Fiesta ST

I have daily driven a 2015 Fiesta ST for over a year and 18000 miles, including one cross country road trip. If you can handle the rough edges it is, in my opinion, one of the best manual DDs out there.

The handling and 'character' are the stars with this car: it's extremely chuckable, with fast steering and good direction changes. Onramps are a blast. It feels very peppy and eager.

The engine noise is piped into the cabin via a sound tube, so one step above BMW-esque fake speaker noise but still not quite the same as authentic sound. This makes the car feel much faster than it is, which it's certainly not. ~200 lb/ft from 2200 rpm in a little car plus the noise also makes it enjoyable despite not actually being fast. Though it may partially be rationalization given that I own the car, this had made me appreciate the sensation of speed over actual speed. It is the opposite of the F10 M5 I drove a few years ago in that sense.

The interior is livable but not ultra high quality by any means. Touch points feel good; it feels like aluminum on the steering wheel, shift knob and door pulls, but it might not actually be real metal. Shift feel is pretty good for a budget car, though there is some slop in the driveline many fix with a rear motor / transmission mount.

The ride is firm but compliant; I had no real issue driving it 1700 miles in two days. It's roomy for a tiny car; I'm 6'3' 260 and I fit fine, though I don't have the optional recaros, which I've heard are snug for larger people. The steering wheel is nice.

The rest of it is clearly from an economy car, and is not the greatest quality. Two small plastic pieces of trim on the inside and one on the outside have broken off without any impact or anything. The paint scratches incredibly easily, though I've been told this is true for many Fords, not just the Fiesta ST.

It's this quality that brings the only hesitation I'd have in recommending the car. I've had to bring it in for service four times in the first 18k miles. First and second for a seized rear caliper (which continues to make noise even after two replacements!) a broken heater door control that clicked instead of opened, and a weird unreproducible "limp" mode with service light that dealer wasn't able to replicate and hasn't returned since. Few online have reported any drivetrain issues long term. All of these things were fixed with a smile under Warranty.

I still love the thing to death! I drive "spiritedly" 50/50 highway/city and I get around 30mpg. It makes even slow driving fun.
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Great review indeed. I - being based in Europe - have enjoyed a 3-door Fiesta ST for three years (black metallic with grey/red Recaros). No issues over 95k kilometers. It is a very reliable DD for a true enthusiast.

So why did I replace it? Because I bought a grey/black Fiesta ST200 which has a revised steering ("sharper" than in the standard version), 10% more power (200 DIN hp instead of 182 DIN hp), a softer suspension (however the regular ST also benefits from the new suspension setup that was introduced with the ST200) and, last but not least, the ST200 benefits from an increase of torque of ca. 20%.

As far as I know, the ST200 is only available in Europe. I love it even more that I used to appreciate my old standard ST, and I am enjoying it every day!