We drove the Fiesta ST in March. Head here for our review.
What It Is: Ford's smallest fast car. Or is it Ford's fastest small car?
Why It Matters: Small + fast = good.
Platform: The Fiesta's, but empowered. Offered only as a five-door hatchback, the ST packs larger front brakes and discs instead of drums in back. The front brakes will perform torque-vectoring duties, but unlike its Focus big brother, the Fiesta ST won't get torque-steer compensation. There's a lower and stiffer suspension, a quicker steering ratio, and other new equipment, which all together slaps on an extra 150 pounds.
Powertrain: A 1.6-liter turbocharged four that makes 178 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque when it's in the Fusion. Here, though, intake and exhaust improvements plus some reordering of the ones and zeros in the powertrain computer puff those figures up to 197 and 214, respectively. A six-speed manual transmission will be standard; the option will be walking.
Competition: Fiat 500 Abarth, Mini Countryman S and Countryman John Cooper Works.
What Might Go Wrong: Without a torque-steer-mitigation scheme like the Focus ST's (which minimizes wander with both the brakes and the electric power steering), keeping this Fiesta pointed in a straight line could be as fruitless as trying to keep a T-shirt on the Incredible Hulk.
Estimated Arrival and Price: Fall of 2013, at about $22,000.
Source: caranddriver.com
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