2018 Ford Fiesta Reviews

It's not as large as the Focus but obviously comes out of the same design house, with its sharp European lines.Our test vehicle was the sporty, eye-catching Zetec model, priced from $18,990 plus on road costs.It's a tempting price for a great little car but just remember this does not include automatic transmission $2300. 

IT'S been a long time since Ford had a genuine striker in the baby-car league.You have to go back to the Korean-made Festiva to find a regular scorer for the team.The Ka was only ever a midfielder, and even then it needed a price cut to promote it from left back.But now there is a new star in the squad, and it's going to give Ford a massive kick.The Fiesta has all the right skills and strengths for the light-car contest, with a funky body and a perky engine. Unlike the Ka, it also has an automatic gearbox option, and the price has been set with a basic bottom line of $14,490.It has taken Ford Australia a long time to get the European-made Fiesta into its team, but it's been worth the wait.It's not as adventurous as the Honda Jazz or as enjoyable to drive as the Mazda2, but it has the rest of its rivals covered.It is, without any doubt, the car that Ford has always needed to replace the Festiva.The Fiesta was designed and developed in Germany.It comes in three basic models – LX, Zetec and Ghia – and with a choice of three and five-door hatchback bodies.There is only one engine, and the 1.6-litre Duratec is a good one. Ford says the power and torque peaks are 74kW and 146Nm with lightweight design, twin-overhead camshafts and sequential fuel injection.The gearbox choices are the traditional five-speed manual or four-speed automatic for the front-wheel drive Fiesta, but Ford has created a self-shifter with multi-mode electronic controls.Brakes are four-wheel discs and the suspension is fully independent with the sort of sports tuning we have come to expect on everything up to the Fairlane.The lineup begins with the LX three-door at $14,490, but it's a price that doesn't include the $2000 extra for airconditioning. The five-door LX is $15,990.The mid-level car is the sporty-ish Zetec three-door at $18,990 – which picks up anti-skid brakes, alloy wheels and fog lamps – while the flagship is the five-door Ghia at $21,490 including a six-stack CD player, with optional side and curtain airbags for $900."Customers looking for a small car are just as selective as those wanting a larger car. They prefer a small car because it's the vehicle that best suits their needs," Ford Australia president Geoff Polites says."The days of having to sacrifice driving dynamics, performance and safety features along with size will be gone with the new Fiesta."THE Fiesta is a good little jigger. We've driven a range of cars, from the basic five-door model to the sporty Zetec with optional body kit, and liked them all.They are responsive, comfortable, well equipped and great value.We spent most of our time with the LX five-door manual and believe it is a winner at $15,990.The engine is perky, there is plenty of space inside, it has all the right gear, and it is enjoyable to drive.It's not at the cutting edge set by the Jazz and Mazda, which have truly innovative cabins and class-leading quality.But it is cheaper, and few buyers in the baby-car class are going to know what they are missing by heading straight to a Ford showroom.Just why has it taken Ford Australia so long to get the Fiesta and get it right? Right now, we don't care.We're just happy there is a Ford that takes the brand back to the strengths of the original Laser and the Korean-made Festiva, and which delivers a package to sit comfortably alongside the classy BA Falcon.The Fiesta even shades the larger Focus, which needs the same sort of engine-room effort.The baby car's Duratec four is punchy from the bottom and still has a top-end surge that allows nippy performance in the city and strong overtaking.It's also light on fuel, proving the efficiency of its design.The engine is helped by the car's light weight, but it highlighted – for us – the real weakness of the Focus.If Ford can get the powerplant right in the Fiesta, why can't it do the same for the Focus?The five-speed manual gearbox is light and direct and the brakes are strong and efficient, while the steering has good feel with a light load for parking.The ride and handling of the Fiesta is outstanding, with great grip in curves and the sort of enjoyable response that qualifies it as a hot hatch.It doesn't bump and thump like many of the Euro-made babies, either, though we'd prefer less road roar from the tyres on coarse bitumen.There is plenty of space in the Fiesta, the ¿smiley face¿ dash (top left) is simple but attractive, and we liked everything from the giant ventilation outlets to the CD sound and the column-mounted sound controls we sampled in the Zetec Fiesta.But the seats don't have enough shape or support, you have to pull the seatbelt a long way forward in the three-door car, and the cabin colour – cave black – won't be much fun in an Australian summer.Holden discovered a long time ago that it needed lighter and brighter cabin colours in its Barina and Astra.But they are only minor niggles on a car that's right at the front of the baby-car battle and kicks another big goal for Ford.

You probably think they are cramped, under-powered, noisy, harsh, gutless on hills, laboured under a full load, rattle prone, have no creature comforts, look like a toy, are unsafe and have puny brakes.Small cars always have been cheap motoring. Cheap to buy, maintain and run.But now there is a growing number of quality small cars that have all the virtues of a compact, without many of the drawbacks.Consider the Peugeot 307, Citroen's C2 and C3, the smart series and now Ford's Fiesta.These are attractive cars that also are rewarding for drivers and still cheap to own and operate.The new Fiesta is built in Germany. And that means more than just the fact that the indicators and windscreen wipers are reversed.It means engineering and build quality is superior and that the driver is well accommodated.It looks like a shrunken Focus. Almost the same lines, yet still a style all its own.The $18,990 three-door Zetec (second top in the range) test car has 45 per cent low-profile tyres and seven-spoke 16-inch wheels (an extra $900) that gives it a distinct rally feel.Inside, there are plenty of WRC references in the C3-style round air vents and brushed aluminium trims.The seats also are rally style, offering firm support, plenty of adjustment and little sideways slip.That's just as well, because the chassis is every bit as tight as its famously taut bigger brother, encouraging plenty of G forces in corners.The 1.6-litre Duratec four-cylinder engine is tuned to aid the driver to find relevant power across the rev range.Its power is a modest 74kW on 95RON premium fuel, but economy is good at between 13 to 15km of every litre.Where it does impress is in its drive delivery. With its 11:1 compression ratio and 146Nm of torque at a respectable 4000rpm, there is plenty of urge out of corners, up hills, under load and from low revs. It will pull nicely from 2000rpm and sprint all the way to the 6000rpm red line.Acceleration in the Zetec is helped by a notchy and precise manual five-speed gear shift. It would be interesting to see if the four-speed automatic box is up to the job.You will certainly pay for the auto – an extra $2300 – so it would want to be good.Fellow motoring writer Gordon Lomas reported from the Fiesta launch last month that the auto starts hunting for gears going up gradients but was responsive and smooth.Bumps in corners are handled well by the sophisticated independent MacPherson strut front suspension and semi-independent rear, but will bang and kick back a little through the steering wheel.The Fiesta steering is pin sharp and it turns into corners so quickly you could find yourself cutting corners until you adjust to the lack of understeer and steering wheel weight.Together with audio controls on a steering wheel stalk, it all adds up to a great driving experience.But the fun doesn't stop there.A generous boot, rear seat (although leg room is obviously at a premium), and head room make it quite spacious for a compact, although getting in and out of the three-door was tricky for rear-seat passengers.It should employ a one-touch lever system that not only tilts the seat back, but also slides the front seat forward.Once accommodated in the back, there is good vision, a deep and comfortable seat, adjustable headrests and low cabin noise.While it's difficult to tell from a test vehicle that has only had its first service, there is a stiffness and firmness in the body and suspension that reassures it won't rattle itself to pieces in a few thousand kilometres.It's a robust little unit with plenty of flair and driving pleasure, without too many small-car drawbacks.If you want auto and a few extras, you will break the $20,000 barrier.But a few extra dollars hasn't hurt sales of Holden's German-built Astra and it shouldn't hurt this quality compact.