Ford Denies Rumors of a Fiesta RS
The Ford Europe design director says ‘a more powerful model is not necessary.’
The Ford Fiesta is already very dead in the U.S., but it’s alive and well in other markets around the globe. Being fully refreshed for 2018, rumors have been going around that a high-performance Fiesta RS might be slotted above the Fiesta ST as the king of small hot hatches. However, those rumors have been dashed by Ford Europe design director Amko Leenarts in an interview with Dutch outlet AutoRAI.
"We see no reason to bring a more powerful Fiesta model above the ST," Leenarts told AutoRAI. "The performance of the new Fiesta ST is already such a high level that a more powerful model is not necessary," adds Leenarts.
The hottest version of the previous-generation Fiesta (still current-generation in the U.S.) was the Fiesta ST200. Serving as an even higher-performance version of the Fiesta ST, the ST200 made an even 200 horsepower and 213 pound-feet of torque. Of course, we never got the ST200 in the States, but it’s hard to complain considering the ST we did get performed so well.
The new Fiesta ST will be powered by a 1.5-liter three-cylinder EcoBoost engine that will make 197 horsepower and 213 pound-feet of torque which is slightly better than what you might get from the four-cylinder in the outgoing model while consuming 11 percent less fuel. Ford says it will have a zero-to-60 mph time of 6.5 seconds and a top speed of 144 mph.
Even if there was a Fiesta RS, there would be little hope of it coming to the U.S.
