Ford's hot Fiesta ST uncovered

Why ruin the styling?

I'd have considered buying one of these as a runabout if they had made it look more like the existing Zetec S Fiesta model, and not put that god awful grill on it.
What were the design bods at Ford thinking?
Big gaping holes at front = very naff.
Stick to the prior design, it looked cool. I had a Zetec S as a hire car and everuone thought it was a great looking car.
They wont if Ford churns out this kind of cack.
How can they make a car that looks that good, or the Focus RS and then this....sort it out Ford!

By Bugeye on 26 May, 2011, 7:00am

Exhaust Pipes

"two huge exhaust pipes at either side of the car"...are we looking at the same car? I see two regular sized pipes on only one side of the rear...

agree about the grill, definitely not to my liking..and I'm sure it'll come out at some ludicrous price, rather have a 5yr old Porsche 911 for the same money...good luck.

By jon_abbate on 26 May, 2011, 7:21am

Photoshop?

Hmm, sorry guys but I think this is another Photoshop special given the recent spy photos on the Nurburgring. From the front you can clearly see Recaro seats but from the back view those headrests in the window definitely aren't Recaro!

I'd also be very surprised if Ford released photos of the ST this early if they're going to announce a facelift model in 2012 at the same time. Surely the 2012 Fiesta ST would carry over the same styling? - not that we know what the facelift will look like yet.

Given Ford's recent history I doubt they'll pass the trapezoid grille to the Fiesta ST but rather give its own character.

By damski83 on 26 May, 2011, 9:13am

Slow Follower

I'm glad to see Ford putting out these great new performance models of cars. However, it is way behind their Japanese counterparts. This Fiesta is essentiall a Mazda 2, and Mazda already has this car turbocharged and 4WD in Japan. Anyway, it's better to be a slow follower than not to eventually offer great performance options.

By Caribbean on 26 May, 2011, 10:52am

fiesta st

like it just hope price is sensible affordable etc to common man in the street carnt see it some how i will stick with 2011 zetec

By chris5 on 26 May, 2011, 11:10am

Holographic ST?

Photoshop'ed eh? Ford really are well ahead of the game if they have managed to develop 3D Holographic projectors which can project live 3D images onto an existing vehicle travelling around the entire Nurburgring. Well done Ford ;)

As for the 'car': I agree with a couple of others here, the current Fiesta design is pretty much perfect. I feel the inclusion of a huge 'mouth' will spoil the synergy of the design.

By sgtgrash on 26 May, 2011, 11:26am

Recycled Design from the 90’s

I like Fords but this looks like a mid 90's Ford Laser Lynx that sold in Australia with a new body Kit.

If you dont know what this car looks like copy and paste the link

http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/dealer/details.aspx?seot=1&R=9634156&silo=-1&__Ns=pCar_RankSort_Int32%7c1%7c%7cpCar_Price_Decimal%7c1%7c%7cpCar_Make_String%7c0%7c%7cpCar_Model_String%7c0&Cr=&trecs=4&__N=1216%201247%201252%201282%204294966463%204294966439%204294902164

By undercontrol on 26 May, 2011, 1:21pm

Holographic ST?

Lol, that would be quite clever but I was referring to the orange ST being Photoshopped - not the white test mule on the Nurburgring :-)

By damski83 on 26 May, 2011, 1:50pm

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By johnrombers on 27 May, 2011, 1:43pm

Sorry damski83 I couldn't resist, especially as Photoshop seems to be AE's bestest, most favouritist toy in the whole wide world... hehe

By sgtgrash on 29 May, 2011, 2:57pm

Why do they bother?

I think BHP in the Fiesta ST is long over due but I don't see why the original ST couldn't have had BHP in the first place. I realise there is a class difference but the 2004 Honda Civic Type R had a normally aspirated 2 litre engine and had BHP which it used to great effect. Ford stuck a 2 litre TURBOCHARGED unit in the Fiesta and then held the power back at 150BHP. Where is the sense in that?

In my opinion Ford missed a great opportunity with the Fiesta ST. They could have been selling a Civic beater (or at the very least a match for it) at anything up to £3,000 less.

If Ford continue to pin down power to match their rivals they will always be in the shadows of the competition.

The Focus ST is another example. it shares an engine and platform with the Mazda 3 MPS but the Mazda is more powerful, quicker, faster and £5,000 less. Ford need to stop holding their cars back and start holding their prices back. Their a very popular manufacturer and will sell whatever they make so there is no need for them to cost more than its rivals.

By AdamR88 on 5 July, 2011, 2:28am

previous comment

Should have opened

"I think 200BHP in the Fiesta ST is long over due but I don't see why the original ST couldn't have had 200BHP in the first place. I realise there is a class difference but the 2004 Honda Civic Type R had a normally aspirated 2 litre engine and had 200BHP which it used to great effect. Ford stuck a 2 litre TURBOCHARGED unit in the Fiesta and then held the power back at 150BHP. Where is the sense in that?"

somewhere between my writing that and posting it the numbers disappeared

By AdamR88 on 7 July, 2011, 5:58pm

Previous comment...

Um, AdamR88, I owned a previous generation Fiesta ST from new and covered 80,000 miles in it and I'm sorry to say, but it did not have a turbo. Sorry.

By MankyMalcolm on 14 July, 2011, 5:28pm

One of the worst supermini designs on the market today.

This must rank alongside Toyota Yaris, Honda, Kia etc etc.. as the uglyiest, most ill-concieved, awful supermini category designs out there. I suppose the idiots with no taste or sense athestics will buy it! Buy a Punto or Polo if you want design excellence.

By JTravolta77 on 7 August, 2011, 3:17pm

designed in the UK

..

By liverpool on 16 September, 2011, 6:31pm