[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by VeluM

I appreciate the child-part concept even though it may lead to slightly poor looking parts (like the rear inside door-handle, I presume)

This is a misconception VeluM.
The child parts just means that instead of purchasing, say, the full air-box, you can purchase just the cover (example). Or if you just need a armature for your alternator, you don't have to purchase a whole new alternator.
Read the link i had provided with that point for more info on this.

Originally Posted by AdrenalinJunkie

They have boosted the power figures on paper to keep pace with the competition but the tall gearing and real world delivery of power seems to be fine tuned for fuel efficiency rather than outright performance.

Well said, and true.

Originally Posted by dhanushs

How would you/team rate the rear seat comfort when compared to the competition?

Touched upon in an earlier reply.

Originally Posted by dhanushs

“Pull drift compensation”. Now, if it detects if the steering wheel is off center and makes corrective measures, wouldn't that be a problem during alignment issues?. And make it harder to notice for in experienced drivers?

It will not hold the steering off-center for you. It will just assist you by making it less effort for you to hold it there. I really wouldn't give this feature much importance, its main usefulness is for Ford's marketing department.

Originally Posted by dhanushs

how friendly is the car for aftermarket mods?

Sorry - not sure about this. Given that its sold in Thailand and the US, theres a good chance of bolt-on performance parts! (Though not for the 1.5 engines...yet)

In performance tune, the petrol could probably put out another 10 hp. (Off-hand figure from a Ford engineer).

Also, another BHPian did raise an interesting point about a diesel fiesta + pete's box.

Originally Posted by dhanushs

How is the space in the engine bay?

Its very very tight like most cars nowadays. The tighter you can package the engine, the further forward you can move the firewall, giving you more space for the cabin. (Look how far forward the A-pillar on the Fiesta is!)

Originally Posted by dhanushs

Glove box isn't cooled?

Nope.

Originally Posted by dhanushs

Why no tbhp stickers in the car?.

We usually don't put stickers on when we are test-driving in a manufacturer organized group (with other websites, media, journos, etc) since we switch cars often, as well as take pictures of the cars someone else might be driving at the time.

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

Just a question; with the huge rear end, did you have a problem reversing the car?

I did not find it difficult at all. If you notice, despite the upward angled styling from front to rear, the boot is not that high up. Rear visibility is decent, and for the close confines the sensors help a lot.

Lots of people are asking this question - i've expanded further in my original "interiors" post.

Originally Posted by Xehaust

i was worried about the speaker placement and quality of the OE ICE. Sure enough, it was covered by you later & in excellent detail like the rest of the review.

Just a small disclaimer : My ICE impressions were taken from the front seat.

Originally Posted by deetjohn

A question. Is the 1.5 Diesel based on the old 1.4 TDCi or the new 1.6? I am getting a lot of mixed information on this.

I think they are "all new", though i'm not 100% sure about this.

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Is there a light in there? How/ when is it switched on and off?

Yes, there is a small bulb in there. It works just like the cabin lights (ie when the doors open, etc)


More replies soon...

cya
R

[autofreak]

Thanks for the much sought after review Reehan.

Likes
-Kinetic styling
-Safety features
-Driving dynamics
-Cocooning seats

Dislikes
-Boring grey interiors
-Clouds of buttons
-Odd looking rear
-left hand drive oriented stalks (I am very serious about this. Why the hell FORD cant orient controls for right hand drive and that too for a market like India. Please give us some respect.)
-At the look of it, panels seem to be hard with rough edge

But all these could be and will be negated if ford does the figo magic with fiesta

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

additional 100cc results in paying more than 3 times premium.

That was an interesting insight. Never got to know till date.

Originally Posted by basilmabraham

PS: A noob question, How does cruise control work without automatic gears? Would it be possible to set cruise control at 40kmph in 4th gear and then change to 5th, would cruise control still work.

Dude, in most cars cruise control can be activated only at speeds above 60kmph and the basic function of it is to maintain constant speed. So the car will/should always be in top gear. But to be frank, I havent tried to keep the car in 4th at 80 and engaging cruise control and then shifting to 5th gear.

[sumathindra]

@Rehaan is ford launching the hatchback version with this or is it slotted for q4? Have been seeing some reviews on NDTV and it looks interesting. Elder bro of the figo :-)

[sahakar]

Great review, Rehaan.

Although not happy with Ford. Leaves me with mixed feelings.

I was all set to get a petrol Fiesta as soon as it launched.

Now have to go back to the drawing board and see what to do.

Not happy..

Cheers

[Fusion2006]

Thanks for a great review that everyone has been looking forward to for a long time!

It seems that the Diesel version seems to be the better option here! Looks like I am going to be a convert - I had always been keen on the petrol version, but now maybe not....

[bluevolt]

Very nicely written review Rehan, Thanks for sharing. And the pictures do the rest of the talking.

Overall the new fiesta looks nice as compared to the old fiesta but still nowhere close to Hyundai Verna/Honda City. Front resembles to the Figo and looks like elder sister of Figo. I will not compare it to SX4 as it is five year old design and this is a fresh model.

I am yet to understand Ford's unique selling point for this car. I guess the pricing will be very important factor which will determine success of this car.

I will choose Hyundai Verna over Ford Fiesta in both petrol and diesel category.

[Xehaust]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Just a small disclaimer : My ICE impressions were taken from the front seat.

Exactly where ill sit if i end up buying this car
In any case, Ford has done their market research quite well & focused on developing their car for a particular target audience. They know that people driving this car will buy it for driving themselves. Hence all the focus on the front & a lack-lustre rear.

[Rehaan]

Thanks again guys. Keep the comments and questions coming

Originally Posted by prabhuferrari

1. For a regular city commute(bumper to bumper) and a once in 2 month long drive, will Fiesta Diesel be a good car? If this is a vague question, please ignore!

Vague question indeed - but i don't see any reason why it wouldn't be good at this!

Originally Posted by prabhuferrari

2. Is there a drivers arm rest

Nope - there is no center armrest for the driver or front passenger.

Originally Posted by prabhuferrari

3. The boot open lid is near the left foot of the driver? That's what I could comprehend from the picture.

That's to open the hood / engine, and its near the driver's right leg

Originally Posted by prabhuferrari

4. Not sure if you mentioned, but are there defoggers for front and rear?

See buttons in the center circle:


Also, see my earlier reply for the inside RVM view comment. I've also updated the review to be clearer on this.

Originally Posted by noopster

Can the display be changed to km/litre as in the Laura?

No it cannot.
Though you can change the choice of distance units, there didn't seem to be a way to change the representation of consumption figures.

Originally Posted by noopster

Let's face it, rear AC vents ... are hardly a deal breaker!

Maybe not for Ajay. Maybe not a deal-BREAKER for others either, but for someone who is exclusively going to use the rear seat - its a good enough tie-breaker between two cars; especially if its a hot day.

Originally Posted by sajo

However, can you tell me what the dash of the base variant looks like ? What will it not come with ? The integrated stereo ? Voice activated thingies ? Chrome ?

Sorry - no info on this at all.

However, some reports on the forum yesterday indicated that there will be four variants per engine. My guess is that the 4th / lowest variant probably wont have the things you've mentioned. However, the fact that there are 4 variants also means that there will be a good gradation of features to choose from.

Originally Posted by PPS

You forgot to mention the 0-100 timings of both the engines. Any idea what its estimated price would be? The black interiors will look boring after a period of time!

Unfortunately, didn't get the chance to do this! Bangalore wouldn't have been the best place either.
If i get my hands on the car again, first on the list will be a nice winding road. After that, i'll try and throw in some 0-100s and more braking tests too.

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

rear AC vents can not make or break a deal.

Have commented on this just above.

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

...As long as the AC is powerful enough, it does not matter.

Just a related thought :
4-speaker audio system is not really necessary. As long as the 2 speakers in front are powerful enough it doesn't matter.

I agree neither of these are deal-breakers - but there is a certain value brought by them, atleast to some. Everyone has their own priorities.

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

Surprising to see that a 90 BHP engine is an FGT one. The 90 HP engine on the Punto is a VGT and it gives slightly better FE figures.

I can't make an expert comment on this, but as a guess on why ford didn't use a VGT (in addition to cost saving) : perhaps a light, small, low inertia FG turbo worked well enough in this application, whereas Punto needed a bigger (and therefore to minimize lag) VG turbo?

Originally Posted by Simhi

What is the likelihood of Ford launching AT variant for petrol and diesel?

Unofficial reports say that a petrol AT is quite likely (though unclear on whether its gonna be a slush-box or a DCT. No indication on diesel AT, though demand for it in this thread is very strong!

Your other questions have been answered as replies to other members in this post and my earlier post.


More replies soon....

cya
R

[Rudra Sen]

Absolutely super coverage Rehaan. Excellent photographs to compliment too.

Originally Posted by Rehaan

Inverted trapezoid grill = a key element of Ford's new design language. Expect to see a lot more of this

Very much like Mitsubishi design. Isn't it? Same shape on Outlander and EVO too.

[ra'ul M]

Great Review. The photographs are superb.
The rear end does look bad and could be a dear breaker. Rooting for the hatch

One question: Isn't a single lock better than having controls for all doors. It keeps the driver in control of things. Also, in case of an accident, do the doors unlock automatically?

[Sugeeta]

Thanks Rehaan for the great review. At the end of, of course, I was smiling !!

Would have loved to see the 1.6 Diesel engine in India; but seems FMCI has other ideas.

The car seems to be made for an acceptable balance of fuel efficiency, looks, maintenance and power. In short, a saleable car.

Now for the pricing and the waiting time. Hope to be able to get mine in the first few lots at Delhi.

Keep the forum informed on more developments....

Cheers

[RGK]

Originally Posted by autofreak

-left hand drive oriented stalks (I am very serious about this. Why the hell FORD cant orient controls for right hand drive and that too for a market like India. Please give us some respect.)
-

Absolutely. I think the changing of stalks involves change in basic wiring design and it should not be a great deal for a new car.
Automobile associations across India should insist the manufacturers to have standard conventional features that suits Indian market.

[muni]

@Rehaan Wonderful review and definitely the most detailed review on the fiesta even though many reviews/ test drives came before yours.

You covered the audio section, The voice guided features pretty well in line with your keen interest in electronic gadgets

A couple of questions

a) I remember reading or hearing something about the lower maintenance costs. Is it partly die to the child replacements parts alone or there is a genuine cost advantage to the parts due to the localization. Did you get to hear anything concrete on this front.

b) I am also curious about the comment you made for the <10 Bhp loss for the petrol engine due the 3000+ feet Bangalore altitude. Could you please elaborate whether it makes real perceptible difference in performance for the petrol engine for people driving in high altitude. The air gets thinner as the altitude picks up I do know.

Having seen the car in person it does look narrower than what the dimensions suggest. No beige is a big plus in my books though they could have done better with the rear design.

[ulhas.ahirrao]

Now that's a real fantastic review, read word by word. Brilliant!

Ford seems to have done a Figo again, give exactly what our customers need. The amount of Storage space, Voice Control, Standard ABS/Air Bags etc. are a few things which will work well in India.

[sagarpadaki]

Nice review Rehaan.I guess you guys were road testing on mysore road,NICE road region.I saw a silver fiesta and a blue fiesta flanked by some figos and classic fiesta on June 6th evening around 5.30 on mysore road going towards Bangalore.I followed the cars till they stopped at the entrance of NICE road on the left.Was it you folks testing?Infact i even peeked into the blue fiesta and it was driven by a single person!