The previous Ford Fiesta ST came, saw and conquered the hearts of...
Well, everyone who drove it really. The car felt wild, playful and alive.
A tad raw maybe. It wasn't perfect,
but maybe that was the reason it was so fun to drive.
Now there's a new Ford Fiesta ST, and Ford says they've perfectioned it.
Oh dear...
So why did I say 'oh dear'? Well, it's still a Fiesta.
Now matter how great it is, it will always remain a compact car.
It will never become a mid-engined Porsche or anything, so it's never going be the ultimate track weapon.
That's not financially possible, and that's no big deal, because it doesn't have to.
The car needs you to find your own limit, instead of finding the limit on the car itself on this mountain road.
And that's enough. Besides that, you want it to be communicative,
entertaining, with lots of noise and experience... That was what the previous Fiesta ST really aced.
It wasn't the perfect car, and if you try to perfection it,
you're running the risk of losing the charm, like Renault did with their Clio RS.
But if you look at the technological changes they've applied to this car, it does look like some good news.
First of all, it's fitted with a mechanical LSD,
and in a corner like this, that can be very positive.
Second, it doesn't adaptive damping, but more like reactive dampers.
There's a valve which reacts to the frequentions of the imperfections. For example, if you're driving on bad tarmac,
with a lot of bouncing and such, the valve opens and the damper becomes softer.
If you put the whole weight of the car on one of those dampers however, the valve closes and it offers more resistance.
Theoretically, it's the best of both worlds, and then there's the rear axle.
Patented Force Vectoring Springs, so what does that mean?
It's relatively simple. This car comes with a torsion axle,
and that's fine because it's cheap and compact.
The only drawback is that when you start driving faster, especially on bad roads,
the chassis starts moving relative to the suspension, and that's not what you want in a sporty car.
Normally, the suspension rubbers are incredibly sturdy, so the rear axle remains in place.
That's one of the reasons why the previous Fiesta ST was incredibly hard. This new one has springs,
which the previous had as well, but these are shaped like a banana.
If you look at them from the back, they're shaped like this.
So when you steer into a corner, the springs move the way they're bent.
That way, the rubbers won't become as hard.
All of that has to contribute to complete picture, so what do we notice?
Absolutely nothing, which is fantastic.
This still has incredibly sturdy springs. It's a tad less exhausting, and that's a very small tad.
Other than that, this is still very Fiesta ST.
That means it's incredibly direct. I've never encountered steering this direct in a normal road car.
It really goes for it, and it still feels a lot like its predecessor.
It's playful, there's a lot of experience, it's communicative, there's lift-off oversteer...
But at the same time, because the Option-pack is fitted with the LSD,
there's more sharpness. Especially when you're exiting a corner, you'll notice that.
You can process the power even easier.
So it's... It's just as playful as the previous one,
but it's sharper, there's more control, and that's what makes this even more fun.
They've done a very good job.
They overhauled the engine department as well. It's no longer powered by a 1.6-litre 4-cylinder engine,
but instead there's a 1.5-litre 3-cylinder engine in the front.
And it has some perks, but also some drawbacks.
Let's start with the good ones. The sound...
That just is fantastic. It's an unbalanced machine and it sounds nice and raw,
and if you flip this switch...
Yeah, this is fun. It kind of reminds me of the 5-cylinder from the old Focus ST,
and that's the biggest compliment I can give a 3-cylinder engine. It's raw, the exhaust pops a lot,
it's the experience, it's what you're looking for.
There's a drawback however, and that's the throttle response.
The previous ST wasn't the sharpest when it came to throttle response, don't get me wrong.
The turbo had to wind up, just like in here,
but this is a 3-cylinder engine as well, so there are all kinds of powers which have to be balanced.
No matter how you do that, there's a relatively heavy moving part of the engine.
And you'll notice that, because the engine needs a build-up.
When you put your foot down, you'll have to wait and then it goes.
That's when it's awake, but that's when you've been waiting for a while as well.
On a mountain road with lots of gear changes, that's not what you want.
That's unfortunate. When you want to apply heel-and-toe,
you miss that little edge. That could've been better.
Overall, it sounds better, but it's a tad less sharp.
That brings me to another point of criticism; the gearbox is fantastic,
except the gear lever is a tad to low. That's too bad, because you're using it so much.
You'll spend a lot of time inbetween second and third, if you know what I mean.
That's a small flaw, but that's about as bad as it's gonna get.
Those small flaws, because other than that,
this Fiesta ST really is fantastic.
There's a price to pay for all that fun, €31.795 to be exact.
That's a serious amount of money, especially if you consider Ford asks €950 for the optional LSD.
On the other hand, in the Netherlands, you'll always get the ST 3,
so it's got the most luxurious trim. Satnav, a B&O audio system,
and everything you could possibly want will be on there. It really is a fantastic car.
It's a disgustingly positive story, isn't it. There's one other drawback I haven't discussed with you;
this sporty looking 3-door won't be coming to the Netherlands, we'll only get the 5-door version.
Nah, that's not a drawback either is it? It certainly is a reason for me to drive it again in a few months...