Drive Test: Ford Fiesta Ecoboost Titanium is a halfway ST

Vantage and DBS Superleggera. Two models which recently differentiated Fiesta’s oval front grille from the ones sculpted to long, low V12-snouted Aston Martins. But for a supercar maker on the move, Aston is having far fewer headaches compared to Ford.

Oh and it’s not the endless spate of Ford Kugas grilling themselves to ashes on the hard shoulder. Products are arriving in SA a long time after they get debuted in Europe. Take the 2018 Ford Fiesta – a car launched nearly 12 months ago has just arrived for test. The ST version of this car is only due in 2019. Ford SA is not exactly in a hurry to replace its passenger-car breadwinner.

But Fiesta remains the second strongest seller in segment behind Polo, and if you’re concerned about security, in SA it’s the Ford which carries the lower risk. Greater individuality too, although if you looked at the well-fed monthly sales you’d be quick to disagree.

Like all superminis there’s a greater push towards safety, space and technology. But if you asked us for one resounding quality the Fiesta holds above everything else, it is the way the chassis clings to corners. How the steering summons more bite from the front tyres when tightening the lock halfway through a corner.

The Fiesta has grown by millimetres and pushes harder into the scales, but that hasn’t stopped it from being a package that would use every available kilowatt to excite around Monaco’s Grand Prix circuit. To precision it adds robust linkages and damping which bodes well for the Fiesta ST.

But it’s not the best example of comfort because all the suspension joints are extra meaty causing it to get down the road with a bit of skitter, easily distracted by bumps which it then transmits into your hands and back. There’s playfulness but not a lot of maturity so you don’t exit a Fiesta feeling as relaxed as you might do in something with fluid, floaty movements.

The Fiesta represents Ford’s greatest cabin overhauls I can remember, so immediately the cabin ambience feels less cluttered and intuitive. A bright, touch-operated screen sticks more than a bezel into that free air above the dashboard but slashes the button count. The graphics, while crisp, aren’t all that interesting – it doesn’t spring to life with cute animations but also doesn’t try do everything, leaving hard buttons for climate and volume and festooning the steering wheel with everything else that would otherwise be buried in sub menus.

For a car that’s been thoroughly reworked in all areas, they don’t necessarily integrate with much panache. It lights up the tech to mask some very plain-Jane interior finishes with that same blue lighting Ford has used for the last decade.  It feels busy, haphazard in sections while its competition has either gone ultra-premium or quirky. The Fiesta is neither, so it’s not ready to move up a segment for those buyers looking for Focus’ quality tucked in a smaller bodyshell. Andrew Leopold

• SPECIFICATION
• R310 600
• 998cc, 3cyl turbo petrol, AWD, 74kW, 170Nm
• 5.2l/100km, 118g/km
• 0-100km/h in 12.2secs, 180km/h
• 1206kg
• Tester’s notes
• Chassis has ST attitude but Ford isn’t quite able to mask cheap areas like VW can