Help softening a Fiesta ST.

[Focused]

Hi all,
A mate has recently purchased a new WZ Fiesta ST and having driven it last night I'm now keen on one as well.

BUT the biggest issue was the ride quality. We spent the whole time driving around Sydney and it was pretty rough.

Now I expected this as it's a hot hatch but are there any tips on how to make it a big softer? The obvious choice is to change the tyres, I suppose? Any advice as to what type of tyres would be appropriate?

Many thanks.

[Pursya]

Don't buy it if you have issues with the ride.
Any attempt to change that will impact on the overall performance of the car.
And isn't it the performance that excites you?

[Focused]

Originally Posted by Pursya

Don't buy it if you have issues with the ride.
Any attempt to change that will impact on the overall performance of the car.
And isn't it the performance that excites you?

Sounds good in theory but in practice the ride does get a little uncomfortable after a while.

[xexr6t]

Go and test drive the Peugeot 208 gti. I drove the gti, fiesta st, and focus st on the same day. The gti was the best street car by a mile. I found both the fords very disappointing.

The car journo's love the fiesta because they hammer it at 10/10ths on the track. I found the gti handle better at street legal speeds, even in the rain the grip was awesome.

[LeadFoot81]

Originally Posted by Focused

Hi all,
A mate has recently purchased a new WZ Fiesta ST and having driven it last night I'm now keen on one as well.

BUT the biggest issue was the ride quality. We spent the whole time driving around Sydney and it was pretty rough.

Now I expected this as it's a hot hatch but are there any tips on how to make it a big softer? The obvious choice is to change the tyres, I suppose? Any advice as to what type of tyres would be appropriate?

Many thanks.

The suspension is quite taught and jiggles on road imperfections, but I don't find the FiST crashing and bashing over bumps like a lot of cars with aftermarket suspension.

If you spend a lotof time driving around Sydney I'm not sure any hot hatch is a good idea. You'll shake the filings out of your teeth in no time! ;)

I think your best (least worst) option would be aftermarket 15 or 16" wheels, rather than different tyres on the existing 17" rims.

[Polyal]

Could you find a Zetec owner and see if someone will do a suspension swap with you if they pay the labour costs?

[LeadFoot81]

IMO ifyou were going down that route you'd be better off buying a second hand ST, put the money saved towards sourcing Zetec spec suspension bits and keep the ST bits tucked away for the future. It's been said though that this would mean messing with the car's DNA. Depends on what you value the most and least. If the Zetec S comes to Oz it could very well be what OP is after?

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/...Zetec-S-review

[Polyal]

You could argue people making it more stiff are also messing with its DNA?

Id be driving some other cars, surely check out the Clio range aswell.

[jd dad]

They are pretty firm for sure, as said some 15 inch wheels would prob make
a fair difference

[fiestaz]

What were the tyre pressures at in your mates car? Sometimes after delivery they can be extremely high after transit and never changed pre delivery. this would have quite an effect.

[caprispecial]

If you havnt already, go and test drive the fiesta sport.

[LeadFoot81]

Originally Posted by Polyal

You could argue people making it more stiff are also messing with its DNA?

Id be driving some other cars, surely check out the Clio range aswell.

Yes, you totally could. The engineers out a lot of time and effort to make the thing a certain way.

As Purysa pointed out though, by softening the ride the OP could unknowingly mess with the rest of the package (which they're impressed with)

So is the car the problem, or the roads? Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

I say chuck some Fiesta Ambiente 15" steelies on and let the good times roll!

[lukits01]

I changed my dampers to Koni STR.T they significantly improve the ride quality.
I track my car too, and it stopped that hopping you get when you're in the middle of the corner. If anyone is interested the part numbers are:
8750-1101R (Front Right)
8750-1101L (Front Left)
8050-1130 Rears
They were around $500 landed for me.

[Swoopdown]

Originally Posted by lukits01

I changed my dampers to Koni STR.T they significantly improve the ride quality.
I track my car too, and it stopped that hopping you get when you're in the middle of the corner. If anyone is interested the part numbers are:
8750-1101R (Front Right)
8750-1101L (Front Left)
8050-1130 Rears
They were around $500 landed for me.

FiST with 9,000km Sydney driving.

Depends where you live but the roads in Aust are crap.

Check your tyre pressure as this helps it slightly.

There has been plenty of comments on suspension changes on the UK and USA FiST forums. lowering springs and coilovers and dampers key words.

Adjustable dampers are prob what your looking for to get that softer road feel on crap roads.

[Ms_Jam]

I have to say the Peugeot 208 GTI looks attractive to me, in terms of liveability.

The challenge is the sticker price. I wonder how well they are selling.

Someone has told me that Fiat offers very attractive deals on the Abarth, which however looks less liveable.

Don't know about Peugeot's negotiability. Quite a few of my neighbours used to have Peugeots, but they traded them for Korean makes on the whole.

[Pursya]

Pugs are expensive to run and service.
That's why people move from them to Korean.

[xexr6t]

After driving the Peugeot I think its worth the extra three grand or so over the ST. Like I said I drove all three cars back to back same day and the fords where a massive disappointment. The focus ST is a torque steering tramping pig and the fiesta rattles fillings loose.

[Ms_Jam]

Thanks.

Please excuse my ignorance, but I do not quite understand 'a torque steering tramping pig'.

[Pursya]

Torque steer is generated by to much power to the front wheels.
This literally makes the wheels steer contrary to the drivers inputs.
The tramping is also a result of this as the vehicle front end starts jumping up and down because it cannot handle the power input.

[Swoopdown]

I personally dont like the look of the Peugot and only got a look for performance.

And while i own a FiST.

The renault just grabs my attention alot esp the idea of 5 year warranty and four doors...

But when you get above 30k drive away. id want more than these three can offer.

If you think "fiesta rattles fillings loose". ive got a 2014 328i and in sport+ modes its about the same as the fist. adjustable dampers can make alot of difference for any car.

[Ms_Jam]

The Renault warrantee is very good, 5 years and unlimited km.

On the other hand the sport models, like the Clio RS, have a 10,000 km service interval.

Capped price servicing ($299 each, including GST) applies only to the first three services, as I at least read the fine print.

[Pursya]

Quite a few years ago I was poised to purchase a 206CC.
But I was put off by the woman in the local dealers service department telling me of the price, intervals and outrageous spare part pricing for all Pugs.
As she was at the pointy end of vehicle ownership I took her at her word.