The performance prowess of the new Fiesta ST is demonstrated by a new film that features an amazing driving location – 400 metres below ground in one of Europe’s largest salt mines.

Shot at a secret location with World Rally Championship driver Elfyn Evans at the wheel, the Fiesta ST is seen slipping, sliding and jumping in the dirt. The sound of the 200PS 1.5-litre EcoBoost engine is amplified by its surroundings as it tackles a high-speed drop through the narrow, entrance tunnel.

Elfyn Evans

“The salt is actually like fine gravel to drive on, quite slippery to be honest, especially on road tyres. You expect it to be claustrophobic but actually it’s quite the opposite, a great place to really enjoy the new Fiesta ST.”

Ford Europe's Greatest Driving Roads series has put a range of performance vehicles – including the Ford GT, the Focus RS and the Mustang Convertible – in some of the most stunning environments across the continent – from the Arctic Circle in Norway, to the sunny climes of Mallorca. So far, all the locations have been above ground.

We chose the secret salt mine location for new advert ‘Undertrack’ that sees the car put through its paces within the mine’s 60-kilometre network of tunnels, where temperatures are a constant 16 C and safety precautions required that a skeleton crew was used for the three-day shoot amid strict safety precautions.

Leo Roeks, Ford Performance director

“The drama of the tunnels and the chance to show off Fiesta ST’s ability on a different type of surface were a big part of choosing this unique location. It wasn’t a typical race track, it was somewhere we could drive this great car to its full potential.”

Rising to over 1,800 metres above sea level, the road from the town of Guarcino to the ski resort at Campocatino bustles with snow-lovers during winter months. However, for the rest of the year Via Campocatino is a barely used mountain road just 80 kilometres east of Rome that’s made for driving.

“Stock up with Amaretti biscuits in Guarcino – one of Italy’s oldest towns – and prepare for a very twisty, very challenging drive to the top,” said  journalist Steve Sutcliffe, who ventured there in Ford's new Fiesta ST for the latest film in Ford’s ‘Europe’s Greatest Driving Roads’ series.

Reach the top and views of the Monti Velino nature reserves in the north, and the mountain ranges of Lazio to the south east can be found. Rome itself can be seen to the north west.

Steve Sutcliffe:

“If you’re there on a cloudless evening the sky will be awash with stars; you even pass an astrological observatory on the way to the top that collaborates with observatories from around the world tracking asteroids, that’s how little light pollution there is here.”

This is the eighth film in the series which has seen Sutcliffe drive everything in the Ford Performance catalogue, from Ford GT supercar across the stunning Atlantic Ocean Road in Norway to a Focus RS across Blakey Ridge in North Yorkshire, UK. As the first Italian road to be featured, the stunning Via Campocatino scored a maximum ten out of ten for scenery and thrill factor, with an overall score of 53 out of 60, the joint fourth highest of the series.

Today +Ford Europe released more details about the tech that makes their new Fiesta ST hot hatch even more fun to drive.



We told you before about the supercar-inspired Drive Modes that can change the Fiesta ST’s character from sensible school-run hatchback to racer at the press of a button. Now Ford is revealing their Launch Control tech, that helps track-driving fans get perfect starts off the line.



And Ford's new 200 PS 1.5-litre EcoBoost engine means you’ll hit 62 mph (100 km/h) in just 6.5 seconds.








World Rally Championship driver Louise Cook took the All-new Fiesta ST for a spin around Ford's Lommel Proving Ground.

It’s the ultimate track showdown: Eight models from the Ford Performance global line-up pushed to their limits on a circuit together for the very first time.

A post shared by Ford Europe (@fordeurope) on Jan 29, 2018 at 9:21am PST

The sequence was filmed in partnership with Castrol Edge during a tight four-hour window, during which all eight Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Team drivers took time-out from a pre-season Ford GT race car tyre test to shoot.

Andy Priaulx, Harry Tincknell, Olivier Pla and Stefan Mücke from the World Endurance Championship, and Dirk Müller, Joey Hand, Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe from the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, each took the wheel of a Ford Performance model – setting off at intervals and culminating in an eight-way battle through the final bends and finish straight. The time trial was the first and probably only chance to find out if a Fiesta ST could beat a Le Mans-winning Ford GT race car.




At the Motorland race circuit near Barcelona, Spain, the Ford F-150 Raptor; Fiesta ST, all-new Fiesta ST, Focus RS, new Mustang GT, Mustang GT350R, Ford GT road car and Ford GT race car go head-to-head in a staggered time trial around one lap of the 5.345 km circuit.