z31maniac said:
iceracer said:
The thing about FWD vsRWD is over stated. A FWD car can be faster than a RWD car.
My ZX2SR was a case in point, it was easily faster than a lot of rwd cars.
Keep the ST and work on driving it until you feel you can no longer go faster.
Was the car faster or was the driver faster? Same tires? Same P:W ratio? I got a point by from a 550hp Camaro at a track day in my 1.6 Miata, does that mean my car was faster?
Sorry, it's just not a good comparison at all.
Yes, of course driver skill, tires, etc...matter. But the point is that a FWD car can be damn fast on a race track.
Klayfish said:
z31maniac said:
iceracer said:
The thing about FWD vsRWD is over stated. A FWD car can be faster than a RWD car.
My ZX2SR was a case in point, it was easily faster than a lot of rwd cars.
Keep the ST and work on driving it until you feel you can no longer go faster.
Was the car faster or was the driver faster? Same tires? Same P:W ratio? I got a point by from a 550hp Camaro at a track day in my 1.6 Miata, does that mean my car was faster?
Sorry, it's just not a good comparison at all.
Yes, of course driver skill, tires, etc...matter. But the point is that a FWD car can be damn fast on a race track.
Oh I know, I have a friend who exclusively messes with old Civics and CRX's (I forget that chassis code). The cars, and he as a driver, are fast.
But like for like, a RWD will be faster than a FWD car.
z31maniac said:
But like for like, a RWD will be faster than a FWD car.
I'm not sure I disagree with you, but you have to laugh at that sentence. There is no like for like if the cars are FWD vs RWD.
dculberson said:
z31maniac said:
But like for like, a RWD will be faster than a FWD car.
I'm not sure I disagree with you, but you have to laugh at that sentence. There is no like for like if the cars are FWD vs RWD.
I mean as equal as you can make them. Same tires, same P:W ratio, aero, same driver, etc.
You knew what I meant, but chose to be a pedant. 
I don't particularly care about faster. Driving dynamics are where the RWD shines. It's just the way things are supposed to be.
I'd rather a mustang than a Miata, unless the Miata had a V8.
Although I much prefer RWD in almost every single situation I'd probably keep the ST.
If you're on a budget you need to look at consumables cost... Mustangs are $$$ to track.
I have a 97whp Mazda2(same chassis as Fiesta, with half the power) and have tons of fun, and IMO it's made me a pretty decent driver.
I autocross anything I can (I've codriven a different car at every event for the last two years, near always beating the owner). I think FWD low power stuff is harder to REALLY drive fast because of how important the corner entry is (can never get power oversteer to correct).
I was pleasantly surprised to hang with much quicker cars and drivers in the HPDE instructor run groups and gave relatively few point bys vs what I expected my first event instructing... Even had a few overall faster cars(E46 and E92 M3s, also instructors) follow me (they waved off a point by) for a couple laps to see my line. One of them found me in paddock and was blown away at how deep I was braking into a couple turns, trail braking to rotate while diving towards apex.
Not trying to toot my own horn, I felt really weird getting compliments... Just wanted to mention your reasoning of FWD vs RWD or momentum vs power cars is flawed in my experience.
My $0.02.
That said, if you don't like it, buy something you do. I bought an NB Miata because it's a "better" track car... Didn't like it, and sold it because the Mazda2 is just way too fun, and literally nobody has any expectations of it.
Paul_H
New Reader
12/14/18 11:53 a.m.
Thank you everyone for your feedback. After some more thinking about what I really want out of this sport, I've decided to keep the Fiesta. It's the car I already own and actually love driving the thing. I think I got too caught up in the idea that I'll be limited by the FWD. I also tend to think the grass is always greener on the other side. One of my wants was a car I can work on and improve as I get better. On that front the Fiesta should fit the bill just fine too. It's also pretty affordable on consumables.
I also looked at Miatas again and found I could fit in an NB with the top up. I'm sure I could have worked out the headroom with a helmet issue too. The problem was that it was just too tight for my XL 300lb frame, and was not something I would want to drive hours to a track in and back.
In reply to flatlander937 :
It's ok to toot your own horns on the topic at hand. Otherwise it's hard to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. Plus what fun is being a fast driver if you can't let anyone know about it. 
Paul_H said:
blah blah blah... . Finally, I've always wanted a Mustang.
Thanks,
Paul
Paul_H said:
I've decided to keep the Fiesta.
Drive the Fiesta another year until depreciation puts an '11+ Coyote 5.0 Mustang into the budget. :)
The Fiesta ST should be a riot, but I'm of the camp that says you said the most important part at the end of your first post.
xflowgolf said:
Paul_H said:
blah blah blah... . Finally, I've always wanted a Mustang.
Thanks,
Paul
Paul_H said:
I've decided to keep the Fiesta.
Drive the Fiesta another year until depreciation puts an '11+ Coyote 5.0 Mustang into the budget. :)
The Fiesta ST should be a riot, but I'm of the camp that says you said the most important part at the end of your first post.
If you want a Mustang, get an ‘11 or newer or don’t bother. Yes, they are that much better.
I don't know what's faster ... but I'd have more fun on track with a Fiesta ST than a Mustang GT.
In reply to Paul_H :
You'll enjoy it on track. The Fiesta ST is insanely good in stock/near-stock form.
I also agree with the above that if/when you do want a Mustang, it's S550 or bust. They're so much better out of the box in basically every way.
Out of curiosity where are you located? I am President of Tidewater Sports Car Club and we'll be hosting several track weekends at NCCAR in 2019. We give GRMers discounts 
Paul_H
New Reader
12/14/18 4:07 p.m.
flatlander937 said:
In reply to Paul_H :
You'll enjoy it on track. The Fiesta ST is insanely good in stock/near-stock form.
I also agree with the above that if/when you do want a Mustang, it's S550 or bust. They're so much better out of the box in basically every way.
Out of curiosity where are you located? I am President of Tidewater Sports Car Club and we'll be hosting several track weekends at NCCAR in 2019. We give GRMers discounts
I'm located in Norwich, CT. But, my sister lives in Chapel Hill and I don't need much of an excuse to go visit her and squeeze in some track time.
In reply to Paul_H :
Perfect! Feel free to shoot me an email (president @ tidewatersportscarclub dot com) and I'll try to remember to send out a reminder when registration opens up. It's not announced yet but the dates to keep in mind are the weekends of March 30-31, August 3-4, and October 5-6.
We do HPDE on Saturday, Gripfest(a standing start time trial) Sunday usually, though I think August will be a double HPDE weekend. Still in discussion on that.
Feel free to check out www.tidewatersportscarclub.com and click on the "Track Events" tab for more info.
Hope to see you out on track!
iceracer said:
In reply to Paul_H :
Bet the FiST is faster than the NB.
Bet it's not.
Fiesta ST, and NA + NB miata owner. Also instructor. Stock for stock, sure. With normal STX/STR mods, I'd bet an NB is quicker around most roadcourses. Throw an NC into the mix and it's berkeleying game over. Fiesta's are slow on track. *disclaimer this does not mean I think it's a bad car, I loved mine*
To OP, why don't you instead get a good RWD car? NC Miata's and the GT86's twins are fantastic platforms that are cheap to run, competitive, and fast af with only a couple mods.
LanEvo said:
I don't know what's faster ... but I'd have more fun on track with a Fiesta ST than a Mustang GT.
And that's the key point, bolded above. None of us here are professionals, nor are we ever likely to be. This is all about having fun. Whatever brings a smile to your face, rock it. I've been on a race track in everything from a Rolls Royce to a FFR Cobra. All of them were fun.
As another reasonable option, consider C5 Corvettes. Just sold my Focus ST for a low mileage C5 manual Z51 package that does daily/autocross/track duty. Best decision I've made in a while.
