Ford Fiesta ST<\/a>, which joins the Fiat 500 Abarth and Mini Cooper S in this rambunctious niche.<\/p>\nI\u2019m already a fan of the base Fiesta which I like to rent when I\u2019m on the race circuit, traveling to tracks to pilot my Ford-powered Lola sports racer. The stylish little four-door has plenty of room for my 6-foot 5-inch frame and luggage, while providing rear seating and superb fuel mileage (race trips are expensive enough without guzzling gas). But let\u2019s face it: Despite its name, the Fiesta is hardly a party on wheels.<\/p>\n
Enter the ST (a member of the Blue Oval\u2019s Sport Technologies brand), which finally lives up to the car\u2019s name \u2014 and not because it\u2019s made in Mexico. With nearly 200 horsepower driving the front wheels, this five-door hot hatch brings performance to this segment without sacrificing roominess. Indeed, the car\u2019s five-door configuration is an improvement even on the base four-door, with ample cargo room (even with a spare tire in the rear quad).<\/p>\n
The ST\u2019s fascia conforms to the Ford line\u2019s attractive, Aston-mouth theme that adorns everything from the Fusion to the Fiesta to the coming 2015 Mustang (brace yourselves, pony car faithful). The ST version says hello with a tinge of menace, its slit headlights peering out over a honeycomb-mesh black grille. Its stance is aggressive, its body lowered by almost an inch from the base model, its rear haunches raised like a cat \u2014 well, kitty \u2014 ready to spring. The ST begs to be noticed from its snout to its rear spoiler to its color palette.<\/p>\n
My ST came in lime green. Ford calls it Green Envy.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot my color,\u201d my wife said when Ford delivered it to my driveway (would you prefer Molten Orange, dear? Race Red, maybe?). But if the outside screams \u201cboy toy,\u201d the inside is very passenger-friendly. Sure, the ST is built for speed, but it comes with a generous helping of accessories.<\/p>\n
The grey-toned, ST-badged Recaro seats have hefty hip huggers to keep you centered when pulling Gs. But the interior\u2019s built for comfort, too. Heated seats. Convenient cupholders in the center console and door pockets. My wife quickly warmed to this hot hatch.<\/p>\n
A useful MyFord Touch screen sits atop the center console with dial-themed climate and radio controls. The screen itself is easily programmed for your favorite radio stations and smartphone. Indeed, I found the Sync system to be one of the easiest in any car I\u2019ve driven to set up. An iPod jack and two USB ports are within easy reach, at the driver\u2019s elbow. The Fiesta knows its digitally connected young shopper.<\/p>\n
Open the rear doors and the ST is surprisingly roomy. My head hit the ceiling, but no more so than in the rear seat of a BMW 3-series. If you\u2019re not a circus freak like me, you\u2019ll fit comfortably. You\u2019ll also find the door grips useful for your maniacal driver. Because once the pilot pushes the start button (just like a C7 Vette!), this little tamale wants to boogie.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ll find yourself picking fights against bigger game. I hooked up with an aggressive, brand-new BMW 320 on Southfield Road. My Green Goblin slimed him out of the next light, surprising the Bimmer with its torque. The ST comes in stick only and the compact throw shifter and closely placed pedals are perfectly situated for combat. Shift throws are compact, heel-and-toe downshifts easy. Like all pocket rockets, the horsepower is delivered to the front wheels, which takes some getting used to given the power on demand. In low gear on Michigan Avenue, the furious front paws feel like they are throwing bricks left and right as I row the gears.<\/p>\n
My gold-standard for pocket rockets is the 2003 Honda Civic SI and its 100-horses-per-liter, normally-aspirated 8,000 RPM engine. The Fiesta\u2019s 6,000 redline can\u2019t rival the SI\u2019s glorious exhaust note above 6,000 RPM, but the ST\u2019s turbocharged engine provides its own charm with plentiful torque from 2,500 RPM where the Honda is wanting. Indeed, that the ST is comparable to the larger, one-generation old Civic SI is testimony to how capable Ford\u2019s subcompact is. The little Ecoboost engine may be the same power plant that inhabits the Ford Fusion and Ford Escape \u2014 but tweaked for 20 more horses and beating inside the Fiesta\u2019s lighter, 2,700-pound body, it acts like a different animal.<\/p>\n
This is the mouse that roared.<\/p>\n
The ST leaves its subcompact competition panting. At a mere $25 grand fully loaded, it\u2019s about $5,000 cheaper than its competition, the Fiat Abarth and Mini Cooper S. Its 0-60 mph acceleration is just shy of the Mini and a half-second faster than the Fiat. Cargo space? Fuhgettaboutit. The ST\u2019s five doors mean you can fill it with friends and baggage.<\/p>\n
The subcompact ST\u2019s performance will force shoppers for bigger, compact hot hatches to take a look. Even the Fiesta\u2019s big brother \u2014 the snarling, 252-horsepower Focus ST \u2014 should be nervous about the Fiesta\u2019s better brakes and nearly comparable, .92 G skid pad handling according to Car&Driver testing (though big brother is a bargain too at just $2,500 more). My standard, rental Fiesta returns an impressive 36 mpg, but even as I flogged the Fiesta ST from stoplight to stoplight across Metro Detroit, it still returned a handsome 28 mpg.<\/p>\n
The fun of a sports car without the thirst. Hey, Honda Fit, Chevy Spark, Mazda 2 … won\u2019t you join the subcompact party?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I love pocket rockets. These sedans-on-steroids for drivers with a lead foot but not enough silver in the bank to afford a Porsche have been around for decades. The offerings have included such icons as the Volkswagen GTI, the Ford Focus SVT, and the Honda Civic SI (I\u2019ve owned two and came within a hair […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13979"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13979"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13980,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13979\/revisions\/13980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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