The Fiesta looks the part on the outside. More genius? The car’s cabin is just as cool. It’s almost as though the two design teams had a bet going to see what part of the car would receive the most praise. The Fiesta’s dash is upscale in presentation, midrange in functionality and lower-scale where some plastics are concerned. From any vantage point in the car, if you were dropped into the car without knowing what it was, you’d swear it was a snazzy European compact car. And it is!
The best parts
It gets better? Yes it does. First, the drive. If, like me, you love to watch and read about euro cars, driving dynamics are always at or near the top of the “yay” or “nay” lists. From those reviews, it has always been easy to determine that our Ford Focus, for example, simply did not do what the Euro Focus could. No longer is this the case, especially not for the Fiesta!
My expectations were high for this car and they were met! Oh joy of joys! Blasting up and down and left to right on the Skyline Blvd and La Honda Road south of San Francisco, the Fiesta performed impressively well. High-speed switchbacks and mixed-traction road surfaces (water, sand, dirt and leaves) did little to upset the neutral poise and balance of the car. Colour me tickled pink! What’s more is Ford’s EPAS (Electric power-assisted steering) which generates the ideal amount of weight and perfect on-center feel. A boring econobox it is not.
Powering the Fiesta is a 120-hp, 1.6L 4-cylinder engine. Although the most powerful in its class, like any peaky diminutive motor, those 120 horses only reach maturity at 6,350 rpm, and its 112 lb-ft of torque come in at 5,000 rpm. You guessed it, nothing really happens below 4,000 rpm. This lack of low-end anything was very apparent on the twisty hill-climbs where 2nd was a constant must. In regular city driving, it’ll do more than just the job. With fuel economy numbers expected to be as good as 6L/100 km, it’ll also keep you away from gas stations.
Advantage: gearboxes
As a potential purchaser of a new Fiesta, you will be given the choice between two transmissions: a 5-speed manual and a new Powershift dual-clutch, 6-speed automated sequential gearbox. The mouth-full is Ford-speak for their version of the popular automatic transmission. Because of the very tight scheduling of the press event, I spent little time exploring this gearbox. It did display quick and smooth shifts and according to Ford, for best performance and fuel economy, you’ll have to tick the box for this ‘box.
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| Fuel economy numbers are expected to be as good as 6L/100 km, so it’ll keep you away from gas stations. (Photo: Mathieu St-Pierre/Auto123.com) |
The best parts
It gets better? Yes it does. First, the drive. If, like me, you love to watch and read about euro cars, driving dynamics are always at or near the top of the “yay” or “nay” lists. From those reviews, it has always been easy to determine that our Ford Focus, for example, simply did not do what the Euro Focus could. No longer is this the case, especially not for the Fiesta!
My expectations were high for this car and they were met! Oh joy of joys! Blasting up and down and left to right on the Skyline Blvd and La Honda Road south of San Francisco, the Fiesta performed impressively well. High-speed switchbacks and mixed-traction road surfaces (water, sand, dirt and leaves) did little to upset the neutral poise and balance of the car. Colour me tickled pink! What’s more is Ford’s EPAS (Electric power-assisted steering) which generates the ideal amount of weight and perfect on-center feel. A boring econobox it is not.
Powering the Fiesta is a 120-hp, 1.6L 4-cylinder engine. Although the most powerful in its class, like any peaky diminutive motor, those 120 horses only reach maturity at 6,350 rpm, and its 112 lb-ft of torque come in at 5,000 rpm. You guessed it, nothing really happens below 4,000 rpm. This lack of low-end anything was very apparent on the twisty hill-climbs where 2nd was a constant must. In regular city driving, it’ll do more than just the job. With fuel economy numbers expected to be as good as 6L/100 km, it’ll also keep you away from gas stations.
Advantage: gearboxes
As a potential purchaser of a new Fiesta, you will be given the choice between two transmissions: a 5-speed manual and a new Powershift dual-clutch, 6-speed automated sequential gearbox. The mouth-full is Ford-speak for their version of the popular automatic transmission. Because of the very tight scheduling of the press event, I spent little time exploring this gearbox. It did display quick and smooth shifts and according to Ford, for best performance and fuel economy, you’ll have to tick the box for this ‘box.
 |
| Ford’s EPAS which generates the ideal amount of weight and perfect on-center feel. A boring econobox it is not. (Photo: Mathieu St-Pierre/Auto123.com) |