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Old 24th June 2008, 18:32   #1
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Ford Fiesta 1.6 @ 12000 Kms

I bought my Ford fiesta 1.6 Fida Edition in October 2007. Its a Panther Black coloured Scrotcher!
Here are some facts :

Car : Ford Fiesta
Fuel : Petrol Unleaded
Engine Capacity : 1.6 Litre Duratec
Colour : Panther Black
On Road price : 7,80,000 with 2 year extended warranty
Mileage done : 12300 Kms (40% on Highways and rest in Bangalore City)
Fuel Efficiency : 9.8 in City , 16 on Highways, Overall 13 Kmpl.


Minor Hitches:
1. Steering column vibrations on bad roads.
2. Bad allignment/Balancing at Vijay Wheel Allignment led to steering wheel shaking vigourosly from 100 Kmph to 125 Kmph. Gets smooth at speeds higher than that.
3. Remote boot opener button in the driver console doesnt function occasionally. Have faced this issue 4 to 5 times in the small period of my ownership.
4. Motor rubber belt makes noise (undesirable)

Engine and Performance:
The Duratec Engine has been ultra smooth and even after 12000 Kms, Engine sounds the same. No signs of aging which i have observed in small cars after a period of time. The 1.6 L Duratec is a bomb and is very addictive too! I can see why this car is great for both city and Highway driving... Has a lot of low end grunt which should be very useful in city driving. No need to change gears often. Slot it in 4rth Gear and u can drive all day. The Knock sensor in the Engine comes in handy too!
I have reached top speeds of 170 Kmph and is very stable. Even in windy conditions which i experienced in some of my long drives, the car seems rooted at high speeds. 120 to 130 Kmph is very much "cruising" speeds for this beast.

Ground clearance:
This is one big issue with Fiesta. Load 4 Adults and drive around bangalore city. U r sure to scrap ur bottom atleast once. Think of it

It really pinches my heart every time, my car needs to go through this torture.

Fuel Efficieny :
Depends on the driving style though. I drive 1st gear till 20 Kmph, 2nd Gear till 35 Kmph, 3rd till 45 to 50 Kmph, then slot it to 4rth. With a clear road ahead, slot it to 5th as early as 50 to 60 Kmph. Do this day in and day out .... u get 10.2 to 10.5 Kmph. But this is not the way i prefer to drive my Fiesta 1.6. Its built to be revved and revved hard. Thats what i do and doesnt disappoint me on this front too... gives a decent 9.8 Kmph in city driving and 16-18 Kmph on 4 lane Highways!

Build Quality:
Not very happy with the way doors thud when shut. Even an Indica fairs better in this regard. Dont know whether i need to get it fixed.
The plastics and the interiors have nothing to complain on. They look classy even after looking at it day-in, day-out for the last 8 months!
The switches, gear shift, are all of very high qaulity and need not think about them.
Notvery happy with the head lamps. I plan to go in for the 110 Watt bulbs as i do quiet a few long drives over night.

Ride Quality:
Feels very splush with the standard MRF-ZV2k tyres on 14 inch Ford Alloys. Need suggestions on upgrading them for better ride quality.

The Kenwood MP3 player from Ford is also pretty good for Normal usage, I am not the person who prefer headbanging stuff.

I have done 2 long trips;
1. Bangalore- Munnar- Kumarakom 1600 Kms
2. Bangalore-davanagere-Almatti-badami-bangalore (1500 Kms )

Both these trips, i observed under varied conditions that the AC is a brilliant unit on the Fiesta. The cooling is very instant and a fan speed of 2 is good enough most of the times. from 3rd speed, the fan becomes very noisy. Ford could work on this front. The steering feels a bit heavy in traffic conditions.

Overall, Ford Fiesta 1.6 has been a true performance vehicle to me, great on highway straight stretches, very impressive on Ghat roads and corners, and good in city conditions too! FE is decent enough for a 1.6 Litre petrol guzzler. Seating 4 ppl is very comfortable too. For this price, if i look back, i made the right decision in going for the Ford, with Verna, Aveo and City waiting to be driven home.
Attached Thumbnails
Ford Fiesta 1.6 @ 12000 Kms-img_2492.jpg  

Ford Fiesta 1.6 @ 12000 Kms-img_2750.jpg  

Ford Fiesta 1.6 @ 12000 Kms-img_2761.jpg  

Ford Fiesta 1.6 @ 12000 Kms-img_2817.jpg  

Ford Fiesta 1.6 @ 12000 Kms-img_3112.jpg  

Ford Fiesta 1.6 @ 12000 Kms-img_3758.jpg  

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Old 24th June 2008, 19:02   #2
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Hi Pramod. Nice review and wonderful pics. Great to know that you are driving the petrol version the way it is meant to be, high on revs!!!

Had the steering wobble after speeds above 100kmph and got it rectified with the 3rd service (wheel alignment and balancing). I for one like the reassuring "thud" of the Fiesta door when it is closed to the tinny rattle of a few other cars.

Drive safe.
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Old 24th June 2008, 20:02   #3
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Nice review and great pictures, Pramod. Have always preferred the Fiesta's looks compared to its peers and it looks good in black.

The city FE figure looks reasonable, given the B'lore traffic conditions.

Quote:
Originally Posted by pramod
Ground clearance: This is one big issue with Fiesta. Load 4 Adults and drive around bangalore city. U r sure to scrap ur bottom atleast once.
I was made to believe that bottom scraping does not happen with Fiestas. Anyway, I still stand by my opinion that this is not the car's fault, but due to the not-built-to-spec speedbreakers that we have in our country.

Quote:
Originally Posted by pramod
I drive 1st gear till 20 Kmph, 2nd Gear till 35 Kmph, 3rd till 45 to 50 Kmph, then slot it to 4rth. With a clear road ahead, slot it to 5th as early as 50 to 60 Kmph. Do this day in and day out .... u get 10.2 to 10.5 Kmph.
If you are suggesting that these gear speeds are best for max FE, I think you are wrong. 1st gear is just to move from standstill and not to be in till 20kmph. Same for the speeds you mentioned for other gears - too high IMO for the respective gears to get best FE.

Check your manual for the exact speed range for each gear to get max FE, but the best method is to look at the rpm meter and combine it with feedback from the engine to arrive at the speeds best suited for FE driving. Though I believe this doesn't apply to you as you mentioned that you do not prefer to drive for FE.

Quote:
Originally Posted by pramod
For this price, if i look back, i made the right decision in going for the Ford, with Verna, Aveo and City waiting to be driven home.
I am sure that was a good decision, compared to the competition you mentioned. And if your car has ABS & airbags, it would be a complete package - don't think you mentioned about it in your review.

Last edited by supremeBaleno : 24th June 2008 at 20:03.
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Old 24th June 2008, 21:33   #4
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Good review mate. The scraping part is a bit worried about, I thought only the Hondas scrap because of low GC and soft suspension.

Did you try a different style in gear ratios to bring >10.5 FE because I get a decent mileage of 11-12 in city 100% AC with SX4 and with aggressive driving get 10-10.5, hope Fiesta can yield more than SX4 considering the car weight and rubber.
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Old 24th June 2008, 23:45   #5
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Nice pics and review. like the color in the first pic, as for the scraping part even i feel sad when it happens to my car too.

Last edited by jav : 24th June 2008 at 23:56.
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Old 24th June 2008, 23:45   #6
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Good review.
I thought that its only Honda City and Civic have this problem of bottoming out.
You are getting good fuel efficiency.
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Old 25th June 2008, 00:47   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pramod View Post
Minor Hitches:
3. Remote boot opener button in the driver console doesnt function occasionally. Have faced this issue 4 to 5 times in the small period of my ownership.
I think this is a safety feature for the boot not to open under certain conditions. IIRC, it would not open unless the car is stationery or less than at a speed of 7kmph etc.
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Old 25th June 2008, 16:36   #8
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That was nice comprhensive review. Can you just enlighten us on the total expenses that you have incurred for regular maintaineance of the car.
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Old 25th June 2008, 16:44   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Glass View Post
I think this is a safety feature for the boot not to open under certain conditions. IIRC, it would not open unless the car is stationery or less than at a speed of 7kmph etc.
The problem exists. I have observed the problem in stationary condition.

Wrt Ground clearance and shocks, Even Fiesta has pretty Soft suspension setting.. hence the issue.

ANd can anything be done wrt the Steering vibration on bad roads?
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Old 25th June 2008, 18:21   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Glass View Post
I think this is a safety feature for the boot not to open under certain conditions. IIRC, it would not open unless the car is stationery or less than at a speed of 7kmph etc.
That is correct.
As regards FE, I get between 11 and 12 in Hyd city driving. Only when there are terrible jams, it falls down to 10.7 level (with AC on).

I've never scraped the car's bottom so far, except once, when I drove the fully loaded car at a high speed over a speed-breaker that I did not spot, as I was looking elsewhere.
I dont get any belt noise either. I got my alloy wheels balanced in 1st service, and the vibrations between 110 kmph and 120 just vanished.
I also feel the doors of my car shut with the same reassuring sound of a Palio.

Last edited by vnabhi : 25th June 2008 at 18:23.
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Old 25th June 2008, 18:47   #11
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Nice review pramod . Black is amazing except for the maintenance it requires.
Quote:
Notvery happy with the head lamps. I plan to go in for the 110 Watt bulbs as i do quiet a few long drives over night.
I think Fiesta's OEM headlights are very good and best amongst the competition.I did arnd 200km of highway driving ,the light was sufficient IMHO.

Even mine's steering vibrates at around 120+ , even though it has just covered only 2500Km on Odo.Will get the balancing done on 1st service.
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Old 30th June 2008, 14:48   #12
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Hey Pramod, the ford looks nice, however the ford looks the best in black.
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Old 30th June 2008, 15:39   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pramod View Post
3. Remote boot opener button in the driver console doesnt function occasionally. Have faced this issue 4 to 5 times in the small period of my ownership.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Glass View Post
I think this is a safety feature for the boot not to open under certain conditions. IIRC, it would not open unless the car is stationery or less than at a speed of 7kmph etc.
To add to that the boot also doesn't open if the doors are locked from the inside. I got to learn this when I was stopped at a checkpoint recently and it took me a while to figure out why my boot wasn't opening.
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Old 30th June 2008, 15:43   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Glass View Post
I think this is a safety feature for the boot not to open under certain conditions. IIRC, it would not open unless the car is stationery or less than at a speed of 7kmph etc.
And it will also not open if the car is centrally locked..
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Old 1st July 2008, 13:22   #15
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service costs

Quote:
Originally Posted by dip27in View Post
That was nice comprhensive review. Can you just enlighten us on the total expenses that you have incurred for regular maintaineance of the car.
I spent nothing on first and Second service.
During the third Service, no major issues other than thr routine. Hence a bill amount of 1400 Rs.
After that i had bad scratches done on the left Wheel arch body panel. It was very sour for my eyes to look at a Panther Black fiesta in that state..
Hence went to Metro Ford. The personnel suggested for a Waxonyl Paint protection treatment to the exterior full body costing 3750 + taxes. This did the trick. All the minor scratches are covered up for good. And surface looks glossy too!!
In the same event, got the wheel balancing, allignment and water wash done ,costing 1000/- in all. So total expenditure till date, 1400 + 5000 = 6400/- . The vehicle is now 12500 Kms and 8.5 months old.
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