Video: 2014 Ford Fiesta ST

This here is the Fiesta ST, a higher performance version of the Fiesta hatchback, which debuted at last Fall's LA Auto Show. We're gonna check it out now. Now the Fiesta was updated for 2014, with a more dramatic grill. It was kind of moved farther down the hood here. The ST gets this kind of unique honeycomb insert, nice black material here. There's also a unique, lower chin spoiler. Now come around the side, the ST's got 17 inch wheels, and around back here, it's got dual tailpipes, a unique lower air diffuser here, and a rear spoiler, atop the hatchback. Not a bad way to differentiate the Fiesta ST from other Fiesta hatchbacks. The sport tuned suspension lowers the car about a half inch. And there's also a quicker steering ratio versus the regular Fiesta. Now, lest you think this is all show, no go, there's plenty of go. 197 horsepower of it, in fact, thanks to a 1.6 liter turbocharged four cylinder that has 214 pounds-feet of torque. Ford says 177 pounds-feet of that is available at under 2,000 RPM. So it should be a pretty good launch from this little hatchback. (crowd chatting) The Fiesta ST gets a six speed manual transmission, pretty short throws compared to the manuals in other Fiestas that we've driven before. There are these highly bolstered Recaro racing seats here almost. Should hold you in pretty well over corners. Pretty good range in the driver's seat considering this is a manual transmission car. You're gonna have to sit a little bit closer. Ford redesigned the center controls here for the Fiesta. There's a new My Ford Touch System with a 6.5 inch screen, bigger than the four inch screen in previous Fiestas, not as big as the eight inch screen in other My Ford Touch applications. Ford promises that this system has better voice recognition and usability across the board from before, which is good because we've been kind of critical of previous My Ford Touch applications because a lot of times they're kind of laggy, and the voice recognition doesn't really work all that well. The front-wheel drive Fiesta ST has a torque vectoring system that should improve handling. It's also got a stability system with a sport mode, which raises the threshold so you can throw the car around a little more. Should be a lot of fun to drive. So stay tuned when we report our driving impressions, closer to the car's Spring on sale date. (car revving)