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By
EWAN KENNEDY
11 April 2005
Ford Fiesta’s styling is neat and fresh and is
certainly appealing to Australian buyers in ever increasing numbers. It
also appealed to the judges who vote on Australia's Best Car awards as
they gave the baby Ford the nod as Best Small Car for 2004. These ABC
trophies, awarded by the motoring associations of Australia, are rapidly
becoming regarded as the most realistic of the numerous best car
contests.
The ABC judges gave their trophy to the Fiesta
in LX 1.6 guise, giving particular mention to the Ford's excellent
chassis dynamics.
We, too, found the Fiesta's handling to be
excellent. There's precise steering and plenty of feedback through
the wheel. The car grips the road very well and has lots of
positive safety in the way it feels.
As is the way with many modern suspension
systems there’s far less compromise in comfort than used to be
the case with a car with a sporty feeling like this one. The Ford
Fiesta copes with some moderately rough Australian backroads
surprisingly.
A word of warning, before falling in love with
the apparently low price of the Fiesta you should be aware that
the cheapest model is a comparatively bare-bones variant and may
not have all the features you want. For example, air conditioning
adds $2000 to the price and automatic transmission and ABS brakes
come as part of a $3000 package.
The upmarket Zetec and Ghia models come with air
conditioning and ABS brakes as standard. Automatic transmission
costs an extra $2300 in these models.
Fiesta's shape is a further example of Ford’s
‘edge’ styling that first appeared in the mid-90s. In
Australia, we have seen the edge look in the AU Falcon as well as
in the Focus. In the eyes of most bystanders we spoke to, the
Fiesta's is the most successful of all the controversial edge
shapes.
The clever design carries through to the
interior. The dashboard is simple and uncluttered with everything
logically placed. However, the appearance of the stereo front end
is remarkably plain and isn’t likely to have a great deal of
appeal to those who love over-the-top looks in their sound
systems.
Interior space is better than average for its
class with good front space and acceptable rear legroom. The front
seats are large for a car in this class and are reasonably
comfortable, though some who sat in them found them on the firm
side.
There’s excellent visibility through the large
front windscreen, but as is the way in many modern designs, the
big pillars can cause masking at times. Rear vision is improved by
retractable rear seat headrests that can be lowered to be almost
flush with the top of the seats when there are no rear seat
passengers. Don’t forget to have those travelling in the rear
put the restraints back to the upright position for added safety
when they do get in.
The Fiesta LX is available with either three or
five doors, the semi-sporty Zetec is a three-door, while the Ghia
is only sold as a five-door.
Ford Fiesta comes in three model variants. All
have the same 1.6-litre engine and drivetrain options. Ford
Australia didn’t think it was worthwhile opting for a smaller
engine for the lower-cost models.
There’s reasonable power from the Duratec
16-valve engine, though in the sporty Zetec variant we found
ourselves hankering for a bit more grunt at times. The engine is
at its best in the 100 km/h to 140 km/h range in fifth gear as it’s
set up for European driving conditions. There are times when the
Zetec engine feels as though it could do with another gear. Six
ratios are becoming more and more common in this class of car
these days.
In the meantime the current engine/transmission
combination is an economical one. During our testing we seldom
used more than seven litres per hundred kilometres in highway
running. Eight to ten litres per hundred seems to be number around
town. That’s the economy in a manual car, expect an automatic to
use about five to ten per cent more fuel.
Ford Australia deserves to do well with the new
Fiesta. It has an excellent combination of European looks and
on-road dynamics that will appeal to many Australian buyers.
AT A GLANCE
MODEL RANGE
LX 1.6-litre three-door hatch - $13,990
LX 1.6-litre five-door hatch - $15,490
Zetec 1.6-litre three-door hatch - $18,490
Ghia 1.6-litre five-door hatch - $20,990
FEATURES
ABS Brakes: Standard on Zetec and Ghia, $3000 package option
on LX
Air Conditioning: Standard on Zetec and Ghia, $2000 option on LX
Automatic Transmission: $2300 option on Zetec and Ghia, $3000
package option on LX
CD Player: Standard on all models
Central Locking: Standard on all models
Cruise Control: Standard on all models
Power Windows: Standard on all models
Driver Airbag: Standard on all models
Passenger Airbag: Standard on all models
Front Side Airbags: Not offered
SPECIFICATIONS (Ford Fiesta LX 1.6-litre
three-door hatch)
ENGINE
Capacity: 1.596 litres
Configuration: Four cylinders in line
Head Design: DOHC, four valves per cylinder
Compression Ratio: 11.0:1
Bore/Stroke: 79.0mm x 81.4mm
Maximum Power: 74kW @ 6000rpm
Maximum Torque: 146Nm @ 4000rpm
DRIVELINE
Driven Wheels: Front
Manual Transmission: Five-speed
Automatic Transmission: Four-speed
Final Drive Ratio: 4.25:1
DIMENSIONS, WEIGHT AND CAPACITIES
Length: 3916mm
Wheelbase: 2486mm
Width: 1683mm
Height: 1468mm
Turning Circle: 9.8 metres
Kerb Mass: 1029kg
Fuel Tank Capacity: 68 litres
Towing Ability: NA
SUSPENSION AND BRAKES
Front Suspension: Independent MacPherson struts, coil springs,
anti-roll bar
Rear Suspension: Semi-independent twist-beam, coil springs,
dual-path body mounts
Front Brakes: Ventilated disc
Rear Brakes: Drum
PERFORMANCE
0-100 km/h Acceleration: 11.6 secs
Standing 400 Metres: 18.0 secs
FUEL CONSUMPTION
City Cycle: 9.1 L/100km
Highway Cycle: 7.1 L/100km
STANDARD WARRANTY
Three years/100,000km
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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