I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the every time I get in trouble with the local constabulary I’m behind the wheel of a Ford. Around three years ago I was on the road between Houston and San Antonio when a Texas State Trooper took exception to my charging Explorer but when I explained that my daughter was sick and I need to get to New Braunfels as fast as possible to see her, his bullet-proof heart melted and he let me on my way with a warning. (She had the flu, so technically I wasn’t lying).
The next dip into legal hot water was in 2006, on that old stretch of Cork-Dublin road between Rathcormac and Fermoy, a favourite spot for our uniformed friends. I was singled out of a fast-moving line of traffic in my Focus ST and given two points and a fine, solely, I suspect, because of the car’s bright orange paintjob. Since then I have met the woman responsible for Ford’s colour palette and I personally thanked her for my points. She laughed but I wasn’t joking. I think she called that luminous, cop-irking shade “Electric Orange” but it really should be called “Cuff-Me-Now Orange”.
Shortly after that, a colleague borrowed my Ford S-Max press car and promptly got a parking ticket in it. Ford sent the notice to my old address in Cork so by the time I got it the payment date has passed and I ended up in court. For some unknown reason my case was struck out before I could deliver my carefully prepared and downright moving speech, but my annoyance quickly subsided when my solicitor told me it could easily have gone on my driving record as a conviction. Eeep! And the most recent occasion was only a few days ago in Ford’s new Fiesta. I was on Ford’s incredible test route in the undulating Tuscany countryside in Italy, along some of Europe’s most challenging and entertaining roads, but I reckon that by the end of the second week of the launch the local Polizia di Stato had cottoned on that there might be gold in them there hills and parked themselves on the blind side of a right-angle corner. Out came the paddle and into the lay-by I went. Damn Fords.
Fortunately, on this particular occasion they didn’t seem too irate and were more interested in Ford’s new baby – traditionally a popular car in Italy thanks to its fine handling and low running costs – than my bloodless face. The female officer explained in pidgin English that she owned the current model but was quite taken with the new car. “It’s sympathetic,” she offered, which I think meant that she liked the looks, and I’m inclined to agree. It is a pretty little thing, modern and sophisticated in execution and, thankfully, not so cutesy a red-blooded bloke couldn’t own one without being the brunt of his mates’ endless ribbing.
The front end isn’t dissimilar to the Peugeot 207, with its stretched feline ‘eyes’ and long overhang, but there are a lot more surface changes in the Ford, with the thick wheel arches and deep swage lines down the flanks adding character and muscle. The steeply-angled belt line and broad shoulders give it hunched, aggressive stance but both are skilfully resolved by the time they reach the rear, which, unusually, is no less pretty or distinctive than the rest of the car. Regardless of the number of doors or the angle from which you view the Fiesta from, it looks superb. It devours the Focus for personality, slaughters the Mondeo for character and annihilates the S-Max for sophistication. It’s a complex yet crisp piece of design that suits the supermini’s impish personality to a tee. It’s Ford’s best design in years, looking fantastic even in spite of the firm’s dire range of watery colours.
I offer the officers a peek inside, hoping my friendliness will discourage them from throwing the proverbial book at me (at this point I’m still unsure why they’ve pulled me over so I’m all smiles and bonhomie in the hope of avoiding a ticket). They decline – it probably violates some rule or other – but in doing so they’ve miss out: Ford’s interior designers seem to have gone on a bit of a design rampage. Perhaps they were irate at not getting the key to the parts bin but whatever the reason, it’s quite surprising how little of the new Fiesta’s cabin is carried over from other models. The only carryover parts I can see are the window and mirror switches, the stalks, two of the four air vents, the gear knob and the ‘Ford Power’ button (which, when combined with keyless entry, is a wonderful small-car option). Curiously, despite being an all-new chassis the wheelbase is also carried over from the old model, which means rear space is disappointingly tight, particularly in terms of legroom. Pressure to make cars lighter and cleaner, combined with the need to make room in the range for the new Fusion mini-MPV, means the traditional stretch in dimensions is no longer a given.
Everything else inside the Fiesta is bespoke, though: the steering wheel, the dials, the heater controls, the stereo controls, the door handles… even the socket for plugging in music players is new. As a consequence, the cabin works superbly well, both in terms of how it looks and operates. The centre stack, located high on the dashboard and protruding into the cabin, is both a funky piece of design and an ergonomic delight, allowing the driver to perform relatively complicated operations quickly and simply. Sync up a mobile phone and there’s a 12-digit keypad available for safe and quick dialling, for example, while the display beams out the relevant information in a clear and idiot-proof manner. You’ll also find a simplified version of Ford’s ‘Human Machine Interface’ system which is used to control the car’s stereo and trip computer, employing the same, intuitive, mobile-phone based four-way rocker switch as you find on the Mondeo or S-Max, although here it’s positioned on the centre console while the cruise control takes over the right steering wheel spoke. We’ll have to wait for the Irish drive to find out if models without cruise control get a HMI switch or a blank spoke but even if it remains in the centre consol it’s still a doddle to use.
As you’d expect from a Ford, the driving position is spot-on, visibility is excellent (despite the steep beltline) and the location of the steering wheel (now reach and rake adjustable), gearbox and pedals is close to perfection. Its grown-up driving position, combined with the highly-evolved design and relatively ritzy plastics, make the Fiesta feel like something from a class or two above, a mainstream supermini that lacks that built-to-a-price cheapness you get in most other small hatchbacks. This upmarket feel will be crucial to its sales success in the US where Ford cars are traditionally seen as disposable transport. The Fiesta might be small and cheap-to-run, but it won’t be cheap per se. Ford has to get out of its pile-‘em-high rut and start charging actual money for its cars before it runs itself out of business, and the only way to do that is to change the public perception of its products. The Fiesta is as good a place to start as any.
The big-car feel doesn’t end there, however. The Fiesta’s refinement is also exceptional, with an amazingly supple ride quality, highly effective aerodynamics and superb isolation from vibrations and noise. Granted, Tuscany’s roads don’t have the amusing patina of Irish blacktop but I’m pretty sure it’ll be no less impressive back home, rivalling even Peugeot’s excellent 207 for pure pothole-bashing comfort. And as sharp as it is to drive, not even the 207 can match the Fiesta in terms of pure driving pleasure. With handling guru Richard Parry Jones no longer at Ford, there’s a worry that Ford may lose its dynamic edge but, thankfully, there’s no sign of that happening yet. In addition to exceptional ride quality, Ford has also taken the Fiesta’s handling to new levels, although not in pure white-knuckle terms. The Fiesta’s steering is sharp (even sharper in the Zetec model), turn in is crisp, roll is minimal and feedback is decent but it’s the cohesiveness of the chassis that impresses most. The Fiesta feels as if all four wheels are involved in getting you around corners, rather than just a pair of overworked front tyres. Understeer is remarkably well contained but when it does appear it manifests itself as a gradual four-wheel slide rather than feeling like you’ve hit a patch of freshly deposited diesel, as you find in most superminis. It’s the same story when you try to unsettle the Fiesta with a mid-corner lift of the throttle. There’s no snap oversteer, no sudden bite as the front tyres load up – it simply settles into a four-wheel drift, reducing the cornering arc in a most unflustered fashion. It allows even the most basic Fiesta to be driven with precision and thrashed relentlessly while maintaining a huge and predictable safety net for inexperienced or over-exuberant drivers. Even the ESC system (which isn’t standard on Irish models and which can’t be switched off unless you buy the Zetec-S) is as subtle and unobtrusive as any I’ve experienced, although that might have as much to do with the Fiesta’s lack of firepower as the excellence of the system.
Although I appreciate that the majority of Fiestas are bought for commuting to work rather than lapping the Nürburgring, it’s still a little galling to see such a fine chassis without an engine to really show off what it can do. Given that the Fiesta is now a remarkable 40kg lighter than the model it replaces (and largely the same size, too) it’s hardly surprising that the engine range from the old model is largely carried over, with an entry-level 82hp 1.25-litre, mid-range 96hp 1.4-litre and the warm 120hp 1.6-litre that’s standard in the Zetec-S. The diesel range consists of a par of PSA motors, a 68hp 1.4-litre and a 90hp 1.6-litre, although the latter won’t be offered in Ireland initially. According to Ford Ireland, 90 percent of Fiestas sold in Ireland are powered by the venerable 1.25 petrol engine so it will likely wait and see how what the post-VRT demand for diesels is like before deciding whether or not to introduce the engine.
At the launch, only the 1.6-litre engines were available to drive and the only trim levels we could sample were Zetec-S, Titanium and Ghia. Given that the Irish range consists of an entry-level “Style” model powered by the 1.25, 1.4 and 1.4 TDCi engines; the 1.6 Zetec-S; and range-topping Titanium versions with 1.25 and 1.4 TDCi engines, the only Irish version I can accurately comment on is the sporty Zetec-S. With 120hp and 152Nm, the warmest Fiesta felt zippy rather than fast but it doesn’t make a pleasant sound and is more than happy to bounce of its rev limiter when required. Its 0-100km/h time of 9.9 seconds is pretty pedestrian, even by warm hatch standards, but at least the chassis lets you carry as much speed as possible through the corners (it’s the Fiesta’s thunderous cornering speed that attracted the attention of the local Polizia, although in terms of pure velocity I really wasn’t travelling that quickly). Although there are no engine or model badges on the car, the Zetec-S (three-door only) stands out courtesy of its neat bodykit and dreary 15-inch alloy wheels. Inside, there are effective sport seats and an ESC button, but that’s about it really.
The Titanium model (five-door only) retains the Zetec’s sportier suspension setup but offers larger 16-inch wheels and more luxury equipment while Ford Ireland has confirmed that even the basic “Style” model will have fog lamps and 14-inch alloy wheels. For what it’s worth, the softly sprung Ghia diesel was something of a disaster, with limited grip; too much roll; disappointing levels of steering precision; and sluggish performance from its 1.6-litre TDCi motor. Perhaps it was the heavy diesel engine pushing the nose wide or the comfort-orientated tyres… perhaps our test car was simply a pre-production dud. While I’m bitching, I also noticed that the gearbox lacked the crispness of, say, the Focus, causing the occasional missed or crunched gear, although the responsiveness and feel of the brakes compensated nicely.
Emissions-wise, only the Fiesta 1.4 automatic (using a four-speed slushbox, incidentally) dips into VRT Band C – the rest of the petrol range (1.25 to 1.6-litres) is Band B clean while the diesels are all Band A, sub-120g/km CO2 emitters, good news for Irish punters. As far as safety goes, ESC will remain optional on all but the Zetec-S model while curtain airbags will also be an option, although front, side and a driver’s knee airbag will be standard. Expect a five-star NCAP rating when the car’s results are published later this month.
As the Italian police huddled in the boot of their battered Fiat Panda patrol car, more Fiestas came howling around the same corner I had just negotiated, much to the bemusement of the unformed pair. The male officer barked at me gruffly (at this point I was hoping my brother, who was in the Fiesta with me, had enough cash to bail me out) which the female officer translated as: “He wants to know if you are making a Fiesta race.” “No, no,” I cry, “Journalista!”
I have no idea if that’s even vaguely Italian or not, but their collective “Ahhhhhhhh” seemed to indicate I was onto something. I dive into the boot to retrieve a copy of last month’s magazine, showing them the editor’s page with my picture on it, before gifting it to the pair. The male officer is so grateful he even gives me a little pat on the back before handing me back my licence, intact, and sending me on my way, smiling and waving me off. Once again, I escape the jaws of law enforcement and I’m sent on my way relatively unscathed. At this point I can’t decide if Fords are good or bad luck for me but if I think if I can get away with filing my first Irish drive of the new Fiesta without landing myself behind bars somewhere then I’ll probably have my answer.
Interior image caption: Surprisingly, little of the new Fiesta’s cabin, which works superbly well, is carried over from other models
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Info |
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Ford Fiesta 1.25 Style 3-door |
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Engine |
1,242cc four-cylinder |
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Output |
82hp, 114Nm |
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Transmission |
5-speed manual, FWD |
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Acceleration |
0-100km/h 13.3 seconds |
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Top Speed |
168km/h |
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Economy |
5.7 litres/100km |
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CO2 Emissions |
133g/km |
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CO2 Tax Band |
B (€150 p.a.) |
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Weight |
966kg |
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Boot capacity |
281 litres |
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Base Price |
€15,500 (Est) |
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For: |
Handling, kit, quality |
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Against: |
Not fast, poor colours |
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Rating: |
8/10 |
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Info |
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Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCi Titanium 5-door |
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Engine |
1,398cc four-cylinder turbo diesel |
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Output |
68hp, 160Nm |
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Transmission |
5-speed manual, FWD |
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Acceleration |
0-100km/h 14.9 seconds |
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Top Speed |
162km/h |
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Economy |
4.2 litres/100km |
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CO2 Emissions |
110g/km |
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CO2 Tax Band |
A (€100 p.a.) |
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Weight |
1,011kg |
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Boot capacity |
281 litres |
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Base Price |
€18,500 (Est) |
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For: |
Handling, kit, quality |
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Against: |
Slow, no 1.6 TDCi option |
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Rating: |
7/10 |
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Info |
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Ford Fiesta 1.4 Style 5-door |
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Engine |
1,388cc four-cylinder |
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Output |
96hp, 128Nm |
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Transmission |
5-speed manual, FWD |
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Acceleration |
0-100km/h 12.2 seconds |
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Top Speed |
175km/h |
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Economy |
5.7 litres/100km |
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CO2 Emissions |
133g/km |
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CO2 Tax Band |
B (€150 p.a.) |
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Weight |
979kg |
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Boot capacity |
281 litres |
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Base Price |
€16,500 (Est) |
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For: |
Handling, kit, quality |
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Against: |
Not worth extra over 1.25 |
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Rating: |
8/10 |
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Info |
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Ford Fiesta 1.6 Zetec-S 3-door |
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Engine |
1,596cc four-cylinder |
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Output |
120hp, 152Nm |
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Transmission |
5-speed manual, FWD |
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Acceleration |
0-100km/h 9.9 seconds |
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Top Speed |
193km/h |
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Economy |
5.9 litres/100km |
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CO2 Emissions |
139g/km |
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CO2 Tax Band |
B (€150 p.a.) |
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Weight |
970kg |
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Boot capacity |
281 litres |
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Base Price |
€19,000 (Est) |
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For: |
Handling, kit, quality |
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Against: |
Not fast enough, wimpy wheels |
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Rating: |
9/10 |
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