Convince me not to buy either of these cars: FR-S and FiST

My wife daily drives a new Civic Si sedan. I love it.

David S. Wallens wrote: My wife daily drives a new Civic Si sedan. I love it.

David, I regret trading my 9th gen Si in for an STI as a DD. It doesn't have the pucker factor the STI has; but, it did the DD thing 10x better and I drove past the pump more often than stopping by. If I can find the right color combo and options before the 10th gen comes out I'll probably grab one. Plus I have a slew of HPD parts sitting in my garage from a conti car.

I did find a Ford dealer to let me come try some cars. We'll see how I feel about the ST sisters.

Our 2000 Civic Si gave us nearly 15 awesome years of service and was doing great when we sold it. Mainly we just wanted something a little less high-strung. The four doors are nice, too.

I recently bought a FiST and a BRZ/FRS was on my short list. What turned me off on the BRZ/FRS was the engine was too rough on the FRS I drove. If the FRS would have had anywhere near the smoothness of a rotary I would have been sold.

My biggest gripe is the lack of steering feel in the FiST. It is kind of like playing a video game. When you turn the wheel the car turns well, but you can't feel what is going on through the wheel like in older cars. I'm also not crazy about how the car brakes inside wheels to make the car rotate better. It probably gets the car around a corner quicker, but it feels weird to me.

One of the pleasant surprises has been the fuel economy. I am averaging upper 30s. Also as has been pointed out, the price of a FiST is significantly cheaper the BRZ/FRS.

At the end of the day from what I can remember my JCW was more fun when it was actually running correctly. Unfortunately the dealership never could get the issues with it fixed so I ditched it.

If price were no object, the FR-S/BRZ still comes out on top for me. I just really enjoyed driving it, and I think it looks great. (And between the two, I'd go with the FR-S since, last time I checked, it can legally run the TRD springs in C Street autocross.)

At least around here, a used FR-S costs almost as much as a new Fiesta ST. That starts to make a compelling argument for the FiST. Plus, like the FR-S, it's a competitive autocrosser.

For me, the price of a used Abarth makes it a contender. At $20,000+ I'm not super-interested. At $12k-$15k for a 3-year-old example, I'm intrigued. Plus I believe it gets moved to STX next year.

I need to test drive the Focus and Fiesta ST, I forgot about those. I test drove a BRZ and it's great, better than I thought.

After looking over my finances I decided I should just go used. Scheduling test drives for S2000's. I don't have enough cash to buy either of the cars brand new nor do I want a car payment.

Might be a little wheezy at altitude but a nice contrast to an Evo while still delivering a great overall experience. I'm really happy with mine both for commuting (year round in Wisconsin) and on track.

I'm hoping I don't end up with two track cars. Also worried I'll end up liking it more than my Evo and make the S2000 into a track beater instead haha. If only I had more space I would be able to keep my Focus SVT too.

What kind of MPG do you get when daily driving?

I don't track it closely, seems like low 20s but I mostly drive in the city, short trips and stop lights.