[shuvc]

Originally Posted by aseem

The tyres are really thin, even thinner than Swift Zxi for sure!

I think tyres were supposed to be 175's as per ACI. And that size is the norm for almost all C, C+ segment cars. (I think only the Swift ZXi, Baleno VXi, Ford Fusion and maybe the Accent Tornado offer wider tyres).

Maybe it looked thinner on the Fiesta due to the wheel arches. Waiting to see it first hand.

[islandman]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

The purpose of a forum such as TBHP is to encourage independent opinions or reviews that are not dependent on advertising revenue. You're more likely to get different takes on the same product here which are usually honest, though there may be the odd occasion where an owner is completely bessoted with his ride or its brand and wont entertain any negative opinion. This is then balanced by other members.

Yes Steeroid, I understand what you have written above as I have been a passive member on this forum for some months now.

The questions specifically are

1. Autocar(AC) states it is not the mexican derivative, T-Bhp Says it is. Whats the members take on that.
(I understand that yours is "we are not a advt revenue dependent unlike AC". Respect your opinion but feel Autocar reviews generally have been good. Reread generally)

2. AC states interior perfect for a midsize sedan. T-BHP ?

3. AC speaks very positively( no raving though) about engine and performance. T-BHP ?

4. AC thinks the looks are allright too. T-BHP ?

Post on Team.

Cheers

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by islandman

3. AC speaks very positively( no raving though) about engine and performance. T-BHP ?

4. AC thinks the looks are allright too. T-BHP ?

Post on Team.

Cheers

I think T-BHP opinion will wait until members can actually test drive.

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by islandman

1. Autocar(AC) states it is not the mexican derivative, T-Bhp Says it is. Whats the members take on that.
(I understand that yours is "we are not a advt revenue dependent unlike AC". Respect your opinion but feel Autocar reviews generally have been good. Reread generally)

Some of us here (me included) have been skeptical of the 'brand new car for India' that Ford is plugging as part of its marketing game. Fact is that the Fiesta with a boot has existed in Brazil, Mexico, Turkey and some other parts of the world with same engine specs for at least 2 years now.

My personal opinion (there is no TBHP opinion - its a combination of individual members opinions) is that they have taken the same car, slapped Mondeo bits and pieces to the front and rear to make it look different and perhaps made some other minor changes...we hear stuff about the rear parcel tray and things like that which have been developed with inputs from the local Ford team. The engines may also see a slightly different state of tune for the sake of economy.

Again, the Mondeo-looks are nothing new as the new Focus seems to have been given the same treatment by Ford. In fact it would be difficult to tell the three apart (except for the size) if you put the new Fiesta sedan, the Focus and the Mondeo side by side.

Originally Posted by islandman

2. AC states interior perfect for a midsize sedan. T-BHP ?

Dunno, dude. I doubt if anyone has seen the interiors first hand, though Aseem here says today that they are nice.

Originally Posted by islandman

3. AC speaks very positively( no raving though) about engine and performance. T-BHP ?

We've discussed the two engines based on the specs available from the Latin American models - we obviously cant comment on the actual drive because we havent had one. However, we have compared the diesel with others in the same league (in another thread) and come to the conclusion that it doesnt seem to have stonking performance like the Accent's and the output figures (BHP) are actually less than that on the Indigo.

Rest of it will have to wait for actual test drives by members.

Originally Posted by islandman

4. AC thinks the looks are allright too. T-BHP ?

We think it looks nice in the pics that Ford has released, however Aseem saw it on the road and wasnt impressed.


As we are more likely to be frank with reviews, we dont really expect manufacturers to come running to us with test vehicles. There will definitely be a time lag between the Mag reviews and ours, but the good things in life generally take time...

[satish_appasani]

Received a call today from Ford Sales. They are going to provide me a test drive asap after the launch on 15th. When I told them about tbhp, the guy who called me mentioned that he wants to provide a td to me at any cost.

He didn't let out the price. Asked me to wait till the roll out.

[islandman]

Originally Posted by satish_appasani

Received a call today from Ford Sales. They are going to provide me a test drive asap after the launch on 15th. When I told them about tbhp, the guy who called me mentioned that he wants to provide a td to me at any cost.

He didn't let out the price. Asked me to wait till the roll out.

Cars have arrived in Bangalore too.

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Some of us here (me included) have been skeptical of the 'brand new car for India' that Ford is plugging as part of its marketing game. Fact is that the Fiesta with a boot has existed in Brazil, Mexico, Turkey and some other parts of the world with same engine specs for at least 2 years now.We've discussed the two engines based on the specs available from the Latin American models - we obviously cant comment on the actual drive because we havent had one. However, we have compared the diesel with others in the same league (in another thread) and come to the conclusion that it doesnt seem to have stonking performance like the Accent's and the output figures (BHP) are actually less than that on the Indigo.
...

I agree, that's exactly what it is. Nobody's gonna spend $800 million to develop a new car just for India. The Euro and the Brazilian Fiesta has cute and cheeky looks which appeal to the types of younger buyers they are targeted.

In India, its more of a 40 something family-man's car and therefore Ford has given its the lux treatment with chrome et all. Looks wise its a baby Focus (05 version) and looks a whole lot better than the Fiesta. They probably stretched the wheelbase, reclined the rear seat and used better materials in the back keeping in mind most will be chauffer driven. They did the same thing in 99 when the original Ikon was launched, only then they did'nt change the front end.

I was hoping they would've retained the excellent handling and the steering qualities of the Fiesta........but hearing about those skinny tires makes me think otherwise. 1.6 is lifted directly from the Fusion and the Duratorq is designed by diesel experts Peugeot.

[rahulmd]

I have a fundamental doubt here.

Why the hell is Ford is 'relaunching' the Fiesta in India considering they have the last 2 generations of fiesta on the indian road under different names. (The ikon is the last generation Fiesta with a boot and the fusion is the current generation Fiesta on stilts!)

I remember reading a few months back that they were to launch the Focus. What is the point in having the same basic car in different guises and calling all of them "all new"? Any clues? Or are they taking the Indian Car buyer for a 'drive'?

And Ajmat, I agree with your take on AutoCar reviews. New is always "Our Choice" except when it comes to the BMW/ Porsche/ Ferrari kind of thing. I was reading a shootout report between the Audi RS4 and the BMW M3 a few months back in Autocar, UK. They rated the Audi better than the Beemer on all parameters but the Beemer got "our choice" because of passion or some such intangible parameter. so much for objectivity!

[veyron1]

one thing- just wait three more days for the launch, and we can get the cat out in the open. personally speaking, i was happy when the ikon rolled out, and i'm pretty positive that ford will not disappoint us this time around too...

[tsxei]

Found this interesting link with a history of the Fiesta model.

http://www.what-means.com/encyclopedia/Ford_Fiesta

[jbritto]

My first post to T-BHP

All models of the Fiesta are available on display at Cauvery Ford in Kanakapura road, Bangalore. It's not in the regular display area (at least not until the 15th), so ask the sales persons there. Car deliveries will begin on the 26th. No idea why that date.

Unfortunately, they politely refused to let me take pictures :(

Some comments:

LOOKS:
As someone else commented, the official pictures are taken from some particular angles, so I was wondering if it would look bad from others. In reality, the rear looks spectacular (love the taillamps), but the large grill in front doesn't really ooze the muscular looks of the ikon sxi. I liked the fact that the car didnt overwhelm you with its size.
Overall, I definitely wouldn't say it has less street presence than the accent (as someone suggested!), but definitely has less boy-racer looks than the ikon sxi (maybe larger wheels will make the difference). I guess it appeals to a wider audience.
The wheels dont fill out the arches - probably the only sore point in the looks of the car other than the too-large grill, but the sales guy mentioned that larger ones were available.

I was expecting really thin tires, but they didn't seem thin at all to me: they were the same size as the ikon's, and bigger than the baleno's. Maybe Ford paid attention to the Autocar review?
As mentioned before, they don't fill out the wheel arches, but that's a different matter.

INTERIORS:
The interiors have been raved about, I guess they are pretty good, but still would rate the honda city better. The fusion/mondeo like steering wheel looked smaller than the pictures in Autocar led me to believe (looks pretty good). Interior space is good-as much or more than the baleno. The rear looked a bit cramped with the front seat pushed way back, but I guess that cannot be helped.

OPTIONS:
There were 3 models on display. Diesel ZXi, Petrol ZXi (1.6) and Petrol Exi. The sales guy said that the Exi was 1.4 litre petrol, but both me and another guy who had come there gave him disbelieving glances. Has anyone heard of the 1.4 petrol engine for the Fiesta? It is supposed to be 82 bhp, so doesn't sound out of place in the lineup.
On a related note, I asked them if the 1.6 ikon would be phased out, and one guy said it would be, another said they weren't sure yet.

The Exi is the stripped down version - No hub caps, no foglamps, less chrome on the outside, no audio system (?) and probably some other accessories inside, and the (claimed) 1.4L engine.
The headlamp cluster looks different with black instead of chrome edges (in some ways it looks better - chrome makes it look like the innova)
The chrome top edge of the front grill is also changed to black plastic in the Exi. I was wondering how the chrome edge to the grill will look for non-silver colors... too flashy?

[tsk1979]

Are you jbritto on Livejournal too?

[jbritto]

> Are you jbritto on Livejournal too?

yes, of course

[tsk1979]

oic.. Did you hear from fox2mike about this forum?

[santosh.s]

Originally Posted by islandman

3. AC speaks very positively( no raving though) about engine and performance. T-BHP ?

I read on one of the ford sites that Fiesta (petrol) will use the same 1.6L duratech engine as in Fusion.... and it was also confirmed by a sales guy. I have heard about some problems in fusion like flat spot, and max. power quoted at rpm beyond red-line. refer to this-
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/showth...738#post131738

Had a test drive of FUSION today, the engine was very smooth, responsive and engine noise/ vibration levels were excellent. Also it is torqey, the max torque spec is 146 N-m @ 3400 rpm which is quite good... but it lacks the josh of ikon at low rpm (roughly below 2500). I feel if the engine is same and weight also does not differ much, we can expect similar performance as of the fusion, unless they do major ECM re-calibration or other changes in the engine.