The late eighties; heady days of hot hatch nirvana with the pocket rocket being the ultimate wheels for those in their twenties and car to aspire to for those not yet of a driving age. Ford's XR and RS lines had a grip on the market like no other. Sold as performance for the common man, each big-selling range had an XR or RS model sat at the top of the tree. All was well and decent performance was accessible to all and we took such things for granted.

Fast forward to the nineties where the proliferation of car crime and joy riding began to ring alarm bells with the insurance companies. By the mid nineties insurance premiums had deterred all but the most ardent hot hatch fan and Ford had to kill the XR and RS lines in the face of the harshest market conditions: outside forces killing off their products. We were left with the relatively tame Si moniker being the token offering for the enthusiast.

It took quite a while for Ford to regain its confidence enough to launch an ST product line, and almost a decade for those wounds to sufficiently heal to make the company feel confident enough to give us the harder edged Focus RS. That was a real image booster for Ford and a showcase of their Special Vehicle Team's intent to provide genuinely desirable and involving cars for the enthusiast. Here we have the Team's latest baby, the new Fiesta ST150, a range topper from the old school promising thrills and pace for a sensible price.

Our test car didn't exactly conceal its light under a bushel, with bright red paint and GT aping white stripes over the upper and side surfaces ensuring that everyone takes a second look. Luckily Ford has acknowledged the horses for courses aspect of such things and one can specify whether one wants the optional extra stripes and if so, which ones. Personally I'd have the side stripes and leave the roof ones for someone with a little more of an attention hungry persona.

Other than that the ST is a fairly soberly tweaked Fiesta with beefed up bumpers, spoilers and sills to increase the road presence along with the obligatory 17-inch multi-spoke rims. This is where things get a little interesting; look closely at our pictures and you'll notice that these 17-inch rims wear some fairly serious rubber, not just in terms of size, but also in terms of purpose. Pirelli P-Zero Nero are normally to be found adorning more exotic machinery; their appearance here is very much a signal of intent.

These tyres endow the Fiesta with a monumental amount of grip, wet or dry, that combines with the ST150's relatively lightweight, diminutive dimensions and a chassis of rare depth and completeness to make this Fiesta a very rapid ground coverer. We never had the chance to try it but I'd bet it's a quick track car. On B-roads the ST exhibits excellent body and wheel control and is a real joy to drive hard. The ST allows the driver to gently adjust its course via the throttle, something of an essential attribute in a driver's car. Snap the throttle shut and indulge in delicious controllable lift-off oversteer of the kind I haven't enjoyed since I owned a Peugeot 306GTi-6, enabling even faster cornering speeds and rare agility. Granted, the suspension is on the stiff side and the ride can be a little jiggly on broken surfaces, but it lends the ST a real darty, go-kart feel. That stiffness pays off in spades with remarkably sharp turn-in and a dogged resistance to understeer.

Ironically, the high level of competence has one wishing for a little more power; 150bhp isn't much in modern hot hatches, but the fact you can whip every one of the 150 is a pleasure. The gearbox contains closely stacked ratios accessed through a slick and precise change. The steering is nice and feelsome too, only heavily contoured or broken surfaces bring a hint of tramlining thanks to those big tyres. Neither is there much torque steer to speak of. The driving position is comfortable and the optional ST seats are great. Our only gripe was with the brakes that whilst unarguably strong, lacked some feel and were hamstrung by a spongy pedal. Previous testers may have abused our hard-driven test car, but a lack of fade or vibration didn't suggest that there was anything-untoward going on in the stopper department.

Needless to say the roomy and spacious cabin is carried over from the regular Fiesta with few cosmetic changes; no bad thing. Rear accommodation isn't overly generous, but isn't as cramped as some of the rival offerings. It's clean and clinical but functional and easy to use as well. One may question whether ultimately this is befitting of a £14k+ car, but at the end of the day the money has been spent under the skin, where it works most effectively as far as the enthusiast is concerned.

In summary, the Fiesta ST150 is a little corker. It begs to be spanked and harks back to old school hatches that were fun and involving. Ultimately it has few weaknesses, though one is a lack of outright pace and grunt, and the other is the price. Our test car came to around £16,000 with the extras. This leaves it exposed to very unforgiving sharks in the dangerous hot hatch waters, most noticeably the Renault Clio 182. Hardcore enthusiasts will be drawn to the Clio because it at least matches the ST150 in all dynamic aspects, although it can't match the interior comfort of the ST150. For many though the Fiesta will possess enough pace, and the pin sharp handling and looks will satisfy their sporting urges. Fans of the blue oval rejoice, for you have a new junior hot hatch hero to aspire to. Many new fans will be converted by the Fiesta ST150 as well. It bodes very well for the forthcoming Focus ST.