Ford Fiesta ST (2011) Spied

Ford Fiesta ST Spy Shot

There’s really only one thing missing from Ford’s current Fiesta lineup – a decent performance version. Yes, we’ve had the limited edition Fiesta S1600 which looked like it was a proper performance Fiesta but turned out to be all show and no extra go. But now it looks like we have good news. There’s a Ford Fiesta ST on the way.

Caught testing near the Nurburgring, this hot Fiesta features much bigger inlets up front and a Focus RS-style diffuser out back with a couple of meaty tailpipes. Also on offer is the de rigueur body kit with a lip spoiler, roof spoiler and side skirts. There’s also a set of big alloys and sports seats.

So what we think is the Fiesta ST looks the part, but what oily bits are we going to get? Almost inevitably the ST will sport an EcoBoost lump, but which one? The most likely shout seems to be the 1.6 litre with something around 175bhp.

That would be enough to liven up the Fiesta and give it performance on a par with the new Focus ST. Thankfully, the chassis on the Fiesta is so good it will have no problem coping with the extra oomph.

In fact, we’d like to think that Ford will throw caution to the wind and chuck in the 2.0 litre EcoBoost with 250bhp at some point  to create a Fiesta RS. But that may be too much to hope for in these hair-shirt times.

So let’s be grateful that Ford has seen sense and endowed the very able Fiesta with a decent wodge of power to take on the Polo GTI (and even the new Audi A1 1.4 TFSI). So when do we get to see the Fiesta ST? Probably not at Paris next week, but going off how ‘ready’ the ST looks in the photo it can’t be far away.

We’d still like a Fiesta RS, though.

By Cars UK