[ajay_satpute]

Originally Posted by Sugeeta

I usually undertake frequent highway travel, so cruise control is definitely a feature I was looking forward to.

Agreed. Go for it. Hope you get your NFF soon. Looking forward for a nice ownership report with loads of pics. All the best!

[Poitive]

Seen and felt – The New Fiesta


Happened to be near a Ford showroom and dropped in to have a peep at the New Ford Fiesta. Spent a few minutes with it. A lot of things stated below may be personal and for my body size (am 6’ and biggishly built); some things like looks etc are anyway personal. No offence meant to anyone.

Thoughts and observations:

• Looks from front : Quite handsome. Prefer it to the Fluidic Verna from the front.
• Looks from the rear: Bulky. Too much metal without enough breaks. But well, it may just be a matter of getting used to things (we did get used to the Santro, didn’t we?)
• Side and overall : Quite good. Simple. Not as much attention seeking as the Fluidic. May have a longer lasting appeal.
• Ingress and Egress was quite easy.
• The dash was a bit in your face. Too many buttons. Cluttered and not immediately easy to live with. But what the heck, after a few months, we all get a bit too used to the dash and rarely even notice it (unless it is exceptionally good or exceptionally bad). Not particularly impressed with the design of the dash.
• The finish of the dash was pretty ordinary. Nothing to complain at all. Nothing to write home about either. The Fluidic was way better.
• The steering felt quite good to hold. Sporty feel.
• Seats were the kind which wrap around you. Wrap around even more than the Fluidic. They give you a sporty feel and will hold you if you try to test if this one is on rails. But over long journeys (say 7-10 hours), it may not be too comfortable, as it is not contusive to changing sitting position. There is really only one right position to sit and one can’t sit like that over long journeys. Such seats are also usually suitable only for a certain size of body structure. They were quite small for me and I didn’t fit well into them. Though, after some more time in the seat, it felt significantly better, though still not good enough for me.
• The seatwas height adjustable and it took a while to find a comfortable sitting position. As soon as I was physically comfortable with the seat, I realized that I was sitting pretty high up (the seat height also has an effect on the angle of the seat base). The upper end of the windscreen was very much in my eye-line. I had to lower the seat for this reason and then it became physically a bit uncomfortable. But overall was not bad at all. Not what the doc ordered, but surely not a deal breaker either. It anyway changes a lot based on one's body.
• The lever to change the recline is a knob. Allows a more graded and precise recline; but in the Maruti 800 days, it was something one was weary of, as they would tend to break with pressure, and that was very risky. Hope these ones are better. Far better.
• There was ample knee room and the console wasn’t obtrusive. Not as comfortable for the left leg as the Fluidic was, but comfortable enough.
• There was a dead pedal like space, without the rubber one expects in a dead pedal. It wasn’t as wide as one would want. Overall the foot well was just about adequate, but significantly better than the Manza (the only gripe with Manza’s space was with the cramped footwell). IMO dead pedals are a must. Still don’t understand why it is not considered an essential while designing the car.
• The OVRM control didn’t feel intuitive, but is a very minor point, as one should get used to it over time.
• The width of the car felt just about adequate in front.
• In the rear, the seat was a lot better than the Fluidic. But if you try to carry three adults, you will have to screen them for size! LOL. Unhappy seating for three for longer journeys. Really is a two seater (and a kid) bench. The console extended a bit to far back intruding into the rear bench's foot-room making seating three an even bigger pain.
• It is by no means as claustrophobic as the Fluidic Verna.
• The headroom was only about adequate at the rear. The car hitting an unexpected hump may mean my head hitting the ceiling, which would happen in many cars. The headroom was more than the Vento (bear in mind that this is beyond just the measurement figures – how the seats and their recline etc are designed also play a role).
• One 6’ person behind the another? No! Just adequate for a 5’10” behind a 5’10 IMO. Adequate, not comfortable. Two 5'9" should be comfortable.
• The boot though deep and quite wide had a pretty narrow opening – not suited to put those biggish suitcases vertically. One can only stack them one over the other and put other stuff around them. Quite a waste of space, in a sense. And we didn’t even get a beautiful looking rear end to justify this.
• There was that ‘almost there’ thud feeling on closing doors. Almost, because there seemed to be a tiny issue with the door alignment. Or maybe it was to do with the rubber dampening. I didn’t really inspect.
• Overall the cabin felt smallish. However, given it’s size was not claustrophobic, despite the black interiors. Light colour interiors may not have looked as sporty, but would have added a much greater sense of space.

Closing Remarks:

IMO it very much seemed like a car made for singles or small families of more developed countries, where this would be an entry level sedan.

It should be a car where two adults are to be in front and kids in the rear. The occasional journey with adults would also not be an issue. Doesn’t seem to be suited at all, in case you are to be chauffeur driven (no surprise here).

The cabin though not claustrophobic, wasn’t really airy either. Just made across the acceptable limit, for me. I personally like airy cabins a lot.

Foot note.

A diesel cabin to be driven in? Well, we still don’t have much better than the Manza in the sub 10-12L range. (not counting the Optra). A 1.6L engine with a 50-80k increase in price and some more confidence in it’s reliablility and the Manza could really do well, IMO.

For petrols, it seems the Honda city is yet to get any real competition in cabin design, besides the rather unpopular petrol models of Optra and Manza.

PS: Had written this for the Driven! and Spacious Diesel Sedans thread, however thought I'd post this here and the TD could be on those threads.

[octane_100]

Just got a mail inviting me to join the launch live on Facebook on 14th July (tomorrow) at 12PM!

"Watch the All-New Ford Fiesta launch live on Facebook.
Dear <>,

The all-new Ford Fiesta is launching on 14th July, 2011 and you are invited.
It is already receiving rave reviews from some of the most trusted auto journalists.

Seriously impressive car that could set the cat among the pigeons.
Rohini Nagrani, BS Motoring

The Fiesta is a car that packs quite a wallop and has a lot to offer including a number of segment firsts.
Vikram Gour, Zig Wheels

“Looks stunning in the flesh”
AutoCar India
Join us for the launch, live on Facebook at 14 July, 12 noon"

[optimist]

Just found these documents

Ford Fiesta Owners Manual - Ford Fiesta - Ford manuals

2011 Ford Fiesta Owner

Clear your doubts

[Sugeeta]

Originally Posted by Poitive

Seen and felt – The New Fiesta

PS: Had written this for the Driven! and Spacious Diesel Sedans thread, however thought I'd post this here and the TD could be on those threads.

Thanks for a "practical" review.

The seat adjust adjustment knobs is a good change from the previous Fiesta where they were of the slotting Lever kind. One could never find the right (correct) angle.

The Ikon on the other hand had the rotating knobs by means of which you could adjust your seat to maximum comfort.

I feel the rear of the car is not all that bad either.

[nacd80]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

The button(s) on the remote key can be programmed to do a few alternate tasks. One option the SA showed - was say if you are travelling alone, the unlock button only unlocks the driver's door, the rest three doors remain locked. Although the SA was having trouble to show me the different options, apparently there are 6 more such options.

That a good addition! I just hope it will work when the car actually rolls out into our hands

[johnjojo08]

Originally Posted by Tgo

Taller I agree, but wider is not easy to digest. I believe it is because of the ORVMs protruding more in the fiesta. The width definitely doesn't show in the rear seat.

Overall width with mirrors (mm) 1973 1973
Overall width without mirrors (mm) 1722 1722
Overall width folded mirrors (mm) 1787 1787


Source :

Dimensions


I think this clears your doubt. Fiesta is actually wider than Verna. But we are getting a compact feeling due to its design.

[sharninder]

The more I read this thread, the more I'm tempted to book the NFF for myself too. Anyone knows the capacity planned for this at the plant ? Some people have already been told a waiting period of 2-3 months. If we book later, is it likely to go even further up ?

[//M]

My father is looking for a new sedan and the Fiesta Diesel perfectly suits all his needs. The Verna 1.6 comes close, but the steering feel and the handling of the Fiesta is surely a clincher. My heart says a Cruze LTZ but its actually way out of budget. Waiting for Ford to reveal the prices.

[carfreak77]

Originally Posted by optimist

Just found these documents

Ford Fiesta Owners Manual - Ford Fiesta - Ford manuals

2011 Ford Fiesta Owner

Clear your doubts

Thanks a lot optimist for these helpful documents. It gave me more confidence and certainly cleared up my doubts about locking the car should the keyless system fail. The article however did not mention any method to unlock the doors from the inside if the central unlocking button fails. Does anybody know how this might be possible?

[Poitive]

Originally Posted by Sugeeta

Thanks for a "practical" review.

The seat adjust adjustment knobs is a good change from the previous Fiesta where they were of the slotting Lever kind. One could never find the right (correct) angle.

Welcome mate. At times, I am very surprised about how people select cars. There is so much talk about features, power, torque, handling, ride etc, but little talk about how comfortable the cabin to sit in is. About how comfortable the seats are. After the initial euphoria about the car dies down, this is one thing that one feels (literally) all the time. But maybe that is just me!

Originally Posted by sharninder

The more I read this thread, the more I'm tempted to book the NFF for myself too.

IMHO, one should not base one's decision based on a thread. People feel and experience cars differently. Many people may not be finding this (or for that matter any) car good enough and they would usually not follow or comment on the thread. The ones who are excited are more likely to comment. Also please bear in mind that people feel and experience cars differently.

That said, this car has generated a lot of excitement. We had 100 pages even before a review of the car!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by //M

My father is looking for a new sedan and the Fiesta Diesel perfectly suits all his needs. The Verna 1.6 comes close, but the steering feel and the handling of the Fiesta is surely a clincher. My heart says a Cruze LTZ but its actually way out of budget. Waiting for Ford to reveal the prices.

A bit OT: If you are considering the Cruze, why not the "practical Cruze" - the Optra, which is budget friendly too?!

[//M]

Originally Posted by Poitive

A bit OT: If you are considering the Cruze, why not the "practical Cruze" - the Optra, which is budget friendly too?!

Exactly. I love the Magnum, the engine is indeed a gem. But my dad is a bit wary since the car is outdated and spares might be a problem. Also the experience of his colleague was not good with my hometown's only Chevrolet dealership. So dad is in favor of a newer model which will hold its value better and provide better service.

We also have a 2005 Santro Xing and the Hyundai service till date has been really good. Touchwood. So he's considering the ANHV too, but the ride and handling package has put him off. So probably the new Fiesta will be the one, I guess.

Still I have been convincing him for a TD of the Optra Magnum for a long time. I just hope he does it just for the sake of it. It might change his mind.

[sukiwa]

@ Rehaan:

Do we have a photo of illuminated tail lamps?

I am bit skeptical about visibility of these stop lights & even turn indicators. Are these lights strong(illuminance) enough to get noticed by vehicle behind it?

[naga.sid]

Hi,

The following is the handiwork of mine over a rather sleepy Saturday afternoon. This is primarily from a picture posted on this thread much earlier on. I hope I have not infringed copyright by doing this.

One point to consider. The position of the camera in the original snap seems to have been more on the side of the new Fiesta.

The differences seem easier to compare and that was the intention of making this ensemble.

Regards,
NagaSid

[Fusion2006]

Originally Posted by carfreak77

...The article however did not mention any method to unlock the doors from the inside if the central unlocking button fails. Does anybody know how this might be possible?

I guess you simply use the pull handle inside - that door will unlock.