BLUE THUNDER

Piloting what is possibly the most potent Fiesta sedan in India!

- HALLEY PRABHAKAR

Think tuner car and to me, it's always a car with German or Japanese roots, especially the former these days with a plethora of mods and bolt-on parts available to increase performance and improve the styling of the car. It's an endless affair when you get on to doing up a car and the ease of modification determines the popularity of a certain model. The car you see here though defies all that you just read. Yes, it's a Ford Fiesta from 2010 and the 1.6 S (a variant that is a rare sight today) that's been transformed into a 300PS monster! It's a popular build on social media and owned by a dear friend and professional motorsport photographer, Aditya Bedre. Featuring this car has taken us more time than expected but it's as of now at its most powerful state of tune, lucky us.

The Fiesta 1.6 S at its time was launched towards the end of the model's lifecycle but added some excitement to enthusiasts thanks to a retuned motor, better dynamics (tuned by Ford Australia) and sporty styling inside and out. However, the motor still lacked that poke and one was always left wanting for more. The Fiesta 1.6 S was based on the Mark V Fiesta sold in Europe and is the reason why it's a capable handler and lovely to drive around twisties and on the race track too. I remember driving the 1.6 S at MMRT way back in 2009 with Gaurav Gill and we got back to the pitlane, with a big smile plastered across our faces. The chassis could definitely take more power but very few went on to mod this car and had to make do with 101 horses. Aditya was one of the first lot of buyers and ended up driving the car in stock form for about seven years. He finally decided to do up the Fiesta and looked towards forced induction.