Ford Fiesta ST

// £8,000–£18,000 Best hot hatch of the past five years Firm ride, grandpa

The Ford Fiesta ST was one of those rare machines that soared to the top of its class the moment it arrived on the scene, and remained one of the best cars in the world throughout its entire time on sale. After previous Fiestas spawned lacklustre ‘performance’ fagships, the ’13–’17 ST put Ford back at the peak of the fast supermini pile.

And frankly, it didn’t rock up looking all that promising. Ford threw a body-coloured difuser, a few ST badges and an alloy gearknob at the ST – you had to get inside one to appreciate the superbly supportive, heated Recaro buckets, and the slickness of the controls. And the power on tap seemed under-the-

weather too: Ford claimed 179bhp, while the Clio RenaultSport, Peugeot 208 GTI and VW Polo GTI all knocked on the door of 200bhp.

Thing is, Ford’s burbly, torque-rich 1.6-litre turbo had a secret. For up to 20 seconds under full throttle, it could overboost, sending 197bhp to the front wheels, to be tackled by electronics rather than a proper limited-slip dif. Not to worry. The Fiesta ST puts its power down cleanly, and exactly when are you on the loud pedal for more than 20secs at a time? The ST was every bit as quick as its continental quarry.

As a result, the ST outsold the paddleshift Clio RS by 10 to one, so you’ve got oodles to choose from.

It also means the faults are well-known. The illuminated sill plates on ST2 and ST3 models often fail, thanks to a weak wiring loom. Cars built after September 2014 have this warrantied for three years, rather than just one. The Sony DAB unit is known to drop digital signal too – the only solution is to have a new radio ftted. Ensure the clutch has a healthy spring-back, or that’s a sign the slave cylinder is on its way out.

One we found...

A 2013 ST2 with 46,000 miles. It’s unmodified, and has a full Ford main dealer service history. Under £10k.