[breathe3asy]

Hey,

I've been without my 325i for a little while now, went travelling for a bit and couldn't justify keeping it sat on the drive.
I do miss it as the engine was very sweet, even if it was a little lazy :P
I check in here from time to time to see whats happening, if BMWorld have gone under yet etc things like that.

Anyway I started a new job when I returned from travelling and was looking at various cars, Leon Cupras, Polo GTIs, 1-series. Mainly smaller cars for the smaller UK roads and car parks.

I settled for a Fiesta ST after a good one came up, 15 plate with 2k miles (buyer realised he had made a mistake).
I'm not going to come on here and say its better than the BMW because they are two different cars, but I am really enjoying the low down instant torque from this little 1.6 turbo and better fuel economy as compared with the 3.0 litre 325. It feels much quicker and is extremely nimble, precise.
It came with all the gadgets of a newer car Bluetooth, DAB etc.

Like with the BM, I'm not concerned with badge snobbery as I buy my cars for the driving experience and not to be looked at. Overall very happy - heres some pics:

[imy]

I would never own one myself but that does look very nice. Hot hatches have come a very long way from the Saxo VTR, 106 gti etc of my days!

[E92Dan]

They are far more fun to drive than a BMW on a B road. Good choice.

[misterS3]

If i had space i'd have one!

[Digitalize]

Decent plate if it's actually an ST-2.

[Aragorn30d]

These wee cars are kinda funny. I was in a brand new Polo the other day, and was impressed by the level of tech compared to my (non-idrive) E90. It had a huge display with nav and DAB radio etc etc, all in a pretty slick looking interface.

The weirdest bit i found though, was the old-school heating knobs... Even my 15year old A4 has climate control, and it seems kinda bonkers that they've put all this flashy tech into the car, and yet not covered the basic stuff thats been around for years like Climate control and Cruise?

I bought my E90 without iDrive because it doesnt partiularly bother me, but buying one with manual heating knobs and no cruise control would be a big no-no...

[SO8]

I got rid of my 330d LCI for a Fiesta ST2 with Mountune kit on it to up the power. Sadly I couldn't get on with the driving position so it went after 3K miles and about 3 months.

The car itself was superb and was quite zippy. It handled superbly and was so chuckable compared to my 330d (which I also loved). I just couldn't get on with the seats ... so it went and got replaced by a Z4 35iS !

I will not have a bad word said though. People took the p*** but it didn't rattle, it did what it said on the tin and was 100% reliable albeit over my short ownership. I just felt wrong driving it due to the seat angle. I sadly need adjustable seats as I am a picky pita

One thing I didn't like was the silly torque restriction in 1st gear which made 1st feel slower than a 1.0L !

[Digitalize]

I drove the new Fiesta ST M-Sport Edition whilst shooting it for the brochure, to drive for pleasure it was great, the Mountune kit and Quaife diff made sure of that, but just to drive every day I wasn't a huge fan. It's easier to drive than an E9X, but then it's smaller, you're sat much higher up and it has electric steering.

Getting back in to my car after was like slumping in to an old comfortable sofa after a day in a desk chair.

Didn't half shift though and I forgot how much fun it can be to drive a FWD car properly.