Ford Fiesta ST review
Has Ford promoted its hot Fiesta to a status worthy of as many superlatives as cars like the original Focus RS and the Puma Racing? Has it eclipsed every prevailing dynamic standard of a dynasty ofRenaultsport Clios?
Is it possible that Ford has done all that and still left room for a Fiesta RS? Nothing provides illuminating answers quite like a comprehensive Autocar road test.
Ford's hot-hatch recipe certainly looks to have a lot of the right ingredients. Under the Fiesta's bonnet sits a turbocharged 1.6-litre EcoBoost petrol engine, which drives the front wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox.
Satisfyingly, the box-ticking doesn't end there. The Fiesta ST also receives upgraded suspension and steering, a torque vectoring system that emulates a limited-slip differential, a three-stage traction control system and myriad cosmetic tweaks.
Two very exciting and very commendable hot hatchbacks – the Peugeot 208 GTI and Renault Clio RS 200 Turbo – already sit subordinate to this fast Ford after our group test. That test was carried out on the country roads of south Wales, mind you - roads that this Ford three-door lit up with consummate ease.
If this new Ford Fiesta ST emerges with as much unequivocal credit after our full complement of tests – not to mention a whole lot more road driving and much debate – the Blue Oval could have a cult smash hit on its hands.
Design
Deciding exactly what to include on a standard Ford ST model and what to leave out, while keeping a diligent eye on profitability and value, must be a delicate balancing act.
Ford, however, has juggled everything very well with the Focus ST, and there’s evident consistency in its approach with the Fiesta. There’s no unique paddle-shift transmission here, and no mechanical limited-slip differential either. But there are departures from the Fiesta’s mechanical mix – pragmatic but purposeful ones – and lots of ’em.
Adding directness and response to the Fiesta’s steering was evidently more important than just adding lateral grip.
A quicker steering rack, geared at 13.7:1, works on the front wheels via shorter steering arms and a revised knuckle.It’s quick but consistent in its directness. Wheels are 7.5in-wide 17s as standard, with 205-section tyres.
The suspension features stiffer springs and uprated dampers all round and has been lowered by 15mm. There’s a reinforced torsion beam at the rear. Disc brakes feature at all four corners and they’re powered by an enlarged hydraulic ‘tandem’ master cylinder with a diagonal split.
Power comes from a slightly undersquare 1596cc four-cylinder petrol engine, with an aluminium head and block, an iron crank, direct injection, independent variable valve timing and a fixed-geometry turbocharger.
Its headline outputs aren’t huge: 180bhp (with a caveat that we’ll come to) and 177lb ft. For an ST model, Ford would argue, they don’t need to be huge. Customers might feel differently. We’ll see if performance shows any shortfall.
The car’s look is quite pragmatic, too. Aside from the extended bumpers, side sills and enlarged roof spoiler, the most eye-catching addition is the honeycomb-mesh grille, which should be welcomed by anyone not keen on the standard Fiesta’s Aston-alike chrome equivalent. At the rear, a diffuser panel and a twin tailpipe appear.
Interior
Were it not for the bolstered support of the new two-tone Recaro front seats, you could almost be forgiven for mistaking the Ford Fiesta ST’s interior as standard fare.
Even closer inspection reveals only detail alterations. The gearlever and pedals are dressed in alloy, the steering wheel wears a small ST badge and the traction control function – usually hidden in Ford’s sub-menus – is given its own unmissable button on the centre console.
It’s possible that some prospective customers might find the lack of differentiation a little disappointing, but Ford would argue that the ST is a sober performance upgrade rather than a brazen RS-style assault on the senses.
Still, for our money, the result is thoroughly agreeable. Added to which, further confetti would only have inflated the car’s bottom line, and we like the price where it is. This does mean that the Fiesta’s familiar weaknesses are also the ST’s, but we can live with those.
In an ideal world, there would be a larger infotainment screen (at 4.2in, even the upgraded one in the ST-2 is too small) and navigating its cluttered menus wouldn’t be quite such an ordeal, but these are trifling incidentals to gripe about in a hot hatch.
Niggles with the driving position seem more consequential. The Ford’snew seats don’t tilt adjust, so lowering them all the way to the floor – desirable, given their high positioning – forces the driver to recline slightly by gently thrusting the thighs upward.
Taken with the Recaros’ lack of lumbar support, there is the potential for some long-range discomfort here. Nevertheless, the quality of the seat’s lateral bracing is excellent, and with all the other essentials – steering wheel, gearlever, pedals – in satisfying orientation, most drivers will be content with the ST’s internal layout.
performance and engineering
If you’re looking for reasons why, despite a headline power figure that’s 20bhp shy of its nearest rivals’, the Fiesta’s claimed 0-62mph time is only 0.2sec and 0.1sec shy of the Clio 200 Turbo and 208 GTI respectively, we’ll let you into a secret. It’s not actually that shy on power at all.
The thing is that the Fiesta can run on overboost to 197bhp – which is why it’s marketed as having that much in the US. Over here, Ford isn’t allowed to advertise this ‘temporary’ output as the headline number (although if you find somewhere on the road to stay on full throttle for longer than the 15 seconds that it lasts, you’re luckier than us).
Any rate, at our test track, we recorded a one-direction 0-60mph sprint of 6.9sec with two people aboard and a seven-dead average over two runs. Never did it feel anything less than the measure of its immediate competitors out on the road, either.
Besides all that is the simple fact that the Ford Fiesta ST and those cars around it feel just the ‘right’ sort of quick. It’s rapid enough to give a reassuring thud in your back as you accelerate, but not so fast that you run out of appropriate speed sharpish or, on the track, run out of front tyre.
The Fiesta is pretty much spot on in its performance. So, too, is its even, steady power delivery, backed aurally by a sound symposer. There is very little evidence of turbo lag – just a smooth, even, linear amount of power, as you’d expect from a car that has a moderate specific output and revs to only 6500rpm.
That engine drives the front wheels through one of the better manual gearboxes around. There’s only the merest hint of baulk or bump between ratios on the slick six-speeder.
ride and handling
First things first: the ride. That’s what you’ll notice initially. Set off in a Fiesta ST and within a few metres it’ll occur to you that this is quite a firm set-up.
The ST isn’t harsh – it doesn’t crash – but it moves all of a piece, with significant vertical interference. It’s sufficient to make you think: “I hope this is worth it.” At low to moderate speeds, you could almost wonder whether it’s worth the trouble over a Fiesta Zetec S, which is a car that has a fine ride/handling balance.
It’s all right: it is worth the trouble. Because as you increase the speed, the Fiesta’s demeanour begins to sort itself out. The immaculate control of body movement works decisively with the driver, not against him or her.
Control of each of its four 205/40 ZR17 tyres, meanwhile, is exceptional, with a ride that remains flat and, across bad roads at speed, kicks you off line far less than you’d expect, given the low-speed firmness.
There’s genuine excellence at work here, and it has the measure of not just the latest Clio 200 and the 208 GTI but just about every other hot hatch on sale, too. Perhaps a Mégane Cup, at a rather hairier price, would match the Fiesta for involvement – and beat it for pace, inevitably – but the Fiesta steers just as pleasingly and is the more agile.
It is inevitable that a new hot hatch from the supermini class has electric assistance to its steering, but the ST’s has excellent tuning. At 2.4 turns lock to lock, it’s pretty brisk but never nervous, and despite the speed and electric assistance, there’s still that very Ford build-up of torque from around the straight-ahead.
There’s a bit of feel, too, which will please many. At the limit, the handling is all-round excellent. In short, it’s the new best-handling small hatch around.
MPG
Following the aggressive pricing of the Focus ST, Ford has fixed the Fiesta’s starting price at a suitably low point, making it cheaper than most of its rivals.
What’s more, with 40mpg-plus a genuine prospect and just 138g/km of CO2 emerging from the tailpipes, the Fiesta can justifiably claim to compete at the most efficient end of what’s an impressively frugal class these days.
It is perhaps not peerlessly well equipped but most of the essentials – Bluetooth, sports seats, category 1 alarm, DAB tuner, air-con – are all present, even on the basic ST trim level.
What is a black mark in the Fiesta's book, however, is the lack of cruise control, even as an option. That may particularly grate with those looking to take advantage of its touring economy on a motorway
ST-2 models get a Sony stereo, a colour infotainment screen, privacy glass and heated seats, but most of these options could easily be jettisoned by bargain hunters.
Which, to our eyes, makes the Fiesta not only the class leader but also extraordinarily high in the running for best-value performance car currently on sale in any segment
verdict
Job done, we’d say. The apparent change in character of the latest Renault Clio RS 200 has left a gap up the inside, and the Fiesta ST has slipped through and taken up the class lead.
The Fiesta ST is a seriously entertaining car: raucous and agile in all the right areas, yet quite capable of being used all day, every day, as your only means of transport, the only caveat being the slightly niggly low-speed ride.
Sure, it might not be as focused as, say, the third generation of Clio RenaultSport - but it's worth remembering that Ford has two sporting badges to play with. The ST models are supposed to make sensible and enjoyable daily drivers, while the RS-badged versions are the hardcore variants.
Because it's been appropriately set up, the Fiesta ST wouldn’t be a bad ‘only car’ at all. Many of our testers ceded that, if they had a proper job, it would be right up there on their fantasy company car shortlist.
It’s that sort of car; like a Porsche Cayman or a BMW 3-series, it’s the default choice. The Fiesta is, ultimately, as competent, flexible and as capable as they come.
Ford's Fiesta ST is the simple answer to an awful lot of car buying questions, and we strongly suspect that it’ll stay that way for a long while to come.
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