3 It needs to spawn a great ST in 2018
DESPITE SERVING up class-leading dynamics in cooking Fiestas for over 20 years, it took Ford until 2013 to turn that into a proper world-class hot hatch in the form of the ST. Although it’s not on sale until next year, Ford unveiled the ST back in March at the Geneva show, and it’s got us salivating at the prospect. In place of the old car’s turbocharged 1.6, the 2018 ST gets another variation on the 1.0 EcoBoost triple. But despite giving away 600cc and a piston, it makes more power. At 197bhp the new ST delivers the same grunt the old ST did in brief overboost moments (the rest of the time it put out 178bhp), and twice the power of the meekest EcoBoost in a cooking Fiesta. And not because this is a peaky engine. It still produces the same 214lb ft as the old ST. The 062mph falls by 0.2 to 6.7sec, but the green numbers are even more impressive: CO2 drops from 138 to 114g/km, which suggest a combined fuel consumption igure of around 57mpg, helped by a cylinder deactivation system Ford says is a world irst for a three-pot motor. Back doors will be optional in Europe this time, along with kit like a fancy B&O hi-i and various personalisation trim options. Refrain from spending anything more than the likely £18k list price and you’ll get 18in wheels, Recaro seats, a lat-bottomed steering wheel, Sync 3 infotainment, brake-based torque vectoring and three driving modes. The ST lands in showrooms early in 2018. Extrapolating from the spec sheet and our time in its STLine warm hatch brother, it shows every sign of being another hot hatch hit.4