[dsvikki]

My claim to fame can be that this is the second Fiesta DCT review after Kamen_rider. And with a car named J-Lo (want to guess why?), unique as well.

Decision Process

I have always wanted an automatic and finally around December last year got the necessary approvals from the Home ministry and the search began. My garage consists of a 2007 Honda City Vtec + and I had a 2009 Ritz Vdi which i just sold.

My first choice was the Brio AT. Having owned a Honda for 5 years, it was the most sensible choice. My inability to get a TD vehicle in Chennai plus a 2 month wait for an AT and a hefty Rs 7.2L onroad made me decide against the Brio. We are expecting our first kid in May and safety was something i wanted to ensure. Kept wondering what would happen if the Brio was rear-ended. Hence decided to get a AT sedan even if it meant atleast 3L extra.

Consideration set was Honda City, Vento and the Fiesta. My vote again went to the City but was vetoed at home since we already had a City. We test drove the Fiesta (me and my dad) and really liked the way it drove and handled. The dealer (MPL Ford) and the SA, Babu was quite helpful and brought the vehicle over twice for a TD. The rear space issue which has been widely discussed was considered but dismissed as 90% of the time, its either 1 or 2 passengers. If i needed to take 5 people, I could always use the City. Considered the Vento, but my wife felt it was "big" though the external dimensions are not significantly different. The fact that the OTR also came to almost a lakh more, made me go with the Fiesta even though i was wary of buying a car that is effectively a "market dud". Convinced myself that what matters is that the car meets my requirements to the tee.

The SA said that only the Style variant is available and they have no visibility on when the Titanium variant would be available (I believed him though i knew it was more sales speak to push a non moving model).

Got a great offer Rs 64K off on the Style Variant and a 15K exchange bonus for my Ritz. The dealer offered the same price i was getting outside from an individual. Delivery was promised in 10 days. They told me it would be a 2012 manufactured vehicle and i was fine with it. Net price- Rs 10.2L onroad in Chennai. Booked the Kinetic Blue which really caught our attention.

Delivery Experience

Got delivery as promised on Friday (Jan 25). I could not do the PDI before registration as i was travelling and wanted the car on my return. Thankfully everything was fine. I was the only person taking delivery from that particular showroom on Friday and things went off smoothly. Got a demo from the senior Sales guy of the vehicles features. The only surprise for me was that the spare wheel is a 14 inch rim while the regular wheels are 15inch rims. The sales advisor said that it was to ensure people get the flat tyre fixed quickly and replaced and that people shouldnt drive too long with the spare wheel. Seems very funny to me. Wouldn't the car be unbalanced if one wheel alone is 14" and the rest are 15"? Experts please comment.

Accessories added

Added a Jabra Freeway (ordered from Infibeam based on inputs in our forum - Rs 6250) to enable Bluetooth which is not there in the Style variant. Also had rubber foot mats (Rs 600) in addition to the one's given by Ford and had black PU seat covers (Rs 7000) added. Thought about Stanley but decided to do that sometime in the future.


Initial drive

Over the first weekend i clocked 200 Km within Chennai. Was super enthusiastic to run every errand at home. Am loving the simplicity of driving the automatic. Am a sedate driver and am trying to be as light footed as possible to maximise my fuel efficiency. Hoping to get atleast 10kmpl. I've traded a Diesel hatch that gave me 15kmpl for a petrol AT. So far, the convenience has me convinced that it was the right swap even though its counter intuitive to most people.

Read the manual inside out to ensure that i know what to look out for in an automatic. Didn't find too much info. The info in this forum was far more comprehensive and educative. One surprising statement in the manual is that "L" mode can be used in Slow moving traffic. I cant quite understand why? Is it because it provides more torque to enable a faster "creep forward"? Request experts input on this. Have been shifting to N in long stop signals and leave it on D if its a short stop.

Fuel Efficiency -

First fill (Filled Speed) - It had gone 335 KM and I refuelled 35.1l. Approx 9.6 kmpl in the first feel.
Second fill (Filled Shell Premium) - 310 KM and 35l !. Marginal drop to around 9 kmpl.

Wonder if the marginal drop is due to Shell? Dont think so as i consistently get a better mileage on my City when i fill Shell Premium. Will put it down to the fact that my dad and wife drove the car around a bit and maybe they were not as light footed as i have been. We are all on the "driving an automatic" learning curve.

Am happy with the mileage as i am sure as the engine runs in, the efficiency will improve. My daily drive is about 36 KM in moderate traffic.


Likes

What I like so far is the simplicity it offers me. I wonder why i did not get an automatic earlier.

The gear changes are not perceptible unless you are looking at the RPM meter. Smooth up shifts. Its not easy to dart into a space that opens in front as it will take a few secs to respond at slow speeds. On a stretch of 3 km (TIDEL park road in Chennai) i can go upto 80 kmpl and the RPM guage doesnt go over 80.

Braking is pretty good. Responsive and reassuring. I still tend to move my hand towards the gear shift at times when i want to slow down... 17 years of driving a manual tranny takes some unlearning.

Outside noise is nearly non existent. I can hear the engine only if the windows are rolled down.

Excellent music system. While i would have liked a USB slot even in the Style variant, am fine with the audio quality. I stream music from my phone through the Jabra Freeway using the FM transmitter. It works well 95% of the time with radio interference in certain areas (esp near traffic signals) on my daily commute. I can live with that.

Seats - I added Black PU seat covers at a shop on GP road. Not happy with the fitting. Plan to upgrade sometime in the next 6 months. Am happy with the leg room front and back. We are all less than 5ft 6in in my family and 95% of the time its only 2 passengers, so the small rear bench is not a negative.

Plenty of storage options - The drawer under the passenger front seat is a novel idea.

Doors feel really solid and the fact that they auto close with 6 inches left and never partially shuts is a plus. I don't like the fact that other than the child locks there is no method by which i can secure the doors from inside. Even when i centrally lock the doors, they can be opened from the inside (Ford calls it a safety feature).

The colour is really eye catching - paint quality is also good. Had a couple of morons on bikes knock into my OVRMs when i was waiting at signals. Other than my BP shooting up, no damage or marks on the mirrors.

AC is really effective though the real test will be in the coming summer months, especially since we are in Chennai. Initially use it at blower two setting and then lower it to 1. Temperature set at 22C and its comfortable.

Dislikes

The indicator stalk is on the left. When i alternate between J-Lo and the City, inevitably i get the wiper going. I like the lane change iniicator feature where it gives 3 blips and auto switches of when you partially move the indicator stalk.

The markings on the gear shaft are again on the left and not visible easily to the driver. Partially negated by the display on the dashboard. I have read on the Ecosport discussion that this seems to have been taken care of in the Ecosport automatic.

As mentioned earlier, Lack of USB input for the music system in the Style variant is a partial downer. Would have aided better use of the steering mounted controls.

Doubts that linger - Also hoping that Ford service experience is as good as my experience with Honda. First service is in 3 months or 2500 KM. So will know after that. Have had the Sales Advisor call me a couple of times to check on the car. A decent personal touch. Also got the extended RSA and warranty papers by mail from Ford. Am still awaiting the exchange rebate of Rs 15K which will come to me directly from Ford.

In summary so far, so good. All my expectations are met. I really don't know why people aren't considering this as an option. Its a responsive gear box, has excellent driveability and is compact for City driving. I do get the fact that rear space is an issue but most people i see on the drive to work have only 1-2 people and thats 90% of the time.

Will keep updating my experience as we go along. Planning a highway trip to either Bangalore or Tirupati soon and will share my experience on the highway as well.

Pictures below:

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[swiftnfurious]

Stunning color, calls for more pictures. The only problem I find with the car is rear design, especially the lights.

I sat in a demo car 2 days back and instantly fell in love with the car. What a beautiful interior design. The console is too modern. As you said, the rear space is NOT a deal breaker, but the dark accents definitely darkens it up. I found the space to be quite OK, but NOT in Sunny league.

Wish you miles of happy & safe motoring!

[vnabhi]

Congrats on the new Fiesta AT. I'd say it is a real boon in maddening traffic. Do keep updating this thread from time to time.

As regards indicator stalks being on the other side, don't worry, you'll soon get over it. Even I drive a Waggie apart from a Fiesta and Figo.

I found the interiors of the Fiesta AT a notch above the manual one. I'd seen the Titanium AT one recently and came to this opinion, but I may be wrong.

As regards the spare wheel being a different dimension, what Ford says is hogwash.

[nkrishnap]

Congrats on the DCT Fiesta. Makes no brainer when selecting the best automatic in the segment.

Enjoy many more happy miles with the DCT.

[Hayek]

Welcome to the Petrol AT club. May our tribe increase. I considered a wide variety of cars, including the Fiesta (ok just briefly) and picked the Vento. The Fiesta felt as good to drive as the Vento but the rear seat room was a deal breaker for us - my wife is usually chauffeur driven, and my family members are considerably taller than yours. Best of luck. Do keep us posted on how the Ford DCT behaves - the DSG on my Superb is great when it works.

[1100D]

This will be an interesting thread. Ford is the first to bring the dual clutch gearbox to the mainstream sedan segment. DCT is said to combine the convenience of an automatic with the efficiency and responses of a manual. So will keep a watch. How does the car behave under hard acceleration? Does it manage to keep up with similar manual cars?

[Caffeinated]

Congratulations on your new Fiesta Automatic. Nice choice of color; looks very striking in this shade. And the OEM music system looks stunning, sort of like a bird spreading its wings.

Regarding the seat covers, Jewajee Car Decors in Chennai has got decent reviews in this forum.(http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...ml#post2884892) You can try them the next time.

And curious about the name of your car. The rear looks good , but not THAT good.

[Utopian]

Congrats for the Fiesta. Fantastic color choice, I must say. The review still demands more snaps of the beauty.
Wishing you lots of happy miles with the DCT.

[drpudhi]

Originally Posted by dsvikki

The only surprise for me was that the spare wheel is a 14 inch rim while the regular wheels are 15inch rims. The sales advisor said that it was to ensure people get the flat tyre fixed quickly and replaced and that people shouldnt drive too long with the spare wheel. Seems very funny to me. Wouldn't the car be unbalanced if one wheel alone is 14" and the rest are 15"? Experts please comment.

Most cars these days do the same thing.

But the problem here is the overall wheel diameter of the stock 195/60 R15 and the spare 175/65 R14 in the fiesta differ by a huge 32 mm.
Will this not be a safety issue even if its for a short drive?

For comparison, the Vento has stock 185/60 R15 and a spare of 175/70 R14 which differ in overall diameter only by 2 mm.

[carfreak77]

Congrats on your New Ford Fiesta. Welcome to the minority of new fiesta owners on the forum!
The DCT is indeed one of the best. Make sure you follow the correct protocol for running-in the car. I also dislike the fact that there are no locks on each door. Regarding service, I have had nothing but very good experience with Ford. Please post some more exterior pics.
Wish you many happy miles with your ride!

[Sommos]

@dsvikki : Many Congratulation for your new DCT Fiesta.
Wish you niggle free performance from the car and many happy mile munching.
Enjoy your ride and drive safe.

Give your car a detailed photoshoot and post the pictures.

[Loud]

Congrats dsvikki. Wish you a trouble-free and happy ownership ahead in your Fiesta! I normally do not appreciate bright colours (Blue, Red, etc) but, however, I have started liking the colour of your car. The front looks edgy in this colour. Do post more pics of the beauty (also one pic showing the boot space)!
Two questions:
1. What is that blue sticker on the rear bumper?
2. Doesn't the Car freshener (Ambipur I think) look out of place?

Wouldn't the car be unbalanced if one wheel alone is 14" and the rest are 15"? Experts please comment.

Nope. If the tyre sizes are accurate, then there would be no problem. You can check the sidewall size (For eg: 165/80R14) of both te rims. It should not be equal.
Keep us updated!

[alexanish]

Originally Posted by dsvikki

Fuel Efficiency -

First fill (Filled Speed) - It had gone 335 KM and I refuelled 35.1l. Approx 9.6 kmpl in the first feel.
Second fill (Filled Shell Premium) - 310 KM and 35l !. Marginal drop to around 9 kmpl.

Great review dsvikki. How is your current mileage per liter? How many kilometers done so far? How is the car doing after so many kilometers? I mean issues/rattles etc? Please share the details as I am finalizing on buying a style AT. Your advice and experience will help me close it soon

[dsvikki]

Originally Posted by alexanish

Great review dsvikki. How is your current mileage per liter? How many kilometers done so far? How is the car doing after so many kilometers? I mean issues/rattles etc? Please share the details as I am finalizing on buying a style AT. Your advice and experience will help me close it soon

Alexanish....have so far done about 6500 km. On the highway i get between 16-17 kmpl ...this is on the Chennai-Bangalore highway when i use Cruise Control a lot at speeds between 80-100. In the City, on my daily commute I have been averaging between 9.5-10 kmpl. It depends a lot on how i drive....less use of brakes and a lightfoot really make a difference.....also the manual recommends use of "L" mode in bumper to bumper traffic ....have been doing this off late and i think it has a marginal positive impact on mileage....need to check it out a little more.

On the car per-se, no issues...no rattles....awesome and simple to drive. So far have also had good experiences with the Service centre...first service was zero cost.....i then had to get a small dent and scratch on the running board fixed and it just cost 2200 Rs. Am a happy camper. Do check out the Ecosport AT as well....i think its a little more loaded than the Fiesta at a similar price point.