ABDC: Ford Fiesta ST EcoBoost

Easily the cheapest car to contest the inaugural ABDC, Ford’s Fiesta ST has it all: performance, on-road grip and tactility, and the ability to be at one with the driver in a well-appointed and comfortable cabin environment. Less than $30K never bought so much in a bona fide driver’s car.

At one with the eager buzz and the tenacious on-the-road agility of Ford’s ST Fiesta, it’s rather ironic to think you’re perfectly at home in the company of high-price thoroughbreds costing as much as eight times more.

At just $25,990 before on-road costs, the feisty Fiesta delivers arguably as much driver enjoyment as the ballistic Jaguar F-Type R coupe. And in some road/weather conditions the Fiesta ST can be as fast, or faster point to point.

That a car normally positioned as a cheap, handy in-town runabout can be transformed into something that is so demonstrably a driver’s car is truly remarkable. It shows just how thoroughly Ford worked-over the base three-door Fiesta to create the ST.

There was no simple dropping of the ride height and fiddling with spring and damper rates. The Fiesta ST, which was fettled by Ford Team RS in Europe, was the beneficiary of a thorough workover that sharpened up the handling with a new, quicker 13.69:1 steering ratio, a stiffer, shorter steering arm and suspension changes that included a modified front steering knuckle, a more rigid rear torsion beam, re-set rear springs and dampers and a centre of gravity that is lower by 15mm than regular Fiestas.

In addition, disc brakes replace the regular Fiesta’s rear drums to provide stopping power commensurate with the greatly enhanced handling and accelerative abilities. The wheels are upgraded to seven-inch wide alloys fitted with grippy 205/40R17 tyres.

Hook that up with a 1.6-litre turbo four producing 134kW at 5700rpm, along with 240Nm from just 1600rpm – plus the ability to crank out 147kW and 290Nm on overboost for as much as 20 seconds – and you have a tiny Ford three-door that is game to joust with many a super-pricey, highfalutin performance car.

But what is most impressive about the Fiesta ST is the way it ‘talks’ to the driver. There’s nothing to work around such as a notchy gearshift, queasy steering or an inconsistent power delivery here. The little Ford makes you feel instantly at home and keeps on giving regardless of how hard you push it.

Am I sounding a bit over-enthusiastic?

Let’s just say at the beginning of our four-day Australia’s Best Driver’s Car (ABDC) exercise, when I was relegated to the Fiesta in the face of an enticing lineup that included the F-Type Jaguar, a Porsche Cayman GTS, a Nissan GT-R and a BMW Z4, my feelings, after an hour or two arrowing through the remote majesty of rural Tasmania, were that I would have been entirely happy to stick with just the Fiesta for the duration.

Snug in the standard Recaro seats, at one with the smooth positivity of the six-speed gearshift and in awe of the seemingly boundless levels of predictability and road grip, I felt perfectly capable of responding to any challenges that might be thrown at me and my ST.

Within an hour of settling into our gruelling drive program, I remember watching the Lexus RC F, in some discomfort, following me through fast but potentially unsettling corners. The Fiesta meantime simply sat on-line, composed and perfectly balanced.

And the 1.6-litre engine always delivered a strong surge out of corners, happy to muscle its way along without any great need to search for a lower gear. It was easy to maintain pace, concentrating on steering and braking without worrying too much about being in the correct gear to suit the moment.

It’s a case of pure acceleration figures not telling the full story: Although it was one of the slowest on the dragstrip, the Fiesta felt far from that on the road and in most conditions it had no trouble at all matching pace with the rest. And the in-cabin sound was appropriately guttural, if not as audibly assertive and deliciously rowdy from outside as many of the other cars.

It was all nicely summed up by one tester who proclaimed of the ST: “Absolutely felt like you could wring its neck.”

The Fiesta was up to the task in wet, deteriorating conditions too, universally delighting our team with its levels of stiction and its tactile, quick and confidence-inspiring steering.

Collating the comments made by other drivers, there were few negative observations. About the only minus point noted by practically everybody was that the ST’s seating position – similar in some ways to the XR8 Falcon – was higher-set than ideal. That said, the Recaro front seats drew little but praise for their anatomical correctness and their ability to hold the driver (and passenger) comfortably in place while high lateral G-forces were being generated.

From my perspective, the Fiesta has only one shortcoming, and that is based on totally superficial grounds: Its fabulous all-round competence is negated somewhat by the fact it still looks somewhat dinky, especially in this company.

The again, considering it is by far the most affordable car in an altogether enticing lineup, there’s little doubt you’d be pushing to find a better fully driver-oriented car that delivers so much for so little money.

The Ford Fiesta ST might be considered a sleeper in some circles, but there are plenty of young bloods out there who have been onto it for ages and have figured out ways of minimising the shopping trolley look without going fully ground-scraping and impractical.

There’s little doubt it is the performance car bargain for the times.

2015 Ford Fiesta ST EcoBoost pricing and specifications:
Price: $25,990 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol
Output: 134kW/240Nm (147kW/290Nm on overboost)
Transmission: Six-speed manual
Fuel: 6.2L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 145g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP

What we liked:
>> Great grip, predictability
>> Super-flexible powerplant
>> Excellent seats

Not so much:
>> Too-high seating position
>> Remote gearshift reach, floor pedal arrangement
>> Shopping trolley image

ABDC ranking: Fifth

ABDC Scorecard
Handling 4.8
Ride 4.2
Engine 4.6
Transmission 4.1
Steering 4.6
Braking 4.2
NVH 4.0
Ergos 3.4
Overall score 4.24