[Surprise]

Party time

The petrol is more fun to drive of the two, with the diesel tuned more for efficiency than anything else

But some things don’t change, and the new Fiesta is as dynamically sound as its predecessor. Show it a straight stretch and its road holding is pretty impressive, but throw it into corners and it gets even better. Overall grip and body control is tight, the 195 section 15-inch tyres ensuring there’s little in the way of understeer. The steering, as I mentioned before, works well in Indian conditions. It’s light at low speeds but weighs up well as speeds rise, in a more linear manner than most other electric power steering units. To add to its repertoire, Ford has also added a technology called pull-drift compensation. Most roads in India are cambered and crosswinds affect cars, thus forcing the driver to apply torque to the steering in the opposite direction. Using sensors, the system detects such opposite force and accounts for it, thus learning along the way and compensating for the force applied. It means less effort when you encounter such a situation.
The car changes direction in a jiffy, but with some predictability, and it should put a smile on the face of an enthusiast. Ride quality is the other highlight of this car. It rides with an assurance we’ve seen on some high-end European cars and has a sweet balance between being firm, and supple. Overall ride and handling setup is probably the best in the segment we’ve seen so far.

2011 Ford Fiesta test drive | DWS Auto India

If there’s one thing that sums up the 2011 Ford Fiesta, it’s that it is a completely driver-oriented car.

This also gave us an opportunity to test the Fiesta’ cruise control, which works only in 5th gear. You can set any speed and the car holds it steadily, while you can also increase and decrease speed just by dabbing the steering buttons (Look ma, no feet!).

Having driven the Verna and the Fiesta, as a pure driver’s car the Ford has an edge in handling, feeling more sure-footed than the Verna. Of course, the Verna has the more powerful diesel offering, but..........

What we like

• Diesel Fiesta’s driving characteristic
• Blind-spot mirrors
• Intuitive multi-information display

[nileshch]

Saw a silver new Ford Fiesta at the HP petrol pump on old airport road today. Saw it for the first time in flesh. To be frank, didn't quite like what I saw. It looked as if it had a much higher CG and would be wobbly at high speeds. But this is just my guess. It looked smaller than the current Fiesta as well.

[souravc]

One of my friends who is torn between booking a Verna / Vento right away and waiting for the Fiesta, referred to this thread as something akin to a stock market tip discussion board, there is so much of speculation Ford would do better to come out with the specifics , they are losing the plot specially when overall car sales are weak (getting progressively weaker every month) and ANHV has the features, looks and A$$ goodwill to neutralise anything but a serious stunner from Ford - from whatever I have read, it may at best cause a ripple and unlikely to come anywhere close to the impact of ANHV.

I am a bit confused about the utility of the "pull drift" tech - DWS [ 2011 Ford Fiesta test drive | DWS Auto India ] says that

The steering also has “pull-drift compensation” which holds the car in a straight line even if the road is banked to one side

- banked road means curved road where the car is meant to turn alongwith the curve and not go straight! Surprise's post says that it helps in neutralising wind drift , does that mean that the car is going to be light ? Else why would a 90/110 bhp sedan be designed to be driven like a screamer (when wind drifts matter) when clearly the car does not look like being one - either plonk an engine with a more powerful grunt or do not design for the car to driven in a storm.

On the voice activated controls , would we have to speak with an American accent for it to understand ? My blackberry refuses to recognise any name that I call out so voice operated dialing has been duly abandoned by me as the pain of teaching the software outweighs the benefit.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by souravc

I am a bit confused about the utility of the "pull drift" tech - DWS [ 2011 Ford Fiesta test drive | DWS Auto India ] says that - banked road means curved road where the car is meant to turn alongwith the curve and not go straight!

I don't think the car initiated drift is going to be that stiff. Surely a light manual intervention can get the steering to work the way the driver wants it. On the camber point, even many straight roads will have a small sloping angle on one side of the road and may not be "flat". As far as I know this is mainly to get the rain water flow off the tarmac. So in these roads, if you take your hands off the steering wheel, the car [with correct alignment] will move in the direction where the slope is. Looks like the NFS will correct it.

Originally Posted by souravc

On the voice activated controls , would we have to speak with an American accent for it to understand ?

I don't think so. Mustang & some one else had posted a handful of videos on the voice activated controls, looked like it understood different Indian accents itself - should not be a problem!

And the reviews are way too tempting !! C'mon, I am waiting for our trademark review ! The Bangalore Mods have something for us already ?

And one of the doubts I have is "how do the European cars / manufactures manage to make brilliant ride & handling balance cars when others cant do it ?". Most of them either make a comfortable car which is dull to ride or a superb handling car which is stiff ! They simply don't seem to get the right mixture!

[MAS]

After looking at the interiors of Verna RB in flesh, the NFS suddenly looks many years old. Except for its driving dynamics, I don't see much weight in the pull drift system as well as the voice activated controls. In fact I feel the voice activated control would prove to be more of a distraction than just taping a button, which after getting used to, happens almost instantaneously. The only feature which is worthy is the Cruise Control. This will take off a lot of strain from the highway driving, but I'm worried if this would put the driver to sleep!!!

Ford seems to have a good car, but by the time they managed to get the car from the drawing board to production, the competition has raised the bar higher.

Does the NFS come with a 1.5 litre or a 1.6 Litre TDCi or both?

[Guna]

Originally Posted by souravc

banked road means curved road where the car is meant to turn alongwith the curve and not go straight! Surprise's post says that it helps in neutralising wind drift , does that mean that the car is going to be light ? Else why would a 90/110 bhp sedan be designed to be driven like a screamer (when wind drifts matter) when clearly the car does not look like being one - either plonk an engine with a more powerful grunt or do not design for the car to driven in a storm.

Many Indian roads are slightly raised in the center which slops on either sides, to let the rain wanter flow. But wherever it is overdone, many cars show tendency to drift towards left. I have experienced this in NHC and Fusion (even in ANHC to some extent) and sometime mistook it for a flat tire or left wheel having less pressure. Hopefully this drift compensator address that issue. It will be even better if it compensates steer torque.
Sudden crosswind can create a panic by giving the feeling of a drift momentarily.
On the other hand, the banking, (which is a slope designed in the curving) actually help to take a turn with a slight touch. If Ford's new technology compensates or cancels the banking effect, it will increase the steering effort, which is not very good.

[souravc]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

I don't think the car initiated drift is going to be that stiff. Surely a light manual intervention can get the steering to work the way the driver wants it. On the camber point, even many straight roads will have a small sloping angle on one side of the road and may not be "flat". As far as I know this is mainly to get the rain water flow off the tarmac. So in these roads, if you take your hands off the steering wheel, the car [with correct alignment] will move in the direction where the slope is. Looks like the NFS will correct it.

I differ slightly here - the steering of a car with correct alignment will hold onto the position in which the driver puts it thus if it is be turned slightly and left there the normal car will still follow the curve. I think TD will bring out the usefulness of this feature

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

I don't think so. Mustang & some one else had posted a handful of videos on the voice activated controls, looked like it understood different Indian accents itself - should not be a problem!

The key question is that does the video show the controls at work after the software has been "taught" to understand the accent ? Its time taking and painful , another one to be tried out during TD

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

And one of the doubts I have is "how do the European cars / manufactures manage to make brilliant ride & handling balance cars when others cant do it ?". Most of them either make a comfortable car which is dull to ride or a superb handling car which is stiff ! They simply don't seem to get the right mixture!

I agree with you to a great extent - I think it boils down to the characteristics of the home markets . Europeans like great handlers and fast cars, for Asia the most important attributes are maintenance costs and FE while in US its size, road presence and grunts that matter. These attributes are getting intermingled but still the characteristics remain in the car manufacturers. I am experiencing the European handling/ride quality first hand and am pretty thrilled by it
Swift is a great handling car , personally I struggled to find a car which can be a good replacement for it - I am sure you would face the same dilemna, and its great that there are a lot of choices today. All the best .

Originally Posted by MAS

Does the NFS come with a 1.5 litre or a 1.6 Litre TDCi or both?

1.5 litres , that's what the more respectable journals are saying

[Simhi]

Review of Ford Fiesta in business-standard

http://epaper.business-standard.com/..._008101004.htm

Extract from the article regarding petrol and diesel engines
[FONT=TT400AO00] India is the first market to receive the new 1.5-litre twincam, variable valve petrol motor, called the Ti-VCT, and a 1.5-litre Duratorq diesel. Both these engines are mated to a new fivespeed manual gearbox, with India being the first market yet again. The petrol engine produces 106.5 bhp@6,045 rpm and a pretty healthy 14.3 kgm@4,500 rpm. The diesel, on the other hand, is a bit short of peak power, producing just 90 bhp, but it has a strong 20.8 kgm of peak torque. Both these engines are locally assembled and will feature in other markets in the coming years, as well as on models destined for India in the future[/FONT]

[Surprise]

Here is one more. All these reviews pretty much covered what's in store with new fiesta.


Ford Fiesta 2011 First Test Drive Review Video and Pictures- 1.5 Litre Diesel and Petrol

Fiesta Diesel is a treat for auto enthusiast, it delivers wonderful acceleration with the turbo-charger working its best to make it run smooth. The noise is almost totally eliminated once the windows are rolled up and the car very easily reached till 140 KMPH. After 140 KMPH, it takes slight time to go further, but its very impressive. The torque really helps pull the car very well and overtaking is very easy without bother much about the gear shift. The steering is rock steady even at very high speed or on cornering and bumps, the credit goes to the Electric Power Steering with Pull-Drift Compensation system by Ford. The steering has been kept about perfect in effort and does not shake with the bumps or at the corner as there is an electronic logic to control how much effort is needed from driver to turn the steering. I helps you stay confident behind the wheel and we didn’t feel any need to slow down even at 140 KMPH.

The cruise control does not help in city traffic, but on long drives on a highway, it’s a very comforting feature. The cruise control is provided with easy access control on the right on the steering wheel itself. Once you set the cruise control on and set a speed, the car keeps going at that speed and you can keep your foot off the accelerator pedal. There are buttons on the steering to increase or decrease the cruising speeds and you can also cancel it and resume it at the click of a button. Also as soon as you hit the brakes, the cruise control automatically turns off without pressing any button even.

Looks like a very useful feature for long drives. Definitely as pointed out by MAS, its risky to turn ON this feature when we are bit tired on an empty highway

The mirrors also have a very nice safety feature of blind-spot detection. The sides of the mirrors have a slightly different curvature to show you even the rear view of the blind spot which is otherwise not visible in most of the convex outside mirrors of most cars.

The boot space is fairly large and can further be increased by dropping the rear seat flat. My co-driver Abhishek even demonstrated by getting completely inside the boot to show how large it its.

Liked both the above mentioned features a lot.

• Intelligent interior increases space and storage without increasing exterior dimensions
• An always connected feel through personal electronics-inspired entertainment system and Voice Control
• Maximum driver comfort assured with generous seating positions and adjustable steering wheel
• Wind-noise optimized grills for reduced noise
• Acoustic-laminated windshield reduces wind noise
• Sound-absorbent material throughout cabin for a quiet interior
• Ultra-high strength steel for rigidity and a rattle free ride
• Revised door seals for reduced wind noise
• Stiffened door modules reduce the potential for rattle
• Lower pillar acoustic baffles for sound abetment
• Large front door bins capable of storing a 1.5-litre bottle or road maps
• Rear seat center arm rest – a unique addition for the India market – has two additional cup holders designed in
• Stowage located under the passenger seat
• Open storage bin in front of the gearshift
• Open storage bin in front of the handbrake with USB socket and 12-volt power connector for an MP3 player or mobile phone
• Storage bin at the rear of the console
• Windshield parking ticket holder
• Dual seatback map pockets
• Simplicity and integration
• Usefulness and personalization
• Control and automation

Edit: Nice video of the New Fiesta test drive

click here

[Poitive]

Originally Posted by Surprise

Here is one more. All these reviews pretty much covered what's in store with new fiesta.


Ford Fiesta 2011 First Test Drive Review Video and Pictures- 1.5 Litre Diesel and Petrol

The New Fiesta is increasingly looking like a good car. The only major issue may be the space in it. What I do like is that they are giving the Indian market enough attention to make things India specific (rear armrest, engine selection etc). Hated the idea of RHD cars having LHD controls and the manufacturers not being bothered enough to change them, taking the Indian consumer for granted. Competition and the context of the (indian) market in the the companies overall scheme of things can do wonders

From what one reads, there seems to be ample attention to detail from Ford. Eagerly waiting for the TD reports.

[vb-saan]

Now almost all auto websites are running the story of that ‘one’ first drive in Bangalore, and as expected, the feedbacks are quite contradicting. That makes the official T-Bhp review more relevant. One unanimous comment from all reviewers is that the petrol engine does not feel as peppy as the one in Honda City. Hope this lack of peppiness is reflected in the pricing as well

I am sure the Ford will be an exciting car to drive, with excellent dynamics and stability. But quite surprised that even the top end versions does not come with leather seats. And is there a start-stop button available?

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by vb-san

and as expected, the feedbacks are quite contradicting

There are no major differences between those reviews on handling and driveability of the car.

Couple of websites has mentioned the offering as 1.6 Ltr engine. Even Mustang.101 has earlier mentioned as 1.6 Ltr, Is there a possibility that top end variant of diesel to be 1.6 ltr? Except business standard, where he claims petrol to be more fun that diesel version, all other reviews gave thumps up to diesel variant.
--

Me too waiting for the review at TBHP, but it would have been even more wonderful, if we had that in place well in advance. I fail to understand why manufacturers give an initial slip to such a huge viewership forum.

CAR BLOG INDIA video review on cruise control & voice command feature is really wonderful. Hope our review give even more detailed presentation.

[optimist]

OT: The hindu Ashada month starts on 29th June, where most car buyers will put off their purchases. Guess Ford is planning to launch it then.

[ghodlur]

@Surprise,

Thanks for the wonderful test drive. A couple of questions - does the emblem/marking of 1.5lt appear anywhere on the car?

I could see the music quality in the new Fiesta is similar to the Classic if not better, is there any change in the quality when you paly through USB or phone?

The cruise control feature is a nice addition, under what conditions does the control when activated gets cancelled?

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by KPS

Just got the news that diesel new deliveries will start after September. Waiting period for diesels will now exceed 5 months as engines need to come from Korea. The Diesel SX variant is in very high demand. You will see that at the dealership the SE will avoid you if you want to book a diesel now!

For people who run below 1000 kms per month should seriously consider the petrol option.

Cheers

KPS

Above is the status of Verna delivery time frame, picked from Verna TD thread. Mutang.101 has mentioned that Ford is very particular that they should keep the delivery period maximum within 2 months at any point of time. If Ford price it well, they have a great opportunity here.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

@Surprise,

Thanks for the wonderful test drive. A couple of questions - does the emblem/marking of 1.5lt appear anywhere on the car?

I could see the music quality in the new Fiesta is similar to the Classic if not better, is there any change in the quality when you paly through USB or
phone?

The cruise control feature is a nice addition, under what conditions does the control when activated gets cancelled?

Hey I just posted the TD from car blog India

1.5Ltr anywhere in car?

I too have that question. That keeps the option of 1.6 Ltr open

As per this video two conditions - Gear change and tap on the brake pedal