Ford Fiesta S1600

While the Fiesta S1600 is top of its class dynamically, only buyers wanting the exclusivity of a limited-edition fast Ford will be happy to pay its huge price tag. For £16,645, you could have one of the best hot hatches in the class: the Renaultsport 200 Clio Cup. As an appetiser for the Fiesta ST which is on the horizon, the S1600 underlines the car’s excellence without pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. If it was our money, we’d stick with the cheaper Zetec S.

Meet the spiritual successor to the legendary XR2 – Ford’s Fiesta S1600. Only 650 examples of this limited edition will be made, each getting a host of go-faster tweaks – so they’re the sportiest models until the much rumoured ST goes on sale. But has this hot-looking Fiesta earned the right to wear its racing stripes.

The S1600 certainly looks the part. It’s based on the Zetec S, but packs a full bodykit with a lower front spoiler, rear diffuser and large roof-mounted wing, plus 17-inch Frozen White alloys. It’s finished off in white paint with contrasting blue stripes.

Alternatively, you can order blue paint with white stripes.

Inside, more stripes and decals along with swathes of grey leather with contrasting blue stitching brighten up the cabin.  

As soon as you pull away, it hits you just how brilliant the Fiesta is to drive – even at low speed. The steering is beautifully weighted, gearshifts are direct, and the revs climb eagerly with every prod of the throttle.

Performance

But can the S1600 back this up with punchy performance? We drove the 118bhp 1.6-litre Duratec petrol model (there’s also a 95bhp 1.6-litre diesel), and revving hard to the red line rewards downshifts with swift acceleration. But despite this fun character, the S1600 never feels anything more than brisk, with 0-62mph in 9.9 seconds.

It’s still entertaining, with the sports suspension improving on the standard car’s already sharp responses. String together a series of tight corners, and the Fiesta’s grippy chassis clings on brilliantly. Body control is superb, and the tail can even be enticed into a slide with a lift of the accelerator mid-corner.

The brakes are the only negative – there is a lot of dead travel in the pedal before they bite, which is a shame given how responsive all the other controls are.

Unfortunately, the S1600 doesn’t provide enough of a step up from the standard Zetec S – so it’s hard to see how Ford can justify charging an extra £1,000 for what amounts to some styling upgrades. The chassis is so good, it leaves you wanting more power – and you can get that by having your S1600 tweaked by Ford-approved performance expert Mountune. It will fit a new induction kit and a sports exhaust system to boost output to 138bhp, dropping the S1600’s 0-60mph sprint time to 7.9 seconds.

But while these upgrades allow customers to take much greater advantage of the Fiesta’s talented chassis, they also add £1,327 to the S1600’s already steep £16,645 price tag.

Nevertheless, an S1600 given the Mountune treatment would be a great car to own, and represents a fantastic stop-gap until the ST arrives next year. Keep the engine untouched and you have a car that is fun to drive but is also comfortable, quiet and very economical when it needs to be. It returns 48.7mpg on the combined cycle, and comes with a generous bundle of equipment as standard.

But it’s difficult to get away from the price. Fast Ford fans might find that acceptable; others would be better off with the standard Zetec S.

Rival: Renault Clio S
The Clio S looks faster than it is. It has white stripes and alloys, a boot spoiler and bright paint, but the 1.2-litre turbo petrol engine delivers only 100bhp. Its chassis isn’t as sharp as the Fiesta’s – yet at £12,240, it costs £4,405 less.