RE: Ford Fiesta ST Plus coming

RE: Ford Fiesta ST Plus coming

Wednesday 10th February 2016

Ford Fiesta ST Plus coming?

No RS just yet, but a faster ST sounds pretty damn good nonetheless!



Any manufacturer producing a fast car somewhere near £20K must loathe the very mention of the Ford Fiesta ST now. From Suzuki Swift Sport to Toyota GT86, there are dozens of cars that must count the fast Fiesta as a very tough rival. It's cheap, it's quick and it's tremendous fun. It is the go-to supermini hot hatch, in fact the go-to performance car for that money.

This but a bit more so? Yes please
This but a bit more so? Yes please
So while its competitors won't appreciate the sound of a Fiesta ST Plus, it sounds great news for hot hatch fans. The rumours come from our colleagues at Autocar, building on conversations from the Detroit show.

What will it be? Well it certainly won't be an RS, the Plus very much an evolution of the ST rather than a ground-up Rallye Sport rework. The 1.6-litre Ecoboost will remain, but hopefully with additional performance and attitude. We know the Mountune MP215 kit wakes the Fiesta up nicely, and it didn't feel unruly with a quoted 240hp from Revo either. Given the Renaultsport Clio now comes with 220hp in the Trophy, a figure that just pipped that - say 225hp - would seem about right.

Expect a few suspension and brake tweaks to accommodate the additional power, but again nothing drastic. In fact, the ST Plus sounds like it will fulfil a similar role to the Clio Trophy in the Renaultsport line up; something a bit sharper and louder, but without being too far removed from standard. The Clio arguably needed that edge more than the Fiesta does though, so it will be interesting to see what the final product becomes.

Aftermarket shows Fiesta's potential already
Aftermarket shows Fiesta's potential already
It has been suggested that the Fiesta ST Plus could be on Ford's Geneva stand in a few weeks, but again this is simply conjecture at present. Before then, we will have a drive in another faster Fiesta, this time the M-Sport Fiesta ST. Yes, that same M-Sport that runs Fiesta WRC cars. On top of the Mountune upgrade it has a Quaife limited-slip diff, Eibach springs and an exhaust from the same guys who make the rally car system. So there could well be another Fiesta ST coming from Ford, and there's yet another option in the aftermarket - good news!

 

[Sources: M-Sport, Autocar]

Author
Discussion

GTEYE

Original Poster:

2,092 posts

209 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
Knowing Ford, it will be at Geneva 2016, with a projected on sale date in the UK of somewhere around Winter 2019.

Maybe a slight exaggeration!

DeanHelix

135 posts

154 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
Missed a trick there, stick a Ford Racing Blue stripe over it and call it the "ST Ripe".

1Addicted

693 posts

120 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
To be honest, 1wk ago I'd have ignored this article but, due to an unfortunate event involving our TT Amplified (large lorry reversed into it and caved in the roof) I test drove a Fiesta ST-3 last night as potential replacement.

I couldn't be more impressed with it and power wise it felt good with only 180hp (ish), so I'd be thrilled with a 240hp version no doubt, albeit not available for some time most likely. I suppose there are always aftermarket ECU, exhaust and intercooler options mind, if I decided to pursue it.

WCZ

10,492 posts

193 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
1Addicted said:
To be honest, 1wk ago I'd have ignored this article but, due to an unfortunate event involving our TT Amplified (large lorry reversed into it and caved in the roof) I test drove a Fiesta ST-3 last night as potential replacement.

I couldn't be more impressed with it and power wise it felt good with only 180hp
they are 200bhp, it's a silly EU compliance thing related to overboost.

1Addicted

693 posts

120 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
WCZ said:
they are 200bhp, it's a silly EU compliance thing related to overboost.
I did hear this, but then also read that overboost is time limited for 15secs and 3rd gear up. Not that it matters, the feel of the
car was spot on, and reminded me somewhat in spirit of the old, fun hot hatches past.

QuattroDave

1,461 posts

127 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
DeanHelix said:
Missed a trick there, stick a Ford Racing Blue stripe over it and call it the "ST Ripe".
Don't be so ST-Upid :P - I'm only joshin by the way, no offence meant!

HJMS123

988 posts

132 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
1Addicted said:
I did hear this, but then also read that overboost is time limited for 15secs and 3rd gear up. Not that it matters, the feel of the
car was spot on, and reminded me somewhat in spirit of the old, fun hot hatches past.
It's limited for 15 seconds at full throttle I believe... so you'll only ever run out of that extra bhp when trying to VMAX in 6th gear.

BricktopST205

887 posts

133 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
Needs a diff as well. Peugeot are now offering this in their flagship 208 GTi as well as the power increase.

HJMS123

988 posts

132 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
BricktopST205 said:
Needs a diff as well. Peugeot are now offering this in their flagship 208 GTi as well as the power increase.
Agreed, not really missed in the dry but it's crying out for one in the wet. They need to get rid of the Potenza's as well ... they're awful awful tyres in the wet.

Happyjap

382 posts

108 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
This car I would love, but they do not do well in Japan think one of the problems of the previous Fiesta model was that they were pretty so ugly to the Japanese.

You can get a better looking small car with better gas mileage that's why they failed.

The paint on Ford cars tend to delaminate rather quickly, too Japanese models much more reliable but I still would love this

vanschpunk

143 posts

211 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
I knew an RS version wouldnt happen. It would take them to male it extra special to be an RS (wider/4wd/big power) and pricing it would only damage sales to the Focus ST. They want to keep a Focus ST relevant because they wanna keep the RS branding "unique and limited". So having a Focus ST sales damager (like a Fiesta RS) would doom the ST brand...like XR previously. One thing im happy about, it will fairly annoy those Fiesta RS Turbo owners who are clinging on to hope of a Fiesta RS so their little rot boxes can go up in value and get them out of a mess they are probably in over one haha (coming from a multiple ex-fiesta rsturbo/rs1800 and various other Ford RS junk owner)

redroadster

1,729 posts

231 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
Check out puma speeds new fiesta demonstrator complete with rs front a la focus and rear diffuser wow they have done what ford won't and made an rs version complete with 300 plus bhp.

redroadster

1,729 posts

231 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all


Puma speed picture.

Amirhussain

11,486 posts

162 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
redroadster said:


Puma speed picture.
Oh yes lick

blade7

11,311 posts

215 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
vanschpunk said:
One thing im happy about, it will fairly annoy those Fiesta RS Turbo owners who are clinging on to hope of a Fiesta RS so their little rot boxes can go up in value and get them out of a mess they are probably in over one haha (coming from a multiple ex-fiesta rsturbo/rs1800 and various other Ford RS junk owner)
With the possible exception of the series one Escort RS Turbo the front wheel drive RS Fiesta/Escorts were pretty ordinary.

Krikkit

26,500 posts

180 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
Amirhussain said:
redroadster said:


Puma speed picture.
Oh yes lick
Surprisingly modest in terms of price for that bodywork as well.

JackP1

1,269 posts

161 months

Wednesday 10th February 2016
quotequote all
Krikkit said:
Amirhussain said:
redroadster said:


Puma speed picture.
Oh yes lick
Surprisingly modest in terms of price for that bodywork as well.
Its just Fibreglass btw.