If you're a fan of the Fiesta ST, chances are you were disappointed when you heard the news that Ford fitted its new iteration with a measly 1.5-liter turbo engine with three cylinders. I mean, a lot of things are better when smaller, like kidney stones or time spent on heavy traffic, but not engines, right?
Well, this video will prove you wrong. CarWow puts up a drag race between the old 1.6L Fiesta ST versus the new one with the smaller engine. The result might surprise you, but before you proceed and watch the video, let's crunch the numbers, shall we?
The old Fiesta ST's 1.6L EcoBoost engine produces 197 horsepower and 214 pound feet of torque, with the latter accessible as early as 1,600 rpm. Those were great numbers during the sixth generation's run until last year. It also features an "overboost" which allows you to maximize the 197 horses in a 15-second period.
On the other hand, the seventh generation Fiesta ST got a smaller power plant – a 1.5L EcoBoost engine with only three cylinders to boot. While those numbers may annoy someone who thinks that four cylinders are better than three, we're happy to say that the decrease in displacement (and fewer cylinders) didn't affect its output figures. The new-generation Fiesta ST can produce 197 hp and 210 lb-ft of torque, which are almost the same as its predecessor.
Now, if you've watched the video below, you are now stripped off of your doubt of the new Fiesta ST's performance. Just to recap, the new-generation Fiesta ST won by exactly a second at 15.1 seconds, making its predecessor eat dust in a standing-quarter-mile drag race. In rolling start, it still is faster, which was an easy win for the newer Fiesta ST as well.
Looks like a smaller EcoBoost engine isn't a bad idea after all.
