[nitrous]

A very deserving review for the most underrated car!
PS: To those who haven't driven it, Don't call yourselves driving enthusiasts!

[Ross]

It is a display/demo vehicle , hence I think is the discount. Here in Bangalore it cost 8.47L and currently no discounts. I am waiting for Ford to announce some juicy discounts in March to take the plunge.

[SkyWalker]

Ross - there are some pretty hefty corporate discounts on the Fiesta for select corporates. For Feb it was a massive discount of 47K on the 1.6S, bringing the OTR to 7.94L in Bangalore. But its only for corporate lease schemes - not for individual purchases.

[anachronix]

Originally Posted by SkyWalker

Ross - there are some pretty hefty corporate discounts on the Fiesta for select corporates. For Feb it was a massive discount of 47K on the 1.6S, bringing the OTR to 7.94L in Bangalore. But its only for corporate lease schemes - not for individual purchases.

In Chennai there is corp. discount of 40K on the 1.6S and some more dealer discount.

I have negotiated a quote for 7.74 OTR for the 1.6S in Chennai! Still waiting to make a final decision!

[sharanramesh]

hey Roms,

i really urge you to buy the fiesta 1.6 S. as u say its a great car.

out of curiosity, if u intend on buying the fiesta will you sell the S10? incase u are intending on selling the S10, i urge you all the more to buy the fiesta 1.6S.

[sathee46]

Thats a beautiful review . I wanted to give a detailed review as well, not getting time to write one. I will try and give one soon.

[roms]

Originally Posted by Ross

It is a display/demo vehicle , hence I think is the discount. Here in Bangalore it cost 8.47L and currently no discounts. I am waiting for Ford to announce some juicy discounts in March to take the plunge.

They quoted me a cash discount of just Rs.10000/-, which could probably be worked upto 20K or a bit more. Yes, they are expecting a better discount package for March'09.

Originally Posted by sharanramesh

hey Roms,

i really urge you to buy the fiesta 1.6 S. as u say its a great car.

out of curiosity, if u intend on buying the fiesta will you sell the S10? incase u are intending on selling the S10, i urge you all the more to buy the fiesta 1.6S.

I would really love the Fiesta 1.6 'S' to join my Palio S10 at home. However, my sister is getting married in a couple of months, so thats the first priority. I intend to buy a car next year and wait and see if Fiat provides the GP/Linea with better engines. If not, the 'S' will be high on the list of probables. The S10 will not leave till the day it literally starts falling apart or getting spares become a major problem. Cant even think about selling her.

Originally Posted by nitrous

A very deserving review for the most underrated car!
PS: To those who haven't driven it, Don't call yourselves driving enthusiasts!

That is so true. I really think this car deserves a bit more attention on a forum like ours because it is a car made specifically for the driving enthusiast. If it does'nt sell adequately, manufacturers will not give us any more of these and then we will be left in the lurch with puny little 1.2/1.4 engines in cars capable of a lot more.

Originally Posted by planet_rocker

wait for more on the test drive report.

also waiting to see if your signature changes

It might just, but sometime in the future.So far, I've driven the Fusion and the Fiesta, and both are lovely cars to drive.

Originally Posted by swami

Hey Roms.. this is unfair mate.. wonderful teaser and no update to it even after a couple of hours... and this despite you having verbally updated me yesterday on this topic. I can't imagine how the rest of the group might be feeling right now.

But in a way I was correct when I said that it could very well have been your next car

Yes swami, you were correct friend. The Fiesta 'S' appeals a lot to me and would a perfect upgrade. But I still find the Palio S10's steering/gearbox combo unmatched.

[carfreak]

Hey roms, great write-up.i can perfectly understand your emotions as, guess what, i am also considering to upgrade from the palio 1.6 to the fiesta 1.6 s!!i feel its the only car in the market that will be a proper upgrade from my palio-the same brilliant driving experience plus a boot to match!!and though spares may be expensive, service is better than fiat's!!

And i have just the right reason coming up to ask dad for an upgrade-but anyway details of that later!!

[roms]

Originally Posted by carfreak

Hey roms, great write-up.i can perfectly understand your emotions as, guess what, i am also considering to upgrade from the palio 1.6 to the fiesta 1.6 s!!i feel its the only car in the market that will be a proper upgrade from my palio-the same brilliant driving experience plus a boot to match!!and though spares may be expensive, service is better than fiat's!!

And i have just the right reason coming up to ask dad for an upgrade-but anyway details of that later!!

carfreak, that would be a lovely choice. Just go for it man, you won't regret one bit.

Originally Posted by sps

tyre upsize and suspension mod seems to be the only major change. Handling improved but what about FE. Any figures?

Fiesta is anyday a neat looking car. Did the TD once, felt like the initial surge was missing to make it a real drivers car.

The Feb issue of Top Gear mentions that Ford has tweaked the ECU a fair bit to extract more punch from the engine for the Fiesta 'S'. I have not driven the regular Fiesta 1.6 so cant confirm how much of a difference that has made. They also mention that the regular Fiesta does lack some zing in comparison to the 'S'. The Fiesta 'S' also gets " The Most Improved Car of the Year' title by Top Gear.

The FE quoted to me was 10-12 kmpl in city and 14-15 kmpl on the highways.

Also, just got a call from Shaman Ford, there is a free insurance package for the month of March. For the Fiesta 'S', that means a saving of roughly 30K.

[Ramsagar]

roms:good description & comparisions between all the models.

[Nikhilb2008]

Very nice report! Though I dont know if driving this for a few mins is worth shopping for 5 hours with no distractions allowed

[georgesmiley]

Hi Roms,
This is a car whose fortunes I have been trying to follow for the past few weeks - ever since I zeroed down on it as a possible 'buy'. Just wanted to let you know that I really appreciate the write up.
Not sure there are too many 1.6 litre cars which are available at that price point for that kind of performance. It's just Ford's reputation (rather lack of it) for After Sales Support that is pulling me back. That and of course the recession!
I went to Wasan Ford in Thane the other day for a TD. Would you believe it - they do not have the 1.6S either for a TD / for display. Instead I took a very short TD of the 1.6 ZXi - just about enough to form some favorable first impressions. I wonder how much more the 1.6S offers over the normal model in terms of pleasure/ fun to drive.
The dealer quoted me 8.47 lacs for the 1.6S - that included Rs.5,500 towards 3rd year extended warranty and Rs.3000 for std. accessories. The discount was only Rs.10,000. Nett 8.37
I feel Ford needs to up the discounts - given the Linea package. Lets see how FIAT prices the petrol.
How did you like the City TD. Just curious you know.
Cheers
RB

[reignofchaos]

Here's my review of the Ford Fiesta S. On a whim, I went to Metro Ford for checking out the Fiesta S. A friend was interested so took him along. Had to wait for 5 minutes and then got the car. There are lots of comparisons with what I drive - since thats what I'm used to now and its probably the only other car around with sporty pretentions. Here are my observations

+Looks distinctive in Blue - A head turner for sure. Whether one likes it or not, one can't avoid noticing it.
+Interiors are pretty decent for the asking price
+Good seats which fit snugly, maybe a bit too snugly. A little bit more shoulder room would have been useful.
+The key looks pretty cool and has a remote boot lid option, something that I really miss in my Cedia
+Excellent boot space

Now lets go to the driving part. The route I took thankfully didn't have too much traffic so had a chance to thrash the car around.

+Excellent steering wheel - very well weighed in and extremely predictable response. It is a little heavy - exactly the way I like it to be and is very easy to control.
+The handling was pretty good, as a matter of fact excellent considering that it had pretty crappy stock rubber. It was doing exactly what I wanted to do.
+Very refined engine note. Barely audible at idle and becomes quite exciting as the revs build up .
+The car feels nice and small from the inside hiding the exterior dimensions.
+Engine revs up very very cleanly. I'm sure its a short stroke motor.
+Great all round visibility - hardly any blind spots.
+Awesome comfort factor about the vehicle. I was instantly at home and thrashing the car around without any fear.
+Brakes are nice though could be better. I'm guessing the poor rubber could be at play here.
+Good AC that works nicely.

Now for the not so nice things
-Though the chassis is brilliant and seemingly suspension has been stiffened up, the car still suffers from body roll. I'm not sure what autocar folks were smoking when they said Cedia has more body roll than this car. This has significantly more body roll than my Cedia shod with PP2s. This makes it iffy when diving into those corners. I had to slow down at a curve which I routinely take at 70'ish speeds in my car because the car rolled too much.
-Though the steering is perfectly weighed in, its not as sharp as the Cedia. One needs more input. This can be both good and bad.
-The engine though nice and raspy is a little underpowered for the brilliant chassis. One hears a wall of noise but then I look at the speedo and its just doing 80'ish in 2nd gear. The Palio 1.6 with a few PS less power feels far more powerful than this engine. I'm not comparing it to my car as it has a bigger engine. It just doesn't feel as if its 100 bhp when you compare it with a palio.
-The ride is a little stiff but acceptable nonetheless.
-Legroom in the rear is a bit low but the nice bench makes up for it.
-A few cheap plastics here and there.

Now for the unforgivable things
-- No dead pedal. This is completely unforgivable in something marketed as a drivers car.
-- LHD controls which are fine but a LHD bonnet release? Give me a break Ford!
-- No sump guard and underbody protection. If you hit a big stone, you'd have a big repair bill. Thankfully though ground clearance is not bad.

Overall, inspite of these shortcomings, I feel its still the best deal in the 8lac sedan segment. My friend would probably book one next month unless the Linea bowls him over.

[reignofchaos]

^^To add to this I must mention another thing - the gearbox is a bit iffy. It just doesn't have that click which you expect from a good gearbox.

[Mpower]

I didn't think anybody else was offering a sump guard in sedan category.
THe hood release thingy can be excused I feel.


I think Fiesta posted a better laptime than Ceda and Civic in MMST (ACI)