Fiesta 1.6 sxi with ABS - 80k kms done & dusted!

[suman]

Been out of the country for a week so haven't been able to log in as many kms as I'd thought I would after taking delivery on 25th Jan.....698 kms so far, one re-fill of fuel and 12 kmpl (not bad, I'd say, I'm impressed). Average running of 30-35 kms in a day (8-10 kms in bumper to bumper traffic, the rest in light conditions) and about 60 kms on weekends (mixed traffic).

Haven't been redlining or flogging her yet, haven't exceeded 95 kmph so far; underlying power can be felt and I think (merely "think" at this point, will know once I've covered 1500) that this will give most cars in this segment a sprint for their money when the lights turn green.

Will keep you guys posted.

[Godfather]

Bro... you must be the first on TBHP to own a fiesta... lots of guys are waiting on the forum for the review... what say samurai??

[suman]

Originally Posted by Godfather

Bro... you must be the first on TBHP to own a fiesta... lots of guys are waiting on the forum for the review... what say samurai??

Well, Abhibh got his before I did - he has a 1.4 tdci and has been burning up Chandigarh for a while now, right Abhibh...??!!

I'm happy with what I've experienced so far. FE was never the deciding factor for me, I liked the overall package that I got with the SXI and the price it came at; the Ikon 1.6 (which is the other one I have) lets you know when the speedo is climbing whereas with the Fiesta, the knowledge comes when you look at the needle and realize that you didn't know when it got there! There have been a few inadvertent wheel-spins off the traffic lights and I think the engine has lots of juice. But, as I said, really need to go a long haul on the highway to bring out some of the pros and cons.

The other minus reported by Overdrive that hasn't surfaced yet is they had reported that it scrapes a lot of speed breakers but I haven't scraped any yet. Maybe its because I'm a little wary after reading it and haven't been flying over them but time will tell.

Engine is fairly silent especially at idle at red lights - I'd allowed my chaffeur to drive it when it was a couple of days old and he stalled it at a red light, started it and was about to try to start it again since he hadn't figured out it was already on!

AC is VERY effective though the blower is a little noisy in the upper numbers but not enough to cause any irritation. The 6 speaker music system is adequate for our purposes as I'm not part of the "let the neighbourhood dance along with me" brigade; what I'm saying is that it has decent bass & treble but will obviously not satisfy someone who needs a SERIOUSLY GOOD music system in the car. It does not play MP3 but again, thats not a serious issue as far as I'm concerned.

The car feels very solid and stable, need to see how it handles cross winds on the highways; steering has a very reassuring feel while being light at the same time.

More as we go along guys.....

[zenx]

hmm, 12kmpl in mostly city conditions from the 1.6 is impressive, and unexpected. Congrats and have fun.

[suman]

Originally Posted by zenx

hmm, 12kmpl in mostly city conditions from the 1.6 is impressive, and unexpected. Congrats and have fun.

Thanks mate, I'm hoping it will go up further after the first couple of services but will also drop thereafter with the advent of summer (and thats knocking on our doors already)

[Dippy]

Good initial review Suman. Hope to get more inputs from you in due course. I agree with you on the wheels spin part. I myself did some in 1st and 2nd gear off the traffic light in the 1.6 test car which was sent to me.

[Boom Shiva]

Congratulations on your new car...12kmpl in the city is pretty rocking, especially pre-first service.

Enjoy a safe drive.

[suman]

Originally Posted by Boom Shiva

Congratulations on your new car...12kmpl in the city is pretty rocking, especially pre-first service.

Enjoy a safe drive.

Thanks! And guys, forgot to mention the first casualty - stopped on extreme left side of a narrow street on Thursday to let a truck coming from the opposite side pass; the bu***r went past and THUNKED my right side mirror with his rear corner. My heart STOPPED for about 15 seconds then I drove on to my Office, parked, prepared myself for the worst and got off to inspect. LUCKILY, very luckily, no dents....just a teeny-weeny bit of paint scraped off. Man, he could have taken off the entire mirror! But thats Delhi for you - no matter how careful you are.......

[lamborghini]

Bro,
we got our 1.4 TDCi the same day as you. 25th Jan.
Quite cool anyway, we have done 1500km and have booked our service for 22nd Feb.
I have a few issues with the car but am quite happy with the average of 14kmpl which included getting stuck in Bandra for 1 hour.

[yogi1771]

can u specify the issues plz

[suman]

Originally Posted by lamborghini

Bro,
we got our 1.4 TDCi the same day as you. 25th Jan.
Quite cool anyway, we have done 1500km and have booked our service for 22nd Feb.
I have a few issues with the car but am quite happy with the average of 14kmpl which included getting stuck in Bandra for 1 hour.

Great! Silver twins with different hearts in different cities......

[lamborghini]

Well the issues are -
1. There si some sticky solution on the front left hand side window which sticks to the glass. Nt serious but irritating.
2. The a.c. isn't very effective. Maybe i have been spoilt by the palio but still.
3. There is some noise coming from the rear. My relative who got their car a few days after ours has no problems
4. the driver seat doesn't adjust properly and there are times when it slips completely back whn the driver is driving.
5. There is a minor rattle coming from my relatives car which is newer then ours.
Will be posting a review soon once the car goes for its service.

[Sri_009]

12kmpl with 1.6 in mixed condition...mmmm interesting figures, what about 1.4TDCi figure?

[srinivasd]

Friends, Greetings ! I am Srinivas (Srini) in New Delhi, and I must acknowledge and appreciate all your comments, advice, opinions, and research into cars. I did not own any Honda car earlier, but I have driven them a bit, and driven in then on all my tours across India. I bought the Fiesta 1.6 SXI on Feb 2 -- after some initial research of similar sized cars, and meeting with various engineers of all companies at the recent Auto expo 2006.

Till date I have done 710 KMS, and my observations (and also my driver's) are as below :
1. Excellent ride quality ; feel of a big & tough car & excellent interiors. Nice spaces for placing magazines/newspapers,& water bottles, and good reading lights. Excellent view of the road ahead...
2. Quiet engine, good response to acceleration.
3. Fairly good leg space at the back. I am 5'10" and did not feel inconvenient.
4. Initially could never gage when I hot 70 KMPH....Max I went up to was 90KMPH on a good stretch of empty road near Vasant Kunj. I plan to tke it on an outstation trip in March.
5. Bright headlights at night....never felt like this in any car I ever drove in. Felt reassuring.
6. Did not use much of A/C, but the little usage (approx 100 KMS) during the noon time when it was arond 32-34 C (thanks to the temp gage!), the A/c was just perfect. Yes, the blowers do get a li'l noisy from at 3 or 4 position..almost like an industrial blower. But that's okay. At # 2 position, it is very pleasant.
7. I have taken a 2 Yr TMP. Got a Corporate Discount of Rs.9250 equivalent in extra warranty or reduction in price in TMP. I chose TMP, which I believe should be good....more on that when I experiecne how it is administered !
8. Did not accurately measure mileage ; but a back-of-the-envelope calculation suggest approx 11.5 KMPL (25% of the time with A/C). Currently I have filled up the tank, and will measure mileage after about 3-4 days of drive.

Issues :
1. My DTE Meter seems faulty. The warning glow did not activate at 80 KM, or even at 40 KM.
2. After about 300 KMS, I feel that the suspension dampers were not absorbing all the minor road undulations.
(I brought up the above to Ford, and they promised to correct them at first service)
3. Maneuvrability in close spaces....not as good as I thought it was, or felt with my earlier Esteem...or may be I am not adept in close-space parking. I am practising more. I think the 4.9 M, turn radius is fine, but the lock-to-lock turn of 2.8 M is lower than City 3.4 M.


In summary....I think this is a great car, considering the price delta of 1 L w.r.t VTEC. I also believe that a 1.6 L car is just about right for a city like Delhi, or for that matter all Indian cities. The external dimensions are just right for parking in most places. Better judgments can be give after a year ! Thanks for your patience !

[nitrous]

Nice review, Suman.
Waiting for urs Lambo.

OT:

1. There si some sticky solution on the front left hand side window which sticks to the glass. Nt serious but irritating.
2. The a.c. isn't very effective. Maybe i have been spoilt by the palio but still.
3. There is some noise coming from the rear. My relative who got their car a few days after ours has no problems
4. the driver seat doesn't adjust properly and there are times when it slips completely back whn the driver is driving.
5. There is a minor rattle coming from my relatives car which is newer then ours.
Will be posting a review soon once the car goes for its service.

Lambo, don't take me wrongly in this post. I'm not supporting any manufacturer.

But, the fact is : The fiesta has created a huge demand and its supply in the first few months should be high as possible to meet demand.
Any vehicle manufacturer in this situation has no other go but 'Make hay while the sun shines'. He can't give token numbers to people and ask them to wait for their turn ( after 6-12 months) to get a car. People these days aren't patient (so am i). So, they increase shifts, double up assembly speeds,etc.. to keep the customer from taking back their advance and booking a different car.

This leads to niggles, rattles.. caused due to hurried assemblies. This happens to any car which is a big hit with the public. This happened to the Tata Sumo when it was launched 11 years back. This happened to the Indica(prototypes sold as new vehicles) , Swift (21000 bookings in the first month), and now to the Fiesta. It'll continue to happen to every car till the 'demand=supply' equation is met.

Most of the problems u're facing won't be present in a fiesta manufactured in 2007 unless the problem is inherent.Its because manufacturers have more time to patiently produce each car with the highest standards.

I've always made it my rule to invest in a car only after atleast 6-12 months of its launch to get a complete car just to avoid these niggles, rattles, etc.This is meant for mass-produced cars. Mercs, exotics, etc.. can always be bought as soon as they hit the showrooms