2005 Ford Fiesta ST150 from UK and Ireland - Comments

No faults so far (I would hope not, too)

After five years with an infinitely troublesome, but fun to drive Saxo VTS, I was looking seriously at a Clio 182 Cup, but had reservations about the build quality and reliability. Two friends who had (admittedly older) Clio 172's were thoroughly disgusted with the quality and faults of their cars, and backup from Renault UK, so despite the Clio's very impressive driving characteristics, I was reluctant to hand over the cash. When the ST was announced I decided to hold off and try one, and I'm very pleased I did.

Let's get one thing out of the way. The ST is not as quick off the mark as the Clio. The Renault's engine is an absolute screamer and goes like a missile when you give it its head. The Fiesta's is a bit lazier and more midrange orientated. That's not to say it isn't quick or won't rev - far from it, but the Clio definitely has the edge. On the flip side, the ST feels just as quick if not quicker than the Clio below 5,000 RPM which let's face it is more useful in day to day driving.

In all other respects however, and after nearly 5,000 miles of use, I cannot fault the ST. The handling is brilliant - proper old school hot hatch stuff with a bit of lift off oversteer always available, lovely, quick geared and perfectly weighted steering that is full of feel, and a general "thrash the living daylights out of me" feel as soon as you slip behind the wheel. After the Focus' 6 year reign as the drivers car of its class, it would have been little short of criminal for Ford to have screwed up here.

Like most Fords, the driving position is very natural (something again I couldn't really get on with in the Clio) and it has lovely Recaro style seats which are snug and firm, but very comfortable. The dash plastics and build quality wouldn't disgrace a car of twice this price, and coming from the flimsy Saxo, it feels like a substantially better piece of engineering all round.

The engine was very tight when new, and my car felt substantially less responsive than the 1500 mile demonstrator I tried. However, patience and restraint for 1,000 miles (my choice, not the manufacturers) paid off and now it flies. The engine is a little coarse at high revs, and there is quite a lot of intrusion when you're working it hard, but they've engineered in just the right amount of induction roar and tailpipe noise to give it a purposeful quality. It's not as sweet as the Clio's unit, but I like the fact that you can hear it working. Too many modern cars are silenced to the point of blandness.

Reliability has so far been impeccable, and to be honest I would expect nothing else at this age and mileage. The 2.0 Zetec engine is well proven, and I know several Mondeos and Focuses with this engine that have blitzed 150,000 miles without a single mechanical hiccup. It used a bit of oil in the first 2,000 miles, but this has settled nicely. I last topped it up at 3,200 miles and it's still over half way to max on the dipstick. The car gets driven hard (it just begs for it) so that's quite acceptable for me.

It's too early to comment on dealers as the car hasn't needed any attention yet. My brother-in-law runs a company Focus and uses a local dealer which he recommends, so hopefully they will be OK. The other good thing with Ford ownership is having three dealers within a 15 mile radius of my house.

So to summarise, it's a fast, fun, slightly coarse rocketship which really feels like it's been set up by people who care about driving. It's well made, reliable (so far touch wood) and comfortable enough to use daily without discomfort. Power junkies will buy the Clio for its insane engine, but as a package, and to own and pay for out of your own pocket, I would argue this is the better car. As for performance, bear in mind that German magazine Auto Bild got this car around the infamous Nurburgring Nordschleife just a tenth of a second slower than the more powerful 182.

I only use it on the road anyway, and so far I'm chuffed to bits.

An excellent, well written review!

Very well written, and useful indeed; what a delight to see that people know what they are talking about! Felt I should say that (plus I'm also crossed between Clio Cup and Fiesta ST, an obvious choice for some). I was impressed to see that all the points you mention are relevant to me (even the engine noise, although I like them sweet;-) and from the practical perspective. Although I confess I probably wouldn't want to buy second hand from you;-)

Excellent review - well written, detailed and covered all the main points. Especially useful for me as I am torn between the Renault Sport Clio and the ST. Will definitely got for the ST methinks!

Better get that deposit saved...!

My god why are you not writting for 'top gear'!!??

I have the same dilema. Cup or ST?

I think the ST now!

Cheers!!

Very good review agree you should review cars!

To all of those people who have decided to opt for the ST, let me just say this. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!

What a great all round wee car. Great fun, practical, great fun, reliable, great fun, good looking (without the stripes), great fun... need I say more?

Had my performance blue ST since April and I'm nudging on 10,000 miles already. Every single one has been a joy. From motorway to B-road, it has been a GAS (especially the B-roads)

My advice. Go for it!!

P.s. I'm saving hard at the moment to trade up in a years time for the Focus ST. Wow, that looks like some machine.

Thanks for all the positive comments guys! :o)

I was over at my local Ford dealer having the 12,500 mile service done, and one of the service advisors told me of rumours that Ford are going to release an "official" tuning package for the car, along similar lines to the BMW "Works" pack for the Cooper S. There are no confirmed dates or specs yet, but they reckon it will take the car up to around 180 bhp, and with full Ford warranty support. It will be offered as a factory option on new orders, but can be retro-fitted to existing cars. How true this is I don't know.

I will be looking into this, but if anyone else hears anything, please post it here.

Still well chuffed with the car. First service cost £114, and the car was returned valeted inside and out. The engine is definitely still loosening up, and the fresh oil has taken the edge off that slight harshness. I think I will do an oil change myself at mid-point next time, as the oil was clearly dirty enough at 12,500 miles to affect the smoothness of the engine.

The car still has an unblemished reliability / fault record. I wonder if I could have said the same had I bought the Clio, as I certainly couldn't say it about my old Saxo.

Just road tested st 150 and was very impressed. I also was torn between st and 182, but on reflection as I intend to track and hill-climb it, the st has just won my vote. it may not have the power of a 182 but the Clio is at the end of its development, and I'm sure the st will be a better bet in the long term with all the mods. that are bound to come on line. with a bit of further tuning I'm sure it will be the car to beat.

Clio 182 will have more mods than the festa coz its a lot more popular, and companies only design tuning parts for cars which have a lot of young custom.

The Clio has been around for years (especially if you count the 172 as well), so it's bound to have more aftermarket options. All other things being equal though, a Ford will usually outsell a Renault so give it time.

Hey, Seems I’ve got the same problem as everyone elts, I can't decide between the clio and st. I’m swaying more towards the st as its cheaper to run and not French!!. I too had a saxo vts and although they were very fun to drive, the dealers couldn’t fix any problem I had with it. (and there were lots). One question for the writer of this article, how does the st compare to your vts? Has it got more go to it, as the st is supposed to be slower off the mark? Is it quicker than the vts 0 – 100mph with more bhp? Cheers.

If your going for performance, then the clio. if not the fiesta. ford will hold its value better than clio as well.

What sort of MPG's are you getting with your ST's? just curious to see what people get in the real world, as I am considering one of these as an alternative to a Clio 182. My last Clio 172 (stolen) returned an amazing 37mpg overall, now I'm used to that, I couldn't cope with less than 30.

My girlfriends SportKa only manages a miserly 31mpg (even on longer journeys) hoping the Fiesta is better...

PS- Is the fiesta engine just the same one as fitted to new focus and Mondeo?

The Engine in The Fiesta ST is actually the Mazda 2 litre, it is a very well designed engine with oversized valves etc, so there will be good tuning possibilities.

Look on this website to see how well deisgned they are:

http://www.sbdev.co.uk/History_files/History_DuratecTuning.htm.

Living in the states, I feel highly underprivileged when it comes to good economy cars with a bit of style.

While visiting europe, I drove a Focus C-Max and the quality and versatility didn't compare to any of the cheaper fords offered in the US I simply fell in love with it and wanted to bring it back with me. how does this car compare to the C-Max? neither the Fiesta nor the C-Max are available in the US, but I can at least get a Fiesta from Mexico for about 11,000 USD for the best package- would that be worth it?

I just looked at the Focus 5 door and craftsmanship is just sad - I also found out that the Mazda 3 hatchback is built on the C-Max so I might get that instead.