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Written by Ollie Kew
Badge snobs will have clicked straight past this page. Their loss. Now you"re in on Speed Week"s best-kept secret. I don"t want this to sound too school sports day", but these two are already winners. Difficult second album syndrome didn"t strike when the old Fiesta ST made way for this prettier, more mature, downsized-engine sequel. Meanwhile, Hyundai has come from nowhere to build an authentic first hot hatch that sweats credibility. These two are by no means the token bargains of Speed Week; they"ve earned their pit garages at Charade. It"s no accident that, in the supermini stakes, the new Polo GTI is absent, and the Hyundai"s pinched the latest Megane RS"s family-hatch-sized grid slot. Leaving the i30N to be curiously pored over by the quizzical Dallara and Lamborghini pit crews, I venture out for my first laps of this bonkers circuit in the Ford. Hello, old friend. We"ve already done plenty with this car in 2018 roadtrips, track work, drag races so there"s an arm around the shoulder while I tiptoe down to the hairpin and pick four different braking points, all of which turn out to be incorrect. Yep, there"s the magnetically instant turn-in, the subtle but useful bite of the Performance Pack differential, and the invasive backside nibble of the ST"s narrow, pinching chair bolsters. Doesn"t do it any favours as a grand tourer, but when the racing line is more cambered than a circus Wall of Death, the personal-space-invading seat is much more welcome. If a hot hatch doesn"t seep into your conscience and egg you on to rag it like a stolen hire car, it"s a failure. Three laps later in the ST, I"m hunting Alpines, harrying the G-Class through the chicane where it changes direction staggeringly and thumbing the stability control button. It"s so friendly, so eager to entertain. What Ford has got so right is balancing the new ST"s grip. It"s wearing trick Michelin tyres that vary their compound across the surface they"re efficient when you"re rolling along, but bite hard around the sidewalls. Wary of locking the Fiesta down in a handling straitjacket, the rear suspension is set up to unstick it.
Date written: 7 Nov 2018
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 13957
Badge snobs will have clicked straight past this page. Their loss. Now you"re in on Speed Week"s best-kept secret. I don"t want this to sound too school sports day", but these two are already winners. Difficult second album syndrome didn"t strike when the old Fiesta ST made way for this prettier, more mature, downsized-engine sequel. Meanwhile, Hyundai has come from nowhere to build an authentic first hot hatch that sweats credibility. These two are by no means the token bargains of Speed Week; they"ve earned their pit garages at Charade. It"s no accident that, in the supermini stakes, the new Polo GTI is absent, and the Hyundai"s pinched the latest Megane RS"s family-hatch-sized grid slot. Leaving the i30N to be curiously pored over by the quizzical Dallara and Lamborghini pit crews, I venture out for my first laps of this bonkers circuit in the Ford. Hello, old friend. We"ve already done plenty with this car in 2018 roadtrips, track work, drag races so there"s an arm around the shoulder while I tiptoe down to the hairpin and pick four different braking points, all of which turn out to be incorrect. Yep, there"s the magnetically instant turn-in, the subtle but useful bite of the Performance Pack differential, and the invasive backside nibble of the ST"s narrow, pinching chair bolsters. Doesn"t do it any favours as a grand tourer, but when the racing line is more cambered than a circus Wall of Death, the personal-space-invading seat is much more welcome. If a hot hatch doesn"t seep into your conscience and egg you on to rag it like a stolen hire car, it"s a failure. Three laps later in the ST, I"m hunting Alpines, harrying the G-Class through the chicane where it changes direction staggeringly and thumbing the stability control button. It"s so friendly, so eager to entertain. What Ford has got so right is balancing the new ST"s grip. It"s wearing trick Michelin tyres that vary their compound across the surface they"re efficient when you"re rolling along, but bite hard around the sidewalls. Wary of locking the Fiesta down in a handling straitjacket, the rear suspension is set up to unstick it.
Date written: 7 Nov 2018
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 13957
