CAR OF THE WEEK

The Last Great Pocket Rocket? - Ford Fiesta ST Edition

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One of 300. Vibrant exclusive Azure Blue paintwork. Menacing gloss black exterior highlights. And a whole heap of fun. Welcome to the ST Edition.

When Ford were deciding how to finalise the production run of the Mk8 Fiesta ST, they wanted to create something thrilling. Making a car that gets the hairs to stand up on the back of your neck is the ultimate definition of a proper hot hatch. And, boy, have they succeeded.

On the surface, you’d be forgiven for thinking that a 1.5 3-cylinder engine was too small to generate the sort of excitement needed for a full-fat hot hatch. But look a little deeper and you begin to realise that Ford’s Performance division really know how to extract the maximum out of their small pocket rockets.

Turbocharging helps, of course, but a low centre of gravity, as well as a whole host of engine tweaks help to generate just shy of 200bhp and nearly 300Nm torque. Those are hefty numbers for a car of diminutive proportions.

The ST Edition brings the game on from the standard car in various important ways. Firstly, 18-inch lightweight alloy wheels add extra aggression to the package, with fully adjustable coilover suspension giving the car a lower stance and improving driving dynamics.

And it is, after all, all about fun in an ST. There’s a mechanical Quaife limited slip differential to shuffle all that power properly between the two front wheels, making tackling tight bends and tricky cambers a dream.

On the inside, Ford has chosen a focused atmosphere. Body-hugging RECARO bucket seats stop you from flying around the cabin when you’re pushing on, whilst the matter-of-fact dashboard doesn’t distract you from driving. Special stitching and carbon-fibre effect interior trim adds a sense of occasion to your Sunday morning blast; which is nice.

A Bang & Olufsen sound system is also present and correct; if you ever find yourself with a passenger who would rather listen to their Spotify playlist rather than your driving comments, you’ll be pleased that it’s there.

We all know Ford is one of, if not the best in the business at producing affordable hatches, and they have succeeded again, when it matters most. The ST Edition is an apt swansong to the whole genre of fast hatches.

Many manufacturers are going electric now, so if you still want a piece of that old-school hilarity, have a look at the car in more detail on our inventory page.

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