After hearing how good they were and then seeing it on top gear I decided I'd go for a test drive.

Firstly I think the looks are great, and better looking than the Fabia. Lovely sounding exhaust note, and a well built solid feeling interior. Again, more so than the Fabia's. I loved the recaro seats, they really held you in nicely.

It drove very nicely, steering was precise, and not much body role because it was quite low (as the Fabia should be!) so great handling, but then for a fairly small amount of money I could make a few mods to the Fabia and improve its handling quite a lot.

It took me while to get used to the manual transmission, and maybe this took away from the driving experience, and I think I could have done with a bit longer in it. The dealer kept saying about how many awards the 1.6 litre Ecoboost engine had won, but then again so has the twin charger. Same level of power, more torque and the dealer said I could expect high 30's in MPG driving it carefully, when I can get low 50's in my Fabia. Obviously you don't buy a hot hatch for the fuel economy, but I think in this day you can expect a car to be good on fuel and power at the same time.

Over all a fantastic car, but at the moment I still love my Fabia.

Apologies for the amateur write up!

The monotune re map / air box mod is also a no brainier with 212 bhp and full warranty .

Thought they were good for more than high 30 mpg?

Great value at 16 k on drive the deal too!

I believe we have two fiesta st's on the track day at Oulton park in October so I will be interested to see how they go against my old diesel .

Yes, they are great value, and that's just what the dealer said, even though websites claim around 46mpg.

That montune mod sounds good though, wonder how much that is..?

a simple air filter and TMC box will see 215 bhp on the fabia, for MUCH less money, and once lowered RARB ect , its still better value...

 

will be cool to go up against one at castle coombe, with my standard power and chassis mods

The fiesta ST2 is great little car

We have one in molten orange, great fun to drive.

Its got decent power, but it has even better handling.

The mrs drives it pretty economically but I usually give it the beans when I can, after 5500 miles the average mpg is 35.5. Quite a way off the claimed figures but still not too bad!

The mountune package sounds great and is warranty approved but we havent took the plunge due to me ordering a new octavia vrs!

One note on the fiesta is the seats have far too much lumbar support which gives me lower back ache, the lumbar is not adjustable either. Im only 27 but feel about 85 the day after driving the fiesta on a decent trip!!

Iv previously owned focus STs and civic type r's wih recaros and had no issues so not sure why the fiesta gives me grief! Sounds like im getting old... lol

Ive only driven one for a 15 minute test drive unfortunately but I'd say it was one of the most memorable 15 minutes of any test drive! Not only are they totally fun at normal real world speed they just get better the harder you push. They are an absolute bargain too with brand new ST's being available for less than £15,800. If I was buying a small hot hatch now it'd be one of these with no hesitation. :-)

I am seriously thinking of getting one of these. I prefer manuals tbh: less potential hassle and a more involving drive. I hear the chassis is top notch too, I have not had a spin yet but will let you know when I do.

I had one of these up until the beginning of the month. Now have a fire breathing Mii Toca. 

 

Great performance and handling, but had to get rid after six months because it turned into a bad egg/bad luck car. The worse thing was the terrible dealers and ultimately zero support from Ford.

 

A shame really.