APRIL 2019 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK 127Our cars
Ford Fiest a ST
Month 4The story so far
Bite-sized hot hatch brilliance.
Super-playful chassis and
quick-thinking steering
accentuated by our car’s
optional limited-slip diff
+How can a three-pot engine
feel this powerful? Relatively
bargainous price- Solid-sprung ride quality,
overly huggy Recaro seats
Price £21,995 (£24,890 as
tested) Performance 1499cc
turbo 3-cyl, 197bhp, 6.5sec
0-62mph, 144mph Efficiency
47.1mpg (official), 33.9mpg
(tested), 136g/km CO2 Energy
cost 17p per mile Miles this
month 1006 Total miles 4039LogbookTricky cambers, big stops...
the B660 has the lot and the
Fiesta ST feels right at homeVoya ge of
discovery
Fiesta ST: great for
getting from A to B-road
The perfect long lunchbreak from our office: a cross-country jaunt in the ST. By James Taylor
- THE MANDATORY PITSTOP
The ST’s downsized three-cylinder
engine supposedly helps it eke its way
to 47mpg but our economy has been
averaging just over 30. Fuel economy
has improved by 22 percent since I got
the keys back from my colleagues after
last month, though...
2. AN A1 DRIVE EXPERIENCE
A brief stint southbound on the A1
highlights that the ST isn’t the happiest
cruise companion, its jiggly ride and
white-noise tyre roar a reminder that it
would really rather turn off the motorway
and find some corners. - STOP-DEAD STOPPERS
On roads like these the brakes get
quite a work-out and the Fiesta’s small
but mighty anchors are superb. When
we drove the ST back-to-back with
the Alpine A110 in CAR June 2018 it
could outbrake the sports car, despite
weighing more. - BUMPY ON THE B1096
This kind of uneven, lumpy tarmac is
one of the few B-road scenarios
where the ST doesn’t feel entirely
happy, its firm suspension hopping,
skipping and jumping rather than
flowing with the road. - GETTING KICKS ON B660
Briefly joining one of the Midlands’ finest
driving roads, the B660. High-speed
direction changes, big stops, tricky
cambers – it’s got the lot, and the ST
feels right at home.^ - FENLAND FLING
This well-sighted sweep of
switchbacks on the Peterborough
hinterland is a test for any car’s
dynamics. The Fiesta’s reserves of
front-end grip never cease to
amaze – few cars at any price
turn in this crisply.
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