What am i doing wrong

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Discussion

dieseluser07

Original Poster:

2,452 posts

115 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
Ive come from a twingo 133 and a company octavia to a mk7 fiesta st.

Its rated as one of best hot hatches, but i just dont think its that special after owning a month. It doesent feel that quick (has 215bhp, 236lb/ft), it doesent feel lairy and the engine note is very dull and linear.

My twingo felt 100% more exciting.

Am i not driving it properly? Does it need an aftermarket exhaust to spice things up a bit? It just feels overly competant and ive fallen out of love with it already. Help, i need to keep it for a few years for financial reasons.


Jonmx

2,535 posts

212 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
dieseluser07 said:
Ive come from a twingo 133 and a company octavia to a mk7 fiesta st.

Its rated as one of best hot hatches, but i just dont think its that special after owning a month. It doesent feel that quick (has 215bhp, 236lb/ft), it doesent feel lairy and the engine note is very dull and linear.

My twingo felt 100% more exciting.

Am i not driving it properly? Does it need an aftermarket exhaust to spice things up a bit? It just feels overly competent and ive fallen out of love with it already. Help, i need to keep it for a few years for financial reasons.
This is the problem with many modern cars I've found. Having come from a Twingo it probably feels like driving a tank. Is it a daily driver or a weekend car? If it's a daily driver then over familiarity with it may have worn off the initial excitement.
A few simple modifications could liven it up a little, exhaust, springs and a supercharger kit wink


PositronicRay

26,957 posts

182 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
Nitrous, if it doesn't help then try inhaling it.

avenger286

425 posts

102 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
I have a 133 and come from a Octavia vrs and have had a good mixture of cars .
Never driven a new feista at so can't comment about the car . But to me modern turbo cars are quick but don't feel it nor do they have anything special about them .
The wee Twingo is special and feels it and goes about everything in a old school kind of way even though it's not that quick standard (mine has 165bhp) .
I always used to be a fast ford fan but now am a Renault Sport guy .
The Twingo is one of the last of a dieing breed .

M-SportMatt

1,923 posts

137 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
dieseluser07 said:
Ive come from a twingo 133 and a company octavia to a mk7 fiesta st.

Its rated as one of best hot hatches, but i just dont think its that special after owning a month. It doesent feel that quick (has 215bhp, 236lb/ft), it doesent feel lairy and the engine note is very dull and linear.

My twingo felt 100% more exciting.

Am i not driving it properly? Does it need an aftermarket exhaust to spice things up a bit? It just feels overly competant and ive fallen out of love with it already. Help, i need to keep it for a few years for financial reasons.
If its a daily then you need to go do some pleasure drives in it and have some fun

Also, the twingo 133 is a bundle of fun so as a sensory experience the fiesta has a hard act to follow despite being more capable

seadragon

1,137 posts

214 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
Am sure loads of tips on here.

I would maybe look for companies that do remaps and get them to look at the exhaust at the same time, get more power and torque. I know the ST is rated, but I have had more powerful cars as I know I always want more, so I feel your pain. I went from a Ssangyong Musso to a Golf R Estate and couldn't be happier.


Good luck !!


dieseluser07

Original Poster:

2,452 posts

115 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
Supercharger? Haha its already got a turbo, its a daily driver, all the reviews say its quite raw compared to other hot hatches but to me it feels too competant, and its not like its a hyper hatch or anything

Its under warranty atm so can only do limited mountune options before it invalidates it, there is a well rated cat back for it but dont know if it will make the drive more exciting, i think its lacking a good noise to be honest

Edited by dieseluser07 on Friday 24th March 16:13

HustleRussell

24,602 posts

159 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
Jonmx said:
dieseluser07 said:
It just feels overly competent
This is the problem with many modern cars I've found. Having come from a Twingo it probably feels like driving a tank. Is it a daily driver or a weekend car? If it's a daily driver then over familiarity with it may have worn off the initial excitement.
A few simple modifications could liven it up a little, exhaust, springs and a supercharger kit wink
yes I've not driven the Mk7 Fiesta ST but can relate. I tend to prefer car which need you to be fully engaged, rifling through the ratios and revving out the little engine. Big torque and turbo power delivery doesn't encourage this.

Also, controversially I just think the French do small hatches best.

PositronicRay

26,957 posts

182 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
dieseluser07 said:
to me it feels too competant,
Buys car, then complains that it's not a bit crap.

clap

You need to live through the 70s man.

funkyrobot

18,789 posts

227 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
PositronicRay said:
dieseluser07 said:
to me it feels too competant,
Buys car, then complains that it's not a bit crap.

clap

You need to live through the 70s man.
Is that something you can achieve with the usual PH 'hard work' ethic?

SuperchargedVR6

3,138 posts

219 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
My lasting memory of a ride in an ST is how harsh the suspension is. Some folk call that 'fun', I call it irritating. Cars can be made to handle without resorting to a lump of granite in each corner.

The engine is a lively little thing though and they can 'chip up' to some impressive numbers.

Squirrelofwoe

3,181 posts

175 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
Keep the ST, save a couple of month's beer money, and then buy a Ford Puma 1.7 biggrin

Like an ST with less weight, and less 'grown-up-ness'. If a Puma can't put a smile on your face, nothing will! driving

gashead1105

558 posts

152 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
You could always sell it. I love my ST-3 and it's my daily driver, but it's not the last word in outright performance and I agree the ride is very firm. To be honest a 50hp differential from your twingo isn't going to be enough to make it feel significantly faster.

If you bought it second hand privately you won't lose a great deal of money and can chalk it up to experience, assuming you haven't got it on finance of course. I lost £1500 on a skoda citigo that I owned for all of 3 months a couple of years ago; but counted that a small price to pay for having it out of my life.

Edit - also, try turning the traction to sport (or off entirely) and find some roundabouts...

Edited by gashead1105 on Friday 24th March 17:10

poing

8,743 posts

199 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
It's not just you OP.

I think the Twingo was seriously underrated and ignored, I loved it! It's in the top 2 cars I regret selling and I now have a Fiesta too. The Fiesta is a far better car for long distances and it doesn't try to kill the people who sit in the back every time you hit a bump but it's nowhere near as fun to drive.

In my lottery win garage there will be a Twingo as a fun toy, just for that snappy engine response and it's content love affair with the red line. Seriously tough little cars too, took all sorts of abuse and only needed a coil pack and alloy (buckled it) replacing in about 60,000 miles. Actually it did have a couple of sets of brakes but then it was driven at max speed everywhere and it was normal to arrive home to the smell of hot brakes smile

dieseluser07

Original Poster:

2,452 posts

115 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
gashead1105 said:
You could always sell it. I love my ST-3 and it's my daily driver, but it's not the last word in outright performance and I agree the ride is very firm. To be honest a 50hp differential from your twingo isn't going to be enough to make it feel significantly faster.

If you bought it second hand privately you won't lose a great deal of money and can chalk it up to experience, assuming you haven't got it on finance of course. I lost £1500 on a skoda citigo that I owned for all of 3 months a couple of years ago; but counted that a small price to pay for having it out of my life.

Edit - also, try turning the traction to sport (or off entirely) and find some roundabouts...

Edited by gashead1105 on Friday 24th March 17:10
Its way more than 50bhp more and it weighs about the same.

Its 133bhp vs 215bhp (mountune) plus a hell of s lot more talk, just doesent feel that rapid or exciting.

PositronicRay

26,957 posts

182 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
dieseluser07 said:
Its way more than 50bhp more and it weighs about the same.

Its 133bhp vs 215bhp (mountune) plus a hell of s lot more talk, just doesent feel that rapid or exciting.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh that's the problem.

CrgT16

1,925 posts

107 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
Did you test drive before buying?

I have no specific experience with the ST but I would have thought a slightly sportier exhaust may give you the exhaust note you need to enjoy it on a run. If everyday car your senses will dull down to the car characteristics taking some of the excitement feel. Why not enjoy the controls, the chassis the steering... I am sure it can be enjoyable at all speeds.

My car still feels very exciting when I open the tap, on normal driving I just love the ZF gear changes and the sweet note of the engine. I think the ST can be enjoyed at most speeds just look for different things about it... lots to discover!

dieseluser07

Original Poster:

2,452 posts

115 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
CrgT16 said:
Did you test drive before buying?

I have no specific experience with the ST but I would have thought a slightly sportier exhaust may give you the exhaust note you need to enjoy it on a run. If everyday car your senses will dull down to the car characteristics taking some of the excitement feel. Why not enjoy the controls, the chassis the steering... I am sure it can be enjoyable at all speeds.

My car still feels very exciting when I open the tap, on normal driving I just love the ZF gear changes and the sweet note of the engine. I think the ST can be enjoyed at most speeds just look for different things about it... lots to discover!
Yup, tbh it was a short drive but i got to open up, and reviews were great so i just went for it

JS1500

579 posts

176 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
Modern Car Syndrome.

dieseluser07

Original Poster:

2,452 posts

115 months

Friday 24th March 2017
quotequote all
gashead1105 said:
You could always sell it. I love my ST-3 and it's my daily driver, but it's not the last word in outright performance and I agree the ride is very firm. To be honest a 50hp differential from your twingo isn't going to be enough to make it feel significantly faster.

If you bought it second hand privately you won't lose a great deal of money and can chalk it up to experience, assuming you haven't got it on finance of course. I lost £1500 on a skoda citigo that I owned for all of 3 months a couple of years ago; but counted that a small price to pay for having it out of my life.

Edit - also, try turning the traction to sport (or off entirely) and find some roundabouts...

Edited by gashead1105 on Friday 24th March 17:10
Could i just ask what you love about your st, just out of curiousity, might restore some excitement in me lol