired to get it as good as I could...

Thanks for the review. I noticed the foam thing in the spare tire isn't there due to the larger size - does the ST not come with the funnel for the gas tank/jack/etc?
I didn't check for the jack and tire iron and I didn't even really know they came with a funnel, but I'm sure it's in there somewhere. I really don't think they'd include a spare tire without the tools to change it... :p
 
#14 ·
That's one thing I've been wondering. I want the sunglass holder, but it's not on any of the Fiestas with a sunroof. I would assume since the S, SE, and Ti get then sunglass holder without the sunroof, the ST probably gets it as well, but all of the Fiesta Movement cars have sunroofs and not a lot of STs are really around yet besides so it's kinda hard to confirm. Whenever someones order/dealer stock without a sunroof comes in post a picture of the interior roof to confirm that. I'm going to the Ecoboost Challenge this Saturday and I'll look at those, but I think all those STs have sunroofs as well.
 
#16 ·
I'm not sure how they'd find room for a sunroof and a sunglass holder. On the ST, where the sunglass holder would fit is probably where the sunroof motor is which is the reason for one or the other.

For reference, here is one with no sunroof and sunglass holder.


Here is a couple I found on autotrader, all the ones that I saw that have sunroofs look exactly like the ST I saw, no glasses holder.



Everything points to the ST getting a sunglass holder without a sunroof. Personally I'd skip the sunroof anyway, especially if you plan to keep the car more than 5 years because like all the others I've seen, it's gonna break. Plus you get more headroom for tall people. I sat in the back of the ST and my head was literally touching the roof sitting straight up. I sat in the back of a 2012 w/o a sunroof and I didn't have that problem. I didn't get any taller in a year and a half. I know it's a small car, but it doesn't need to be any smaller.
 
#22 ·
I know, I am miffed too.
I am calling my dealer this morning to find a car with a Moonroof.
If I can't have a place to put my sunglasses I may as well have a hole to look through.

Dave
 
#26 ·
sounds like you enjoyed the car! As for the dual floor, it took some wiggling back and forth to get it to sit down properly. I don't know what keeps it up. Once wiggled into place, it sits on the top of the tire and is basically the same height as my 2011 floor. What sucks is the opening between the back seats and the floor part. I lose papers, small groceries, and who knows what else under the back seat. I will fix it by getting the rear floor parts out of a 2011-2013 car. Probably the center console as well.

As for the Titanium, much like the Focus Ti and ST, the ST gets less features to keep the cost down. As it is today, the internet is full of trolls who whine the ST is just too darn expensive. I call crap on that since the ST starting price is about the same as my 2011 Fiesta was. A ST3 option package with some of the Ti features would be nice for those of us who don't mind shelling out more coin on a small car. Self dimming mirror, HID head lamps, back-up camera, overhead storage, and the nicer handbrake handle from the EU car. I can live without those things, but if available, I would go for them. Oddly, I have fallen in love with the cloth Recaro seats and no longer want leather Recaro's. They hold me in better than leather, which is more important that looks.
 
#28 ·
sounds like you enjoyed the car! As for the dual floor, it took some wiggling back and forth to get it to sit down properly. I don't know what keeps it up. Once wiggled into place, it sits on the top of the tire and is basically the same height as my 2011 floor. What sucks is the opening between the back seats and the floor part. I lose papers, small groceries, and who knows what else under the back seat. I will fix it by getting the rear floor parts out of a 2011-2013 car. Probably the center console as well.

As for the Titanium, much like the Focus Ti and ST, the ST gets less features to keep the cost down. As it is today, the internet is full of trolls who whine the ST is just too darn expensive. I call crap on that since the ST starting price is about the same as my 2011 Fiesta was. A ST3 option package with some of the Ti features would be nice for those of us who don't mind shelling out more coin on a small car. Self dimming mirror, HID head lamps, back-up camera, overhead storage, and the nicer handbrake handle from the EU car. I can live without those things, but if available, I would go for them. Oddly, I have fallen in love with the cloth Recaro seats and no longer want leather Recaro's. They hold me in better than leather, which is more important that looks.
I thought the only Recaro option it comes with is partial leather? The standard cloth seats aren't Recaro are they?
 
#27 ·
I believe the Euro cars get heated windshields too, so there's another one for the wishlist.

Anyway... I'd probably pay $1000 for a self-dimming mirror/HID/overhead console/backup camera package. I'd probably even pay another $500-1000 for full leather Recaro's and the nicer e-brake handle. I agree that it's meant to be a cheap hot hatch, but the fact they don't even offer these as options sucks.
 
#30 ·
Another thing I thought of. I was backing the car up on an incline and the hill holder works good. On that same incline my ZX2 would have started rolling forward. It was good to have considering I wasn't real used to the Fiesta's clutch. It seems to engage sooner than my ZX2 clutch. I managed not to kill it on the test drive. But after I got back in my car I wasn't letting the clutch go enough. :p
 
#32 ·
For those of you that think you may not like the molten orange because it's too red in the pictures, here's a slightly better representation of what it looks like in the sun. The only thing with this video is you can't really see much of the metallic flake, but the orange is more apparent.


One more thing I thought of to review the Fiesta on, the brakes stop pretty well. I wasn't slamming the brakes on or anything, but just slowing and stopping for a stop sign I noticed they grabbed pretty well. They should perform good in a track environment.

I'm headed to the Ecoboost Challenge this Saturday so I'll post up more pictures probably and a review on the handling aspect since I didn't really touch on that with a mainly highway test drive.
 
#34 ·
Wow I had forgotten about this vid I think it was the first only Ford put up after the LA auto show .. I still like the MO in fact I like ALL the Fiesta ST colors wish I could own one of each.... :D
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top