Goodwood Test: Ford Fiesta 2022 Review

The Ford Fiesta has been the best in class for a number of years now, but in the last year or so Ford has put more money and resources behind the Puma, which in turn led to the Fiesta falling out of the top-10 best-selling cars in the UK in 2021. This shift in sales does not bring into question the Fiesta’s quality, however it does indicate how market demand has changed. The question is, can this new facelifted model bring the Fiesta back into the big leagues?

Alongside that, it appears as though the Fiesta has become more than just a cheap and easy supermini, particularly in the case of the Fiesta ST-Line Vignale model you see here, which with a long list of optional extras costs around £28,000. This puts it above even the Fiesta ST, which has traditionally been considered the the top of the range. If you’re going to price the Vignale around your high-performance model, it’ll have to do something significantly impressive to make it worthwhile. So, let’s dig in and see what this car is all about.

Styling has been a strong point for the Fiesta for a long time now, and the fairly subtle changes made on this updated model have continued that trend. The front grill is a little larger than the previous iteration which sees the Ford badge now mounted upon it. If really pressed, we’d have to say we preferred the predecessor’s front end, but the facelift is still a great looking car.

Other than some new wheels, 18-inch Pearl Grey as standard on the ST-Line Vignale, and very slight changes to the headlights, there really isn’t much to discuss. It’s still one of the best-looking superminis on the market.

The real selling point of the Fiesta over rivals including the Vauxhall Corsa and Peugeot 208 is the driving performance. Ford has put an emphasis on the fun of driving in recent years and it has paid off. There are three petrol engines on offer, all 1.0-litre EcoBoost units producing either 100PS (74kW), 125PS (92kW) or 155PS (114kW), the former a conventional engine, the latter two both mild-hybrids. We had a125PS car on test and while not lacking in grunt, it certainly didn’t fill us with joie de vivre, more an acceptance that we’re miles away from the levels of fun delivered by the Fiesta ST. That brings us on to what this ST-Line Vignale spec is really about. Our test car was fitted with a seven-speed automatic gearbox which, on the face of it, just doesn’t sit right in what is supposed to be a fun little supermini. However, what we have here is the grown up, less energetic Rolls-Royce of the Fiesta range. Refinement and comfort are the focus. It’s less Tesco car park thrills and more Waitrose wide bay parking.

Not a lot has changed on the inside compared to this car's predecessor. It’s a little dark and moody, but that’s not really a criticism, more an observation of the current trend that sees many other alternatives filling your eyes with changeable colour panels as if you were a 13-year-old trying to find the right phone cover that encapsulates your personality. In other words, the interior is fine.

The interior’s main upgrade over the previous model is the screen, and it's a welcome one. As someone who drives a car from an era well before these iPad-style screens were commonplace, I have to admit it makes a world of difference. At 12.3-inches it’s the right sized screen to be easily usable without being as intrusive as the canvas painting-sized screens that are starting to become the norm amongst luxury car brands.

We’ve mentioned the screen’s positives above, but it’s the extra touches in the interior’s tech that help the Vignale to stand out from the rest of the Fiesta range. The B&O sound system is impressive, and this optional extra includes a wireless charging pad, another touch that adds to the argument for the ST-Line Vignale’s viability as an alternative to the ST.

The Driver Assistance Pack, Parking Pack and that B&O premium sound system will cost you an extra £1,025 as optional extras, but these are the refinements that set the Vignale apart, making them somewhat essential if you want to justify the purchase. One slight criticism of the Driver Assistance Pack is its overly cautious crash detection system. If I’m ten metres back from a car slowly turning into Aldi and I have enough time to read the entire Haynes manual before having to react, it’s not nice when I am surrounded by warning beeps (from a lovely sound system of course) and a red screen as if I’ve got several missiles locked onto my fighter jet and the only option is to eject. On the morning commute, it certainly wakes you up.

With options taking it to £28,405, it may look like a miscalculation by the Ford marketing team, but it’s actually the high-spec option resulting in an almost perfect daily commuter. If you’re not looking for a top-end performance hot hatch, but want something fun to drive with good levels of refinement, then this is a tempting solution. However, it doesn’t quite justify the price when the base spec starts at £16,620. We’re not sure where £12,000 has been added. In short: great car, too expensive.