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Old 26th June 2014, 18:58   #181
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Re: 2014 Ford Fiesta Facelift : A Close Look

Most of us are anticipating that it will sell in good numbers comparing pre-face lift. Has any one here or any of your relative/friend booked it?
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Old 26th June 2014, 19:17   #182
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Re: 2014 Ford Fiesta Facelift : A Close Look

I had been to VW Palace Cross, from where I bought my GT to collect the number plates. While I was waiting for the SA in the basement of the building, I happened to see the new Fiesta TD car.

I could not TD the car but just sat inside to see the ergonomics. I probably may be exagerating here, but I frankly think that the leg room at the back is not a lot better than my Polo, once I set the driver seat to my liking. Did anybody feel the same ?
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Old 27th June 2014, 09:10   #183
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Re: 2014 Ford Fiesta Facelift : A Close Look

If handling prowess could be quantified like bhp and torque can, this car in its petrol avatar would have proven that it is equal to, if not better than the 3 series in that area. The diesel doesn’t come close enough though, but is still good.

The response to this thread, however, is like the rush to a Discount Sale where the focus is on the price and incidentally, the car!

Ford seems to have cracked our code that what we want is a car that is Big, Cheap and Runs On Diesel.

So they put their old wine in a new bottle, threw in a couple of gimmicks, gave a 15% discount and is now watching us make a fool of ourselves.

And how can one not overlook the new car’s party trick of reading out lewd messages from your girlfriend?

Last edited by VeyronSuperSprt : 27th June 2014 at 09:35.
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Old 27th June 2014, 09:54   #184
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Re: 2014 Ford Fiesta Facelift : A Close Look

@VeyronSuperSprt

I didn't see it being mentioned anywhere that the Petrol Fiesta handled better than the Diesel Fiesta. Where did you hear this ?
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Old 27th June 2014, 11:22   #185
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Re: 2014 Ford Fiesta Facelift : A Close Look

Quote:
Originally Posted by vijayk View Post
Most of us are anticipating that it will sell in good numbers comparing pre-face lift. Has any one here or any of your relative/friend booked it?
The Fiesta wouldn't do great numbers to start with till Ford gets the capacity constraints out of the way. For example, the dealer in Kochi is getting only 2 cars per months currently, which is pittance. So, it will be a while till we get to see many cars on road.
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Old 27th June 2014, 11:32   #186
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Re: 2014 Ford Fiesta Facelift : A Close Look

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Originally Posted by VeyronSuperSprt View Post
So they put their old wine in a new bottle, threw in a couple of gimmicks, gave a 15% discount and is now watching us make a fool of ourselves.
The way i'm seeing is old fiesta itself is a complete product only marred only by poor pricing. The new one just corrects that thing by being the cheapest in its segment, the design changes and the so called 'gimmicks' are just an added bonus. Yes the engine might not be the best in class but the handling dynamics is the great and punches above even two segments.
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Old 28th June 2014, 12:33   #187
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Re: 2014 Ford Fiesta Facelift : A Close Look

All the expectation ended when i called the dealership in Trivandrum,
i wanted to test drive the car and the reply was no test drive car available until next year, only one in cochin! and also said its limited no of cars for sales too.
Merc/Beemer and Audi too have test drive cars for each model and they even arrange it in trivandrum.
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Old 28th June 2014, 13:58   #188
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Quote:
Originally Posted by autobalan View Post
All the expectation ended when i called the dealership in Trivandrum,
i wanted to test drive the car and the reply was no test drive car available until next year, only one in cochin!
If you are going to shell out that kind of money, and if you think Fiesta is a good contendor, you should go to Cochin and take that TD. Better than buying something else just because a TD was unavailable.
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Old 28th June 2014, 22:28   #189
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Re: 2014 Ford Fiesta Facelift : A Close Look

Checked out the New face-lifted Fiesta in person on Friday at Fortune Ford, Tollychowki, Hyderabad. Must say that dealership experience was Good and the lady - Shilpi came out as knowledgeable.

However, was little disappointed to see Fiesta in person, though the photographs in review were excellent, the Car actually looked pretty small. I guess, a size smaller than Verna and City. After setting the driving seat to my liking, I found rear space to be really small, I am 5 ft 7", and my knees were rubbing hard against the back of the driver seat. I also found the cabin space little tight as compared to even AMAZE.

My friend who accompanied me to the showroom, actually liked and recommended the Ecosports that was on display next to Fiesta. A back to back comparison of Fiesta and Ecosports in terms of cabin space and seating comfort, actually came out in favour of ecosports.
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Old 29th June 2014, 09:01   #190
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Re: 2014 Ford Fiesta Facelift : A Close Look

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Originally Posted by MaNishi View Post
...was little disappointed to see Fiesta in person, though the photographs in review were excellent, the Car actually looked pretty small. I guess, a size smaller than Verna and City. After setting the driving seat to my liking, I found rear space to be really small, I am 5 ft 7", and my knees were rubbing hard against the back of the driver seat. I also found the cabin space little tight as compared to even AMAZE.

My friend who accompanied me to the showroom, actually liked and recommended the Ecosports that was on display next to Fiesta. A back to back comparison of Fiesta and Ecosports in terms of cabin space and seating comfort, actually came out in favour of ecosports.
Second the sentiments 200%. I went to check it or yesterday and felt the car looked much smaller in flesh. The Aston Martin like grille looks much bigger in picture and looked less impressive in real. The rear leg room is really small when the front seats are pushed to the limit. To make matters worse, the cup holders on the front protrude so much to the back that it creates an artificial tunnel. The fifth passenger would struggle to lift their leg and take it to the other side much like in the Vento or Rapid. The Ecosport definitely has better rear bench.

That apart the car is really nice. Interiors are much better. Driving position is awesome and gives a sporty feel. Couldn't get a test drive. But just got the engine fired up to check NVH levels when stationary. Really good.

Overall if space is the reason why you want to buy a sedan then Fiesta fails to impress. For most typical Indians who are looking to buy their first or second car for all kinds of usage (daily office commute+kids+shopping+weekend long drives+family enemy's+impress family and friends) there are other options. But if you are probably looking for a car for some fun and show it off to you friends in college (you need to have a rich dad) this will work for you. You may go for this car if you have a small family with kids less than 12 years or so and are not likely to have your parents in the backseat. The car would also probably appeal to someone who can afford a c-segment car in addition to their existing car and is bored with its driving dynamics.

But if Ford is primarily looking to position this as a fun to drive car for an exclusive club (given their plans to ship about 5-10 cars per dealer pet month) then two things don't make sense:
A. The lack of a petrol engine. Diesel isn't really so much fun.
B. Pricing: The current pricing makes it the cheapest Fidel c-segment car and betrays the premium positioning it seeks. On the other hand it communicates an intention to be a mass market product without matching it with the necessary supply.

Ford's marketing is so puzzling...
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Old 29th June 2014, 09:33   #191
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Looks like we can officialy declare back seat space as one of the short comings of the new Fiesta. If I was in market, I would definitely consider it as I really don't need any back seat space.
So, what I would request all of you to come up with more relevant points. More pluses and minuses of the car, as you felt in person. E.g. I think nobody has commented on the ICE quality, thats the area to be explored and there would be so much more.
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Old 29th June 2014, 10:07   #192
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Re: 2014 Ford Fiesta Facelift : A Close Look

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Originally Posted by nvramsub View Post
The rear leg room is really small when the front seats are pushed to the limit. To make matters worse, the cup holders on the front protrude so much to the back that it creates an artificial tunnel. The fifth passenger would struggle to lift their leg and take it to the other side much like in the Vento or Rapid. The Ecosport definitely has better rear bench.
I definitely agree with you that the rear space is not great and we mentioned it in the review as well. It hasn't really changed so it's known.

That said there is one thing to note. The Fiesta's front seats have a huge range of adjustment. The front seats are allowed to go so far back that they almost touch the rear seats and when a 6 footer like me gets in to the driver's seat, I find it too far back. Same for height adjustment, they can be set really low and the lower you go, it also pushes the seat backwards a bit. This doesn't help the cause at all, and the already cramped rear seat seems even more cramped due to the front seat adjustment range.

The Honda city has huge legroom which is further exaggerated by the front seats not going all the way back. While I can sit comfortably in the City's driver seat, I felt it would have been better if it went back by a couple of notches.

In general the tendency is to move the front seat all the way back and then see if you can get into the back which is where Fiesta loses out even more.

Maruti had done this with the Alto. They claimed rear legroom improved. Having an owned an Alto, I knew the rear legroom was bad made even worse by the drivers seat that used to go back so much that I was able to drive it easily. But, when I checked out the facelifted Alto K10, I found myself unable to fit into the driver's seat but decent space at the back. Basically Maruti removed 2-3 steps in the front seat movement and labelled it as improvement in rear legroom.

Quote:
Originally Posted by itsashishsharma View Post
Looks like we can officialy declare back seat space as one of the short comings of the new Fiesta. If I was in market, I would definitely consider it as I really don't need any back seat space.
So, what I would request all of you to come up with more relevant points. More pluses and minuses of the car, as you felt in person. E.g. I think nobody has commented on the ICE quality, thats the area to be explored and there would be so much more.
Yup, back seat space is definitely not in the Fiesta's Forte but that was already known from the previous car.

A person looking for the Fiesta would consider it only if he was self driving and does not mind rear seat space over driving dynamics.

A person looking at Polo GT TDI over compact sedan like Amaze or Xcent or someone looking at the Jetta over Altis. Target segment is not the guy who wants to go from point A to point B in full comfort and space. It's the person who enjoys driving.
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Old 29th June 2014, 10:17   #193
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Re: 2014 Ford Fiesta Facelift : A Close Look

My brother-in-law is in the market to buy a new car & had shortlisted the petrol honda city / Rapid Ultima as the potential contenders. He didn't even know that Fiesta existed and by chance I was in NCR for some work and asked him to do a TD of Fiesta the very next day after it was launched.

Now, he is your regular car buyer with little automotive know how and needs a car that feels good, premium etc. (You get the drift...).

His impressions of the Fiesta:

* Looks good, has all 'nice' features with good pricing
* Once you step inside there is 'no feel good factor' as is in Honda -- especially the rear.
* Space is cramped
* Honda looks & feels more premium.

He did a TD and felt nice about the car. That's it.

I then asked him to do a TD of Honda city diesel also (his running of 2K per month needs a diesel -- which I pointed out).

His TD impressions of Honda city:

* Noisy engine. Irritating
* No feel when driving
* Ride on undulating roads above 50 kmph is unsettling (we were 5 people in the car)

He was not happy (he had driven the petrol earlier, which is a different proposition) and I then asked him to do a TD of Fiesta again right now itself to do a back-to-back comparison.

Went to ford showroom and he drove the fiesta again. Was impressed and then figured out what I had meant by "control, ride n handling", "driving pleasure" when I had told him about the fiesta.

Now he is super confused. Wants the feel of Honda but driving pleasure of fiesta :-)

Hasn't booked any as yet. But am sure that eventually he will buy the Honda only. Even though he is single and no need of rear seats but still it will be a Honda I think.

Last edited by khan_sultan : 30th June 2014 at 09:11.
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Old 29th June 2014, 12:31   #194
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Re: 2014 Ford Fiesta Facelift : A Close Look

The first drive of the Fiesta by PowerDrift. Not much of a detailed review but you do get to ogle at the car in those lovely shots.

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Old 30th June 2014, 13:30   #195
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Hasn't anybody booked this car yet? I mean someone on team-bhp or somebody known to a t-bhpian? If somebody has, could we please see a comment here from them?
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