• Excellent fuel economy for a performance car
• Cheap to service and maintain
• Solid residual values 

How much does it cost to run?

Ford Fiesta ST running costs are impressively low running for this type of car, due to its 1.5-litre three-cylinder engine and PCP finance offers that compare favourably against less fun-to-drive rivals.

Contributing to affordable PCP monthly payments for the Fiesta ST are relatively low APR charges and a deposit contribution discount at the time of writing, plus reasonably strong residual values. Together these mean that you pay for a relatively low proportion of the car’s values over the length of the contract. 

The new engine sports just three cylinders, compared with the previous version’s four-cylinder motor. Although performance is the order of the day, when you’re not using the Fiesta ST’s full potential, the engine shuts down one if its cylinders to save fuel and emissions. Like most modern cylinder-on-demand systems we didn’t notice this working – so it was either broken or (more likely) very effective.

This results in strong claimed fuel economy of 42.8mpg and 149-150g/km of CO2 output, despite the ST’s speedy acceleration when all three cylinders are in use. Perhaps more impressive, is that we achieved a real-world 40.1mpg fuel economy figure over 11,000 miles with our Fiesta ST long-termer. 

Ford models normally offer reasonably priced servicing and maintenance costs, though you can expect to pay a premium to insure the Fiesta ST compared with less powerful Fiesta models.

Is the Ford Fiesta ST reliable? 

• Cabin quality is feels adequate
• No issues with our long-termer so far
• Three-year warranty with all new Fiesta STs

Generally speaking, the Ford Fiesta feels as well built as any other Fords, such as the Focus and Mondeo – but it's clearly built to a price. The quality of the interior especially stands out as being good in your line of sight, but expect the new Volkswagen Polo to move on the game in that regard. 

The ST receives a new turbocharged 1.5-litre engine with cylinder deactivation. This means that one of the cylinders can shut down under gentle driving to boost economy. As this is new technology for the Fiesta, it’s possible that there may be some teething problems with early models. We haven’t seen any recalls at the time of writing, however.

• You can find out what owners have said about living with one, too.