Dropped by the local Ford dealership, "Towne Ford", and tried out an orange FiST with Recaros and a bunch of other options. That is a small car, barely bigger than my current daily driver 2007 Honda Fit. A good thing, imo, I like small cars.
I'm a small guy, but I thought the Recaros were a little tight, and seemed like they'd get uncomfortable over long distances. I briefly sat in a standard seat, and it seemed, at least for my ass, it would be better for a daily driver.
I think for someone who will do track days, it could be a good idea to get the standard seats, plus a hardcore racing seat to be used only for track days. Cheaper, too.
I thought the dash looked better in reality than in photos. As I've read in a few places, some of the interior did have a slightly cheap feel, like the height adjuster on the seat, and some of the buttons. I don't mind much, that wouldn't keep me from buying the car, but it probably wouldn't cost that much for Ford to use slightly higher quality materials and construction techniques. My Fit doesn't feel fancy, but it doesn't feel cheapish like the Ford. Even the sound of the turn signal seemed low grade, a clack, clack, clack, instead of a crisp click. The quality certainly wasn't awful, but it would be a good thing if it was a touch better.
Looked like the rear offered good utility. The rear seats don't fold flat like in the Fit, but I don't need every possible square inch of space either. Seemed like semi-decent leg room back there, too.
On to the fun stuff. As is typical, the salesman rode with me and there was a good amount of traffic, so of course I couldn't really wring the car out. I did take it on the highway and flatfoot it briefly, contrary to a lot of people, I loved the snarl through the sound tube. I never wrung it out to redline, maybe into the high 5000s. I have to say, I wasn't super impressed with the power, but I wasn't disappointed either. I could tell it was pretty strong, definitely way stronger than my Fit, but it didn't have the jaw-clenching, teeth-gritting, slam you into the back of the seat ferocity that really muscular, power-lifting, he-man cars have. I've had a couple of cars that were about as fast as the FiST, so I guess I'm kind of used to that amount of acceleration.
Didn't get a chance to get much feel for the chassis other than a couple of quick lane changes, but even cruising it had the taut, athletic feel of a high-performance car. Love that. Not as light and tossible feeling as my Fit, or as solid and planted as my old WRX, but right in between, strong yet agile. I have no problem believing the reviews that rave about its handling, but I wish I had a chance to experience it for myself.
All in all I thought it was a pretty sweet car, and I'm definitely still interested in getting one. I'm not going to get the one I drove though, has options I don't want, and I think I'd rather buy used.
BTW, another FiST that I looked at there didn't have nav, but it had a pod with three gauges on top of the dash. Is that an option, or is that what they install on all FiSTs that don't have nav? I think I'd prefer that to nav.
I'm a small guy, but I thought the Recaros were a little tight, and seemed like they'd get uncomfortable over long distances. I briefly sat in a standard seat, and it seemed, at least for my ass, it would be better for a daily driver.
I think for someone who will do track days, it could be a good idea to get the standard seats, plus a hardcore racing seat to be used only for track days. Cheaper, too.
I thought the dash looked better in reality than in photos. As I've read in a few places, some of the interior did have a slightly cheap feel, like the height adjuster on the seat, and some of the buttons. I don't mind much, that wouldn't keep me from buying the car, but it probably wouldn't cost that much for Ford to use slightly higher quality materials and construction techniques. My Fit doesn't feel fancy, but it doesn't feel cheapish like the Ford. Even the sound of the turn signal seemed low grade, a clack, clack, clack, instead of a crisp click. The quality certainly wasn't awful, but it would be a good thing if it was a touch better.
Looked like the rear offered good utility. The rear seats don't fold flat like in the Fit, but I don't need every possible square inch of space either. Seemed like semi-decent leg room back there, too.
On to the fun stuff. As is typical, the salesman rode with me and there was a good amount of traffic, so of course I couldn't really wring the car out. I did take it on the highway and flatfoot it briefly, contrary to a lot of people, I loved the snarl through the sound tube. I never wrung it out to redline, maybe into the high 5000s. I have to say, I wasn't super impressed with the power, but I wasn't disappointed either. I could tell it was pretty strong, definitely way stronger than my Fit, but it didn't have the jaw-clenching, teeth-gritting, slam you into the back of the seat ferocity that really muscular, power-lifting, he-man cars have. I've had a couple of cars that were about as fast as the FiST, so I guess I'm kind of used to that amount of acceleration.
Didn't get a chance to get much feel for the chassis other than a couple of quick lane changes, but even cruising it had the taut, athletic feel of a high-performance car. Love that. Not as light and tossible feeling as my Fit, or as solid and planted as my old WRX, but right in between, strong yet agile. I have no problem believing the reviews that rave about its handling, but I wish I had a chance to experience it for myself.
All in all I thought it was a pretty sweet car, and I'm definitely still interested in getting one. I'm not going to get the one I drove though, has options I don't want, and I think I'd rather buy used.
BTW, another FiST that I looked at there didn't have nav, but it had a pod with three gauges on top of the dash. Is that an option, or is that what they install on all FiSTs that don't have nav? I think I'd prefer that to nav.
![[biggrin]](/images/smilies/biggrin.gif "Big Grin [biggrin]")
