RETURN OF THE ST (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

Introductionword count: 57

Ford aimed for continued leadership of the supermini-shaped hot hatch segment with this car, the third generation Fiesta ST launched in 2018. Of course, for not much more than the affordable prices that will get you one of these, you can buy more power. But after a drive in one of these, you probably won't want to.

Modelsword count: 6

3dr Hatch (Petrol 1.5 EcoBoost 200PS)

Historyword count: 385

Want to know just how much fun it's possible to have in a ferociously fast small supermini? Then try one of these - the third generation version of Ford's Fiesta ST. Launched in 2018, it was developed like a proper performance car - and it drives like one too. If any supermini was ever going to be the perfect starting point for a class-leading hot hatch, you'd think it would be Ford's Fiesta. It's been long acknowledged as the driver's choice amongst small runabouts and it has a shopping rocket legacy that goes all the way back to the XR2 of 1981, with a history subsequently embellished by the more powerful RS1800 and RS Turbo variants that followed it. Curiously though, none of these models ever quite hit the spot for serious enthusiasts. Throughout the Eighties, Nineties and Noughties, they tended to prefer French hot hatch rivals, first a series of small Peugeot GTis, then in more recent years, the Renaultsport Clio. Only with the second generation Fiesta ST of 2012, this MK3 car's predecessor, did Ford finally get their attention. And the company aimed to keep it with this third generation model, which claimed to offer the most responsive, rewarding and engaging Fiesta experience yet. Unlike its rivals, the Blue Oval always had several performance badges up its sleeve when it came to cars of this sort, 'ST' (or 'Sports Technologies') being company-speak for 'quick but not concussive', a performance level that sat just above fast-but-family-friendly 'ST-Line' models but just below track-spec RS derivatives. A badge, in other words, promising mild madras rather than vindaloo - and one applied to the kind of car a red-blooded racer could enjoy but still use every day. What does that mean here? Well you might have a few misgivings about the fact that this car's 1.5-litre EcoBoost engine has just three cylinders, but it puts out a lusty 200PS and powers this car to 62mph in just 6.5s. In addition, there are drive modes to tune performance for road and track; Launch Control for Grand Prix-style standing starts; and force vectoring and a limited slip differential for tenacious traction through the corners. The MK3 Fiesta ST sold in this form until late 2021, when it was facelifted. It's the 2018-2021-era versions though, that we look at here.

What You Getword count: 477

It's easy to go overboard and get all 'Max Power' when it comes to a car of this kind, a temptation Ford again carefully resisted here. This isn't the prettiest junior shopping rocket you can buy from its period, but it is playfully purposeful in demeanour, the business end dominated by smart honeycomb-finished upper and lower front grilles. Move to the side and you get a better perspective for the slightly bigger size of the car in MK3 form - and for the way that Ford tried to make the profile more settled and less aggressively wedge-shaped. This was the first Fiesta ST - in fact the first properly sporting Fiesta of any kind - to be available with five doors, though the supposedly slightly sportier three-door version also continued. In short, you won't be embarrassed to park this youthful junior hot hatch up at the office. But would you feel awkward about giving your boss a ride home? Probably not. The cabin is a huge improvement on what went before. Avoid entry-level 'ST-1' trim and once again, Recaro sports seats make an appearance, but this time Ford remembered to include height adjustment and position them properly low so you feel more part of the driving experience. You need the Recaros because otherwise, you might be left wondering whether the emphasis on styling subtlety might not have been taken a touch too far. Yes, you get a thick, grippy leather-stitched sports steering wheel and a silver finish for the pedals, the gearstick and the handbrake. Plus there are 'Performance'-branded door sill trims, you get carbon fibre-style trim around the dash and most models feature blue-trimmed seat belts. But these trendy touches are easy to miss and otherwise, there's relatively little about this cabin that shouts 'hot hatch'. Otherwise, the main news lies with the centre-dash SYNC 3 infotainment screen, which is 6-inches in size on the base model but which grows to a preferable 8-inch display further up the range and in the process gains navigation and a 10-speaker B&O Play premium audio system. And rear seat space? Well, the heavily bolstered Recaros do slightly hinder your access into the back but if that's an issue, you'd obviously opt for the alternative five-door body style. Once you're inside, the rear compartment's actually nicer to sit in than the claustrophobically rising beltline of the three-door body shape might lead you to expect. Headroom's manageable even for a six-footer - though his or her legs will be crushed pretty snugly against the seat in front if the folk ahead are of a lankier build. And the boot. Well we should give you the total cargo capacity figure - 292-litres, which meets the class standard. If you need more room, pushing forward the 60:40-split rear backrest frees up 1,093-litres, which should be sufficient for the needs of most likely buyers.

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