It seems as though Ford are finally delivering what enthusiasts have been crying out for: an extra hardcore and more powerful Fiesta ST. But the vehicle Ford has revealed ahead of the 2016 Geneva motor show isn’t quite a ‘Fiesta RS’ some might have been hoping for. Meet the Fiesta ST200.
The ST200 makes use of the regular Fiesta ST’s 1.6L 4-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, which has been fettled with. It now produces 147kW (200hp – hence the ST220 name) and 290Nm (214lb-ft) of torque. While the old Fiesta ST could already hit 147kW on overboost mode, the ST200 produces the same amount of power as standard – and on overboost can step things up to 158kW and 320Nm for as long as 15 seconds. Not an RS by any means, but any bump in power is welcome.
The RS200 retains its 6-speed manual, front-wheel drive configuration as expected, although Ford has shortened the final drive ratio of the differential from 3.82 to 4.06, which helped to bring the 0-100km/h time down to 6.7 seconds – or just 0.2 seconds quicker than the regular ST. The top speed has also been increased, from 220km/h to 230km/h. These improvements are so subtle that you could easily negate them by having an extra large breakfast before you went for a drive.
Ford has also fiddled with the chassis, too, and claim that they have enhanced the Fiesta’s torque vectoring control and stability control system, while the front steering knuckles have also been tweaked. The ST200 is also said to ride 15mm lower than the regular Fiesta ST, which itself is known to already have a stiff ride – so we’ll have to wait and see how the ST200 rides. It’ll also receive a quicker and sharper steering rack, and will be available in a new Storm Grey paint finish with 17″ black alloy wheels. Aside from the paint and the badging, there’s little else here to differentiate it from regular ST’s.
On the inside, Ford has continued with their incremental updates, which include charcoal trim on the Recaro sports seats, as well as silver details on the seatbelts and illuminated door sill scuff plates. as well as silver detailing on the seatbelts and illuminated door sill scuff plates.
It was once rumoured that Ford was going to bring us an even more hardcore version of the ST, but with the release of the ST200 it now seems clear that we’ll never ever see a Fiesta ST, which is a crying shame. The Fiesta ST has always been an excellent car, and the ST200 improves on it somewhat – but we can’t help but feel disappointed by it.