Throughout college, I owned what I consider to be one of the greatest hot hatches of our time: A 2014 Ford Fiesta ST. The rowdy little five-door was a flawless steed, hauling me to and from my parents’ house every semester, but also helping me break into the automotive space through autocross, track day, and ice racing events. I bought the car new and put nearly 50,000 trouble-free miles on the clock before finally getting rid of it.
As an enthusiast car, the Fiesta ST is near flawless. It had a turbocharged four-cylinder making nearly 200 horsepower—plenty for something that weighs just 2,720 pounds. The only transmission available was a slick-shifting six-speed manual. Mine even had the optional Recaro bucket seats, which are still among the most aggressively bolstered I’ve ever used in any road car, ever.
While I can sing the praises of the Fiesta ST for days, it does have one glaring flaw: The gas pedal. On first glance, you might not understand what I’m talking about. It’s just a metal-capped pedal, after all. The spacing between all three pedals is pretty good, and there are even rubber grips to keep your shoes from slipping off. This issue is something you’ll only really pick up on if you drive the car hard.
So What’s The Problem?
The drawback lies with the physical positioning of the throttle pedal within the footwell. For some reason, the pedal is placed far closer—maybe about an inch or two—to the carpet than the brake pedal. It’s not really an issue when you’re just driving and shifting normally, and many owners may never notice it at all. But I noticed it immediately, and it drove me crazy throughout my entire three-year ownership.
Why’s this a problem, you may ask? Before I dive any further, I have to explain the art of heel-toe shifting. Heel-toe shifting, also known simply as heel-toeing or rev-match downshifting, is the act of matching your engine’s RPM to wheel speed while slowing your car down. This is done by leaning one part of your foot—typically your heel or the right side of your foot—to the throttle to “blip” the engine while the clutch is depressed, slotting the shifter into a lower gear simultaneously. Here’s a quick tutorial video that depicts heel-toeing nicely:
Heel-toe downshifting smooths out the downshifting process on deceleration, eliminating the jerk you’d feel if you simply put the car into a lower gear and let out the clutch pedal. That sort of jerking motion upsets the car’s balance, so heel-toeing is important if you’re on the edge of grip coming into a corner—it’s an essential practice if your goal is to extract the most performance from a car. Heel-toeing is also far less harsh on your clutch disc than if you didn’t rev-match.
Back to the Fiesta. The reason I dislike the gas pedal in the little Ford is due to its height relative to the brake pedal. Because it was so much lower, I found it impossible to perform a proper heel-toe shift. The only way to get my foot on the gas and the brake at the same time was to really push down on the brake pedal. But in most real-world scenarios, I never needed that much brake pressure. So I stopped trying.
I Wasn’t The Only One
Source: Brian Silvestro
For a while, I chalked up my inability to heel-toe in the Fiesta to user error. But when I started driving other cars—Miatas, BMWs, Porsches—I realized I could heel-toe just fine. So it had to be the car. I even drove a newer 2016 model-year Fiesta ST a couple of years ago to confirm my suspicions, and I had the same problem.
A wave of validation washed over me when I recently looked for complaints online about the Fiesta’s pedal placement. In a post to the fiestast.net forum, several users mention struggles with regard to heel-toeing in the car. Here’s a quote from one user, EBinVA, mentioning some very similar complaints:
To me heel/toe is a pain in the ass in this car. I hate the way the gas and brake pedal are positioned, the brake pedal is just barely far enough to the side to make it nearly impossible to use the inside/outside balls of my feet without huge fear of slipping off of one of the pedals and the brake pedal is raised just barely too far for me to rotate my heel over and blip the throttle.
Yes! Exactly! There’s more, too, from a user named Smatty in that same thread:
I’m no expert at driving MT but the way I have to position my foot in order to do it in the ST doesn’t even feel very comfortable. If I were needing to do it in a situation where quickness and accuracy was required there is no way I could do it with any amount of certainty or precision. I swear that many reviews I read of the car mentioned its excellent pedal placement for heel toe shifting so maybe I am doing it all wrong…
A fiestaforum.com post titled “Heel-Toe in the FiST??” from 2018 by the user Blackout had a complaint that seems to match mine:
The brakes are way too touchy to press down far enough to where my foot can actually reach the gas.
In that same thread, one user notes that a pedal spacer is “pretty much a must” for Fiesta STs. As it turns out, the pedal placement issue was bothering enough owners that some real aftermarket solutions have appeared in the time since I’ve sold mine. In the case of the Fiesta, the fix is to install a piece of specially shaped metal or plastic behind the throttle pedal mount, effectively bringing it closer in line with the brake pedal. Why didn’t I think of that?
As Always, The Aftermarket Has a Solution
There are a few different types of pedal spacers out there for the FiST. The cheapest is a simple plastic spacer out of Lithuania on Etsy that bolts between the firewall and the throttle pedal assembly, all yours for just $15.99. Another version, also plastic and on Etsy, uses a similar spacer but adds an extension piece for the pedal pad itself (above), affixed to the stock pedal via a couple of screws. More real estate is always good when it comes to heel-toeing, so if you have small feet, this can help. It costs $39.00.
The version I’d choose, though, is a bit more substantial. Like the other spacers, this one mounts to the firewall, acting as an extension for the pedal assembly. But it’s made of metal and, more importantly, it has rectangular slots with rounded ends for mounting the assembly, which means it’s adjustable left to right. That’s huge for dialing in exactly where you want your pedal to be in relation to the brake. This install video from the Project Radium YouTube channel shows exactly how it all fits together:
Being a sturdier piece made from metal, this spacer is a bit more expensive, at $47.00. It’s also made in America, by a Maryland-based company called GarageLine, which makes a bunch of aftermarket parts for a slew of different foreign and domestic cars.
Though I haven’t tried a Fiesta ST with the pedal spacer mod, I have a strong feeling it’d renew my interest in the little hot hatch. While writing this, I couldn’t help but glance at Facebook Marketplace to see how much a used FiST costs. And damn, these cars are cheap now! I had no idea I could pick up a clean one for under six grand. I have been looking for a new “fun” car to add to my stable…
Top photo: Brian Silvestro and Project Radium on YouTube
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Had a similar issue with the Fiata but for a different reason. For me the brake was too small and too far away from the gas pedal to heel-toe, but a set of aftermarket pedal faces bolted on fixed that. I also liked the look of the aluminum faces over the stock rubber caps which was a plus 🙂
Had a love hate with that car –
Loved
Fuel Mileage
Fun to drive (with COBB tune/flat foot shifting)
Cheap to maintain/run
Looks
Recaro’s (but see below)
Hate
Cheap interior
Yep, pedals
Recaro’s got SNUG on long trips
Changing cabin filter
Dreaded coolant loss (cracked head issue that they had)
Freaking evap stumble after fueling up – although that’s a multi platform issue on Fords
Early SYNC system kinda sucked
I love taking it to the dealer simply to hear them say that they checked the cabin filter. Sure you did, fellas. You took out the glove box, two pieces of trim, reached all the way up there and undid the screws on the cover, then took the filter out, looked at it, jammed it back in somehow, and then put it all back together before recommending I replace it so you can do it all over again.
I have PTSD from reading this comment 🙂
Thanks for bringing this little tidbit of beneficial trickery to my knowledge!
There’s files out there on 3D print websites for this spacer. I printed one for my Fiesta about a week after I bought it new. It lasted around 4 years before I replaced it with the $47 version. For those with a 3D printer, I suggest this way first.
Also I have the pedal spacer still, but not the car. I need to find another Fiesta owner to gift this thing to.
I’ve argued that Ford’s most FUN/$ car is the FiST. More than a Focus ST/RS, Mustang any variant, Raptors, etc… The most smiles and giggles I’ve had in a Ford was the Fiesta ST. My little brother has one and I nearly bought one myself.
I have a FiST, a Raptor and a CTS-V. You’re not wrong.
PS, that Fiesta was my Mom’s favorite car of her entire life. She still talks fondly of it. I found a Matchbox of a first gen Fiesta in 2024 and stuck it in her xmas stocking last year. She cried. That little matchbox Fiesta is on her night stand to this day. No BS, true story
Glad you were able to bring the love for your Fiesta back in life so cheaply! The first new car my mom ever bought herself after a nasty divorce was a 79 Fiesta. God I loved that car! I talked her into trading the 78 Fairmont dad cut the cat off of (Never did run right after that) for the Fiesta. The salesman tried to steer her into a Mercury Bobcat (Was a dual dealership) with an auto, but mom loved the Fiesta’s comfy red seats. God I miss that little Fiesta. When Mom was car shopping for a new car circa early 2000’s, Mom looked at a new Fiesta. Her comment? The Fiesta got fat like me LOL. True story. She ended up with a bigger car from a Korean maker. Glad you were able to keep your Fiesta going.
It sounds to me like it’s designed for the exact scenario where heel toe should actually be used. Not on the road where gentle brake pressure is all that’s required, but on track, where you’re burying the brake pedal into the firewall at the last moment for every corner. If they set the gas pedal for street use, then it’s not so great for track.
(edited, a word)
It’s also cheaper and easier for the end user to space it “up” to make it more streetable than an entire aftermarket pedal assembly for the trackrat. Perhaps this was intentional?
$47 is pretty cheap. There are people who make the same thing for the Type R and those are more than $100.
I’ve put both plastic pieces on mine (in the pictured obnoxious neon green/yellow). It has improved the driving experience more than any other change made to the car.
Once I noticed how high the brake pedal was relative to the throttle in my 5th Gen CR-V I couldn’t forgive any of its lame characteristics. It was a test drive in a BMW that tipped me off. Forget heel and toe, you need a step ladder to get to the brakes from the gas in the Honda. I read that was to prevent drivers from stepping on the wrong pedal. It took me an embarrassingly long time to notice, but once I did, that car was dead to me.
I saw the picture of the gas pedal in the thumbnail and instantly knew what this article was going to be about. It’s my one major complaint about the driving experience of this car. I’ve been meaning to pick up a pedal spacer for a while now but for whatever reason I keep putting it off
I LOVE these FiSts! I’ve driven these and most of their natural competition (Mini Cooper S (auto and manual), Fiat 500 Abarth, first gen Mazdaspeed3, Volvo C30 T5 6MT, Focus ST) and this was my favorite. Idk how they crammed that much character in such a small fun car. I tried to buy one when new, but couldn’t swing the payments and ended up in a Honda Fit 6MT with an awesome lease deal. The worst part of all of this is that by the time I had the funds for one, it no longer fit my lifestyle. I still adore these and despite the high praise from auto journalists, I still think these are underrated.
Get the Recaros.
You mention the Honda Fit 6MT, and the truth is that when I bought the FiST what I REALLY wanted was a Fit Si. The Fit is roughly a million times more practical in terms of usability. But sadly Honda never gave the world what it so richly deserved and I wasn’t about to try to mod a Fit with a K-swap. With that said, the FiST is so much fun to drive and I’m usually in it alone so the severely compromised rear seating and cargo areas were an acceptable tradeoff.
100%. Or with the turbo L15 (1.5 turbo from Civic SI.) The second Gen Fits are perfect for K swaps. Everything bolts right in, the ecu from an Acura dang near plugs in, and Civic SI 8th gen seats bolt in up front. I want to build one someday.
Assumed it was going to be about a dead pedal so your carpet doesn’t get nasty. This and a short throw are the only thing I ever did to mine.
Found This Awesome Dead Pedal : r/FiestaST
Also, I’ve never heel toed in my life and let the clutch do the braking. No issues on the OEM clutch 108k later and I burnt this baby on same gnarly Seattle hill starts.
Had a ’14 Mustang with a similar situation. The clutch pedal was about an inch further into the footwell than the other pedals. A pedal cap fixed it and never had an issue with it.
I am a FiST owner and have the same problem, so I gave up trying (all my previous manual transmission vehicles were basic transportation, so heel-toe wasn’t really useful).
Just let me say I adore mine. I’ve had seven trouble-free years of hooning and more giggles than I can count. It’s more fun than a barrel of monkeys and I compare it to having a devil on both shoulders saying, “do it… do it… c’mon…”
I gave serious thought to purchasing a FiST when they came out, but I didn’t really like the clutch pedal feel. I always thought it was a little too soft.
But if I can get one of these for cheap, I’d certainly learn to live with it!
The clutch pedal feel was much better on the Focus ST than the Fiesta ST as I found out on the ST Octane Academy in 2014 when I got to drive the Fiestas on the course as well as the Focus for having purchased new a 2013 Focus ST with the recaro seats. It was so much harder to feel anything with the Fiesta’s clutch which made it more of a dump and go vs feeling the bite point on the Focus.
I owned a FiST briefly before it was totaled while parked on the street during dinner one winter’s evening. It was much more fun than the GTI and Golf R I owned after.
I didn’t own it long enough to figure out if the heel-toe issue was me or the car. Now at least I can pretend it was the car.
I had the same problem with my MK7 GTI, the height of the gas pedal made comfortable heel toe downshifts very difficult. I found a very similar spacer, first modification I made to the car, made a huge difference.
Cool that the aftermarket came to the rescue.
My ’85 Ford LTD was originally automatic trans but then manual swapped with the clutch and brake pedals from a Mustang. I noticed I couldn’t heel-toe easily and it wasn’t until years later that I learned that manual trans Mustangs had a wider gas pedal for this reason. So I swapped in the Mustang pedals and now I can heel-toe!
I also added a Mustang SVO dead pedal and a Maximum Motorsports kit that changes the height of the clutch pedal so it matches the brakes. I’ve probably put more effort into the pedals on my car than most.
I got a set of those drilled aluminum pedal covers for my Legacy to get the pedals closer together. Felt like a tool buying them, but they were a great improvement.
Don’t tell me how cheap these are now. I looked at these, FoST’s, and MazdaSpeed3’s when I was searching for a manual hatchback but ended up buying a regular Mazda3 hatch with a stick.
It’s an excellent car and much more practical for what I use it for, but it’s no hot hatch…
I sold my ’08 MS3 and bought a ’15 3 2.0L. Having a cool high performance car as a daily driver was a waste and the MS3’s fuel economy ain’t great.
I have the ’14 2.0, so glad to hear I made the right choice.
Such is the life of a “practical” enthusiast, I suppose. I like cars, but I don’t want to pay the price of discomfort, headaches, and needless cost just to have something “cool”.
I have cool cars too but have no problem with my commuter car being boring. At least it’s a 6-speed.
See I would rather have a cool commuter car because I don’t drive often outside of errands and work commute. I just don’t have time, so having a fun car to drive is so worth it. I got a hot hatch though so it is practical.
I regret to inform you that there are countless examples under $10k and they all look very clean…
The Mazdaspeeds had a fair number of issues and I didn’t like it that much more than my standard 3 and it came with a worse ride and big-engine mileage (however, I didn’t think the oft-reported terrible torque steer was enough to even note, never mind being as bad as cheesy journalist hyperbole suggested). My Focus ST was Corolla-reliable until about 180k miles, when it started eating coolant (not a HG, it’s an issue with Ecoboom closed deck 4s). It still drove well and didn’t even use that much coolant, but the official “fix” was a new engine (with the same potential issue?). Anyway, I really liked the car until then. F’n Ford!—they made a great car, flubbed something elementary, though critical, then shit-canned the whole thing.
That is a standard Fiesta problem not just the ST.
My 2014 Fiesta SE 1.6 5 speed has the same pedal arrangement.
I’m a fat footed right left sole rocker and I’ve become used to the layout.
A spacer should of come to my attention sooner.
At one point early on I even considered a heat and beat solution, but never pursued it.
And a Focus problem too – my ’10 has the same issue.
I daily mine and did the same fix. More of an outside-foot-inside-foot movement than heel-toe.
100k miles on my mine and this issue doesn’t bother me as much as the HVAC door flapping noise in the dash on startup/shutdown. Can confirm the seats are fantastic!
BRO. My driver’s side blend door just started doing this. Replaced the passenger’s side last year. I feel like this is going to be an annual event.
Is it hard to replace? Mine’s been doing it for a loooong time and i just deal with it.
Passenger side is super easy – just take the glovebox off. The driver’s side is a PITA because it’s tucked way up by the head unit. Still DIY but it requires a tiny rachet (or tiny hands).
Tell me more, like a link to the procedure? Mine just started doing this and I think it’s the driver’s side one since it sounds like its up under behind the head unit. First problem I’ve had with the car in seven years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBs6CJoZmJk
You’ll recognize the clicking sound and the look on his face when he hears it.
Thanks!
Update: Got the Motorcraft OEM part + a tiny 72-tooth screwdriver/ratchet delivered today and replaced the blend door motor.
Mine was the difficult one up under the head unit but I have pretty small hands for my size so I was able to work my way in there. Air is blowing cold and no more clicking noise so I figure it worked. It took about an hour to replace taking my sweet time. The part was about $40 and I figure a mechanic would have charged at least $250 or more so my wallet appreciates it. Opening up the old part I can see the worn gears.
I love this community and thank you ever so much for the pointer!
Well done! Keeping another FiST happy and healthy is a win for all.
Full disclosure I’ve never done one in a Fiesta but this is my favorite ratchet for doing blend door motors in general.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-1-4-in-Drive-Electrician-s-Mini-Ratchet-with-Screwdriver-Bits-and-Adapter-65200/311127793?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US
It will do 5/16″ (8mm) directly or you can use the 1/4″ square drive insert to use any socket. It will also do 1/4″ (6mm) directly too. The pinky ring and 5 degree sweep make it so great in tight situations index finger holding it on the fastener while the pinky works it.
The Focus ST was the same. I don’t use my heel, though, I use both sides of my feet to rev match under braking, so before I got a spacer, I got used to the positioning.