On a dry track the Fiesta’s 130bhp per tonne makes 60mph in 7.8sec and 100mph in 21.8sec. It keeps up with the 137bhp Peugeot 206 GTi to 60mph, but by 100mph the Ford is 0.2sec behind. The 150bhp Seat Ibiza 1.8 FR is swifter to 60mph (7.6 sec) and 100mph (21.4 sec), and is two insurance groups lower than the Ford, incidentally, while the 180bhp Renault Clio 182 Cup easily out-muscles the ST with 168bhp per tonne, allowing a 1.5sec faster sprint to 60mph and a far swifter dash (by 4.8sec) to 100mph.
The Fiesta feels sparky enough though, its low inertia flywheel providing a snappy throttle response that the positive gearshift suits well. Ford claims that 90 per cent of the ST’s 140lb ft of torque is available from 1350rpm to 6150rpm, but in practice it’s only genuinely swift over 4000rpm. And even then it feels strangled, lacking the almost frantic thrust expected of a great hot hatch.
The standard Fiesta is one of the best-cornering superminis, combining real poise with a compliant ride. Ford boasts of hours spent honing the ST’s chassis around the Nürburgring circuit in Germany, but of more interest is that it also covered numerous development miles pounding the English country lanes near TeamRS’s Southend base.
It’s on Britain’s testing roads that the ST excels. The damping is brilliantly resolved, and there’s none of the jitter and steering kickback that the Clio suffers, so you are encouraged to exploit the chassis’s potential.
The messages from the wheel aren’t as sharp as in lower-powered, lesser-tyred Fiestas but the rack is 10 per cent quicker at 2.3 turns lock to lock. It’s accurate and reassuringly weighted, perfectly complementing the heft of the brakes, throttle and gearshift.
The helm feels equally secure on the motorway, without any nervousness. Which is lucky, because the rest of the high-speed experience is far from relaxing: it’s noisy – 80mph requires nearly 4000rpm – and the firm ride makes it as restless as a puppy.