Car review - Wheels of the Cog

2014 Ford Fiesta ST

November 7, 2013
By: wheelsofthecog

I remember as a kid, playing outside on my front lawn, there was a guy that drove this small hatchback. It was a 2nd generation all white Ford Fiesta. He drove that thing like it was a racecar, and I remember thinking to myself, “That guy seems like he’s having a lot of fun in such a small, cheap looking car.” Obviously, the Fiesta back then, was nothing like the current offering from Ford, and here in the U.S. they certainly didn’t offer a Fiesta to be more than an econobox for commuters. Turn the page to 20 something years later, and Ford brings its long sought after Ford Fiesta ST over to the U.S. Now, I always knew that countries overseas always had a better selection of sporty cars, and it wasnt until recently that automakers started to bring more of these fun offerings here. I had heard that the new Fiesta ST was a hoot to drive, but didn’t really want to believe the hype yet, considering Ford hasn’t really built anything “fun,” Mustang aside, since the good ole’ days of the Taurus SHO with the Yamaha sourced engine. Then I was given the keys to one for 3 days.
The first thing I notice is, man, this thing is small….but kinda cute.
The door opens, and I slip into the optional Recaro front seats. A little tight as first, and I’m not a huge guy. A little playing with the knobs and levers, and I finally get a comfortable position. Push the button to start the 1.6l EcoBoost 4 banger, and it lights up with a little snarl. Check my mirrors, engage the clutch, slip the gear lever neatly into 1st, and off we go.
The shifter on the Fiesta is surprisingly easy, with quick short throws, it was easy to find the gear you’re looking for. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the shifter in this car. It made for easy, smooth transitions, and if the gas pedal was a tiny bit closer to the brake, heel toeing to rev match would have been magical. Couple this stellar shifter with an engine made to rev and pull from the low rpm range, and you have quite a quick little toy.
While it’s not the fastest car, it does 0-60 in a claimed 6.7 seconds, it feels plenty fast. Having such a short wheel base, and low curb weight, this thing handles curves like a dream. You can also thank the Nürburgring tested suspension for that. While the suspension is mostly comfortable, yet sporty, if you have a bumpy ride to work, don’t plan on drinking your coffee on the ride in, as it will surely end up in your lap.
Ford claims the Fiesta ST to get a combined mpg of 29, 26city/35hwy, you’ll most likely see a little less. That pedal on the right likes to be pressed hard, and its very hard to resist. However, in my 3 days of driving, in what most would call spirited, I still achieved a modest average of 25mpg. That was mainly driving around town, and a couple trips on the highway.
Onto the interior. While this is no Mercedes, the quality of the interior is surprisingly nice. It’s by no means luxury, but for the price you’re paying the materials feel well put together. The soft touches are soft, and the hard plastics don’t feel cheap. Overall, it’s a very well put together interior. Now, if you’re tall, don’t expect your rear passengers to be complimenting you on the amount of legroom there is in the back seats, but if you’re of average height, there’s enough room in the back to fit a pair of adults comfortably for a short jaunt. Then there’s the trunk portion. While it’s not made to go on a Costco run, you’ll have no problem making a little grocery run here and there with more than enough room in the back to fit at least a weeks worth of groceries.
And now, back to my childhood days of seeing that 2nd generation Fiesta scooting down the street and around corners, tires squealing. While that Fiesta was nowhere near the performance and quality of this Fiesta ST, I can see why he looked so happy tooling around in that old Fiesta. This little Fiesta ST was a blast to drive. It’s honestly the most fun I’ve had in a car since I drove my Legacy on a track, and that’s saying a lot considering I put about $10,000 worth of performance upgrades into that car to make it handle and perform well for autocross events. I’ve never been a fan of front wheel drive performance cars, I can’t stand torque steer, but this car makes perfect use of the amount of power it has, and the electronic stability control makes torque steer pretty much nonexistent. So, if you’re looking for something small, kind of economical, and fun as hell, I’d surely recommend getting the Fiesta ST. I can’t really say there is anything out there that feels more complete for an everyday, fun-to-drive car on a budget.

2013 Hot Wheels Edition Chevrolet Camaro

November 5, 2013
By: wheelsofthecog

When I was a little boy, I remember thinking to myself, “Gee, wouldn’t it be wonderful if I could shrink down in size so I could fit inside my Hot Wheels cars so I could drive them around and do the loop!” Well, since that is pretty much impossible, Chevrolet and Hot Wheels teamed up to bring us something us adults can actually fit into. For many, this is a dream come true, for others, its just another way to make some money from some suckers. While at first I was a little skeptical of this appearance only package upgrade, after driving around for a day, it brought me back to my childhood days. Now, you can get the package on any version of the Camaro, but if you want to have the most fun, I’d advise you to get it on the SS. For some pretext, I drove the original 2010 Camaro SS when it first reappeared back in 2009.
While it was a vast improvement over the previous generation of Camaro, I felt a bunch of things lacking. The steering felt numb, the shifter was clunky, and you just felt generally unconnected to the ground and the car. While the car was plenty quick, I got bored of driving it just as quickly. It just didn’t feel like a driver’s car.

Fast forward to 2013, and with the addition of some new updated parts, I can say that the steering feel, shifter feel, and connectedness on this 2013 Hot Wheels Edition Camaro SS is much better. Overall feel for the road has increased, as well as responsiveness. Rather than feeling like I was just floating on the road, I can feel what lies beneath, and can get a better connection to the car. A nice added feature to 2013 is the dual-mode exhaust, which basically lets the Camaro be nice and quiet, until you really get on the gas, and what a wonderful sound does that make! It’s no wonder why people get into so much trouble in these types of cars, it begs to be opened up, and listened to.

One must be careful, however, as the rear end likes to break loose with any kind of overzealous right foot, even with traction control on. But if you want to leave a nice double solid black line, traction control can be defeated, and the burning of rubber can commence.

Now back to the dream as a kid driving a Hot Wheels car. Being in this car, and seeing the kind of attention it got surely felt good. The Kinetic Blue Metallic paint when properly polished up looks beautiful, and while its not Spectraflame, it sure does get the job done of standing out. This Hot Wheels car has their logo emblazoned all over the car. There are embroidered seats, aluminum door sills, and emblems everywhere to let you, and everyone else around you, know that you’re driving around in a Hot Wheels ~~branded~~ car. To make it even more complete, they gave this edition a nice classic Hot Wheels feature, Redline wheels, albeit subtle Redlines, that really only true Hot Wheels fans will notice and appreciate. Oh, and there’s one more thing, Hot Wheels even put into production a 1/64th scale mainline diecast car replicating the real life sized Hot Wheels Camaro, which you see in the photos.

So, is this a car for the masses? No. Will it appeal to everyone? No. Would I buy one with my own money? Sure, if I had plenty of it. It could be a great heirloom to pass onto future generations of Hot Wheels collectors. But beyond that special feeling that you are driving a true to life Hot Wheels, this is nothing more than a gussied up Camaro, which I’m sure one day, maybe, will become a collectible.