This is for those people who are thinking of getting an ST but feel it isn't as quick as they thought it would be.

I posted a while back that I didn't think the ST engine was that powerful. I went through the reasons why (insurance, reliability etc) but even so, it was still pretty quick (but could have been better).

Well I have an interesting story that may convince those who think the St is slow.

My mate (my boss as well) traded his MR2 GT in for a Honda S2000. If you don't know much about there they are 2 litre, 240 bhp, 9000 rpm VTEC engined, 2 seater sports car. They are on par with Boxters and Z4's in speed.
He took me out in it and I thought, wow, this is quick, 9000rpm makes your ears bleed but it is so much fun.

Anyway, we left work at the same time the other day and once they had warmed up (the Honda engine will not allow you in to the VTEC range, 6000+, until the car is warm) we had a little race.
Please note - this all happened on private roads!
Up to the roundabout and up a slip road we were behind a van doing 50 so couldn't open them up and both stayed in 2nd gear. Once on the dual laned private road we both got into the overtaking lane and hit the loud pedal. It went 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 and it was 110mph until he overtook me.
Before it starts, can I just make a few things clear:
1 - He was pushing it (he always does)
2 - Both using 95 ron from Tesco
3 - He had the roof down (didn't help but it still is quick)
4 - No animals were harmed
5 - I do not condone speeding at all, it is dangerous and stupid
6 - It was fun

Now, the S2000 goes from 0-60 in 6.0, the ST in 7.9. It goes to show that even 90bhp, in real life on the road, doesn't make a huge difference.

The moral of the story is, the ST doesn't feel like its going to rip your face off, but it IS fast. End

When I test drove the ST i was quite impressed with the performance as was my brother you drives a 2.0 turbo astra. I agreee it does not push you back into the seat but the speedo does move round quite quickly. Just can not wait to get mine!

I agree it's fast but no way as fast as an S2000, thought I see your point at higher speeds starting off there might not be that much difference

I think its purely shifting the big lump, cos once its going it really flies. Anyone remember the clip from topgear where they had the latest evo i think, stuck it out of its rev range and had a drag race with something like a honda jazz, and the jazz won. Now the evo is a mentally quick car, but only in its rev range. So once you get the lump of the fiesta moving, and get it in its rev range i think its a genuinely quick car!

People seem to forget, the ST was never meant to be a pull your face off speed machine. It was meant to be an exciting car that was still just about practical, and for the money i dont see how you'd find a better deal.

Anyway with an ST will know the feeling of this...3rd gear 4000+revs, need i say more!

I think the ST often doesn't feel as quick as you think until you look at the speedo.

It's bizarre but sometimes it feels alot quicker than others. I'm well pleased with it in standard form though, would like a few mods to get some extra power but got the warranty to consider.

I saw a post on here recently saying that a couple of standard ones had been clocked at just over 7 seconds to 60.

Mine doesn't feel fast never manage to get the quote figure. The best ever time I done was 0 to 62 in 8.7 SEC not very fast, but sometime the car feel quicker and sometime slower like if the engine lost power!

Whenever i've come up against fast cars and there's been a 'bit of fun' shall we say, i've always come out well. Even against uber quick cars Imprezas and M3s, they've ovetaken but i can tell i've pushed them and given them a good run for their moeny. So i don't think anyone can complain the performance of the ST. Ford could have squeezed a bit more power out of it i'm sure, but you could say the same about a lot of cars.

Can I just add:
I was not saying that the ST is as fast as an S2000, just that the although it doesn't feel exceptionally fast, it is quick and on the road, in the real world, it isn't much slower than a proper sports car.

I managed to do a 0 to 62 MPH again and this time not to hot weather and ESP switch off and half a full tank this time I managed in 8.3 SEC which is what ford claim figure over here. Much better than before!