2005 Ford Fiesta ST 150 from UK and Ireland - Comments

None!

Fantastic car! Had a Zetec S prior to the ST and thought that was good! but the ST is something else.

Despite being a small hatch the build quality and comfort of the car is more like you would find in a quality saloon, seats are comfortable, wind noise non existent the car is well kitted out and all the controls are easy to hand.

Performance - well, handling is phenomenal no body roll, stable at high speeds (even at about 130 mph doesnt seem scary) and can match or better most cars on the road. My only criticism is that it doesn't feel that fast straight line 0-60 but from 60 mph onward it pulls and pulls leaving any following cars as tiny dots in the rear view mirror (often much to their surprise)! Great fun on the motorway and back lanes too due to taught handling!

I love this car! (just wish it had an extra 20bhp or so)!

I have recently taken delivery of my Performance Blue ST150 and after 1500 miles I am very impressed. I was amazed by how much the engine loosens up with miles and feels a lot punchier now, particularly toward the upper end of the rev range.

One thing I am pig sick of already is people asking how it compares to the Clio 182. This was my view:

Performance: Clio quicker by a fair way. You have to thrash it to within an inch of its life though.

Handling: Very little in it.

Feel: Fiesta's trump card IMO. Lovely steering, sharp, but progressive brakes, perfect heel and toe pedal layout, knife through butter gearbox. Steering apart, the Clio can't match it.

Build quality: Again, the Fiesta by a country mile. Trim, plastics and build quality wouldn't disgrace a mid spec saloon. Clio feels cheap and tacky and both demonstrators I drove had numerous creaks and squeaks despite less than 1500 miles on the clock. There is more engine and road noise in the Ford though.

Running costs: Again the Fiesta - 3 groups lower insurance, and Ford parts are about the cheapest available.

I also read an article in Autocar this week that said despite a 32 bhp difference, the ST and 182 are within a tenth of a second of each other around the Nurburgring Nordschleife.

Not regretting my decision so far. When I have more miles on the clock I'll post a review.

I think you will find the clio has won almost all tests on hatchback handling, st feels stodgy and looks crap, if you have to buy a ford opt for the focus st. fiesta is more like the annoying little brother.

Original review update.

Now done 8000 miles and the engine has loosened up considerably. Feels much punchier in the midrange and much more eager to rev. Quite noisy, but I like it - quite like an "old school" hot hatch in this respect.

Build quality continues to be a strength. The car still looks, feels and smells "new" inside. The seat fabrics are unmarked, there is no hint of a rattle or creak from anywhere, and nothing has broken or failed. I seriously doubt I could have claimed the same for a Clio.

To the commenter who claims the Clio has won every hot hatch handling test, you obviously read different magazines to me. Every comparison I've read has marked the Fiesta down slightly on its relative lack of pace to the Clio, but has found it very hard to fault in the chassis department. In any case, the Fiesta is brilliant in its own right and as I said before, doesn't fall apart like everything with a Renault badge tends to. Does it really look crap? Err... OK. Because the Clio is real pin-up material...

I've also heard rumours from my Ford dealer that a "works" type upgrade is in the offing, which will push the power up to somewhere around the 170-180 bhp mark with complete Ford warranty support. The Duratec engine is known for being strong and tuneable (the kit car market loves it!), so this doesn't sound unrealistic.

Anyway, well pleased with the car still, and if the odd Clio 182 does pull away from me at the lights, I can live with it. No hot hatch is fast in the great scheme of things, and if you want outright power, buy something else. Fun is what counts, and the Fester does that brilliantly and with real quality to the engineering and build. Nothing else in the class can do both.

Crap chassis and engine sound like a chainsaw thanks to a chain driven system. high insurance group.

Why is everyone going on about the 182 its old news oh yeah and its crap, they are now taking orders for the renault 192 and that does look cool, better than the clio. I am only 20 and I own an ST 150 mainly because its cheap insurance well I say cheap £2300 annual premium, however when I turn 21 I will certainly be buying a 192. Renault have really cleaned up their act and trust me you are not going to be able to fault their build quality its gonna be very good. The only thing I will be concerned about is the steering It will be girly and It will not have much feel to it.

I am not taking anything away from the ST it's a fantastic little car quick and the handling is superb, If it was not I would have bought one.

To the guy who made comments on the 15th May, why would we "trust you" with your comments about the new Clio Sports build quality and why will the steering be "girly" and "have no feel"?, how do you know this when the car isn't even for sale yet and I've yet to see any road tests at this point! What have you based these assumptions on? To confuse things further you think the old Clio 182 is "crap", a bold statement going against the general consensus of the entire British motoring press, so why won't the new car be "crap"? On top of this you don't even know the correct name of the new Clio Sport, it's a Clio 197 not a 192!

LOL.

The Fiesta is only 2 tenths slower than the 182 around the Nurburgring Nordschleife, which considering it's 32 bhp down says it all about the chassis.

The Clio 182 is in another league matey, it competes with the Cooper S and the type R.

That's why the Fiesta ST has cheaper insurance.

Very true, I've had a clio 172 for 2 years, fantastic car and yes it is very fast so no it is NOT a crap car by any means, I have now decided to go for a fiesta ST as the build quailty is better and the costs of insurance etc are lower.

Don't get me wrong I loved my clio, but it is an old car now and its time to move on, I've looked at the clio 197 and I'm not paying £16k for a clio!! most of the goodies aren't even standard so your looking at £17k for a clio! when I can get a fiesta ST fully loaded for £12k!! yeah it may be a little slower, but who cares, 150bhp is quicker than most things out there!

The 197 is far to overpriced for what your getting, for 2k more you could get a Focus ST and speaking from experience there fantastic cars.

I have had the st for 2 months now and the second month I had it I put a turbo on the st, from 150bhp to 225bhp an it goes like anything an beats those little clio and the type r an belive me when I say this now it can even beat a scooby (depends on the car) an the older rs modles. it's a lovely car cheap as well an as soon you wack a turbo on an a dumpvalve n a wastegate an some 18inc rims it does look the busines an is the busines.

Hi would love to know were you got your turbo done please ia have had my fiesta st now for 5 months from new and only 2.5k later iam after a turbo to up the anti can you help point in the direction or give rough cost many thanks.

Hi pumabuild do a 2.3 convertion they will know.

I agree about it being pointless comparing the standard ST with the 172/182, because the ST was not made to compete with the faster/lighter/flimsier (older) clios. However,in the real world of everyday driving (especially on congested English roads where ultimate performance figures aren't all that relevant), I think the Fiesta is the much more complete package for the money: the engine, despite producing 'only' 150bhp is a gutsy performer (can keep up with a Focus ST170 on the twisties) and ideal for the Fiesta chassis (anyway, if you must, the engine CAN be tuned fairly easily for more bhp).

The build quality is surprisingly good - this car will still look good/go well as new in a few years, whereas most 172/182s will have disintegrated/been run into the ground.

The chassis/handling is sweet and I adore the looks, espeically in white with just blue side stripes. Very comfortable (unlike some small cars I could mention with abysmal driving positions) - gotta love those seats which hug you so well!

It's reasonably cheap to run: IG13, not bad economy for what you get in performance terms, fairly cheap parts/servicing etc. Granted, the fast clio has a more hard-core old-school hatch feel to it, but times have moved on, and just because it's a bit more quick and lairy, it still doesn't cut it for me - I find the Fiesta a lot more solid (but not dull), just as much fun and a car I'll still want to own 2 years from now. But like I said, the ST150 appeals for different reasons to the quick clio. Save the 172/182 fanboy stuff for CTR owners etc LOL

Both are nice cars, 182's and st150's. I have just ordered an st150 and the reason for this is simple, in my opinion they outclass the 182 in looks, rarer, better handling and most importantly much much better to tune up the engine. The clio 182 is a highly tuned engine and you would not get much more bhp without turbocharging it whereas the st is not as highly tuned hence being able to tune it up much better, oh and yea with the £3000 your saving by buying the st you can treat yourself to a week in the sun :)