Ford Fiesta ST vs Renault Megane RS - Hot Hatch track battle 

The comments asking "why fiesta vs megane???" - watch the video and it's rather obvious.

For the money nothing comes close to the fiesta it’s in a league of one.

Why all the hate on the ST looks? It looks like a mini focus RS. Which is awesome! Its a fiesta not a Ferrari so chill haha Also really cool track battle because in the real world no one does over 200km/h around bends. Unless you want to die i guess...

Always a pleasure to watch you hoon around in some cars Steve. One of very few journalists whose words I completely trust.

Wanted the Megane rs. Couldn't afford it. Bought the Fiesta ST instead 😆

Years ago Steve shot a video in the old Clio 200 chasing a Focus RS that showed how giving away 100bhp doesn’t really matter. Ford have it nailed at the moment with the fiesta like Renault had that Clio nailed.

That’s a genuinely quick time, I just watched the Renaultsport 220 Trophy & Peugeot Sport 208 GTi around this track and both are about 2s slower than this ST. Ford are nailing it.

lots of love for the awesome little 3 pot fiesta , cracking little car

The Fiesta ST is a sensational hot hatch and anyone who owns one should consider themselves lucky 👊

That Fiesta is a cracking car ! I bought a Megane edc with standard sport chassis last year and do i feel bad about it ? Absolutely not, it is a completely different car with a different purpose, 5 door, bigger, looks awesome and .... yes it drives awesome as well. When i go to the racetrack to watch other people drive around i take my Megane, when i go to the racetrack to have some fun i can take my LSD equipped Clio 3 RS which will be more fun than the Fiesta 😝

So the Fiesta is right up there with the Megane yet there are videos on RU-vid where the Megane comes within a second of the Type-R? I suggest people watch other videos on RU-vid, watching one channel in isolation is not going to give you the overall picture.

My son had a fiesta St and while it was definetly slower over all compared to my Cayman S I still really enjoyed driving it, a lot of fun 😀

At 2:07 the car isn’t even in sport / track mode which makes it even more impressive

Renault really dropped the ball with the megane and clio, went from the best hot hatch maker to just meh. Just about every other review of the megane says it's a massive disappointment.

Renault-bashing is this guy’s favorite sport. “Gearbox definitely better, front end better, more fun etc...” funny you’re the only person in the planet with such an opinion

I have ordered a new fiesta st mk8.5 that now full optional and with 7 years of warranty is 35000 euro. Impressive price but also impressive car

How can you make such awesome video every time?) Ford is a great company which can make simple and fun hothatches.

The fiesta St is a amazing car end of 😁😁😁👍👏

The Fiesta is impressive for sure but open that up to a big track and the Mégane will win comfortably. I'd have the Fiesta though, it just highlights that you don't need that extra power on the roads where most people will drive 99.9% of the time.

The owner of Fiesta probably will win against Renault. With LSD You can to turn a corner with so much more speed.

That’s not the kart track is it??

Assume the fiesta has the performance pack fitted?

Love my little st fiesta

I just wish the new Focus ST is at least as good as new Fiesta ST, Ford always spoils the Focus ST when compared with Fiesta ST

Wow, closer than i thought it would be!

And when Mountune release their ECU software for it I’m sure it would be as quick or quicker in a straight line and that 2 tenth would likely be in the Fiestas favour.

Should of really had the Fiesta in sport / track mode for this test... You were driving the car or normal mode with traction off but Normal mode has a laggy turbo as its the 'eco' mode... Sport /track is instant spool for the turbo

Good work thanks

The fiesta is an ST-3 model and in that colour with them LED headlights is £23,600 without any other extras!! fully specd is £26,000 for a fiesta!!

The ford sounds great for a 3 cylinder

How comes the drive mode feature wasn’t available? I presume the car was in normal and not in race track mode?

That surely means the Clio will be faster than them both around this track?

Would be interesting to see how the mk3 Clio 200 cup does against the new fiesta st now that ford have got the BHP up to 200 like the old Clio

A match against a 208 BPS could be interesting. The Fiesta st

And if they’d tested a 3 door ST it would have been A) cheaper B) better looking and C) lighter than the 5 door version than they tested so possibly even closer to the Megane

So the Uk developed Ford with a UK guy, on a small Uk track was 2 tenth off a Megane rs which did a lap another day, with some other condition, and not even filmed... Steve Sutcliff keeping the biased reviews on point since 2008.

@Auto Express: Is your message really that the fiesta st is nearly fast like a Megane rs!?..??...come on that's a too stupid story. I'm sure anybody will find a track where a Renault Twingo gt is nearly fast as a Jaguar f-type v8, with such tight corners that can only drive the Twingo in one and without using the reverse gear... :-)))

On a track a 208 BPS can match a megane 3 rs trophy 265... When you know that... Weight is the kee

That Fiesta spec is closer to 25k than 20k, but either way that's insanely close.

Renault didn’t took the job of developing a new MRS seriously enough and are paying the price now.... only competitive in more emotional and subjective aspects. Good but not great anymore. Sadly…

How long is the ecoboost motor going to last

Fiesta is better choice

Would by an ST in an instance but with the on going reliability issues with the three cylinder Ecoboost engine,check out the Facebook section on this issue.I just can't pluck up the courage to buy one.Almost forgot,where I live,the ST is at the top of the stolen cars list.

Nice piece.

ST 💪

20k bargain of our time.

In reality I bought the megane edc with Bose over the fiesta because it’s bigger safer better looking rarer and over 3yrs on 0% apr is only £1000 more than a fully specced fiesta at 2.9 apr .

No New clio RS 5 confirmed .... sad ... because Ford show us that we still can make a good little rocket, cheap and eco-friendly

Controversial but I really don't get this Fiesta love its not a very good looking car. Everybody talks about price but when I went to price one up was looking at 21k once you had any sort of options added I would still pick the polo gti over the fiesta its a much better built car in my opinion

Same as the i20 n on this track

Fiesta vs magane Are you insane?

Scott Kilmer says don't buy either...

I love the Fiesta ST

Megane

Imagine if it was a standard megane.

I was shocked last week when I came across a 68 plate Golf R who on acceleration would pull away then when we reached 60, the ST stayed with the Golf and when it came to braking the ST was nimble and stayed with the Golf, roundabout after roundabout. When you consider the Golf R is undoubtedly one of the best hatches around this was a top performance from the little ST. I love mine so far and can’t wait for the Revo remap!

You should say focus st vs Megan rs

I'd love to buy another Fiesta ST

This should be Focus ST vs Megane RS or Fiesta ST vs Clio RS

The megane is a totally faster car so it's a bit stupid this test.different size and price.it should be up against a clio rs

I call this bullshit...come one Steve. The old Megane RS is as fast as a Focus RS with 300HP. Is the new megane RS slower than the old megane RS?

ATE Continental Freins à disque avants ATE Continental qui équipent la Fiesta nouvelle neuve actuelle:voyez ,où plutôt écouter ce qui se passe lorsqu'on freine,c'est assourdissant,et ceci n'est qu'une partie de ces freins lamentables,car EN PLUS ,à l'arret,en tournant le volant à droite, comme à gauche,on doit suporter un craquement métallique,tout le temps.! Pour le chef d'atelier,c'est normal,mais après des milliers de kilomètres maintenant,les crissements de tôle en terminaison de freinage sont toujours làl et aussi dans les braquage de roues à l'arret! Pas la moindre amélioration! Mais ceci n'est pas sans conséquence pour Ford,car à cause de ces ATE Continental,autour de moi,plus personne ne veut prendre une Ford neuve.Qui voudrait avoir,à vie,une voiture qui fait un tel vacarme?! Qui plus est,invendable!

Five doors fiesta should be illegal

And the Renault rs?

In my country that fiesta is 25k € and the megane is 30k €.

mais normalement megan vs focus -_-

Why vs megane? It should be vs clio?

Something to bare in mind is the fact that Renault is running a Bridgestone Potenza S001 tyre while the Fiesta is running Michelin PilotSport 4. I really don't see them on the same level. I think that is part of the clever package offered by Ford. The 2019 ST will run 4s if you choose the 19 rims. Part of these lap times are down to how much grip the tyre provides on the given conditions. Even in such a small cicuit i would credit the Michelin 4 with up to half a second advantage. They simply brake better, keep more speed through the turn and let you feel the steering better. Renault went with Bridgestone, Hyundai with Pireli P0, Honda with Continental. Only Ford gives you Michelin on the larger rims. A very good choice. That's why i also think the ST that was recently presented will do very well on the 4s tyre. The Fiesta ST and the Megane RS are both great cars. Where i live the Megane RS and Hyundai I30N have very good prices. When fitting options to the Fiesta there's almost no price difference to the Hyundai and little to the Megane. That's why i would choose the Megane. Curious how the Focus ST will be. But as it sits for now, right here, i would go for a manual RS with the Cup chassis and standard 18 rims and upgrade later to a Michelin 4s tyre. On the street tyres do not make that much of a difference when it comes to handling because there will be fewer situations of runnig your car as hard you can. Confort and wear resistance are also very good with Michelins.

308 gti does better then that silly megane without all the tech ;)

Its a 5door shoot out ;)

I like the fiesta I just don't like the feeling that the engine won't stand the test of time...

Its a ford, it comes with a toolbox and lots of spares

In real world driving the Mégane is still faster , cooler to be in and better looking .

Renault's design is much nicer than the Ford...

Hey wait you can get the new st in 5 door. Interesting veeeery interesting, may have to have a look at that closer😀

I mean this is a bad comparison for the Megane, it's cheaper, less powerful and a class below and yet is practically as fast, 0.2 seconds is nothing. Plus the Megane has the cup chassis... It's an absolute disappointment compared to the last generation, very much like the Clio is garbage too.

Renault Megan rs is 285 hp

Auto Express is playing everyone with this. I bet a go kart would beat both those cars round that track. If you buy a hot hatch then there are reasons why you don't buy a real sports car. These need to be balanced, which could mean the Ford wins massively or the Megane could win massively. Either way they are two average cars on an average circuit. What a load of brainless pish.

Bicycle vs. airplane ????????????

Nice Job Renault, slower than the older Model..

If I was to drive an F1 car round a track I'd probably be near the same time in my RS clio to. Don't be decived by this test

My fiesta I've had the gas struts on the boot changed 3 times there shit! The cable came off the door handle. And now there's rattle coming from the dashboard. Fix up your game ford.

It's pretty clear that the Fiesta ST is a phenomenal car to drive, the problem though, is that is almost completely wrong from an aesthetic point of view. It's like the Civic Type R, but on the opposite side of being "wrong". Just like the Honda, which is phenomenal to drive but embarrassing to look at, the Fiesta is phenomenal to drive, but too bland and feminine to look at, at the point of being almost embarrassing. A car, especially a sport car, should also be emotional from an aesthetic point of view, and Ford has missed this point massively.

Not really a scientific assessment.

Мотор Фиесты хорошо поет)

"numbers don't lie" ???? WHO cares about your numbers... its the car overall... not just numbers. Ohhh if it is about numbers go for the Honda R not the Ford...

I believe that Steve has taken an instant dislike to the Megane and it shows on video.

Fiesta vs Clio would be ok, wtf is this? not same class of cars, big hard no for a magazine like this.... Megane is in same class as Focus fyi

Omg all these people saying add all the extras on this fiesta is nearly 25 grand yeah it may be but it’s still cheaper and nearly as quick and it’s only a 1.5t all these moaners must be Renault Megane rs owners 😂😂

For money fiesta st wins

Wow

This Megane is disappointing.

Slow and narrow track and you can race Fiat 500 against Ferrari. Renault Megane RS is much better that Focus ST and Fiesta ST is just car from the class below. It is so funny how this channel has prejudices against Renault. You could do the same stupid comparison using Golf but you didn't as you intentionally want to degrade Megane RS which sis the king of the class.

What a joke !!! All German/English reviews always give a one point to Ford - VW because it's not French...Fiesta its no better like Clio or Megane - simply its not honest review ...its more like tv advert ...

Now test the 2019 focus st with the methane rs. Renault ..... what have you done ?

ummm this comparison makes absolutely no sense, the megane competes with the golf gti and the focus st. the Fiesta ST competes with the Clio RS...

215 BHP on overboost.

Mauvaise comparaison.

Unfortunately you no longer have any credibility when I hear you speaking about how good a ford is when you create ford sponsored videos. Impartiality is gone for Auto express

Until the ecoboost self combusts..