Skip to main content

Quick Drive: Ford Fiesta ST


This week I had the opportunity for a quick drive in the new Ford Fiesta ST and it didn't take long to see the appeal of the hot-hatch category.

Until now I'd never driven a real hot-hatch, I'd always thought they had the potential but they had never really been high on my radar. All it took for the Fiesta ST to turn that view on its head however was 1minute in the hot seat near Riverhead.

Equipped with a 1.6L Ecoboost engine coupled with a 6speed manual gearbox the little Ford was a blast to drive around the country roads just outside Auckland's North Shore.

A few things we noted was that at highway speeds the OE tyres were a little noisy but around town at slower speeds you would be forgiven for thinking the wee Fiesta was having a siesta or more like a hybrid than a hot-hatch.

Ground clearance was also potentially problematic for NZ conditions, with the very cool ST only bumpers scraping when we tried to take the ST off into gravel dumps during our photoshoot.

But those are small beans when the experience of driving the ST more than makes up for its small shortcomings. The note from the exhaust especially brings out your inner leadfoot just so you can hear the Ecoboost rasp, while the well set up chassis handles quite well in the twisties, yet is comfortable enough for driving in town or on the highway.

Will be interesting if the Boss came to the same conclusions or not in his upcoming review on the ST.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maxxis Bravo AT 771 Review

Watch the 3-year ownership review on Youtube! I've owned a set of Maxxis' Bravo AT771 tyres for 3 years now, so I thought I'd share my thoughts on them. Firstly, I didn't buy these tyres after doing any research on them. Truth be told, I'd never even heard of Maxxis before buying these! But with the stipulation that I wanted a set of All Terrain tyres for my Forester in 215/65R16, and that I didn't want to pay over $1500 for them. I ended up paying $1000 fitted and balanced. I took a punt on the 'Mackies' as I've started to call them, and I've got to be honest, I've been pretty happy with them. Sure, they don't look as cool as other All Terrain models out there, but they've worn well and haven't given me any headaches in the 3 years I've had them. The Good Stuff The AT771s have proven to be a really good match for the Subaru in the sand, which is primarily where they've been used apart from highw...
Post a Comment
Read more

Aprilia SR125 Review

  Aprilia’s motto is “ desined  for racers, built for riders” – but does that translate to their scooter range?   I’ll admit that even with my  usual  level of enthusiasm  at collecting a shiny new bike , I wasn’t expecting a heck of a lot from Aprilia’s SR125  “ Motard ” scooter  out of the box.    After grabbing it from  Bayride  Motorcycles in Tauranga – straight off the showroom floor no less – with just 1km reading on the digital display,  I was expecting  my 80km ride home along the state highway  network  to take  much longer than the norm.   However, to my surprise, the little Aprilia not only made the trip in easy fashion, it hit the legal highway  speed  limit straight out of the box! An impressive feat, considering it was still – technically –   running in when I handed it back and was pushing a top speed which, at times, would  get a ...
Post a Comment
Read more

#RoadTest: 2015 Aprilia ETX-150 review

With the introduction of the Learner Approved Motorcycles Scheme (LAMS) in 2012, new riders have far more choice in bikes than ever before. But has that extra variety and choice come at the cost of incredibly fun and thrifty, smaller capacity bikes? I’m not sure about the statistics, but in my own anecdotal view, it has. While I’ve noticed more people in my social circle taking up riding, not one has started with a sub 250cc motorcycle, even when their commuting needs don’t require the power and torque of a mid-sized bike. As a result, I’ve come to the conclusion that small capacity commuters are seriously underrated in terms of fun and ability. Jumping on the Aprilia ETX-150 for the first time I, like many, made a judgement about how the little Aprilia would ride based solely on the bike’s capacity. That 150 printed on the side cowling, in my mind, meant ‘no fun, gutless, and boring’. How wrong I was… The first thing you notice with the ETX-150 is not the size of the engine b...
Post a Comment
Read more