Sporty Fiestas have long found favour with car buyers. Ford hopes the Fiesta ST will be no exception. ANDY RAYFIELD reports.

At about the time I was ripping up my L plates and venturing out on to the road without a responsible adult by my side for the first time, there were two aspirational cars of choice for the discerning teenage motorist: The Fiesta XR2 and the Escort XR3.

Sure, some went for the Golf GTi, but they were few and far between - the Fords were the ones to have.

But slowly, throughout the Eighties and Nineties, the VW grew in popularity, then the French really got their act together and began to produce some serious hot hatches.

All the while, with the competition hotting up, the XRs were undergoing an image annihilation. They became a ‘boy racer’ brand and were doomed.

And that was wrong, because the bottom line was, they were good, solid, sporty cars.

Fast forward to the early part of the new century and Ford is on a high. It is clearly time to take on the market in the hot hatch sector - but it would be clearly wrong to resurrect the XR brand.

Introducing the ST.

Fast, nimble, fun - the Fiesta ST takes all of Ford’s experience in producing sporty cars and packages it in an understated but still exciting bodyshell.

Performance wise, it’s hard to beat with the 2.0 litre Duratec engine powering the ST to 60 in a shade under eight seconds, building up to a top speed of 129mph.

Styling, inside and out, is exciting but understated enough to steer away from boy racer chic.

You’ll spot one in your mirror by the hefty front bumpers and shark like headlights.

Elsewhere side moulding strips and colour-keyed detailing such as the door handles and mirrors and the 17-inch multispoke alloys add to that ‘performance’ feel.

Once inside you can’t fail to be seduced by the racing-style seats embroidered in black leather, finished with ST logos.

A leather steering wheel, white metal pedals and a metal finish for the handbrake and door handles help give the interior add a quality feel.

It drives beautifully and the handling is impeccable.

Ford is hoping that the ST will place the Fiesta smack bang back in the middle of the small, sporty, fun-to-drive market.

Drive one and you will have to feel that it is mission accomplished.

FACTFILE

Ford Fiesta ST

PRICE: £13,595 – on the road

INSURANCE GROUP: 13E

CO2 EMISSIONS: 179g/km

PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph 7.9s / Max speed 129mph

FUEL CONSUMPTION: (urban) 27.2mpg / (extra urban) 49.6mpg / (combined) 38.2mpg

STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Driver’s and passenger airbags, ABS