The idea of a hot hatchback is a quintessentially European one, a recipe made for a narrow road winding through the Italian Alps or the Yorkshire moors.
As such, it's fitting that the premier hot hatchback manufacturer is based in Michigan.
Wait, what? Yep, in North America at least, there's only one company that will sell you not one, but two legit hot hatchbacks, both scrappy little front-drive terrors with four-door practicality and turbocharged punch. Surprisingly, it's not Volkswagen, and it's not Fiat - it's Ford.
For anyone who makes regular trips across the pond, the idea of a fast Ford that's not a Mustang is nothing new. Particularly in the United Kingdom, there's a whole culture of hot-rodded compacts from Dearborn, Mich., or rather from Ford's subsidiaries in Essex.
Even so, it may be a bit of a surprise to walk into your local blue-oval outlet and find two beaky-looking hatchbacks parked between the rows of F-150s. We'd been clamouring for a European-style Focus ST for ages - they finally gave us one, and it's great.
However, for a little less money than the Focus, you can get this little snarling micro-pod. The Focus is pretty strong coffee. The Fiesta ST, on the other hand, is an espresso.
Design Compared to its larger cousin, the Fiesta ST is compact, narrow and upright, and has a friendlier face. Where the Focus gurns like a melancholy catfish, the Fiesta seems to have at least the ghost of a smile on its aggressive little grille.
In Europe, this car is available as an even sprightlier three-door, but here we only get the fivedoor (or rather, four-door plus hatchback). It looks good in side-profile, and wears those sport 17-inch alloys with pride.
Other changes over the standard Fiesta include a lower ride height, and aerodynamic treatments that extend to a rear spoiler, diffuser and chin splitter. It's also available in something called Molten Orange, a three-stage colour that makes the little car look like a mad-scientist cross between a Doberman and a mandarin orange.
Environment As one slides behind the seats, the Fiesta ST immediately makes friends by pinching your butt. Whoa, hey, hang on there lil' buddy - no need to get fresh! Like the heavily-bolstered Recaros in the Focus ST, Ford has plonked in a pair of the wildest race-buckets you'll ever find in a frontwheel-drive car. They're incredible in terms of lateral grip, and also quite uncomfortable if you haven't shed the Christmas pastryweight yet.
They're also upholstered in bright orange to match the exterior paint, giving the interior an element of dayglow waffle-maker. Oh dear, this thing most definitely doesn't pass the futuremother-in-law test. Better stick with the grey option.
ST version or no, this is a cheap little car with a big engine, which normally means a nasty, plasticfantastic interior with all your hard-earned cash packed under the hood. Happily, Ford has been quite clever with their Fiesta, and it's really quite nice in here. Highlights include the soft-touch material on the upper part of the dash that isn't faux-printed to look like fake leather, but has some sort of digitized pattern that's attractive and slightly upscale.
The rear seats are, as you'd expect, oompaloompa-grade. I did manage to fit a rear-facing child seat behind the passenger, but family guys (and gals) should note that ferrying around youngsters is only really possible in a pinch. Between the tight rear quarters and the small trunk, the Fiesta ST is not quite big enough to function as a regular kid hauler. And that's okay, because it would likely make them puke all over the place.
Performance The power packed in the nose of this hyperactive jumping bean isn't really important, but if you insist, it's a 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder that makes 197 horsepower and 214 foot-pounds of torque. That grunt is available from an impressively low 1,600 rpm, and while it's best to wind the engine up to get any real thrust, it's also easy to just leave the six-speed transmission in top gear and motor up the cut without downshifting.
The real story here though, is how the Fiesta ST handles. I know what you're thinking: oh, frontwheel-drive, yawn, yawn, yawn. Well get in, strap in, shut up and hang on. Build up the speed with the willing four-pot turbo and then dive into a corner as hard as you like. The Fiesta's funny little beak bites into the turn with terrier-like eagerness, then lift-throttle and it shakes tail as if you just walked in the door carrying a bag of sausage-flavoured milkbones.
Get back on the power again and the zippy little hatch claws its way back out of the corner and starts hunting for the next one. The steering, at a very quick 13.6:1 ratio, is frenetic and eager, and really puts you in the mood for driving.
Sure, there's a whole lot of connectivity features on offer, but the Fiesta also offers a connection that automakers sometimes forget to put in: a bond between driver and road.
Part of the ST's excellent dynamics is Ford's electronic trickery in putting the power down. The front wheels are equipped with a cheaty sort of torque-vectoring, whereby the brakes can be applied to the inside wheel to get the little car to bite and pivot. Loosening up the rear suspension gets the back-end shaking, and there are three levels of traction control to dial in how much hoonery you'd like to have.
As a further safety aid, Ford has installed a system that'll cut the boost after 20 seconds of full throttle. This isn't the buzzkill it sounds like, as coming off the throttle resets the function - it wouldn't even be a factor if you were at your local dragstrip.
The six-speed manual (no other option) is light feeling in engagement and easy-to-use. The clutch is a bit grabby on this particular model, but might just be breaking in. It is endless, endless fun, the best part of which is that it's not all that socially irresponsible. The ST is fairly efficient when driven gently, semi-practical in terms of capability, and not a maximum-speedcrazed hypersonic missile. It's as eager as a puppy, and demands to be taken for walkies.
In an era where overall horsepower and top-speed, 0-60 bragging rights seem paramount, it's nice to find another choice for drivers who want to have fun without breaking the bank or shattering the speed limit.
Features For a relatively accessible entry-level price of $24,999 (not $25K, no siree), the basic Fiesta ST comes with all the essentials you expect, along with heated front seats, automatic air-conditioning, and Ford's Sync system. That last feature has been much maligned in past generations, but with updates it works well and includes the ability to stream audio from your smartphone via Bluetooth. The optional navigation system will cost you $800, and is fairly simple to use. Unlike other systems found even in high-end rides, the voice command functions actually listen to you.
To nitpick a little, the touchscreen is a little small, and prone to smudging. However, as the handsfree option works so well, you can keep your fingers to yourself. Further, the pinched shape of the ST makes you wonder whether it's worth optioning the $1,200 sunroof, which is set quite far back, and adds weight to the roof. The more basic your ST is, the better it'll be.
Green Light Fizzy performance; good low-end power; and excellent cornering and fun dynamics Stop Sign Small cabin and trunk; pinchy seats; and very mild torque steer The Checkered Flag One of those cars that makes you glad to have a driver's license.
Competitors Fiat 500 Abarth ($24,495) If you're looking at European-style hot hatches, why not look at a European hot hatch? The Abarth version of Fiat's happy little 500 is a hilarious little car, and sounds like it has half a Lamborghini under the hood. The handling dynamics can either be described as thrilling, or perhaps alarming. As it's so narrow and tall, the Abarth is not really a track car, but can handle autocross just fine. While it's got a high fun-todrive factor, it does give up both competence and poise to the Fiesta ST.
