Ford Fiesta ST: PH Fleet

We've got a little over a month with the hot Fiesta - best make it count

Some cars arrive in a blaze of hype, expectation and occasionally controversy. Others just seem to appear before triggering a dawning realisation that they might actually be rather significant to those of a PH mindset. The Clio 200, 991 GT3 and forthcoming BMW M3/M4 fall into the former camp. A certain hatchback-based model from the latter and the Fiesta ST into the second.

The essential PH door seal test - check

Everyone loves an underdog though and with the Clio's shift upwards in price, complexity and maturity the door was wide open for a new back to basics, affordable hot hatch hero and it'd seem the ST is filling that gap.

A quick catch-up on the story so far with the Fiesta on PH though. We drove it first back in March shortly before our first go with the much hyped Clio. Dom Holtam was quietly impressed, Harris considerably more effusive by the time of his first UK drive in May. And even more so in July when he got the first taste of the newly spiced up Mountune version, the overboosted 215hp suddenly making the Fiesta an even bigger shape in the Clio's mirrors, reflected in a further video in which the two were paired against each other in open combat. We've even had our first ST owner, enthusing about his Fiesta in PH Carpool.

Want your Fiesta faster? Just ask Dave

Put bluntly, Matt and I here in the office were feeling a little left out. So we've got ourselves a short-term long-term loan of an ST. You know, just to make sure everyone else was right. The car arrived a couple of weeks back now in standard 200hp (on overboost) tune carrying a list price of £19,645 with options (a Clio 200 starts at £19,995 remember). Matt then took a trip to Mountune in Essex to get the car uprated to the 215hp trim. You can read about this in more depth shortly, once Matt settles on a collective noun for a workforce entirely comprising blokes called Dave.

I've only had a couple of goes with the Fiesta so far but first impressions are extremely favourable. Like many recent fast Fords, you feel a little perched up on seats that seem a tad too tall but apart from that the car's 'handshake' with you is entirely confidence inspiring. The firm, well-weighted steering seems perfectly matched to the rest of the control weights, even in standard trim the Ecoboost 1.6 pulls hard and with exactly the kind of gutsy enthusiasm you'd want. Artificially enhanced or not, like the Focus ST we ran earlier in the year doesn't make a bad noise doing it either. The brakes seem a bit grabby from the off but we'll see how that goes as we get more familiar, a process that'll be helped by the car's encouragement to take the longer and more interesting route home at every given opportunity. If not by the fact everyone in the building, big bosses included, seems eager to pinch the keys.

Keys in hot demand; fun when you get them

With this accelerated test period the little Fiesta is going to have to work for its breakfast and to that end, emboldened by the Daves at Mountune and spoiling for a fight, it'd appear we've acquired a Clio 200 kind of by accident. You can see where this is heading...

FACT SHEET
Car: Ford Fiesta ST-2
Run by: Anyone who can commandeer the keys
On fleet since: October 2013
Mileage: 6,043
List price new: £19,645 (Basic list of £17,995 plus £725 for Molten orange paint, £75 for adjustable boot floor, £400 for Sony DAB nav system, £100 for spare wheel, £75 for Deflation Detection System and £275 for ST Style pack comprising grey wheels, illuminated sills and red brake calipers)
Last month at a glance: Went to Essex, met some blokes called Dave, came back faster

Photos: PrimeExposures

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