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Remember when hot hatchbacks felt like a break from the rigorous commercial standard of the auto industry?
The modern descendants of these cars might be fun to drive but, at least as far as the industry is concerned, they are now not only serious cars, but also serious money-making machines. .
Being considered "brand builders" by the companies that produce them, the hot hatches are now, ahem, hot property. So much so that critical acclaim and buyer demand persuaded Ford Australia to ship in the new third generation Fiesta ST from Germany.
For a long time it seemed like we were going to miss Down Under completely. Because of its global popularity, it is evident that the internal department of Ford Performance has devoted a lot of time and effort to its work.
Notice: Australians move on to new performance car heroes
a year after the launch of the seventh-generation hatchback Fiesta on which it is based, the new ST features A list of hardware upgrades and performances that are longer and impressive in many respects than the car with which "builds its modern reputation: the Focus RS 2002.
That either the first Fiesta quick to be available with a helical limited slip differential for its driven front axle will be the gripping titled title plucked by many of its specification sheet (it should be standard in Oz and supplied by Quaife)
But it This is actually a car with so much new and interesting technical content that it is worth studying.
Geek speaks: Fiesta ST tech explained
The starting point of the car is a broken Fiesta chassis in key areas on the underside of the white body, which is itself 14 percent stiffer than that of the standard car. The new ST also has the fastest rack and the stiffest torsion beam ever mounted on a performance Ford.
She also has a particularly interesting suspension. Tenneco 's frequency selective dampers feature the front and the back. They are double valve to better manage the high and low frequency inputs that a conventional passive damper, but they are not "adaptive" as such – just smart.
In addition, Ford fits asymmetrically, directionally wound springs on the rear axle of the car, which are indeed folded in their fittings in order to apply a stabilizing lateral force on the rear wheels as well as performing the usual charge work.
The springs address a key problem that hot sedans With the twisted beam rear suspension, it has always been necessary: that, to effectively locate the rear axle and offer optimum handling precision, you need to install rings very rigid suspension that impairs driving.
According to Ford, these "torque torqueing" springs work as well as Watt in solving this problem and allow the installation of much softer bushes. Plus, they are also much lighter than a Watt link.
The Fiesta ST has a dedicated front hub design, which becomes common to cars of its ilk. It allowed Ford to lower the driving height of the car without lowering its front suspension center and maintaining control of the front swivel angle and offset of the wheels, so that avoid too much torque and direction.
The rate is slightly higher than that of the outgoing car, but as the car chassis development engineers will tell you, the new shock absorbers and pads contribute to a more mature and rounded feel of the new car. It has also been achieved without taking the important playful dynamic balance and the advanced response away from manipulation.
These engineers will also tell you that although they liked the latest Fiesta ST, she certainly had a hobby, antisocial that they simply could not justify. transfer directly to this new version.
But before doubting, it is the same engineers who, at the mid-point of the development program, sent the Pilot Sport 4S tires originally planned. "
The new engine of the ST is the one on which, I dare say, you may have already read: an all-aluminum, three-cylinder, 1.5-liter turbocharged engine that gives the car power and torque values identical to those of the four-pot 1.6-liter outgoing ST
However, it can also disable its central cylinder and operate on 66% of its normal swept volume under light load conditions. It's a three-cylinder engine capable of running on two: a first in the auto industry. Result? A 20% improvement in fuel economy and CO2 emissions in the lab compared to the former ST
More interesting perhaps, the new engine is also lighter than the one that's 39 ;He replaces. It's also the first Fiesta ST to have selectable driving modes: Normal, Sport and Track.
While browsing, this engine becomes more fruity and fruity thanks to its active system of synthesis of exhaust gas and engine. noise. There is a distant flavor of the original Focus ST five-cylinder, both on how this engine rolls and on its mid-range feel.
I am not totally sold on the crankshaft. I must say that it is because of the counterweight measures that the three pots need to roll gently at low speeds. I can not help wondering, either, how fast the engine would run, and how much power it would develop, if Ford dropped the steering wheel completely.
Still, it may be just me. Overall, there is certainly a lot of urgency, a lot of character and, despite the couple, a nice will to rev.
In many ways, the Fiesta feels like the car that it replaces: it has fleshy, fixed rate direction with which it is easy to gel despite its pace, as well as the ultimate handling response and control body brilliantly flat.
But the way he rolls is something else. Having only driven the car to a test track, I can not say for sure how it could deal with the roads of Aussie, but there is a lot more flexibility and dexterity here than at any other time. ;in the old days.
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Perhaps more importantly, on surfaces on which the drivers of the former ST might have felt the need for s & # 39; 39 Excuse them with their passenger for the selfishness of their buying decision, I guess you will not do it in the new. And it's a bit of a revelation: a Fiesta ST that passes the partner / mother-in-law test. Hurray.
Just as brilliant is the handling of the car – although we were expecting a lot of a Ford Performance product. The ST is more precise in its steering response than the latter, turning more closely, squeezing harder and remaining slightly more faithful to the intended course than its predecessor when the lateral load takes place in the rear tires.
He is certainly capable of driving faster than the old car and he has a little more stability in the middle of the turn, while cornering traction is subtly, but much stronger than with the Quaife's machinations.
Tested and noted on MOTOR Reviews
But do not be afraid: the car is still a barrel of pleasure when you disengage the stability control and unload the rear axle . On a leaking accelerator, the Fiesta can be teased in easily tamed oversteer more surely and willingly than any other hot supermini I can think of.
Its handling balance and adjustability remain outstanding, and in a way that says a lot about the philosophy of chassis engineers who think that a front-wheel drive performance car who is not sensitive to controllable takeoff oversteer is simply not worth their time and who does not understand why so many of their rivals seem to be so afraid of the phenomenon that they are trying to develop it entirely. Fortunately for Ford, I imagine that's the case
Given the number of newcomers who have recently appeared on the niche of the last Fiesta ST, and how long our first try was short we will leave the ultimate decision as to whether this car is another Ford Performance world champion for another day. It must be right up there. And it's not worse as a driver's car for what is clearly an attempt to give it a bigger sales appeal.
When this year's best affordable performance cars are measured, the Fiesta ST will take a bit of trouble.
Nemesis – Volkswagen Polo GTI
2.0-liter turbo inline-4, FWD, 147kW / 320Nm, 0-100km / h 6.7 sec 1355 kg, $ 28,000 (East)
Yet, to appear in Australia, the next generation Polo GTI grows in just about every respect. He is physically taller and gains more power and torque (147kW / 320Nm) thanks to a detuned Golf unit. The stakes were raised
QUICK FACTS
2018 Ford Fiesta ST
BODY: Hatch 3 doors, 5 seats
: front wheel
ENGINE: 1497cc inline-3, DOHC, 12v, turbocharger
BRAKE: 84.0 x 90.0mm
COMPRESSION RATIO: 9.7: 1
POWER: 147kW @ 6000rpm
COUPLE: 290Nm @ 1600-4000rpm
WEIGHT: 1262kg
WEIGHT POWER: 116kW / ton
TRANSMISSION: Manual 6-speed
SUSPENSION: MacPherson struts, anti-roll bar, twin tube dampers (f); Twistbeam, coil springs, single-tube shock absorbers (r)
L / W / H: 4068/1735 / 1469mm
PACKING: 2493mm
STEERING: electrical support- and pinion
BRAKES: 278 mm ventilated discs, 2-piston calipers (f); 253mm solid discs, single piston calipers (r)
WHEELS: 18.0 x 7.5-inch (m / m)
TIRES: Michelin Pilot Super Sport; 205/40 R18 (f / r)
PRICE: $ 30,000 (estimated)
LIKE: Perky turbo with three jars; playful dynamics; upgrade cabin
DISLIKE: It will not be here until next year; How much will that cost?
RATING: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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