[ScorpMan]

Fabulous review. Voted a very well deserved 5 stars.

The pics are simply drool worthy. Even I had firm plans to switch over my 2012 Swift Zdi to a Fiesta Titanium. But even after 2 short test drives, couldn't convince myself because of the lack of power. I drive a Corolla & Scorpio on a regular basis apart from the Swift, and noticed that Fiesta completely lacks the instant response like my current drives. But your thread has once again ignited the fire for the Fiesta, and will look for a longish test drive this time to check if I can come over this power deficit obstacle.

[swiftnfurious]

Good report & beautiful pictures. Lovely narration too.I had taken a TD of the Fiesta sometime back. But frankly, wasn't impressed so much. May be my expectations were too high. The TD car didn't feel extremely silent inside. Left a very bad taste seeing an iron rod for seat height adjust which the SA claimed was damaged by a car review magazine team who had taken it for a travelogue report.

What I loved in the Fiesta was the brakes - AWESOME feel. From the first gen Swift which had a tendency to fish tail under hard braking, this car felt one piece while braking.

CONGRATS once again & wish miles of safe journey with the toy.

[suhaas307]

Great report Mr. Deetjohn!

I must say, the Fiesta is a looker. That grille and those lights add a certain sharpness to it. Although the expanse of metal above the rear wheel makes it look a bit ungainly from some angles, Ford has done well in masking the arse-heavy design of the car by giving it a faux diffuser-ish look and wider tail-light.

The fact that Ford hasn't resorted to cost-cutting is pretty refreshing, in light of recent events involving Volkswagen and other manufacturers.

If you haven't swapped your tyres already, do consider Continental MC5 (Max-Contact 5). They offer good grip and are less noisy in comparison to mainstream tyres. They are fairly durable for Indian driving conditions too and don't develop flat-spots or bubbles easily.

Get the remap done quickly! You need to compliment the car's sorted dynamics with some good performance.

If I were in the market for a diesel sedan, the Fiesta would be my first choice.

Congratulations and drive safe!

[coolboy007]

Originally Posted by anachronix

Something like this?

The wheels look heavenly anachronix, extremely good taste and they look fantastic. Can you tell which tyres did you opt for and what size? How is the ride on 16" wheels?
I can see a small dent on the rear quarter panel

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Code 6 has a good remap for the 1.5 TDCi. That's the easiest of fixes if you

Am planning to get a remap too to get more oomph from the top end of this engine, mid range is fine and even turbo lag is controlled well but top end is a bit weak. Have clocked 11k and will wait till atleast 20k service before going for a remap. This car will be a long termer so want the engine to settle in properly before remapping it.

I like S drives, they look great and the grip is good. But they become hard and noisy very soon and the ride comfort also goes for a toss. Can 195/55 R16 Michelin work? There will be a lot less flex as the wall height is a bit reduced.

That fact about the S drives is true, the way i drive, maximum grip was a priority and only this fulfilled so went for it. Vento will complete 20k kms on s drives by the time i have plans to swap Fiesta's tyres and i will get a good idea on how they perform. The new made in India S drives are a bit softer than earlier models, very perceptible difference when checked back to back.

I do not think any Michelin comes in 195/55 R16, you can also have a look at Pirelli or Continental. Most of Michelin's have comfort and low rolling resistance as key factors and that does affect grip, the soft sidewalls really spoil steering response.

[chaudh2s]

I don't know the reason why the New Ford Fiesta didn't managed to be successful here in India(probably high price and below par interior quality in the rear and the look from the back end), but atleast here in Germany, i see a lot of them. Despite Germany being a stronghold of VW, the Fiesta (in the hatchback form) is taking the fight to the germans. Europe is a stationwagon or hatchback market, very seldom would you see a notchback here. So, the hatchback fiesta looks seriously impressive and i sometime wonder, what is holding Ford india to launch this version. They can easily launch it in 7-8L bracket and it would be a direct competetion to the i20. The Aston Martin face is simply too good.

[kiku007]

That's one blessed car, to have an Owner who's crazy about it

Lovely pictures, especially the ones in the Parking Lot (Some Mall I assume).

[The Rationalist]

Beautiful crispy review! That car is a looker. I had booked the pre facelift Automatic version and couldn't get one as the production stopped. After seeing spy pictures of the new version with Autobox and your review is making me think about buying my first car. Happy mile crunching.

[aswin ajith]

Made for an entertaining read. Kudos to you for following the heart. The pics as always are simply beautiful. I had a really nice time in the front passenger seat although for a short time. The seats are just wow!! I can only imagine how it'd be to drive Enjoy and keep her shining.

[gopa99]

Excellent review deetjohn! Loved every line of it. I guess the mall in question in the post above is the lulu mall?
I too was planning to switch over to the fiesta on company lease, but held on seeing the low numbers on the road. I am waiting to see how to aspire drives and hoping that it retains all the priceless ford's driveability in it, my only prayer that the lower weight of the aspire (which I think it will be) will make the ford machine peppier to drive and ya..be a winner.

[deetjohn]

Thanks a lot for all the kind words everyone. Glad you'll like it.

Originally Posted by swiftdiesel

BTW, did you post process your pictures in Lightroom or just off of the camera? They look fantastic, especially the one in the underground car park with your pilot lights on.

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Hey there!

That picture was taken by Naveen in lulu mall when all the boys met to check the car out after delivery. I will let him take that 'very interesting question' on Lightroom.

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Left a very bad taste seeing an iron rod for seat height adjust which the SA claimed was damaged by a car review magazine team who had taken it for a travelogue report.

What I loved in the Fiesta was the brakes - AWESOME feel. From the first gen Swift which had a tendency to fish tail under hard braking, this car felt one piece while braking.

The seat height adjust lever has a plastic holder which might have broken off. It looks sturdy in our car though.

+1 on the brake feel. The Fiesta is very stable under braking or with quick change of direction.

Originally Posted by suhaas307

If you haven't swapped your tyres already, do consider Continental MC5 (Max-Contact 5). They offer good grip and are less noisy in comparison to mainstream tyres. They are fairly durable for Indian driving conditions too and don't develop flat-spots or bubbles easily.

Get the remap done quickly! You need to compliment the car's sorted dynamics with some good performance.

Yes, Continental looks a good bet. They do have options in 16" as well. I did check out MC5 for a friend here at Kochi and the shoulder of the tyre felt a bit limp on hand. IIRC, it came with that yellow sticker. Will retain the Goodyear for next 10 to 15k the very least. I was certain about 15" and now anachronix has got me properly confused by those 16" Momo.

And the remap will have to wait. I feel its better to keep an engine stock for 20k KM at least for it to open up fully well. And I am fine with the engine performance as of now, so let's wait a bit. Besides, this Fiesta is a keeper and I have to space out all the mods to keep me engaged for years. LOL!

Originally Posted by coolboy007

The wheels look heavenly anachronix, extremely good taste and they look fantastic. Can you tell which tyres did you opt for and what size?

Those are 195/55 R16 Continentals. MC5 if if i'm not mistaken.

We have similar thoughts on remap.

Originally Posted by chaudh2s

Despite Germany being a stronghold of VW, the Fiesta (in the hatchback form) is taking the fight to the germans. Europe is a stationwagon or hatchback market, very seldom would you see a notchback here. So, the hatchback fiesta looks seriously impressive and i sometime wonder, what is holding Ford india to launch this version. They can easily launch it in 7-8L bracket and it would be a direct competetion to the i20. The Aston Martin face is simply too good.

Glad to hear that about Germany. Yes, the Fiesta is a big hit in Europe. #1 in UK as well. Most magazines rave about the car, especially the ST variant.

If Ford had the hatch for sale here in India, it would have made my decision much easier. I prefer hatchbacks over sedans. And it looks amazing all around.

Originally Posted by kiku007

Lovely pictures, especially the ones in the Parking Lot (Some Mall I assume).

As rightly pointed by gopa99 below, it's a very popular mall here, called Lulu. We were there early in the morning and got an exclusive slot for the shoot.

Originally Posted by gopa99

I am waiting to see how to aspire drives and hoping that it retains all the priceless ford's driveability in it, my only prayer that the lower weight of the aspire (which I think it will be) will make the ford machine peppier to drive and ya..be a winner.

Yeah, Aspire looks good, very proportional and 'loaded'. The only thing I didn't like was the beige interiors. But, it should be spirited to drive and some early reports even hinted on a 100 PS from the 1.5 TDCi.

[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by swiftdiesel

BTW, did you post process your pictures in Lightroom or just off of the camera? They look fantastic, especially the one in the underground car park with your pilot lights on. Enjoy your drive!

That was processed using Adobe Lightroom.

[itsashishsharma]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Thanks a lot for all the kind words everyone. Glad you'll like it.
Yeah, Aspire looks good

Congrats buddy. Rated the thread much deserved 5 stars!
I have booked a white Trend in Bangalore and waiting for the delivery. I am planning to get alloys on day one and man these Momo Revenge looks good. I have heard that the stock tyres don't fetch good buy back, so will keep them, also, as the low speed ride is not that plush, I don't want to make it harsher by lowering the profile, hence I will have to get 15" alloys. Till now, I have thought I will buy the prefacelift Fiesta's alloys that are subtle and classy, but now I wonder if these Momo ones in 15" size will look anywhere as good as these 16" in that pic. If yes, I guess I will buy them! What do you think about this?

[khan_sultan]

Very nice & detailed review of your Fiesta. Loved reading every word of it. Fiesta is a nice under rated car which grows on you slowly but at the same time doesn't tick all the boxes if one is looking in rational manner during the purchase process.

Like you mentioned how you discovered during the sale of your Swift, most of us have different opinions on where to spend money on the car and not everyone will appreciate the sportiness, the ride/handling etc characteristics of the Fiesta and have that overcome the -ve's associated with the car compared to it's peers.

I have the Titanium+ AT version of the previous avatar and love every KM on it.

Originally Posted by deetjohn

After living with the Ford for a little over 3 months and over 6000 KM, this is what I feel!

Seating position
The best thing about the Fiesta is the seating position for the driver.
========
Those gorgeous front seats

I would say, best in segment. Those bucket seats + the under thigh support is unmatched. Just wish that Ford had given those black leather upholstery on the seats as they had on the AT in previous version. Nothing beats factory installed leather and that version is really good in quality. I would say that after sitting in fiesta seats, one will crib while sitting in front seats in cars of that segment.

Originally Posted by deetjohn

What are acceptable!
=========
Central locking
The central locking is really bizarre. My biggest problem is that the car doesn’t auto lock once you start moving, the Swift had it and I miss it badly. And I still don’t know how it works.

Oh man. I just don't understand why this car doesn't have auto-locking. The answers I have got from SA have been hilarious to bizarre. I have made it a habit to manually lock it before driving but still the thought is scary that if you forget to lock them and they are open at all times. One saving grace is the lock/unlock being located centrally in dash and both passenger/driver can use it.

Extended Warranty
Ford had only 3 year warranty on the offer which we promptly took when we bought the car. A few weeks back, Ford rolled out a 4 year warranty for Fiesta and its becoming an almighty tussle to get that for our car. When I talked to Ford, they pointed to the dealer and the dealer is clueless and have asked me to contact Ford. Looks like its going to be hard for customers to get extension if they are already on the 3 year plan. Also, I don't know why Fiesta has only the 4 years warranty when EcoSport has a 5 year package. Its ridiculous and I need to write to Ford customer care soon.

....

I think ford has got this one all wrong and it's downright stupidity on their part. It's a goof-up by people there and one of the reasons I got when I wanted to extend 3 years to 4 years is that they don;t have a product code only for extending 3 years to 4 years. And this is response from ford after I wrote to them and they took several days to get back to me.

Still, do write a stinker to them on this.

Originally Posted by anachronix

=========
Did you mention, Momo, Revenge, Matt Anthracite, 16" wheels!?

Something like this?

Attachment 1376766

Wow. which alloys are those? Where you got and how much cost? Look very nice.

[roby.thomas]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

The oddities!

• There is a hidden tray underneath the passenger seat which is very useful. But this makes the front passenger sit higher than the driver when the driver' seat is set to the lowest position. Take a look at the pic below, it feels very strange when you are driving.
  Attachment 1376420

Congratulations, deetjohn. This is a beautiful car. For shorter folks in town, that higher position of passenger seat might turn out to be positive. By the way, I liked your choice of Lulu space for that pictures with lighting on.

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by itsashishsharma

Till now, I have thought I will buy the prefacelift Fiesta's alloys that are subtle and classy, but now I wonder if these Momo ones in 15" size will look anywhere as good as these 16" in that pic. If yes, I guess I will buy them! What do you think about this?

The Momo will look better than the older alloys for sure, but what I am not sure about is whether to go 15" or 16". Will wait for a long term review by anachronix.

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

Just wish that Ford had given those black leather upholstery on the seats as they had on the AT in previous version. Nothing beats factory installed leather and that version is really good in quality. I would say that after sitting in fiesta seats, one will crib while sitting in front seats in cars of that segment.

I think ford has got this one all wrong and it's downright stupidity on their part. It's a goof-up by people there and one of the reasons I got when I wanted to extend 3 years to 4 years is that they don;t have a product code only for extending 3 years to 4 years. And this is response from ford after I wrote to them and they took several days to get back to me.

Still, do write a stinker to them on this.

Wow. which alloys are those? Where you got and how much cost? Look very nice.

Really glad to know that you liked the review, especially so coming from someone who owns the car.

OEM black leather would be awesome for the Fiesta. Factory fit is factory fit. No two ways about it.

And this is really stupid by Ford to not think through the warranty extension. People who have taken 3 years already will be the ones most serious about a warranty extension. Will keep you all posted on this.

The alloy is Revenge by Momo in Matt Anthracite shade. Looks stunning.

Originally Posted by roby.thomas

For shorter folks in town, that higher position of passenger seat might turn out to be positive. By the way, I liked your choice of Lulu space for that pictures with lighting on.

Lulu was just a coincidence.