Ford Fiesta ST review – interior and tech
Interior’s simple but effective. New seats are excellent
The Fiesta’s cabin won’t be remembered as a design classic, but it does the job with solid build quality and good visibility. Material quality is good for the class, and while it doesn’t have the crystal-clear new infotainment display found on the larger Focus, it counters with physical air con controls.
It has picked up a big digital dial pack that’s found throughout the modern Ford range, but it comes with no additional customisation, and there’s a slight latency that can be irritating when changing between drive modes or making quick getaways. There was also nothing wrong with the previous analogue needles.
The new seats are brilliant, though. Ford’s replaced the previous Recaro buckets with a new set of in-house seats that are just as supportive and even more adjustable. The seat base is now variable for length (previously a bugbear for, ahem, shorter drivers), and look even smarter thanks to their integrated headrests.
The steering wheel is perhaps both a little too large in diameter and a little too thick in profile – the trend for fat wheel rims shows no sign of diminishing – but overall this is a good driving position, with decently placed pedals and a snappy gearlever a relatively short movement away from the wheel.
On the infotainment side, all models include an 8-inch screen with Ford’s Sync system. A B&O Play audio system is still optional, and a worthy upgrade if you complete long journeys. Various safety systems are also included, while on the performance front you get technologies such as launch control, flat-shift gear changes, and three driver modes – Normal, Sport and Track – with varying levels of steering weight, throttle response, exhaust noise and stability control intervention.
