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Old 11th July 2011, 18:13   #451
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Re: Ford Fiesta : Test Drive & Review

I just saw the car at Metro Ford Bangalore. The petrol Titanium+ version was on display. The sales guy said OTR for Top end diesel will be around 12L. Estimated delivery time for the car was 8 to 10 weeks for diesel and 4 to 6 weeks for petrol.

Ford Fiesta : Test Drive & Review-imag0244.jpg

They have run out of brochures and have given the photocopies. Funny to see color options in photocopy!

Ford Fiesta : Test Drive & Review-imag0245.jpg
Couple of photos including that of the infamous back(I didnt find it that bad)

1. I absolutely loved the drivers seat. I am not that tall and I found it just right. The seat fabric was also quite decent.
2. Steering wheel is excellent.
3. Getting in and out was easy and the Thud was too good.
4. Rear seat is luxurious in terms of size for people like me and my family. I found Verna very bad in this as it was claustrophobic. No such issues here.
5. Boot space is quite decent, except for a narrow opening.
6. Did not find the hump in the rear seat to be an issue.
7. Most of the optional accessories/personalize your car stuff are from Fiesta worldwide according to the dealer and they have no idea on the details.

I like it and might go for this one, moment my company finalizes the lease formalities with Orix.
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Old 11th July 2011, 18:18   #452
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Re: Ford Fiesta : Test Drive & Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by rock22 View Post
And I became the first person in Dehradun to book the New Fiesta (Titanium)
Hey Rock! I had missed this part. So you finally decided without even a TD. I expect it would be a petrol, given your usage. Don't think you would have even TD the Optra! Looking forward to your ownership review now.

Congrats and all the best.

PS: Wonder if you'll even TD the car before purchasing.


Quote:
Originally Posted by rock22 View Post
I think a 6' person sitting behind a 6' driver might be a bit of tight situation... best to go and personally check it out !

Regarding rear headroom for a 6 footer, IMO there should not be any problem... IIRC, there was a space of more than 6" over my head when sitting on the rear seat (of course, I am only 5'6). Hope this helps
Thanks Rock! One really does need to check these things personally, but the excitement is catching on (see how quickly this thread is moving now!!) so could not resist asking you and ajay about legroom and headroom.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ajay_satpute View Post
The headroom is also good at the rear. May be a taller person can comment on this better, but for me it was comfortable. The rear seats are comfortable and not as flat and short as Verna. There is considerable under thigh suport and the inclination angel is good. I did not feel claustrophoebic inside.
Thanks Ajay. If the rear bench is better than the Verna, The Fiesta may give a real fight to Verna, though Hyundai A$$ would still remain a big pull.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Cooltronics View Post
Good to know that other bhpians also faced the legroom issue. I somehow got struck in the back seat at 6'2". I wish ford would have taken care of this considering it to be their premium C segment car.
AFAIK, India got a bit late into the the Ford World One program (or whatever other name it had). Had India been in the group before, it could have asked for a longer wheel base and hence more legroom at the rear. Most countries don't really expect much legroom for this segment of a car. Here the market dynamics are different though. For taller people/families, it seems it will be the Optra for Diesel in this price segment, or ANHC for petrol.
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Old 11th July 2011, 19:17   #453
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Re: Ford Fiesta : Test Drive & Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by prabhuferrari View Post
I just saw the car at Metro Ford Bangalore. The petrol Titanium+ version was on display. The sales guy said OTR for Top end diesel will be around 12L. Estimated delivery time for the car was 8 to 10 weeks for diesel and 4 to 6 weeks for petrol.

1. I absolutely loved the drivers seat. I am not that tall and I found it just right. The seat fabric was also quite decent.
2. Steering wheel is excellent.
3. Getting in and out was easy and the Thud was too good.
4. Rear seat is luxurious in terms of size for people like me and my family. I found Verna very bad in this as it was claustrophobic. No such issues here.
5. Boot space is quite decent, except for a narrow opening.
6. Did not find the hump in the rear seat to be an issue.
7. Most of the optional accessories/personalize your car stuff are from Fiesta worldwide according to the dealer and they have no idea on the details.
Thanks for the observations! Quite helpful indeed. And I really like the personalization options. Maybe a segment first again.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Poitive View Post
AFAIK, India got a bit late into the the Ford World One program (or whatever other name it had). Had India been in the group before, it could have asked for a longer wheel base and hence more legroom at the rear. Most countries don't really expect much legroom for this segment of a car. Here the market dynamics are different though. For taller people/families, it seems it will be the Optra for Diesel in this price segment, or ANHC for petrol.
A very valid point. This is more so the case with compact cars which are primarily designed in/for Europe (the original Fiesta hatch being one of those).
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Old 11th July 2011, 19:31   #454
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Re: Ford Fiesta : Test Drive & Review

From the Fiesta facebook page :

Quote:
Just two more days before the price of the All New Fiesta is revealed. Check out the livestream of the price reveal here Ford Fiesta - Fiesta for India | Facebook
Anyone has an idea as to how many bookings have the dealerships garnered? Would be nice if all of you could find with them when you go out to check the NFS and update us.

Last edited by swiftnfurious : 11th July 2011 at 19:34.
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Old 11th July 2011, 19:37   #455
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Quote:
Originally Posted by swiftnfurious
From the Fiesta facebook page :

Anyone has an idea as to how many bookings have the dealerships garnered? Would be nice if all of you could find with them when you go out to check the NFS and update us.
Metro Ford Palace road Bangalore says they have received 50 bookings so far.
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Old 11th July 2011, 19:56   #456
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Re: Ford Fiesta : Test Drive & Review

I just checked the new fiesta today at chennai ford showroom in arumbakkam along with my friend. Few observations from my side, which has not been covered in the earlier posts -

- Initially only trend and titanium variants will be available in Diesel. Titanium+ and Style are expected at a later date. For petrol it was Trend, Titanium and Titanium+.
- Petrol and Diesel allotment will be in 65-35% to begin with. One reason why, salesmen were seen pushing the petrol more than the diesel.
- Car is well built, looks sporty and looks much better in flesh than in the pictures.
- We ended up booking the Diesel Trend variant with a booking amount of 50,000 Rs. We were 8th in the queue for Diamond White Trend TDCI as informed by the dealership. Heard from them they had 19 bookings yesterday and around 14 so far today.

Overall came back pretty impressed, I was commenting to my friend that the 1.5 TDCI Trend variant has more features compared to the Vento Highline that I had booked 4 months back and I also anticipate the price to be substantially lower than the Vento and the Verna. The head salesman told me that the hatch and AT version are there in the pipeline but it might take atleast another 8 months for them, how I wish ford had lauched the hatch also alongside the sedan option, that would have been a smashing car for sure!

I wish ford good luck and I feel if priced right - this will be a very sucessful model for ford.
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Old 11th July 2011, 20:03   #457
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Re: Ford Fiesta : Test Drive & Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by Poitive View Post
Hey Rock! I had missed this part. So you finally decided without even a TD. I expect it would be a petrol, given your usage. Don't think you would have even TD the Optra! Looking forward to your ownership review now.

Congrats and all the best.

PS: Wonder if you'll even TD the car before purchasing.
Thank you so much !
And yes, I decided without a TD Actually for me its gonna be a family car as well as my personal sports car ! With Verna there was this rear seat problem and nobody in family would agree for that, driving it was good though. But with Fiesta there is no such issue, and thankfully everyone (including my parents) liked the looks of the car. For the performance, I have relied on the various reviews, a friend's first hand experience and the Fiesta legacy and I desperately wish that I'll not go wrong with this !

And of course, I also look forward to my ownership review
Thanks once again !

P.S. The dealer has promised to give a TD if the TD vehicle arrives before my car !!!
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Old 11th July 2011, 20:44   #458
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Re: Ford Fiesta : Test Drive & Review

I missed reading this thread for a week so and it has been so active. And I see that there is so much POSITIVES floating around this car than when the TD reports came out. That's brilliant I feel. Also I am finding the white & silver more appealing that the Kinetic blue.

I am extremely happy that manufacturers have started to offer the safety equipments even for the base versions. Amazing indeed.

I also read a lot of members cribbing a lot over the space at the back! When I understand that more space is welcome, this is not a big negative. Some questions to ponder over.

1. How many people who are above 6" have set the driving seat for their comfort [proper driving position] and have then checked the space behind? [In most instances I see that people have simply pushed the seat back to the maximum extend and then checked for space behind which may not be the correct way to check space].

2. Will the car always have 4 above 6" tall guys traveling, making space management difficult?

3. If there is one person who is at least 5"7' or shorter, can't we let that person sit behind the driver who is above 6" and thus utilize the space inside the car.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Surprise View Post
Dealer's sales representative was explaining to a customer that perfect option for a diesel car would be a FORD/VW (Vento)/Skoda.....definitely not Hyundai or Maruthi. Reason cited by him is car gets unusable after 50k-60k kms & now you know what they fear
I really could not understand the hidden meaning. Why do you think he has excluded Maruti & Hyundai from the list?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tgo View Post
Don't know about the gears but you can set it from 30 km/hr (so definitely not 4th or 5th) and there is no upper limit (as told by the SA).
I doubt you can set cruise control as low as 30 kmph. From some reports, I read cruise control can be set only on 5th gear and I also read another report that this can be set only from 80 kmph. I don't have a confirmation on this, but these two reports make more sense than allowing a set up as low as 30 kmph. Logically, you use cruise control only on highways and its good to set it up where you can extract max FE which is 70-80 kmph.

Quote:
Originally Posted by jkumar007 View Post
Lack of Red shade would be a major disappointment. The one in Figo and/or Fiesta Classic would have provided more options to potential buyers.
I have seen the red color like Figo's, a disaster on most of the sedans [SX4, Dzire, Verna] and have not seen more than a handful of those in the last 2-3 years [Red Octavia used to look good though]. So its better Ford doesn't attempt to sell that. Fiesta Classic's red is much better.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rock22 View Post
I specifically asked the sales rep about the GC. He said they (Ford trainers?) mentioned 155mm during training, As per him, the GC was more than that of Figo,
Frankly 155mm GC is quite low. As per the Figo website, the GC = 168mm.

Quote:
Originally Posted by pamishra View Post
I guess Ford wants all consumers to have a look at all the features of the car, hence all showrooms have only the Titianium variant for display.
Usually the demo cars / TD cars will always be a top end, fully loaded variant. I don't think any dealer will have a demo car with lower spec at any point of time, unless they take a customer's to-be-delivered car for demo purposes.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Surprise View Post
Will it take 2-3 weeks for deliveries of new cars from the date of launch/announcing the prices & variants?
I guess deliveries will immediately start after price announcement. I believe they are building the inventory and hence slowing a bit down to make sure they have much lower delivery time against the Verna. Now I feel that they might manage to take some customers off the Verna waiting list.

Quote:
Originally Posted by anonymous View Post
I went through this thread but couldn't find any mention about the price. Has the price been revealed as well or will it be announced on 14th July only?
Price announcement on 14 July. I have pasted the live stream link a couple of posts above.

Quote:
Originally Posted by prabhuferrari View Post
Metro Ford Palace road Bangalore says they have received 50 bookings so far.
Thanks buddy !

Last edited by swiftnfurious : 11th July 2011 at 20:54.
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Old 11th July 2011, 20:48   #459
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Re: Ford Fiesta : Test Drive & Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by rock22 View Post
P.S. The dealer has promised to give a TD if the TD vehicle arrives before my car !!!


To be delivered cars getting used as 'informal' TD vehicles is well known. Now given the demand this TD may have, you should try and ensure your car doesn't get used as one. Try to take the chassis no. from the dealer once your car starts from the factory and keep a check on it for delivery to the local showroom. Take the delivery as soon as you can.

With ford's legacy, you may love this baby on hill roads. All the best and keep safe mate.
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Old 11th July 2011, 22:13   #460
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Re: Ford Fiesta : Test Drive & Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by bala80 View Post

- Initially only trend and titanium variants will be available in Diesel.
Big plus with NFS is all the safety features are common across variants. Not a great fan of Voice controls/Electrically foldable mirrors/Cruise Control (might come handy for REAL long drives)...all the others can be fitted outside as per our choice & save a lot of money too.

One option for me is to got for the basic variant & get everything fitted. But now this...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mustang.101 View Post
...
Mustang.101, Do you have any idea on this?
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Old 11th July 2011, 23:21   #461
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Re: Ford Fiesta : Test Drive & Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by prabhuferrari View Post
I just saw the car at Metro Ford Bangalore. The petrol Titanium+ version was on display.
Attachment 575776
Attachment 575777
Got a chance to start the car at around 7PM for about 15 mins. WoW

* AC is a chiller. The voice control refused to set it at 9. Haha. I had asked for 20. Fan was barely audible when set to min. The climate controls seem to follow some preset arrangements and i was not able to put on whatever combinations i wanted. Could not find out all the particular combinations.

* ICE: "Damn Good" by my standards.

* The dash is nice and feels futuristic. Switchgear and control knobs are well made.

* Rear which looked ugly in photos is actually cool. The frontal looks to be muscular and mean which is not readily apparent in any of the photographs. This car is also a looker and needs to be seen. This joins the group of cars where the hood part is not visible any more. The Classic was very comfortable in this regard.

* Headlights look smashing and appear to be bright enough. Same Controls as the classic. The fogs illuminated the floor well enough. there is a separate button for the fog lamps.

* Front seats are comfortable. Long drives will be inevitable now. However frequent adjustments might be a pain due to the ancient arrangements.

* A few hits and many misses with the voice based controls. Need to get used to it.

* Rear seats had none of the misgivings of the verna. Finally I had about 75 mm of gap (3") overhead v/s the 2 finger 25mm in the Verna and the Vento. I'm 5'10" if it matters for comparison. It appears the the third person will be a tight fit. The seating was pleasantly firm not letting you sink in to uncomfortable levels. The upholstery seems to be OK.

* Rear leg space is satisfactory and does not seem to be a cause for concern.

* Illuminated window controls are there on all knobs on all doors. The hand rest on the door seemed to be comfortable enough.

* Someone slammed the front door when i was enjoying the rear seat. It was a nice thud. Overall the construction felt robust unlike the finger press deflection of the Verna.

* The rear view mirror covered about 3 quarters of the rear window. Definitely much better than the Verna. The RVM felt very cheap IMHO while changing between regular and night modes. I was able to adjust the ORVM's for a good look as to where the rear tyres were going and till the rear passenger door. Nice. Will be useful for parking close to the kerb.

The sales guy had saved a brochure for me. So i gave him a cheque for 50K subject to confirmation after pricing is released and test drive. Hope i don't end up with jealous feelings from those who see me in the car.
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Old 11th July 2011, 23:53   #462
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Re: Ford Fiesta : Test Drive & Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by bala80 View Post
I just checked the new fiesta today at chennai ford showroom in arumbakkam along with my friend. Few observations from my side, which has not been covered in the earlier posts -

- Initially only trend and titanium variants will be available in Diesel. Titanium+ and Style are expected at a later date. For petrol it was Trend, Titanium and Titanium+.
- Petrol and Diesel allotment will be in 65-35% to begin with. One reason why, salesmen were seen pushing the petrol more than the diesel.
- Car is well built, looks sporty and looks much better in flesh than in the pictures.
- We ended up booking the Diesel Trend variant with a booking amount of 50,000 Rs. We were 8th in the queue for Diamond White Trend TDCI as informed by the dealership. Heard from them they had 19 bookings yesterday and around 14 so far today.

Overall came back pretty impressed, I was commenting to my friend that the 1.5 TDCI Trend variant has more features compared to the Vento Highline that I had booked 4 months back and I also anticipate the price to be substantially lower than the Vento and the Verna. The head salesman told me that the hatch and AT version are there in the pipeline but it might take atleast another 8 months for them, how I wish ford had lauched the hatch also alongside the sedan option, that would have been a smashing car for sure!

I wish ford good luck and I feel if priced right - this will be a very sucessful model for ford.
Bala, congratulations on booking the NFS! Glad to see that the wait periods are pretty low. The key would be to book early to avoid the later rush for diesel variants, which you did!
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Old 12th July 2011, 07:39   #463
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Re: Ford Fiesta : Test Drive & Review

Quote:
Originally Posted by bala80 View Post
We ended up booking the Diesel Trend variant with a booking amount of 50,000 Rs. We were 8th in the queue for Diamond White Trend TDCI as informed by the dealership. Heard from them they had 19 bookings yesterday and around 14 so far today.
Congratulations Bala! Good choice of colour. I personally feel the new Fiesta looks better in lighter shades. It brings out the curves better.

Quote:
Originally Posted by bala80
how I wish ford had launched the hatch also alongside the sedan option, that would have been a smashing car for sure!
Smashing car for sure, but then it will be compared with the likes of Liva, Siwft etc.(and even Figo), and will be branded as non-VFM (similar to Jazz)

Quote:
Originally Posted by rock22 View Post
And of course, I also look forward to my ownership review
Rock, you booked the petrol variant?

Quote:
Originally Posted by swiftnfurious View Post
I also read a lot of members cribbing a lot over the space at the back! When I understand that more space is welcome, this is not a big negative. Some questions to ponder over.

1. How many people who are above 6" have set the driving seat for their comfort [proper driving position] and have then checked the space behind? [In most instances I see that people have simply pushed the seat back to the maximum extend and then checked for space behind which may not be the correct way to check space].

2. Will the car always have 4 above 6" tall guys traveling, making space management difficult?

3. If there is one person who is at least 5"7' or shorter, can't we let that person sit behind the driver who is above 6" and thus utilize the space inside the car.
Good points. Espcially this is so true in the segment we are talking about.

Quote:
Originally Posted by swiftnfurious
I really could not understand the hidden meaning. Why do you think he has excluded Maruti & Hyundai from the list?
Maybe because he assume that Europeans strength lies in the diesel powerplant, and a right assumption too

Quote:
Originally Posted by swiftnfurious
I have seen the red color like Figo's, a disaster on most of the sedans [SX4, Dzire, Verna] and have not seen more than a handful of those in the last 2-3 years [Red Octavia used to look good though]. So its better Ford doesn't attempt to sell that. Fiesta Classic's red is much better.
Agree. Red is a difficult colour to achieve perfection. It can be classy if done correctly, or can be an expression of road rage in other cases. I remember reading that in UK, insurance companies charge a premium for red cars (especially in the used car markets).

Quote:
Originally Posted by optimist View Post
Got a chance to start the car at around 7PM for about 15 mins…

…The sales guy had saved a brochure for me. So i gave him a cheque for 50K subject to confirmation after pricing is released and test drive. Hope i don't end up with jealous feelings from those who see me in the car.
Congratulations optimist! Thanks for the details.
And I liked the last line – The sales guy gave you a brochure, and hence you gave him a check
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Old 12th July 2011, 08:45   #464
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Re: Ford Fiesta : Test Drive & Review

I just chanced upon this US price list while researching this car.
2011 Ford Fiesta | Pricing, Financing, Leasing & Ford Incentive Offers | Ford.com

Noticed the Hatch is priced higher than Sedan! Any idea why? In India that is a big No! It would just kill the car even if the car is good and as spacious as a sedan inside (Jazz).

It seems there is no snob value associated with sedans in the US.
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Old 12th July 2011, 08:49   #465
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Re: Ford Fiesta : Test Drive & Review

Had a "Test-FEEL" of the NFFiesta. I'll try to be very precise
  • Looks Great from Front and side. Rear has sort of a cheap look especially with the tail lights.
  • The exhaustive use of chrome on higher variants looks good to my eyes. I gives the car some more character.
  • The Interiors should be taken in two parts - the Front and the Rear. While you would love to be at the front, the rear is for small kids who would not complain about the discrepancy.
  • I think the Figo Rear seats are a better place to be in. If it was the NFFiesta i would always want to be in the front.
  • The meter console / switches seem to be cluttered initially but i'm sure it would grow into you and you would feel at ease.
  • The Steering wheel is one of the best designed ones.
  • The music system does not feel OEM. Its just too good to be OEM. (since we are used to pathetic OEM systems on most cars)
  • The Driver seat hight adjuster has got a good range.
  • The boot space looks very good but i felt the loading area/height could have been better.
  • The 1.5 TDCi sounded much more refined than the 1.4 sibling. With the intercooler and throttle body (like in petrol engines) it should be much better to drive. What i understand that its an upgraded version of the 1.4 block rather than a downgraded version of the 1.6.

Last edited by gemithomas : 12th July 2011 at 08:54.
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