Fiesta 1.6 sxi with ABS - Updated: 2 years & 51,000 kms

[suman]

Originally Posted by LandCruiser

Was keeping the needle above 110kmph most of the time and sometimes i was near 150-165kmph wherever possible. I got 11.3kmpl. I was dreaming to get 14kmpl. Probably if i drive inside of 90kmph then i shall get it. Anyways please tell me about how you drive.

Till about 100-110 is fine, the minute you go over that your mileage will drop. So, with a 150-165 in stretches, 11 to 12 was fine I'd say!

By the way, 12.66 kmpl at my last tank-up day before yesterday. This is city running with full a/c in the peak of our summer; its too good to last actually!

[sumitsingh]

Hi Guys,

What seems too good to be true is probably is just getting towards it end. my experience with the South City Dealer in Noida is getting from happy to sick.

After getting the car after first service, still realised that the car in straight roads moves towards the left in about 100 metres. The dealership informed me that they would take the car and fix the problem. They kept the car for the whole day and it comes back with the same problem although slightly less.

I told them to replace the left rear view mirror and in the evening realised they didn't. On inquiring they mentioned the mirror will come in 10 days?? and that I should keep asking.. so much for Customer is the king

I am now confused and think that i am being taken for a ride. any other suggestions in terms of any other dealer that I can try. Does anybody else face the same problem in their Fiesta.

Guys, be careful of the South City Dealer.

[suman]

Sumit, try Harpreet Ford. also, I know Srini was quite happy with Samara Ford......Srini, any feedback of late?

[srinivasd]

Past 6 months, my car was serviced by Samara Ford facilty at Okhla. My car suffered an unscheduled damage on the front windscreen. They did a good job, and I found them quite attentive to the issues. Please approach Mr Saxena, GM-Service, and he will usually do his best.

[LandCruiser]

What is the maximum mileage that anyone has got in Fiesta 1.6. I am trying to get 14kmpl somehow and I couldnt go past 12.75 at anytime (city or highway).

My range is 11 - 12.75 kmpl both city and highway included. Even i drive past 130kmph it never drops below 11. And when i drive consisitently at 80 kmph agian it doesnt go beyond 12.75.

I see that if we keep it near 2000-2500RPM the mileage seems to be best.

[suman]

Max I've got so far (and its been all city driving) was 12.66......I'm getting a lot of bumper to bumper traffic lately in my daily 110 kms which is why it stays between 11 & 11.5 most times. AC on throughout of course

[supremeBaleno]

suman, you drive 110kms daily in the city ? Man, that's like how many hours on the road ? And going by the FE, it is like 10L of fuel daily. Phew !!!

[suman]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

suman, you drive 110kms daily in the city ? Man, that's like how many hours on the road ? And going by the FE, it is like 10L of fuel daily. Phew !!!

Tell me about it SB! Ever since we moved to Gurgaon in April, that's what it is! Drop kids to school in the morning, that's about 53 kms round trip, not much traffic so a total time of an hour/hour and ten minutes; then I leave for work (gurgaon to Okhla) which is another 28 kms each way. THAT takes mostly an hour each way. So 2.5 to 3 hours in a day on the road except on weekends........

[RX135]

Originally Posted by suman

Tell me about it SB! Ever since we moved to Gurgaon in April, that's what it is! Drop kids to school in the morning, that's about 53 kms round trip, not much traffic so a total time of an hour/hour and ten minutes; then I leave for work (gurgaon to Okhla) which is another 28 kms each way. THAT takes mostly an hour each way. So 2.5 to 3 hours in a day on the road except on weekends........

Oh Boy, You need a car to sleep in/stay in and not to drive in.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by LandCruiser

What is the maximum mileage that anyone has got in Fiesta 1.6. I am trying to get 14kmpl somehow and I couldnt go past 12.75 at anytime (city or highway).
My range is 11 - 12.75 kmpl both city and highway included. Even i drive past 130kmph it never drops below 11. And when i drive consisitently at 80 kmph agian it doesnt go beyond 12.75.
I see that if we keep it near 2000-2500RPM the mileage seems to be best.

Hey, what are the individual FE figures that you get in city and highway respectively ?

[kashd]

I was getting 12.75 in semi highway and 13.5 in highways. But one prob is cropping up ie at 110 speed the car seems to be wobbling a bit and u can feel it through the steering. The dealer is saying that this is due to the alloy wheels which seems to be weird explanation. Anyway as the car was half under water due to flood i guess the dealer would do complete checking for the speed also. I am satisfied with the FE as its kinda best in its class

[sumitsingh]

Hey Kashd,

I have a stock 1.6 ZXi with the company provided steel wheels and till recently, i was facing the same problem as well. As soon as the car hits 110, the steering wobbles too much. I had other problems including the car pulling to the left as well as the tyre pressure not being constant in the front left wheel.

on inspection, the dealer would that my car had a puncture in the front wheel and did some alignment after that. the wobbling is has been reduced drastically and though it occassionally appears, its not as bad as before.

hope this information helps you. btw, nice car :-). just completed the second service yesterday, so will post my reviews, the experience with the dealership is getting better.

With Regards,
Sumit

[suman]

Yeah, that's what I told myself last evening on MG Road when the odo rolled from 9999 to........time flies and big wheels keep on turning! Seems like just the other evening we drove out of the dealership around 8 in the evening and were immediately swamped in the CRAZY bedlam of NH8. On the edge we were for 25 palpitating minutes expecting a bump or a thump or a scratch (you know how instinctively cabs, buses, bikers & cyclists make a beeline for unmarked and new cars!) before we managed to get off the highway and zip home by a less MANIC road....and that was seven months ago!

And now? Its a different scenario altogether what with major aggression & brow-beating at the traffic lights. But God has been kind so far (touch wood) and the call center cabs, autos & RTVs haven't yet managed to shake hands (as in scratch or dent) with this beauty

The experience so far -

Engine - Very peppy and smooth, love the roar from 3-3.5k onwards; extremely responsive throttle and most times a dab sees you through gaps in the traffic. I try to keep the revs to 4k but unconsciously floor the pedal whenever I see an empty stretch (which is so rare except early mornings these days!!). Noise levels of this engine are EXTREMELY low when in cruise mode. Torque is very good and you don't need to keep changing gears in traffic. I really like the way the car creeps forward smoothly in slow traffic if I just put her in first gear and release the clutch - just ambles along happily without any jerks whatsoever

Brakes & Handling - The brakes are superb and, backed up by ABS & EBD are a great source of mental comfort for me when I'm flooring the pedal knowing that the car will stop well in time if required. Handling is not as sharp as my Ikon and takes getting a little used to - initially she had a tendency to stick her a** out if I pushed her too hard on curves but I guess I've now got used to exactly how to persuade her to go through! I remember the first time coming back from VK towards Andheria more, there is a nice sweeping curve and I'd forgotten it wasn't the Ikon.....took a couple of seconds before I realized that the tail was sliding so I eased off quickly! The steering is very stable at high speeds and for those owners who have experienced the wobble at high speeds, I'd suggest you get the alignment & balancing checked - I had a similar issue just before my 2nd service and it turned out to be an alignment issue

Ride & Cabin Comfort - Well, my wife sat in the rear seat the other day and said that the car undulated more as compared to the Ikon if going over speed breakers or dips in the road at speed. Got them to check out the shockers during 3rd service, shockers were fine, she says its marginally better but the Ikon rules according to her! Front seats are very comfy and though I cover a lot of distance every day, I've never felt tired or weary of driving the car. Wife likes the seat height adjustment mechanism which was one of her grouses about the Ikon! There is very little intrusion of external or engine noise in the cabin, I can make out just how much when I wind down the windows occasionally! Going over very bad patches at high speed results in some tyre noise filtering into the cabin. Airconditioning VERY effective, blower position mostly in 2, it is noisy in 3 but generally 2 suffices so.....

ICE - The 6CD changer & 6 speakers are sufficient for my purposes because I don't like announcing to my neighbours or to cars around me that I'M HERE GUYS! However, a SERIOUS music enthusiast would find it lacking

After Sales Service - 3 services over & expenditure around Rs 700 or so for the Oil & Oil filter. Following items were changed under warranty - Front Discs & Pads (I was feeling a pulsing from the steering wheel when I applied the brakes LIGHTLY, just before full braking; this happened just after the heavy monsoons in July when the car went through MAJORLY waterlogged areas for a couple of days in a row, was diagnosed and corrected, problem gone), Beam Bushes (squeaking noise from the rear, it took them a full day & extensive research before one guy hit the nail on the head). As usual, my *** experience has been satisfactory which is why I keep harping that you need a good dealership because that's what makes it or breaks it

FE - She's been returning a steady 11 to 11.5 except for the last two tank ups which have returned 10.3 & 10.5 respectively. Traffic has been a b***h for the past few weeks - an hour and fifteen/twenty minutes for 28 kms type of traffic. As said elsewhere, max I've got is 12.66 so far. By the way, my driver (on the rare chances he gets to drive the car when I'm travelling) always manages to get better mileage since he's way more sedate & lightfooted when compared to me!

Highway capabilities - I'm ashamed to say "I don't know yet" because we haven't yet taken one of our quick breaks this year! Oh, she's pretty good on the early morning runs to school & very stable at 100 plus (the max I've flogged her till is 140 earlier this week on the Rajokri flyover, she would have easily gone more but there was traffic and I ran out of road) but after all a highway drive is a different experience altogether. So, one of these days, I gotta take her and family upto Khaadu's neck of the woods and see how she takes to NH1 & 22! And I'll then let you guys know....

Other likes - The Head beam of the headlamps (AWESOME is the only word I can use and I get big kicks of speeding up behind call center cabs, buses and other cars on dark stretches and putting on the head beam and watch them MOVE out of the way!), the DTE meter, the glove box lamp, the outside temp display on the MID and the oodles of space for bottles, coins and what have you....and the HUGE boot

Dislikes - Bonnet opening lever on passenger's side, steering column sometimes touches foot when you are pressing the clutch if your foot position is not perfect, profile of tyres don't look good to me (maybe because the wheels are 14 inchers) and the loading lip of the boot is too narrow (getting two large suitcases requires some expertise)

BIG GROUSE - Want to smoke a City ZX Vtec but haven't found any takers yet, Goldie, PLEASE HELP!!!!!

So guys, that's how its been so far and I would rate this as a 8 out of 10 because most of my expectations have been met and a few exceeded. Sad bit is that my Ikon is getting on in years and mileage - five & a half years and 140000 on the odo so I will be bidding her farewell by the end of this year. That's when I plan to get a SUV for myself and the Fiesta moves on to the driver for my wife's Office trips, kids trips back from school & the household chores....WASTE of a damn good car if I hand it over to the driver? Perhaps but what to do? Kids have already said that morning trips MUST be on the Fiesta because they're not interested in lumbering to school in a SUV if it doesn't clip as fast as the Fiesta....I have no answers at the moment!

Well hope I haven't bored you guys to death......actually I've been a little underemployed at work today so I thought I'll use my time more constructively!!!!

[supremeBaleno]

Nice review there, Suman.
I am sure the VTec owners on the forum in and around your place will be bristling to take on the challenge.
goldie, what say ? how about a tbhp knock-out of the Fiesta and the Vtec ?

[LandCruiser]

Suman or any one else can tell me what is the normal tyre pressure required for upto 2 persons in a fiesta. I keep 30,30 front and back and i feel the car feels loose on the road and bumps a lot. It jiggles very badly or sways sideways a lot on rough patchy roads. This is very odd. This behaviour is there from the beginning.

For 4 or more passengers it is recommended to have 35,45 front and back that is lot of different between upto 3 passengers. if you add 2 people suddenly you need to increase the pressure a lot. The suspension, i feel, is too soft compared to ikon. I have seen fiesta bottoms almost touching the road when fully loaded.

Can some fiesta owners throw some light on this?