TERRIER TERRITORY

HUGELY HYPED FIESTA ST SEEMS BOUND FOR GREATNESS. FIRST CHALLENGE: DEFEAT THE MIGHTY POLO GTI AND SVELTE SWIFT SPORT...

- TRENT GIUNCO

IT’S SAFE TO SAY THAT 2020 is a year Marty McFly would never input into a time machine. Right now, the world is in desperate need of a bit of fun and if any new car segment is ripe for the challenge, it’s the diminutive hot hatch class. Its remit is to excite and delight in all facets, whether you’re grimly hanging on at ten-tenths or hanging on grimly to the last bottle of hand sanitiser on your way home from Coles. This trio, then, could be the perfect antidote to the doom and gloom.

If you’re going to be so fashionably late that you almost miss the entire party, then you had better bring the goods. Luckily for Ford Australia, the $32,290 Fiesta ST does just that and more. Wheels first drove this second-generation car on European roads two years ago, so the waiting game has been a long one for Aussies. But at least it has all the ingredients for success; a thrummy three-cylinder turbo with 147kW/290Nm, a trick mechanical limited-slip differential and a six-speed manual.

We’re pitting it against the ‘honey I shrunk the Golf’ Mk6 Polo GTI. Now flush with MQB underpinnings, the $32,490 Volkswagen is the most expensive of this trio by a few hundred dollars, but factor in the $7300 worth of options fitted to our test car and that number blows out significantly. Still, it feels premium thanks to a beautifully appointed and tech-rich cabin, and its proven EA888 2.0-litre boasts the highest outputs at 147kW/320Nm. A six-speed dual-clutch is the only gearbox available Down Under.