Turbos are magical whirly birds of wind, hell if I know how they work but the end result is always the same: a giant smile on my face.

Yep, it’s time to get FISTed back into the 2010s when dubstep reigned supreme, X-Games was the coolest thing you’ve ever seen and Ken Block released something called gymkhana 3. What was that neat little green and white rotund looking vehicle doing a massive 4-wheeled powerslide on a plane you wouldn’t imagine a vehicle existing on. Why, it’s the Ford Fiesta ST!

Pivioting to today, my 23 year old ass sits in the bucket recaro seats of the new-to-me 2016 Ford Fiesta ST. My teenage self is creaming his pants. Here’s the thing about this car: there’s no magical formula. It’s a FWD hot hatch with a turbo 4-cylinder and a stick. No trick differential, no AWD and no crazy technology. So what makes the FiST so damn good?

Step one: TURBO GO WEEEEEEEEE

Now Pierce, you may be saying: wasn’t your previous car an FRS? So wouldn’t anything north of a modern Toyota Prius feel fast? Firstly, shut the fuck up, stop being so mean >:( .Secondly, it’s not about the amount of power (although substantial enough), it’s about the way it hits. I’ll admit, my FiST isn’t stock. It’s got all the hot boy mods pre-installed, perfect for hardparking in the highschool pickup line. Full cobb exhaust, THE BOX intake, blowoff valve, schweet rims and of course the corn-on-the-cobb access port. Short shifter and a few other creature comforts exist, but that’s the meat and potatoes of it. A broccoli head might call it “Stage 1”, I call it a damn good time.

Anyways, engine. The turbo is fairly small, so it spools fairly fast and in low RPM ranges. It almost gives all the benefits of an NA powertrain without any of the turbo drawbacks, but it still lugs a bit off a launch. What else does it do on a launch? TORQUE STEER

Step two: Torque Steer to the Moon

Open diff + silly power to the front wheels = torque steer, everyone knows it. Most would want to fault a car for such an issue, as it hurts drivability, overall speed and make it harder to control. However, in the FiST, torque steer is part of it’s personality. It’s as if the car want to say “I want to goooooooo!! Let me off the chain and run free, master!” and frankly it’s adorable.

It’s just so damn silly, from the way it looks to the torque steering mess under acceleration, how could it get even sillier?

Step 3: FWD Oversteer

This shit is all about the handling, because if you’re trying to make a fun FWD econobox it better take a turn well since you can’t rip donuts in the Lowes parking lot at midnight. Well I’ve got good news, because the FiST turns INCREDIBLY well, and it’s got a little trick that I’ve learned from countless backroad adventures and a stray autocross or two. Let me lay out the situation:

Pretty neat huh? Expect more, that’s what we pay for here at Mis-Shift.

Anyways, that’s the real party trick this thing has. Want slip angle, crank the wheel sharply INTO the turn and the opposite rear wheel lifts off the ground, decreasing the rear grip dramatically and forcing rear end slip. It’s not just a little bit, either. Despite this, it stays controllable! Just a little puppy wagging it’s tail!

Smash those 3 steps together and you get the Fiesta ST, a silly and fun hot hatch that can be had for under 10k with plenty of character and surprises if you know where to look. It’s got too much power, too stiff of a chassis and too much torque steer, but all these things combine to create a fantastic tossed salad of a car.