GRR Garage: Ford Fiesta ST – welcome to Goodwood!

This is the third attempt I've made at starting this report. They're only short so it shouldn't really take such a long time to find an intro, but sometimes there's nothing you can root out of your mind other than things that have been said a thousand times before. So sod it, let's just go with them.

It's the most fun you can have on the road, you can't use supercars really so this is all you need, it's the most fun car you can have for under £25,000 and it's the king of hot hatchbacks. These are just some of the traps you immediately find yourself falling into the moment you begin to write about the Ford Fiesta ST. 

Why? Because even just on an initial inspection all of the above are true. The new ST had a huge amount to live up to after its exceptional predecessor and somehow it's done so, but also kissed the old one on both cheeks and pushed it off a cliff. 

How can a company delete a cylinder from a car that only had four to begin with and make it better? Well, they just can. And it'll cock a wheel whenever you want. 

OK, that's all the clichés smashed out in a few paragraphs – it's safe to say we're pretty happy with our new long-termer. If a car can have you grinning between the gates of the Goodwood Motor Circuit and the nearby roundabout you know you've made the right choice.

MPG this week: 38.7

Photography by Pete Summers.