Ford Fiesta ST-3 (Mk8) | PH Fleet

Duster out, Fiesta ST in. Of course Ben is back in a hot hatch...

By Ben Lowden / Thursday, 13 November 2025 / Loading comments

I seem to be stuck in a cycle, and I can’t be the only one. I buy a car that I’ve lusted after for years, it costs a bloody fortune to run, and then I try (and fail) to be sensible. I was spending far too much money on preventative maintenance for my Audi RS3 out of fear that something would go wrong, and despite having done everything possible, it was keeping me awake at night.

Having two project cars was financially unviable for me (this is going to go well again), so it made sense to sell the aging Audi with 70,000 miles on it and buy a nearly new Dacia Duster for not far off the same money with a nice long warranty. Don’t get me wrong; I love the Duster, and wish I could afford to keep it on the fleet as a workhorse, but the temptation to switch into the other car I was considering against the RS3 at the time was too strong.

Enter the Mk8 Ford Fiesta ST-3 Performance Pack. When our long term press car joined our fleet back in 2018, I had high hopes. I’m probably in the minority that was left underwhelmed by its predecessor. Matt and I tested a Mk7 Fiesta ST200 against ‘my’ long term Peugeot 208 GTI by Peugeot Sport earlier that year (prior to our Mk8 ST arriving) and for me the French hot hatch wiped the floor with it.

The Fiesta’s seating position was too high, the ride too harsh, the interior felt cheap and plasticky with far too many buttons. The 208, on the other hand, had far superior damping, a more sophisticated interior with lower, comfier bucket seats, and a proper mechanical limited-slip differential to haul it through corners. Perhaps in isolation I would have enjoyed the Fiesta more, but up against the 208, my expectations had been crushed.

Thankfully, that was not the case for my first drive in the Mk8 ST. It was everything I’d hoped the Mk7 would have been, and then some. Like all STs, our long termer had the 1.5-litre turbocharged three-pot producing 200hp, which it dispatched to the front wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox and Quaife mechanical limited-slip differential to chomp at apexes thanks to the optional Performance Pack. On the outside it looked a little less boy racer and a bit more grown up, and inside the interior felt generations ahead of the Mk7. I absolutely loved it, and had been plotting to buy one ever since.

I’m amazed it has taken this long, really, and given that the Fiesta is now dead (boo), values for well-specced, low mileage examples like WR21 ELH have held strong the last few years. Before you ask – no, it doesn’t have a wet belt. Unlike the Ecoboost, the ‘Dragon’ 1.5-litre triple is chain driven. The oil pump was originally chain driven on earlier models, but this changed to a wet belt in 2019, however the oil pump is under considerably less strain and after exhaustive research, the only issues I could find were with the earlier chain-driven oil pumps.

I’ve been watching the market closely for years now and would only settle for my ultimate spec – Ford Performance Blue metallic paint, Performance Pack with the Quaife limited-slip differential, LED headlights and the B&O sound system for banging out those Fast & Furious tunes in a McDonalds car park near you. WR21 ELH popped up in the PistonHeads classifieds with full Ford service history and all the right boxes ticked, so I swiftly had it delivered so I could test it thoroughly on my local roads. Suffice it to say I’m absolutely besotted, and it’s even better than I remember from seven years ago. I only wish I bought one sooner. Naturally I’ve got lots planned with it, but more on that next time!

FACT SHEET

Car: 2021 Ford Fiesta ST-3 Performance Pack
Run by: Ben Lowden
On fleet since: November 2025
Mileage: 33,381
Last month at a glance: Stone Cold STunner