Ford Fiesta ST review

The Fiesta ST driver benefits from a supportive (but very figure-hugging) Recaro sports seat with excellent adjustment and a steering wheel that moves up, down, forward and back by a plentiful amount. Thanks to pedals that are perfectly aligned with the seat and steering wheel, you'll feel instantly at home and in control.

Ford's Sync 3 infotainment system is standard and comes with an 8.0in touchscreen. It isn't as good as the Polo GTI's system but, for the price point, is pretty decent: it has sharp graphics, lots of features (including, in-built sat-nav, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto smartphone mirroring, a DAB radio and Bluetooth) and relatively simple menus. One gripe is that there are no physical shortcut buttons to make it easier to hop between functions, but nevertheless, it's far better than the system in the Suzuki Swift Sport and significantly more expensive Toyota GR Yaris. 

ST-3 trim adds a 10-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system (lesser trims have to make do with 7 speakers), wireless phone charging, a 4.2in instrument cluster screen, a rear view camera and rear parking sensors. You can add these options to ST-2 trim via the reasonably priced Driver Assistance Pack.

Interior quality is better than that of the Swift Sport, and the ST stands out from the rest of the Fiesta range thanks to its leather sports steering wheel, those unique Recaro seats, carbon fibre-effect trim inserts and plethora of ST badges. However, certain areas, such as the door trims, are a bit flimsy so the Polo GTI remains the plushest in class.