[anachronix]

2014 Ford Fiesta Titanium TDCi

PRELUDE

Learning to Drive:

Its been 10 years since I bought my first car and its just the perfect time to start with a tribute to the petrohead life. As most of us here, my childhood was mostly spent with the Ambassador. The first time ever I got behind the wheels was when I was only 14 year old, it was a Jeep of the good old days, I guess it was the Mahindra MM540 and along with my Dad's driver. The first time was really special as there was a flying start to my driving lessons with a couple of guys flying with their cycles into the paddy fields when I rammed into their cycle. It was an evening to remember hearing the expletives from localities while sitting next to them with their broken cycle and their bleeding elbow (it was a minor scratch, have to Thank God for that) taking them to the nearby cycle shop to get things fixed after patching up their minor wounds. I was a careless little boy back then. First accident and the way parents react at home, I was expecting my next time behind the wheels of a 4-wheeler to take longer than normal.

The first time failure and the usual attachment between boys and machines fueled the desire a lot more to quickly get behind the wheels to learn the art, of driving. It was our humble old HM Amby 1800ISZ, it was in my home town near Trivandrum. Took the car to the road one early morning with our young and enthusiastic driver beside me, I was gleaming with the thrill of being back behind the wheel again. It was a short 30 minute time I got to spend then and was feeling comfortable straight away, but got busy with my school board exams and lost touch with driving again and had to wait a bit more longer.

It was in 1999 summer, that's when I met my Dad's colleague and a very good friend Mr.Pillai who helped me cover rest of the journey with learning to drive a car. It was also the time we had bought a humble little Zen VXi at home. The place where I learnt to drive was really really special too, it was the Sholavaram Airstrip. This place is really special in the history of Motorsports in India especially Chennai, seen many greats from across the globe to have raced here. But I was there with my little purring Zen, trying to learn driving at a very special place. The first thing he ever taught me was to know how to stop the car. I did many 0-100-0 sprints, it was awesome just to cruise in an empty piece of airstrip. The TG track, anyone But this definitely set a good base for my driving habits.

For those interested, here is a nice read on the early days of Motorsports in Chennai.
http://www.thehindu.com/features/fri...cle2528390.ece

My First Car:

After starting my career in Bangalore and with my first double digit salary, it was also time for me to realize my dream of buying my own car. The search started right from the day I completed my first year at this company. I was staying with my college folks and there was a little speed crazy D-BHPian who joined me in the search for that perfect car. It was sometime in 2005 when the Lancers & City VTec or 1.5 were sold at a great premium. I loved the Lancer, me and that little D-BHPian did a test drive on a deserted Koramangala Intermediate Ring Road doing some crazy speeds. The Lancer was so planted, you could have your hot coffee without spilling on your pants even at those speeds, it was a lovely car. But the City was faster, but its handling left a lot to be desired and the premium back in the days for a used City VTec was crazy. We also drove the Baleno, but for some reason we were never impressed. From hearsay, the Fords were simply expensive to maintain and never really bothered to check out their showrooms or used cars.

But destiny arrives by accident and it did, a used car dealer who was sending me a Lancer for a test drive to my office in Electronic City sent an Ikon 1.6 by mistake. I just wanted to give it a go and see how it feels although I was not interested in a Ford. But one test drive was enough to bring out that little evil grin on your face. The fantastic steering, the power delivery at lower RPMs and that lovely torque, the seats that nicely hold your lower back made it a sweet driving machine.

Ford Ikon 1.6 Nxt ZXi - 2005 to 2009:

My first car, it was indeed the Ikon 1.6NXT ZXi that I bought from Chennai through a friend. Bought the car for 4.1L in 2005 when it had 17K on the ODO. It was genuine mileage and it was a car that was used by the person who owns Chennai Ford. The car was really kept well, for a ZXi variant it had the alloy wheels from the SXi and also the head unit. It was a real value purchase, back then.

The Good:
1. The power available from as low as 2500RPM made it an absolute blast to drive in the city.
2. The perfect steering, just the right amount of feedback, precision and tightness that could give your arms a nice work out while you take the car to the ghats.
3. The seats very really comfy in the Ikon with good thigh support in the front and rear
4. Build quality, not one part fell off or rattled in my 4 years and 96,000 KM that I drove this car through express ways, national highways, ghats, forest roads or even through rocks to get to a forest bungalow near TopSlip.
5. The FE, it wasnt really a bad thing as I was getting between 11 to 12 KMPL in the chaotic bangalore traffic and a cool 16KMPL on my highway trips.


The Bad:
1. Space on the rear has always been an issue with the Fords that are brought to India from EU market. The seats were comfortable but you keep hitting your foot somewhere while seated in the rear seats.
2. I never had issues with the service quality, but the spare part price would make you cringe. Any normal service used to cost me a minimum of 4500 back in 2005. But it slowly started to get better by end of 2007 as Ford started localizing parts.
3. The brakes were always a nightmare, it felt over-servoed at times and end up in wheel lockups when I was using the stock tire. But the problem got fixed when I moved to the Pirelli P6000. I dont know if the fault was due to the tire.

[anachronix]

Ford Fiesta 1.6S 2009 to 2012:

Fast forward to 2009, the Ikon started showing its age after it had crossed over 96,000 KM and I also felt the need to upgrade as I was learning more about the safety features in modern cars and wanted a car that had at least ABS/Airbags and the search for the next car began. Being so true to the term, 'Once a Ford, always a Ford'. I didnt have much choice to look at except a Ford, the timing was also perfect as Ford had bought in the facelift for the Fiesta (now Classic) and added a diamond stud to its line-up with the legendary 1.6S. It was not the ordinary sticker powered or badge powered Sport, but a true Sport or 'S' version with the right tweeks.

What was special in the 'S'?
1. 195/55 R15 tires and 15" alloy wheels compared to the skinny 175/65 R14 in the conventional Fiestas.
2. A reworked steering rack to handle the wider/lower profile of rubber
3. Engine remap tweaked for better low end performance
4. Stiffened dampers all around and a reworked front stabilization bar
5. Body kits that included front/rear bumper skirts, side skirts and rear spoiler.
6. All black interiors with soft touch rubber dashboard
7. Modified air intake, the air filter was same for all the 1.6L engines though.

End result? The Ultimat driving machine for the poor men who couldnt afford a BMW

The Good:
1. Brilliant package for the petroheads, great handling & power combination with affordable price. The gearing and happy to rev 1.6Duratec were perfectly calibrated for complete track fun.
2. Easy maintenance, every scheduled service used to cost me about 3500
3. All black interiors is something I love and it was very easy to maintain.
4. The fabric interiors were of top notch quality.
5. Excellent build.

The Bad:
1. Space, the rear space has always been the achilles' heel for Ford and it was not too different in the S.
2. Ride quality, with those hard suspension the ride went for a toss at slow speeds.
3. Fuel effeciency was less compared to the RoCam 1.6 engine in the Ikon. In city, the FE was around 10.4 and on the highway it was between 14 to 15 KMPL.
4. Brake feel was not great and doesn't inspire confidence.

But again, very few did really appreciate its worth in the market and like any other Ford car, this also sold in very few numbers. Here is the brief ownership report of this car and also some pictures.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...esta-1-6s.html

Honda Jazz X (2011 to 2012)

A Non-Ford car, really?
Yes, it happened. This was in 2012 when Honda decided to bring the Jazz back in the market with revised pricing. I always had this crush on the Jazz and the way it looks :P and the revised pricing meant it was looked at as the 2nd car at home to replace an ageing Chevy Tavera and my wife was also interested in starting to drive a car by herself. Took a test drive of the Jazz, both of us loved it and I didn't care much about the steering feel or dynamics since it was going to be used by my wife for purely urban commute.

And here she is, looking lovely in Red!



The Good:
1. SPACE, there is lot of it in this small car. Brilliantly packaged by Honda.
2. Those magic seats are something I miss.
3. Build quality and quality of materials in the interior used were outstanding.
4. Looks, I just love the way this Jazz looked.

The Bad:
1. Poor handling (may be I was a bit too spoiled by the Fords)
2. Gear shifts were notchy, sometimes it was a struggle to engage 2nd gear. The Honda service said its normal.
3. The FE was not great, the max I got in the city was around 11.4KMPL.
4. The doors feel wafer thin and overall a tinny feeling of the metal thats used in the car.

The 1.6S did not stay for long with us. My wife had moved to a new job and her average travel went up to 90KMs a day. We had 2 petrol cars at that time and the fuel bills started to punch a big hole in my wallet. We had to let go one of the petrol cars for an oil burner and the Fiesta had to go as he was almost 3 year old by then. The last picture I took during a drive to Mahabalipuram before I sold him.

Ford Figo TDCi Titanium (2012 to Present)

This was the first oil burner that we bought and we are fairly happy with the ownership so far. There are lot of reviews that have covered the Figo in detail, so I will keep my thoughts fairly brief and not bore you all!



The Good:
1. Good VFM purchase in the small car segment. OTR was 6.91L.
2. Good FE, in the city the average is about 14 to 15KMPL and on highway its about 18KMPL.
3. The rear seat space is much better compared to the other Fords I have owned.
4. Its a small car, but the handling of the Figo is like a big car. Very nimble and loves to be thrown around corners. This was a total surprise!
5. Maintenance is fairly easy, the service bill usually cost me 4490 for the regular service.

The Bad:
1. Terribly under powered engine for that lovely handling little car.
2. Interior build quality is sub-standard. It rattles & squeaks badly!
3. The exterior paint quality is also sub-standard. The hood has lot of chip marks compared to all my other cars. One minor scratch on the body and the metal layer would be easily seen. May be Ford compromised on the number of paint coat on the Figo.

Is it still a normal Figo? No :P

The Figo is currently running the RaceDynamics Diesel Tronix Tuning Box, got the Lenso Azura wheels in 15" along with 195/55 R15 tires Hankook Ventus V12 Evo. The audio until was replaced with Pioneer 8490BT and Boston Acoustics Pro60SE. No, I am not running any amplifiers and the speakers are directly connected to the HU.

Future Upgrades Planned:
1. Front stabilization bar from the Fiesta Classic
2. Better brake rotors and pads

[anachronix]

With the Figo around, the Jazz became my daily drive car to work and I started hating it so bad. It had space and good feel inside, but I don't really care about that but the way a car would drive, the Jazz was like one cute little boat on the road. It didn't feel good at all and a decision had to be made and I sold it with just 20,000 KM on the ODO and 1 year old. I wanted to get something else that could keep me excited. May be, another 1.6S



Yes, it was another 1.6S. The search went all the way up to Hyderabad after a 3 month search. I also want to thank our friendly mod bblost for checking this car out for me and helping with the purchase. I kept this car for an year, but the car started showing its age with increased usage and I couldn't spend quality time in maintaining it. So I decided let it go again and get something new.

I liked the Jetta a lot and I didnt really have any other cars in mind except may be the Innova as there was strong push from my family for a UV vehicle to accommodate more family members in the car. But the insane price at which the Innova is sold now kept me away from it. I did TD the Jetta a couple of times, really liked it and had my mind set on it, albeit with all the warnings from friends & colleagues about the service nightmares at VW. I didnt really have any experience with any other A.S.S for a longtime as I was sticking to Ford and was ready to take a risk. While I was preparing the funding for getting the Jetta 2.0 TDI MT CL, this man in red came to my work place. He was there, it was love at first sight. Trust me, the Fiesta looks so gorgeous in that Paprika Red shade (PorscheFire, you lucky dude). Looked mighty gorgeous and a decision was made then to get the Fiesta. I will be honest, I didn't do much research at all as I have driven the previous generation of the New Fiesta quite a lot and loved it every time I got a chance to drive and was fairly sure Ford would have kept the car same except for the visual appeal. My only worry was the rumored beige interiors to make the mass market happy, but that was inevitable in the end. But still, that's simply how much research I did before deciding to buy the Fiesta.


Source: BHPian kiku007 shared this image on WhatsApp although I saw the car and missed to take a picture.

I initially wanted the Fiesta in Black, but the dealer was quoting an insane 3 month waiting period for the color of my choice. The white was immediately available along with the Brown color. I checked out both the cars at the dealership, but I was keen on getting the white over the brown color. Took delivery of the car on the 2nd of July and thats when the brown color was also delivered to another customer. The brown when cleaned and polished looked stunning. We forgot our Fiesta in white and were drooling over the Brown color Fiesta.

Anyway, here he is dressed in white and waiting during the pre-delivery!





I usually give names for my cars and friends had some suggestions, the fast little D-Bhpian liked to call it Billa, but I liked the name Aston Vellaichamy suggested by a friendly BHPian kiku007

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Buying Experience:

After selling my Fiesta 1.6S back in March to get the Jetta and with sudden change of plans I had to wait for 4 months without a car to get for the New Fiesta. The Fiesta was launched on the 19th of June, the Chennai prices were announced by 3PM in the afternoon on the same and I wanted to book the car first as we were waiting for too long without a car and wanted to get my Fiesta from the first lot since Ford was planning to send only limited stocks of the Fiesta. That day, I was held up at work and had asked my wife to visit the MPL Ford showroom at Teynampet to pay the 50,000. There is a customer in the store with 50,000 booking amount and what do you do? The sales folks at MPL Ford pulled a joke that only ex-showroom prices were announced and why are you here with the cash to book the car while having a good laugh. It was an embarrassing situation indeed and appalling customer service from MPL Ford, end of story with MPL and asked my wife to leave the place filled with clowns who were not interested in selling cars.

The same weekend, we were at Chennai Ford Arumbakkam. Paid the booking amount and got the car in a week's time. Took delivery of the car on the 2nd of July 2012. The delivery process was smooth and the Chennai Ford sales team was surprisingly well behaved from the time of booking until delivery. The 2014 Fiesta Titanium was delivered, the OTR prices at Chennai Ford was 10.9L. No freebies or accessories were available at the time of delivery though. Really want to thank my Sales Advisor Lokesh along with the young & enthusiastic sales team at Chennai Ford!

Exterior

• The Fiesta is now a much better looking car with Aston inspired theme in the front and the redesign at the rear of the car.
• The headlamps offer very good throw and is specifically designed for the RHD where there is more light to the left and the throw with high beam is pretty good.
• The Fog lamp bezel gets a piano black finish, stands out less on a white car. The Piano black finish should look more nice in slightly more complimenting shades of black.
• Although the Fog lamps are bright, they dont spread beyond a certain area that is visible from the driver's POV making it slightly useless.
• The build and the paint quality on the exterior is top notch. You can really feel the quality of finish with your hands.
• The front door closing is very European, cant say the same about the rear doors. But it feels firm!
• The tail lamp cluster gets dual rear fogs and dual reverse lights compared to the earlier version.
• There are 4 sensor reverse lamps along with visual distance reference provided on the Sync device for individual sensors. Helps you know which side of the car is close to any object.
• All around visibility is good, but I had issues in getting used to the wider shoulder of the car. It took me couple of days to get the side view mirror adjustments right. But my friend who owns a Swift never had a problem when he drove the Fiesta.
• The curved rear of the gear and the initial struggle with the wide shoulders meant I had problem in parking the car straight within a parking slot.
• The GC is solid, it scraped twice over some weird bumps through village roads. But the speed was to be blamed as I failed to anticipate speed bumps on SH. The car was fully loaded, well literally. 4 Adults, 2 Kids and the luggage of 6 adults in total who were travelling along in a T-Fort.
• The wind noise is very well controlled and even at high 3-digit speeds there is not much noise. Its only the tires that makes more noise on slightly rough roads.
• The Fiesta gets 15" alloy wheels with 195/60 R15 Goodyear NCT5 tires.
• I upgraded to Michelin XM2 in the same size and really kicking myself for getting one. I should have gone for a performance tire, but a comfort tire specifically made for mileage conscious crowd in India means there is absolutely no grip, unsettled handling and maximum comfort.
• At the front bottom of the car, there is a plastic engine cover that is bolted on one end with plastic screws to the bumper and the other end with metal screws to metal portion underneath the car. Those plastic screws gave away when I drove the car a little too fast over stagnant water. Thankfully that was the only damage and there was no Hydrostatic lock
• I have got the plastic screws secured with steel guage wire and its been holding up good so far.
• The front bumper is longer by 4cms (?) in front and some care is required when taking the car down an incline. You take it too fast, then this might kiss the road a little. My car has never hit since I am a little bit more careful after bring used to this in the Linea.
• There is a tiny looking mud flaps in the rear which is factory installed, they do a very good job. Its a very simple but effective solution that does a brilliant job and the rear bumper is usually free of all the muck!

The yummy looking Aston Vellachamy in the front:



Ford engineers have done a fantastic job to hide the heavy bulk of metal in the rear along with those awful looking tail lamps in the previous gen Fiesta. They have taken inspiration from lot of cars from the Ford family, sadly not the Aston Martin but a Ford Mondeo that debuted in a Bond movie



The side view though makes the car look very short and bulky.



The park bulbs are very nicely placed within the headlights as the light equally fills up the full shape of the headlight and is visible quite nicely in the dark. A nice bright LED W5W bulb should make it look really cool!

Source: AliExpress.com



The side repeaters integrated in the rear view mirror along with the Piano Black finish in the Fog lamp bezel:


The tail lights are really the best redesigned part of the car as that was one change that transformed the character of the car at the rear. Now there are twin rear fogs and twin reverse lights compared to the single lamps in the earlier generation. There are also two prominent reflectors placed low in the bumper along with the chrome strip and the Ford's blackened lips on the rear bumper. Dont miss the tiny mud flaps in the rear!




Interiors:

• Probably the best place to be inside the car is the driver seat if you know driving else in the front co-passenger seat. I dont think there is any other car in this segment that offers this level of detail in seats.
• The NVH levels are unmatched, it doesnt sound like a diesel car on the inside. The way it cuts out outside noise as well is impressive.
• The lower back support and the thigh support on both front seats are phenomenal. The fast D-BHPian felt like he was secured in a tub.
• The driver seat adjustment does need a mention, the number of combinations with height and recline adjustment is so good and seat travel on its rails is also significantly higher than any cars that I have used.
• The steering is small and the leather feels very nice to hold. Well, thats not just the beauty of it. Its an EPS unit and the calibration is spot on to make it easily maneuverable at city speeds and the moment you cross beyond speeds of 50KM/H the steering gets stiffer and stiffer with more speed. Its not just that, you get all the feedback from the tires all through this process.
• The steering also has the controls for the SYNC unit and Cruise control system.
• The center arm rest is badly missed when you are cruising on the highway, but the driver side arm rest and the hand position on the steering is spot on. Your elbow would rub against the B-Pillar if you have to reach the window controls for the rear passenger.
• When I rest my hand on the driver side arm rest, my elbow lands on the rear passenger window locks at times.
• The gear lever is placed nicely where your hand would fall straight to the gear lever from the steering. Perfect ergonomics for a driver's car!
• The interior fit and finish is good, the car has been through some very rough roads and also through Kerala during monsoon. There has been no rattles so far and the car feels solid.
• The dashboard reflection on the windshield is there after I got the interior treatment done at 3M, they used the dashboard polish that is not going away at all!
• The cup holders can only hold cans or 500ml water bottles.
• The Air-Con does a pretty good job and it took me a while before I learnt the controls as this is my first car with the ACC. The peak temparature the ACC has seen is 43C in Chennai in the month of July.
• The rear seat space has been improved, but it may not be much when you compare with Fiesta's competitors. But its not bad as it has been made to look, the front driver seat have lost some cushion on the back to improve the legroom at the rear. That has eased up good amount of usable space.
• The rear headrests are nicely placed, although some may not find this comfortable its placed that way to avoid whiplashes in case of a collision.
• The Fiesta gets really bright in the night, it gets foot well lamps along with center cabin light with 2 reading lamps and rear roof mounted cabin light. All these light up the car really well!

Performance, Handling & Effeciency:

• The 1.5 TDCi doesnt sound great on paper, with peak torque of 204Nm at 2750RPM and peak power at 3750RPM, but the gear ratios are spot on and gives you a chance to use all the power & torque.
• The gear shifts are short and precise and does aid quick shifts
• The 1st gear is short, but the 2nd and 3rd gears are addictive. You will have more fun with the Fiesta through the ghats as you have the all the usable power available in these gears.
• But the other cars have significant power advantage over the Fiesta, the Vento for an example. The Fiesta trumps them all with its mighty handling. I have always had this comment to say about any Fords in India, 'the engine gives up before the chassis does'. This was the case with the Figo and now same is the case with the Fiesta. Such a brilliant chassis let down by poor choice of engines for the efficiency hungry market in India.
• The steering, does magic. Its very quick, very very quick with very sharp response and feedback. Its a driver's delight and non-petroheads will not understand this!
• The handling of the Fiesta is spot ON, there is no other car in this segment to challenge the Fiesta. All this usually comes after sacrificing ride quality. Whats special in the Fiesta is best of both worlds, it was the Linea earlier that had unmatched balance of ride and handling but I think its time for Ford to take that baton. The car literally glides over potholes and does handle like a boss through corners.
• You can try interesting lines with the Fiesta, spoiled by F1 and the sim games I have my own formula circuit in the city i.e. my daily drive to work has multiple straights, chicanes and pitstops for sutta breaks . I try my best to take these corners flat out. I have been doing this with many of my cars that I have owned before. The 1.6S was the best so far and the Jazz being the worst, now the New Fiesta steals the show completely from the 1.6S. Yes, this handles much better than the 1.6S and you think of a line you want to take, brake - turn - change your mind - try a different line - you still can do it without slowing down or any dramas. It handles so damn well!
• Another strength of the Fiesta, is its brakes. The brakes feel solid, compared to the Fiesta 1.6S its a great improvement. The 1.6S brakes lacked feel, but they do the job well. In the Fiesta, you get both and the way you could modulate brakes for more steer through a corner is a superb experience.
• @vnabhi, the 1.6 Duratec is still the best, this 1.5TDCi can never make the petrohead happy although it drives like one. I am thinking of a RD box after I complete 20,000. The number of gear shifts in a diesel car is still high and that takes away some fun!
• The handling is more like an hidden trait of the Fiesta, you want to take your drive easy and enjoy the nice ride quality, you can do it. The moment you want to unleash the car, thats when you feel the brilliant chassis, suspension and those lovely steering start communicating to the driver. You know you are in control of the car and not the other way around!
• The Fuel Effeciency, thats something everyone likes to hear. In the city drive, its giving me a steady 17.2KMPL. My driving is spirited and I do take it easy when the traffic is a little chaotic. I drive from Perambur to Taramani, for those familiar with Chennai thats a route that cuts right across the city and the FE has been impressive. I am using only Shell fuel in the car!
• On the highway, when I set the cruise control at 80 the FE averages at 27+, but I never had the patience and try to cruise at slightly higher 3-digit speeds and go almost the same FE of 17.2. If I am patient, I know the Fiesta can do a lot better on the highway.

[anachronix]

What more in the Fiesta?

Cruise Control:

• The cruise control could be activated above 30KM/H and this has the engage/disengage option as well.
• Its so much fun, on empty roads I have never used the accelerator but drove the car with press of a button. You could set a speed, the CC disengages the moment you step on the brakes or press the CAN button and then press RES, the car will surge by itself to get to that speed and thats one angry Cruise Control unit it accelerates so hard.

Keyless Entry & Drive

• The keyless entry system works flawlessly. The sensors are placed on the front doors and the boot.
• All you need is the key in your pocket, press the sensor placed on the door handle to lock/unlock the car.
• With the keys in your pocket, Depress the clutch pedal and the Fiesta starts without an iffy.
• The mirrors auto-fold to close when you lock the car and you could enable/disable this feature through the SYNC.
• However, there is speed controlled auto-lock feature.
• The puddle lamps and the direction indicators are ON when the car is unlocked, its a treat to watch the Fiesta wake up
• The follow-me-home headlamps are ON for 30 seconds, they go off immediately when the car is locked.

Auto-Headlamps & Wipers

• The Auto-headlamp controls is placed within the headlight control.
• It comes on when its really the time of twilight when your car needs to be visible to other cars. The calibration is pretty good!
• The auto-wipers are always ON in my car, they do come on when there is lot of dirt on the windshield too, they work flawlessly in the rain.
• The auto-wipers could be enabled/disabled through SYNC.
• The sensor sensitivity could be adjusted using the intermittent wiper adjustment knob after moving the wiper stalk to the intermittent wiper position.

The center cabin light unit, the mic and the orange LEDs for ambient lighting.




SYNC
Ford made a Car that is so brilliant to drive, fixed the rear seat space to an extent. There should be something that is bad, so Ford decided to give us an entertainment unit called SYNC. With Microsoft involved, it was not a surprise but this SYNC V2 Sucks! It has made me more angry than feel normal or sometimes happy about it.

• The Voice command is another lady who wouldn't listen to you at all.
• There are so many buttons on the headunit and there is no button to navigate between folders.
• The steering control has a |<< and >>| buttons. You can move to the next/previous track but you cannot change folder. Press and hold for 2-secs it fast forwards or rewinds the song. I dont remember the last time I used this button for a song, may be during the Sony Walkman Cassette Player.
  This is exactly how I felt!
  
  
• To change a folder, you have to press lot of buttons which means taking your eye off the road. I really stop the car if I want to change the folder or keep fighting with the virtual lady to play your favorite album or folder. Select expletives words don't help either when you are communicating with that lady.
• Rest all is good (what more can be, right?) the BT connectivity, voice quality are all good things.
• The audio quality as well is quite nice.
• After all this trouble, I am trying to source the Sony factory fitted HU that comes in the RS through a friend in UK.
• Like every Microsoft product, SYNC supports only FAT32 USB storage.

The funny next/previous track button on the steering wheel:


Thats a lot of buttons for the SYNC unit that is there for the heck of it:


The Seats:

I took this picture from Ford Fiesta FB page, I dont think I could take a better picture than this. Just look at the thickness of those front seats compared to the Ciaz & the Rapide. The Ciaz (2nd pic) seats look anorexic!



Not just that, look at the extended thigh support on the front seats:

Source: TeamBHP's first look of the 2014 Fiesta






Comments from Friends on the Car:
1. A real estate baron who has just got his T-Fort, drove the car while we were on a trip to Theni and wants to get a Fiesta Sedan. He loved the driver seats, handling and power. Yes, power!

2. My friendly D-BHPians better half, this dude has really made her a petrohead and she does share some valuable comments that most of us oversee, she compared this to their 2 year old Swift ZDi; a simple comment "There is no diesel smell like its in the Swift". Most of us miss this, but that was such a nice feedback.

3. Finally, the Boss of my home. She was very happy when we bought the Jazz for her and was so irritated when I sold it for what it is and now she is happy and never stops talking to her friends of how good the front passenger seat is. Mission accomplished! A big THANKS to her for all the approvals to buy/sell a car, helping me handle the financial burden and baring my stupid ideas at times to get a car that I would love!

This is the first time I am writing so much in a blog, thanks for all your patience in reading through this review and keep your feedbacks coming, I really want to improve my review writing skills as I might have to prepare for a bigger surprise in 2015!

Closing thoughts:

This is one special car, Ford has done a brilliant job in making an excellent product for the petroheads who can have fun and also enjoy the economy of diesel along with much required features making this a complete product. The OTR price of 10.9 with NIL discounts makes it a pure VFM proposition as well. But, its the same Ford that also built a lousy sales/marketing force in India who are not at all interested in selling anything, leave alone selling brilliant products such as the Fiesta! I hope things change before its too late for Ford in India!

My Congratulations to all future Fiesta owners and best wishes for a wonderful ownership. May the tribe grow!

More pictures as promised in the Fiesta thread and excuse the delay in getting this thread out on the promised dates earlier!

By the banks of Mullaperiyar river branch near Theni:







Aerial shot of the Fiesta, the wide shoulders and the narrow glasshouse visible:



The Blue oval badge and the fanfare button by its side:



The ACC Controls:


The rubber mat set for storage spaces I bought from AlieExpress, they shine in the dark as well:


Should have been 16":


On a recent trip, thats how much luggage was there in the boot, but the car went places without any scrapes anywhere:


Like a toy car next to the white elephant:


Showing off their boot:


Articulation? :P


Treads anywhere!


A poor attempt at getting a panning shot with a MotoX:


En route to Kumily:


Some casual clicks in recent Chennai monsoon:

[Vid6639]

Thread moved to Ownership reports from Assembly line. Thanks for sharing.

Wonderful review Anachronix. This is one car you can't stop thinking of after you drive one.

[deetjohn]

Outstanding review there! Was well worth the extra wait and some additional machines too here to keep company.

I have had the fortune to drive all your cars and my pick would be the 2014 Fiesta from the lot. Too bad Ford isn't giving it the EcoBoost here. The only other objection is the side profile. The rear is really bulky and Ford should have lowered the window line a bit on the sedan. The hatchback looks much better. And the light coloured seat fabric in this facelift. The older grey version was better. And Thank God its a light grey and now a yellowish beige.

The best bit on the new Fiesta is that steering. Its mighty fast and weighs really well. Its so good that I prefer it to the hydraulic unit on the earlier Fiesta. The very forgiving and fun chassis is next. Add the excellent NVH, toys inside, build quality, good FE, attention to detail and what you get is a very complete car. Keep having fun!

[RavenAvi]

Finally the MUCH-awaited review is out! And what a review it is - absolutely top-notch, with superb attention to details and some mind-blowing photos and angles of the most-desirable Ford.

What a fantastic machine it is, and I absolutely envy you for owning it (I envy PorscheFire more for that majestic Paprika Red shade, but that's another story ). If there was ever a true driver's car, it is the Fiesta and Fiesta ONLY! No other car in this segment comes close. Period.

Congratulations once again on acquiring the jack-of-most-trades and the master-of-most-of-them choice in the 10L-segment. The more I read about it and see it, the more I am inclined towards it as my next car when I replace my current City. I only hope it comes in with a hoot of a petrol heart soon (specially something close to that 1.6L one).

Wish you and your family plenty of wonderful, smiling miles ahead with your steed.

Rated your thread a fully deserving 5-stars!!

[bharanidharang]

A long awaited feedback on a brilliant car ! You got me hooked. My 2010 Fiesta TDCI is awaiting to be replaced next year by this gem. Whatever car I keep looking on the road, I can relate back only to a new ford.

How has it handled the monsoon's ? How are the service costs for the new fiesta.

Once again congrats !

[Blow Horn Ok]

Congratulations on owning this wonderful machine. Very good write-up and detailed pictures, just like an official review. Was eagerly waiting for an ownership review of this car, as I have fixed this as my next upgrade! Currently driving a white 2010 figo 1.4 and would be happy to stay in the ford family.

[ScorpMan]

Ahh!! Finally a Fiesta Ownership Thread is up & running. Has to be one of the most awaited by all Fiesta lovers. Many Congratulations for owning the king of C segment. Planning to get one at the earliest.

[Speed.Demon]

Brilliant review there, loved every bit of it.

I've been hearing DBHPian deetjohn raving about the fiesta for a while now, so much so that now I'm really keen on taking one for a spin myself.

The combination of that brilliant chassis, delicious steering and the superb seating position makes it a delightful driver's car.

Dare I call it the poor man's 3 series?

That's one amazing package you have there mate, enjoy it to the fullest!

[extreme_torque]

Excellent review. One of the most underrated car in its category especially with the current prices. Its a pity that our car buying public doesn't give cars a second chance. This car should be a seller.

[vnabhi]

@Anachronix--Fantastic treat on a Sunday to read this lovely, comprehensive review of one of the most understated cars in the country. Rated 5 Stars. Congrats for getting the beauty.

The way you've posted this review makes us understand your passion for driver-oriented cars. And thanks for the special mention to me!

Wish you many, many miles of 'Fording' !

[PVPal]

Congratulations anachronix! And thanks for the nice ownership review!

Too bad the this beauty does not have a petrol heart. The looks, the chasis, the handling, the ride (better than the Linea you say), the build quality, the decent Ford ASS, all work for it. The petrol heart, it appears, would bring a whole new dimension to it.

I for one hope that Ford is listening, and will oblige.

A brilliant write-up and great photos, especially the aerial view showing the shoulder of the car. Did not realize it sticks out that much from the rear.

Just pure temptation, this car!