For all of the cute little descriptions attributed to the Ford Fiesta, it's important to remember that the hatchback has a racing soul hiding underneath its compact->ke140 appearance. It's not an accident that guys like Ken Block use the Fiesta for their racing exploits, and now, ahead of the Global Rallycross season, the Fiesta is once again taking center stage as the car-of-choice of Barracuda Racing.

Barracuda Networks, Inc, a leading provider of cloud-connected security and storage solutions, will be making its maiden foray into the world of rallying and it couldn't have picked a worthier car to compete with than the Fiesta. If anything, it should serve veteran Bryan Herta and rookie driver Austin Dyne as they compete under the Barracuda Racing banner.

In order to compete in Global Rallycross, the team reconfigured the Fiesta to be an all-out powerhouse, tweaking the car's engine to produce a staggering 600 horsepower, enough to hit 60 mph in just 1.8 seconds. In addition, Barracuda Racing also gave the Fiesta an impressive new livery that features a predominantly black finish with blue and orange trims spread throughout the race car->ke148. A huge rear wing spoiler and what looks like a roof exhaust have also been installed, largely attributed to improve the Fiesta's performance and handling.

Click past the jump to read more about Ford Fiesta.

2014 Ford Fiesta Barracuda Racing

Specifications
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  • Model: 2014 Ford Fiesta Barracuda Racing
  • Horsepower: 600
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Ford Fiesta

The 2014 Ford Fiesta is like Ford's wolf in sheep's clothing. It looks rather pedestrian when you first glance at it, but once you understand its all-around potential, you're going to know why a lot of race teams in different racing series use the Fiesta as their car-of-choice.

But as far as the standard Fiesta is concerned, Ford brought its award-winning EcoBoost 1.0-liter three-cylinder to the U.S. market, allowing the car to produce 123 horsepower and 148 pound-feet of torque. The in-line-three cylinder engine is a marvel of power and efficiency, with a predicted mpg score that is well above even the 41 highway rating of the Special Fuel Economy version of the sedan.

The engine is also mated to a six-speed manual gearbox, and allows the ST version of the compact hatch to sprint from 0 to 60 mph in just 6.8 seconds. Ford limited its top speed to 130 mph.

In the North American market, the 2014 Fiesta starts at $14,000 for the S Sedan all the way to $18,800 for the Fiesta Titanium. The ST model tops the lineup at $21,400.