By Christopher A. Sawyer
The Virtual Driver

(August 24, 2013) During my college and early professional years I owned a 1980 Ford Fiesta S, and loved it. The 1.6-liter Kent engine and four-speed manual driving the front wheels worked together like accomplished dance partners, and the 88 horsepower underhood was enough to push the diminutive hatchback from 0-60 mph in 10 seconds.

That was a respectable time for the day, and it was accompanied by a real 28 mpg on the highway. An overdrive fifth gear would have put the Fiesta solidly into the low 30s. It wasn’t until I leased a 2003 Mini Cooper that I ever found another affordable car with such a mischievous and fun personality, which says something about the state of the global auto industry and its focus on building appliances. Had the Fiesta not been rear-ended — in stop-and-go traffic! — I might never have sold it.

This was running through my mind as we walked out of the local hotel used as a staging spot for Ford’s Fiesta ST drive. Arranged in two rows like colorful Easter eggs, the sporty Fiestas promised a lot, but I was uncertain whether they would deliver. The reason was simple. When the Fiesta was reintroduced to the U.S. market in late 2009, I was unimpressed. Not by the car itself, but by the materials, the way it drove, the schizophrenic personality and more. A few key paragraphs from my review at the time might help explain:

“It’s likely that Ford choose this suspension tuning to maintain the Fiesta’s pleasing ride qualities without introducing undue ride harshness; a tuning well-suited to those buyers who will use the Fiesta primarily in a commuting role and in-city. However, it saps the chassis’ fun-to-drive nature when it is most needed, and makes it feel a bit unsettled. Yes, you can push on without worry — the car handles what you can throw at it — but why bother? You don’t get any return on the investment, so to speak.

"That’s a problem in a car whose design suggests a bit of mischief, and a “C’mon let’s drive!” personality. Ford really needs to rethink the suspension calibration and tire choice to give the chassis back its character and capability without introducing unacceptable harshness. [The spring rates are spot-on. It’s the bushings, dampers and rear roll control that are the problem.]

“When Ford announced its intention to bring the Fiesta to North America, those familiar with the company’s past inability to produce a quality, comfortable, friendly small car were worried. Would it become a shrunken Americanized transportation device, or would it be a funky Euro-style small hatch ready to rock and roll? The answer is: Neither. Though the Fiesta retains much of its cheeky style, it has been overlaid with just enough “premium” touches (the thick chrome trim around the automatic gear lever being one example) to blunt its personality. It rides well, but lacks the sporty nature expected in such a small, nimble car. Safety is high on its list of attributes, but this desire to be safe overpowered any overt desire to have unmitigated fun… As it now stands, the Fiesta is a fine small car, but one that is more serious in its demeanor than its youthful styling would suggest.”

With this in mind, my co-driver and I jumped into a Race Red tester with the Recaro Package and navigation, and pulled out into traffic. Soon we were out of the city and on two-lane strips through open country or under canopies of green trees. Farmland and cottages were present in equal measure, as were lakes and acres of corn. It was our own private Nurburgring in a Field of Dreams setting.

That’s when the giggles started. Uncontrollable, ear-to-ear grins and giggles punctuated by bursts of profanities uttered in amazement. The Focus ST had been good over these same roads. The Fiesta ST, on the other hand, was proving to be nothing short of fantastic. Part of the Fiesta’s advantage over its bigger brother is its smaller size. The car feels more intimate and lighter on its feet. It almost makes you believe that you could thread the eye of a needle at speed, thanks in large part to the heavily revised suspension.

The twist beam rear axle is unique to the ST, and provides a much needed increase in rear roll stiffness. It also fixes the old car’s wonky front/rear roll couple, and makes each end work together. Also unique are the springs and dampers, which provide a firm ride but not a harsh one. The front end’s geometry was optimized through the use of new front knuckles, and the steering quickened by the switch to a shorter steering arm. In addition, the electric power steering was recalibrated to provide greater heft without an equivalent increase in effort, and the ride height was lowered by 15 millimeters.

Some might be disappointed that the ST rides on 17-in alloy wheels, but the engineer’s reluctance to put 18-in wheels and tires under the fenders should be applauded. Wheels that size would have required tires with stiff “licorice whip” sidewalls, and given the Fiesta a rock-hard ride.

Upsizing to 17-in wheels allowed the engineers to fit larger front discs with 54-mm calipers, while the car’s capabilities demanded the rear drums be jettisoned for a set of discs and a new tandem master cylinder. Given their druthers, the engineering team would have preferred wheels no larger than 16 inches in order to make the Fiesta ST’s ride just a bit more supple and refined without losing grip or balance.

As if to prove that bigger isn’t always better, the 1.6-liter EcoBoost has a broad torque band that — like its Focus ST big brother — lets you carry a higher gear in most situations. This helps drivability and fuel economy, but few mortals will be able to resist the siren call of the turbocharged four pot when faced with an open road.

Disappointing in other applications, the high-output 1.6 comes alive in this car. On premium fuel it produces 197 hp at 6,000 rpm and 202 lb-ft at 4,200, and returns 26 city/35 highway. It’s helped along by a short-throw, sweet-shifting six-speed manual gearbox (the only one available in the Fiesta ST) that keeps the engine in the power band. Ford claims the combo will push the 2,742 pounds from 0-60 mph in 6.9 seconds and on to a top speed of 137 mph. And while I will accept Ford’s claims about the car’s top speed, the Fiesta ST feels quicker; more like 6.5 seconds to 60 from a dead stop.

It does this while not subjecting the passengers to excessive noise, vibration of harshness. Most of the engine sound heard in the cabin in fact, is piped in through a “sound symposer” that pipes intake noise through a tuned resonator before it enters the cabin. Both VW’s GTI and the Focus ST have the same technology, but it really comes into its own in the hot Fiesta. The seductive growl urges you to push on, while the sheer quickness with which the car gathers steam magnifies the sensation. For such a small motor, it is surprising just how hard it will pull though the gears.

Speaking of gears, the combination of turbocharging, electronic control systems, a short-throw gearbox and a slick clutch action flatter the driver. Seamless up- and downshifts are possible, and on the open road you find yourself changing down as each corner approaches in anticipation of using the ready torque to squirt out the other side and down the next straight. But, as I said earlier, the torque is such that, under less frenetic circumstances, you can carry a higher gear (or two) through the corner without losing momentum. It’s almost a textbook definition of flexibility.

So the 2014 Fiesta ST is perfect, right? Of course not. The front seat passenger could use a folding overhead grab handle. Unfortunately, that item was removed from all Fiestas to save money. The heated Recaro sport seats/heated outside mirror package is a wildly expensive $1,995. That’s a lot of money for a relatively low-value package and, unless you plan to track the car or need the adulation of your peers, save some money and do without. It would be nice, however, to get the heating function for mirrors and seats separately.

To its credit, Ford makes only one tune for the Fiesta ST, but this means you are stuck with summer tires no matter where you live. Yes, you can order all-season or winter tires for those times when the weather is less than ideal, but the person leasing the ST might find this a ridiculous expense. The buyer should be given the choice of summer of all-season tires when ordering, at no extra charge.

The aluminum pedals are another potential problem area. In wet and sloppy weather, the stylish rubber nubs on their surface (brake and clutch only, the accelerator is naked aluminum) will be hard-pressed to prevent wet shoes from slipping off the pedal surface. Plus, the throttle could be a touch closer to the brake to make heel-and-toe actuation a bit more natural. Finally, the Fiesta’s sloping rear roofline cuts off the upper edge of the view from behind, and the “anti-drip wipe” wipers have a bad habit of smearing the windshield in sloppy weather.

How the Fiesta ST will hold up against the drudgery of day-to-day driving is hard to say, though the car’s flexibility and surprisingly well-resolved ride suggest it won’t demand that driver and passengers deal with hardships in order to enjoy brief flings on open roads or rented tracks. You can use the Fiesta ST like you would any small car to travel from Point A to Point B or carry people and things, all while dawdling through traffic.

However, after one open road run, you’d have to ask: “Why would I want to do something so boring?”

The Virtual Driver