mazdeuce wrote: I think you'll like the Fiesta ST. It really is a great car and it feels like home coming from the 2.
It really does feel a whole lot like the 2, or rather what the 2 would be with a huge amount of money dumped into upgrades!
Here's the last pic of the 2:
And a shot of the new ST
Max_Archer wrote: So my 2 is now gone as well. Just traded it in on a '14 Fiesta ST. The 2 was great fun but it was time to get out ahead of depreciation, I was dying for a bit more luxury and a lot more power, and the Fiesta was an insane deal and they gave me a great trade price.
Tell me more...I am contemplating the exact same move. As much as I love my 2, I am getting tired of the lack of grunt. After looking at the specs on the FiST, what's not to like? Even the mileage is not much worse than the 2. And twice the power? Yee-ha!
You say you got a great deal, how much off sticker? And what kind of trade in?
Did you get the Recaros? Not sure I want those.
Anything else I should know?
Andy Hollis wrote:Max_Archer wrote: So my 2 is now gone as well. Just traded it in on a '14 Fiesta ST. The 2 was great fun but it was time to get out ahead of depreciation, I was dying for a bit more luxury and a lot more power, and the Fiesta was an insane deal and they gave me a great trade price.Tell me more...I am contemplating the exact same move. As much as I love my 2, I am getting tired of the lack of grunt. After looking at the specs on the FiST, what's not to like? Even the mileage is not much worse than the 2. And twice the power? Yee-ha! You say you got a great deal, how much off sticker? And what kind of trade in? Did you get the Recaros? Not sure I want those. Anything else I should know?
23k before TTL on the FiST, which is about 3k below sticker. 9500 trade on the 2, which is over KBB for a good condition one and way too much for mine, which had some issues.
The mileage actually seems to be better than the 2 in the real world. I had to cruise at 65 with the A/C off to get anywhere near 35 in the 2, while I was getting 34.7 on the freeway at 75-80 effortlessly yesterday in the ST. It still takes 87 as well, though Ford says you can make more power on higher grades. I've tried both and haven't felt a difference.
It drives great, exactly what you'd want the 2 to be. The reduced rear camber and increased front does what you'd hope it was, great turn in and lots of ability to control the line with the throttle. It understeers a tiny bit under braking but it's easy to correct and I think better tires than the RE050s it comes on would solve that. I do have a little bit of concern about the brakes, they heat up relatively quickly thanks to the car using them as a fake LSD, but it's only an issue on long sessions on really twisty tracks or really agressive downhill backroad runs. Better pads and rotors should help.
I got the Recaros and they're great. They're very much like aftermarket Recaro recliners, only with the side airbags and seat heaters built in. Without them you get base Fiesta seats, and after the 2's seats I feel like they'd be woefully unsupportive. If you plan on keeping the stock seats in the car I'd go with the Recaros, otherwise yeah, there's probably not much point. As far as I can tell the Recaros use the same basic frame as normal seats and just add a whole bunch of extra bolstering so FWIW they're probably not appreciably heavier than the base seats. I think they'll add a lot of resale value, too.
I haven't had enough experience with the car yet to really make any definitive statements on it but so far it seems like a great package and the perfect upgrade over the 2.
I'm in the same boat as a lot of you. The car has been fun, a blast, etc....but now I've grown a bit bored with it. That, coupled with the commute to work only being 10 miles instead of 35 means that gas mileage is no longer much of a concern.
The Fiesta ST looks like a ball, but at 24K there are a lot of used cars out there I'd have to sift through.
Lucky me...it looks like I've found a bone stock 94' GSR nearby for near challenge money. Should be able to drive that while I contemplate what I really want (C5Z, E46M3, etc..)
I've got a few bits off the M2 if anyone is still reading this.. (Bilstein suspension, motor mount, injen CAI, corksport short shift) that I will need to unload.
Andy, you need to drive one. I'm convinced there is something electronic going on in the first couple of gears that feels really weird. It's fast and brilliant, but it feels weird.
mazdeuce wrote: Andy, you need to drive one. I'm convinced there is something electronic going on in the first couple of gears that feels really weird. It's fast and brilliant, but it feels weird.
There's definitely electronic trickery going on. The boost is definitely reduced in first and second and I think the throttle response curve is different too. I also have a strong suspicion that when you get on it hard the torque vectoring is doing something to try and fight torque steer. Since it uses the brakes, by the way, that could explain why the car's 0-60 isn't quite what you'd expect from a 2700lb car with 180hp at the wheels, and also why you can get half a second to 60 out of a flash and intake. (Since the flash would have more of an effect on boost in first and second than the rest of the gears and might affect the torque vectoring.)
In reply to Max_Archer:
Probably both boost-by-gear and manipulation of the throttle plate.
Wonder when the aftermarket will have a "cure" for that (if they haven't already).
In reply to Appleseed:
Cobb already has a Stage 1 tune. More to come, so I am told.
What I'm really interested in is the Mountune package. 600 quid in the UK so probably under a grand in the US when it comes out this summer, will be sold by Ford dealers in the US and will not affect warranty, and consists of a new airbox, a secondary intake tube that feeds it, and a reflash, which should raise peak power to 215HP and has similar gains through the rest of the range. Owners and reviews from the UK love it and have said that the car always feels like it's a gear lower than it is in terms of acceleration. Hopefully it'll affect response and low gear boost as well.
Hi guys!
I just picked up a 2014 2 Sport last week, have been infatuated with it ever since.
The stock tires are utterly terrible, definitely going to find a good wheelset for it sometime next month when money allows. Also planning on RB springs and Corksport rear bar sometime thereafter.
In the meantime, I'm having all kinds of fun getting to know it and want to get to at least 1 autocross with it totally stock.
Good to see the Mazda2 contingent staying alive here on GRM. I miss mine, though I love my Fiesta ST.
A few websites have been reporting the next mazda2 to have a 1.5l turbo diesel making 185 ft/lb. If the car doesn't end up compromised in some unexpected way I am going trade in my 2012 for one.
Yeah and for the last 2 years they said they will be releasing the mazda6 diesel. I have yet to see one or be able to order one...
Picked up a '13 green sport 5spd model yesterday. So far I'm lovin' it.
Has anyone tried the Green air filter that's mentioned in the B Spec kit? It's time to change my air filter and I'm looking to stay HS legal.
I've done some fun stuff to my 2! So far:
I still have a rear swaybar from DDM to install too.
I really like the fact that the car + insurance + gas + mods has been really cheap so far and only becomes more and more fun to drive.
I'm also anxious to beat the crap out of the DZ102s as there aren't very many reviews out there.
You'll like the DDM bar. It made a pretty good difference on the AutoX course. How do you like the 205 tires? I've been looking at some but I'm worried they're on the large size.
Good to see this thread bumped up again - it's what convinced me to buy a 2 in the first place. Over the last few months I've installed racing beat springs, the racing beat muffler, and 15x7 TR CM1 wheels onto the car. I've taken it to three autocrosses so far this year and placed 1, 1, and 2 in STF. I want to put a rear bar in, but might wait until next spring for it.
^Awesome dude! Congrats on the nice placings! That black on black with the TRs looks great too.
DanielCut wrote: You'll like the DDM bar. It made a pretty good difference on the AutoX course. How do you like the 205 tires? I've been looking at some but I'm worried they're on the large size.
Sweet I'm looking forward to putting it on. I like them so far, though I haven't been able to push them much. They certainly make the car look a lot meaner. I'm a little concerned about fuel economy, but other people with 205s don't seem to be having big decreases.
I did have about a 2 mpg decrease overall when I went from the stock tires to Star Specs. Part of that might have been because it was so much more fun to drive like an a-hole on Star Specs, but when doing long highway stints it was still there. Totally worth it.
In reply to mazdeuce:
Only 2 MPG isn't bad at all! Especially since I've seen 41 on the highway cruising around 65.
If any of you guys have a set of the oem touring wheels laying around, shoot me a message if you'd like to get rid of them.
I installed a set of Bilstein colilovers on a friend's 2 last night (PSS I think, the non-adjustable ones), and I'm actually pretty impressed. They're more aggressive than I was afraid they might be and the damping and spring rates are well matched. I have quite a frame of reference when it comes to suspensions, as I work at a race shop that sells and installs everything from entry level shock and spring combos to full race custom coilover setups, and these stack up relatively well compared to other inexpensive coilover options. Definitely worth a look if you're in the market.
Also, general note about 2s, make sure to align these cars immediately after any suspension work, for whatever reason they like to go waaaaay out of spec after a swap. This car showed almost 2/3" of toe out on both sides when I put it on my rack after the swap.
I've had my 2 for a little over two years now and I'm finally getting around to modding it. So far it has Corksport springs and Koni orange shocks/struts. A little issue with the springs and shocks was I noticed some sagging at the rear of the car. Fronts had decent enough clearance but the rears would almost be tucked. Once I put some 205/50r15 RE-11As and 15x7 et30 Kosei K1s I ran into some rubbing issues. I added some Energy Suspension coil spring isolators to the bottom of the rear springs and solved the problem. Now I'm really happy with the height and ride.
Next up are sway bars. I ordered the Eibach kit for the Fiesta since I liked the design of the rear bar. It bolts right underneath the shocks and ties the hubs together. The left side bolts up as expected but the right side needs some modification. The two holes under the right shock need to be drilled out and a new mounting tab needs to be made on the swaybar because the holes don't quite line up with the mazda. I'm hoping the front bar goes in without a hitch.
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