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Ford's RS tuning firm has teamed up with Mountune Performance, a motorsport company owned by Roush, to offer two stages of tuning kit for the Fiesta ST.
The Stage 1 kit costs £1,435 with fitting an additional cost, and includes new air-induction and exhaust, and an engine tweak to the 2.0-litre Duratec engine to produce 162bhp.
Stage 2 costs £1,838 (also excluding fitting), and comes with the same upgrades as the basic pack plus new camshafts and valve springs, with power boosted to 182bh...Read the full article

The fiesta st has needed this since day one.  The standard car is barely faster than my lowly 1.7.  Expensive for what it is though.  Why not make the standard car this fast from scratch?  The engine is obviously capable without putting strain on it otherwise they wouldnt stand by the warrenty.

This sort of thing annoys the hell out of me. Manufacturers er on the side of caution then spend the rest of the time playing catch up when another manufacturer puts out a model with twice the power.

always good to have something in the bag :)

means also that they can bring out new models for car mags to review and keep that model in the news.

 

The ST was always down on power compared to the like of the Clio and mini. ALways wondered why they never used the ST170 engine in it, even if it was just for the headline figure.

Having drive an FST for hundreds of miles, I have to conlude, that yes, it could do with more power, but at the same time the depth of talent in the chassis more than makes up for it. I live in London and surroundings, and the most used part of the FST was the 140 lb/ft of torque, although it really could do with it @3000rpm.

But I think for the next FST, should be the 2.5T five cylinder engine with a reduced 210bhp and something like 225 lb/ft...

Why is there this obsession with power? I agree with Aston Parkes to a point.

A well sorted car, unless driven in a straight line, will always win out over power. It will allow the driver to express him/herself and reward accurate inputs with smooth and steady progress.

Presumably with regard to power, there is a finite point that this 'virtue' can be developed too. When do physics take over? Seems to me to be a moot point with front wheel drive cars. And if you need an ECU to 'dip' the power at certain points, then what is the point?

Let's not even get into the lack of ability that 90% of motorists have to manage and administer that power.

 

 

All you need to do is look at the very first Mondeos - their handling more than made up for the lack of power in most versions.

My last car had 200bhp which was about 200bhp too much going through the front wheels not to mention 220lbft of torque which I am under no illusions was the result of the auto box's ultimate demise!

I understand the point being made about well sorted cars, even if they are down on power being great to drive, but look at the competition. The Clio started with 172 and is a great handling car.

Ford, having made the Fiesta a good handler, should have known the chassis could take more from the off, but they shot themselves in the foot before they got out of the blocks.

Jon Hardcastle:

Ford, having made the Fiesta a good handler, should have known the chassis could take more from the off, but they shot themselves in the foot before they got out of the blocks.

I couldnt agree more.  The ST should be more worthy of its badge.  If they can whack a turbo on the corsa whats stopping ford from doing the same?  The old Zetec S was a great warm hatch, one of the best of the its generation, but that was 5,6 years ago, and the game has been raised considerably since then.

Anyone driven the first 205GTi with 105 brake?

Was there ever a more sublime car to drive that was affordable? It's about execution of concept, the Fiesta will be quieter, more powerful and safer but is it any quicker in the real world?

Suspect not.

I drove my sister's Mk1 Golf GTi recently and hung onto the back of a messily driven Boxster cross country without any real drama. Sure, he left me on the straights because I kept to the limit but I caught him up in the bends much to his obvious annoyance.

 

 

is that why you soiled your pants?

 

re: this power thing.  another reason why it needs the power is to get that "headline figure" up.  lets face it, headline figures sell cars.  people like to play automotive top trumps with their cars in the pub, it makes them feel good.

a car's characteristic is more than just about power though.  my old ATR had 212 bhp, but felt like it had about half that most of the time due to the VTEC nature of the engine.  manufacturers can tune cars in many ways to suit the nature of a car.

can't think of a witty one-liner to finish my post.