Our view:
If, for some strange reason, we might be permitted to paraphrase Oasis, then we'd say by now you should have somehow realised what the Ford Fiesta ST is all about. Honestly, we don't believe that anybody feels the way we do about the ST. OK, we'll stop with the odd
Wonderwall references and just say that if you want to read two thoroughly detailed paeans to Ford's B-segment pocket-rocket masterpiece, then you can do so
here with the international launch review and also
here with a week-long road-test report on a fully stocked-up ST-3.
This particular car, then, which you can see blazing out at you from the pictures, is the Fiesta ST Edition. Its rather daft moniker hides the fact that it is indeed an exclusive version of the leading light in the compact hot-hatch marketplace, with just 300 examples of the Edition confirmed for the UK out of a total European run of a mere 500 units. There's a fixed price for its scarce status and desirable specification, based as it is on the generously equipped ST-3 grade, and that figure is a meaty £27,075. Yup, we've never driven such a pricey Fiesta ST. The question is whether the ST Edition is worth a five-grand uplift on a bog-basic ST-2? That latter vehicle being a car which would still delight you on a daily basis like you wouldn't believe.
Well, first thing we should say is you're not just paying for the eye-catching paint, although that's a big part of the ST Edition's appeal. The shade is called Azura Blue and it is unique to the Edition - you can't spec it on an ST-2 or an ST-3, and you can't finish this special model in any other colour either. So if you spot this beacon of brightness approaching you on the roads, then you know immediately it's the most special Fiesta. Complementing the blueness (paging Eiffel 65; there's a song in this somewhere, we're sure of it...) are lots of bits of High-Gloss Black detailing. The hue clothes the rear diffuser, the roof spoiler, the ST badges (a first for Ford, this) and also the 18-inch, ten-spoke, flow-formed alloy wheels. These save almost 2kg per corner compared to the standard ST rims and as soon as you mention the words 'reduction in unsprung mass' to a diehard car enthusiast, then their whole demeanour perks up and their ears go like those of a Labrador waiting eagerly for a Schmacko.
Inside, not much has changed but there's some carbon-fibre-effect detailing, bespoke blue stitching for most of the surfaces and seats, and a Ford Performance steering wheel with a dedicated Sport Drive Mode access button on its spokes. What you'll also not fail to notice is that there are only two main points of access into the interior (who actually climbs into a car through the boot anyway?), as the Fiesta ST Edition is sold only in the three-door bodyshell. Look, a Fiesta ST's cabin is a Fiesta ST's cabin. It's great, no matter which model you have.
The 1.5-litre three-cylinder EcoBoost engine is unchanged for the Edition, which means 200hp and 290Nm, allowing a 6.5-second 0-62mph run and a 143mph top speed. What you're splashing out for here is not extra grunt, but added sharpness. As majestic as the Fiesta ST's chassis is anyways, the Edition benefits from the Quaife limited-slip differential on the front axle, Launch Control, Torque Vectoring Control, switchable three-mode traction control and high-performance brakes with 278mm vented front and 253mm solid rear discs.
Now we can almost sense you Ford fans flexing your typing muscles to pen us a strongly worded missive along the lines of 'but you get all this stuff on a Performance Pack Fiesta ST', so the key thing here is the fitment of a full coilover suspension system with two-way adjustment for bump (12 settings) and rebound (16 settings). This incorporates twin-tube stainless-steel damper housings and powder-coated springs in Ford Performance Blue (surely Azura would have been more sensible?), and the kit lowers the Fiesta Edition's ride height by 15mm at the nose and 10mm at the rear. The car is also said to gain a bespoke steering knuckle design and its own 12:1 ratio calibration of the electric power-assisted steering (EPAS).
We might as well say now these upgrades hardly have a completely transformative effect on how the Fiesta ST Edition drives, but as the standard car is so incredibly gifted in the first place then an incremental yet discernible sharpening of what the Ford can do is most welcome. Honestly, barely 50 yards after getting into the Edition and setting off, we found ourselves laughing out loud in the cabin at how wonderful this car feels. You sense its alertness from moment one, the steering and feel coming through the base of the seat informing you clearly what a special vehicle a Fiesta ST is. Wind the Ford up into its attack mode and it's even keener than ever to get turned into a corner, that lower front axle, the lighter alloys and the quicker steering all combining to ensure it's an absolute riot in the corners.
And you will never, ever tire of what (and we've said this many times before about the fast Fiesta) is the most talkative rear axle on any front-wheel-drive car we've ever tried. Those bananasprings (Force Vectoring Springs, more accurately) on the back are little short of witchcraft and the contribute to the Fiesta's wonderful tendency to perform lift-off oversteer almost at the mere will of thought alone, while you can get the Ford to cock its inside-rear wheel nearly every time you throw it into a bend with any sort of gusto whatsoever. You will do this. Often.
Seriously, we've not had this much fun in an Edition-branded Ford since we were last driving a
bright orange Focus RS, and even then we think the Fiesta is better than its grander ancestor. It's utterly mega. Not just for B-segment hot hatches. Not just for hot hatches in general. No, it is mega in the grand scheme of all performance cars. If what you want is sheer, unadulterated driving thrills on the public roads at sane speeds, you will not get a much better experience from... well,
any other car, really. There are a few operating right up there at the Ford's exalted plane, but the Fiesta ST Edition can credibly stand comparison to them all.
Of course, like any Fiesta ST, its slightly bouncy ride means it's not the greatest long-distance machine, the pogoing tendency of the standard models exacerbated by the Edition's more focused suspension set-up. Having said that, we did more than 263 miles in it during the week and when it wasn't being mercilessly thrashed in exultant back-road blasts, the Ford managed a lengthy trek down to Goodwood at a remarkable economy rate of 44.2mpg; that's because it's fabulous little triple can run on two cylinders when engine loads allow. Also, that bespoke damping is another of those systems that seems to revel in 70mph more than it enjoys 30mph, so once you're out on the M1 and slotted into sixth on the glorious manual transmission (it's a thorough gem of a 'box to use in anger, by the way), the Fiesta ST Edition is in truth a perfectly civilised and bearable machine for cruising.
Have we got any problems to report at all? Yes, just the one. It's not the price that bothers us about the Ford Fiesta ST Edition, because rarely has a car costing £27,000 felt like such a preposterous bargain. No, it's that the 300 UK examples have probably all sold out by now. And that's tragic news; not for the company itself, which must be delighted with the take-up of the special model, but for us. We want one of these things in our life. Crave it. Badly. Send us one now, please, Ford. NOW.
