It was very clear from the media test drive launch in Phuket that this new Ford Fiesta was heading into first place into its market segment. Like all other car manufacturers in recent years, Ford had given its next generation compact more metal, equipment, luxury, refinement and stance. It has also proposed a selling price that makes the Japanese and Korean models look rather expensive in comparison.
Fiesta Look
This new Fiesta will definitely also brew up a storm with its hard to ignore stylish new sheet metal design and its ability to attract attention from all walks of life. There are also 9 stylish colors to choose from. The Fiesta still has a lot of angular lines and has adopted some sexy curves. Look closely at the detailing on the exterior (chrome garnish) and you will see that they are sharp, muscular and its overall shape more defined, giving this new Ford Fiesta a more contemporary flavor.
Sexy 16-inch 10spoke wheels add to the sporty intentions of this Fiesta. This means that this Fiesta is no longer a small compact car and instead it is a car capable of entering a new segment which previously was dominated by the Honda Jazz and Nissan Latio. Surprised with my statement? Well read on to see why.
Fiesta Cabin
Inside the new Fiesta you have a cabin that can best described as upmarket while maintaining a sporty influence throughout. Let’s start with the upmarket features. The material used is all off executive car standards. Higher quality polymers and metal have been matched to provide an ambience normally associated with cars costing in the region of RM90-110,000.
It is wide with 1350mm shoulder room, tall with 991mm headroom and long with 1069mm of front legroom. Rear passengers are not forgotten with 953mm of headroom even with the sloping rear roofline, 1297mm of shoulder room and a generous 823mm of leg room. These dimensions give the Fiesta an edge over its competitors which we mentioned earlier.
Firm torso hugging seats with good support all round give the driver and front passenger a supportive seating experience. In the rear you get contoured seats that offer good seating for 3 adults. With both seats folded boot space is increased to 965 liters from 281liters to accommodate 3 large suitcases and some small items. ISOFIX points are also included.
The dashboard meter cluster reminds us of the current Focus layout. In the middle stack the climate and in-car entertainment system all having buttons and knobs in-line for easy use. Once you get into the driver’s seat, it is fast and easy to get familiar with all the controls and functions as they fall right in palms length immediately. Let’s not forget the steering mounted controls that is missed in the competition.
A premium in-car entertainment unit with voice control ‘Bluetooth’ that allows for voice recognition phone calls to be made. Add in CD, iPod and MP3 accessibility. Women will love the ‘keyless entry’, follow me home headlamps and the front shoe ‘box’ feature.
The only missing features, if I can mention for this class of car is an electric seat for the driver and leather on all seating surfaces, which will immediately elevate this Fiesta to luxury compact car status. Having said that I must also add that this is a premium city hatchback and not a luxury sedan and so the manual operated seat is acceptable. Leather on the other hand can be self installed by the owner with his or her own desired colour and stitch design.
Fiesta Drive Experience
This new Fiesta turns into corners with confidence, and despite a little body movement, always remains composed and leaves little head bobbing with rear passengers on a fast sweeping corner. The ride is also very accomplished as it soaks up bumps with ease and is supple enough to isolate most road imperfections from the cabin environment.
Excellent noise insulation makes this new Fiesta refined on the highway up to legal limits but starts getting intrusion into the cabin when speed moves beyond 150km/h only as we experienced with a full load inside. This is due more with the tire noise rather than wind resistance.
With a good stopping distance in our braking tests when we met with some weaving pickups and small buzzing kapchais, this car scores well with us. Safety is also a strong point with twin airbags, traction control, EBD and ABS brakes.
Fiesta Final Word
Let’s start with the word ‘impressive’ and work our way down to the word ‘value for money’ to best describe this Ford Fiesta in a one quick statement. The look will last for another 10 years easy and the features will be hard to compete, as the nearest rivals are not as adventurous as Ford product planners. We have only one negative comment to share with you. Why is there no manual 1.6-liter version available for drivers who remember the classic TX3 1.6i and the 1st generation Focus. If Toyota can sell high numbers of the manual driven Vios and Nissan can add the Latio sport manual to its list of successes, then Ford should look at making this Fiesta 1.6 the darling of the Malaysian hot hatch scene.
Ford Fiesta 1.6Sport Specifications
Engine: 4-cylinder DOHC 16V
Capacity: 1596cc
Gearbox: 6-speed auto (Powershift)
Torque: 152Nm @ 4050rpm
Horsepower: 120bhp @ 6000rpm
Fuel Consumption: 5.9 l/100km (auto gearbox)
0-100km/h: 9.9secs
Top Speed: 190km/h as tested
Price: RM84,888.00 (5door hatchback) and RM79,888.00 (sedan)
Ford Fiesta 1.4 LX Specifications
Engine: 4-cylinder DOHC 16V
Capacity: 1388cc
Gearbox: 5-speed auto manual
Torque: 90Nm @ 4800rpm
Horsepower: 90bhp @ 5650rpm
Fuel Consumption: 5.7 l/100km
0-100km/h: 12.2secs
Top Speed: 175km/h
Price: RM73,888 with insurance
