Thanks for the details. Any ideas which tires you'll go with next?

Wow, hi! I like what you are doing, and for the most part, how you are doing it. Let's preface this all by stating that I am near 40, bald, and absolutely no fun. Just a little context.

You have to drive them, totally different experiences. On paper, and from a value perspective, it's Focus ST all the way. But from a fun perspective, it's Fiesta ST all the way.
Both are a blast, I'm not saying the Focus ST is boring, that couldn't be further from the truth. But the Fiesta just induces childish joy in…

Basically, because I'm cheap and I wanted max gains for my initial investment. Roughly, Livernois tune provides 10% hp and 30% tq increases, Cobb is like 4% and 23%. Livernois base tune is closer to the numbers put out by Cobb's Stage 2 tune.

I can see all the support Cobb offers, and the accessport tuner is 100x…

I agree. I saw an white haired, certified old guy gently lowering himself into a Viper RT/10 on Sunday, and my reaction was, Rock On, Old Guy.

Why the continual "mid-life crisis" put-down regarding sports cars? I'm not hanging this all on you, Raph, it's ubiquitous, and it bugs me.

Many of us can't afford an extra car.
Many of us have kids, wives, gigantic porcelain Pokemon statues to lug around. So we need space. We need utility.

So we get older, the kids…

Yeah, I went with Livernois because you get a very nice performance increase for the price. The negative would be the tuner interface is way behind the times; all you can do is load tunes, and view and clear trouble codes. But it keeps me from fiddling with things, so it's a positive in a way. I wouldnt want to mount…

If Miata had a fixed roof, I'd be all over it. Well, I guess I just described the FR-S, and I didn't buy that, so I'm full of it. Wanted more trunk space for fishing/camping/other things I'll theoretically do.

I almost went with the black, it's very slimming on the car. But I like the white, too. And three or four other colors, honestly.

Can we get obnoxious in here and do a roll call of FiST owners? Maybe post pics and opinions of our cars? I know there are a number of FiST owners on this site.

I didn't spend much time in the FoST, but if feels like a solid, well-appointed, classy car. Doors have a good weight to them. Interior is classy, looks up to date. Car will pull pretty nicely. But it feels like a larger car than it is, and it wasn't that fun to drive. At least for me (I just need a car for zipping…

That cubby is the WORST. All it does is make you think you can put things in there, then it dumps those items on the shifter once you accelerate.

Livernois Motorsports have a tune available sa well, crazy increases from just a tune: +18hp, +65tq.

Thanks for this post, I learned a lot about planes.

I don't see why you wouldn't be legally able to get stoned while the car is driving you to Taco Bell, even.

Really, truly wonderful writing. Thank you.

Who writes the headlines for Jalopnik posts? Is it Matt? Who?

And in other controversial opinions, maybe it's just me, but gosh darn it, I still believe chocolate tastes better than dirt.

The V6 is not the exciting option, sure. I'd rather own either other option.
That said, the V6 still offers more performance than 98% of enthusiasts could even use, myself included.
It may be the third option, but it's still a great option.

The basics have been covered, but these are all handy to have around, too.