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I'm sure that most of you know by now that the Ford Fiesta that's been so popular in Europe for so long is finally on its way to North America, slated to come out next spring as a 2011 model. As part of a drive program at work, I got to drive a number of Ford's new products. And, one of them was the European Fiesta. It was basically the same car we're getting. It was in left-hand-drive, with the MPH cluster, with all the controls where they'll be in our cars, and with a manual transmission. The only real difference was that the car I drove had the European 1.4L gas engine, whereas I believe we're getting the 1.6L here in the States.
My impressions:
The gauges are well-arranged and easy to read. The seats seem well-shaped and I think they would be fine for a trip (a huge complaint I had with the new Fit were the awfully-shaped seats). I was able to push the seat back far enough that, at 5' 10", I was unable to reach the pedals. I didn't pay a ton of attention to the main radio controls during the drive. I could see how the main controls could be a bit awkward, but the important stuff is duplicated on the steering wheel. The clutch felt great, with amazing feedback, a comfortable amount of resistance, and good solid gear engagement. In fact, that car has the clutch that I could only DREAM of having in my Element.
Although I didn't get to really get after it too hard (we were on a 45-mph maximum handling track), my impressions are that the 1.4 would be sufficient, but not peppy, for most driving. I think the 1.6 that we're supposed to get here would give the car a nice bit of ooomph. The handling was quite good, and the car seemed quite responsive, definitely more responsive than the Element. Again, I didn't get to really get after it, but my impressions are that the car would handle quite well and be pretty solid even in emergency scenarios. The ride was smooth enough, too. The car handled the little "bunny hills" on the handling track just fine, and I didn't feel any jitter from cracks in the pavement and the like.
Other things: I didn't have coffee or a pop with me, so I can't say if the cupholders were useful or not (very few cars have actually useful cupholders, so I look for this normally). The back seat seatbacks fold down to give more cargo room, so I could very likely fit a bike or something else a bit bigger in the back. My only concern there is that the back of the seatbacks are metal, so I'd be very hesistant to throw a bike in there with no other protection (like an old blanket). I don't know how passengers in the back seat would do as far as room (with the external cage on my leg, I'm not exactly a representative case right now since I don't fit in the back seat of any car right now).
Overall, I'm very impressed with the Fiesta. To be quite honest, the Fiesta will be my next car. The big question will be whether I keep my Element for the cargo capacity or whether it becomes the down payment on the Fiesta.
My impressions:
The gauges are well-arranged and easy to read. The seats seem well-shaped and I think they would be fine for a trip (a huge complaint I had with the new Fit were the awfully-shaped seats). I was able to push the seat back far enough that, at 5' 10", I was unable to reach the pedals. I didn't pay a ton of attention to the main radio controls during the drive. I could see how the main controls could be a bit awkward, but the important stuff is duplicated on the steering wheel. The clutch felt great, with amazing feedback, a comfortable amount of resistance, and good solid gear engagement. In fact, that car has the clutch that I could only DREAM of having in my Element.
Although I didn't get to really get after it too hard (we were on a 45-mph maximum handling track), my impressions are that the 1.4 would be sufficient, but not peppy, for most driving. I think the 1.6 that we're supposed to get here would give the car a nice bit of ooomph. The handling was quite good, and the car seemed quite responsive, definitely more responsive than the Element. Again, I didn't get to really get after it, but my impressions are that the car would handle quite well and be pretty solid even in emergency scenarios. The ride was smooth enough, too. The car handled the little "bunny hills" on the handling track just fine, and I didn't feel any jitter from cracks in the pavement and the like.
Other things: I didn't have coffee or a pop with me, so I can't say if the cupholders were useful or not (very few cars have actually useful cupholders, so I look for this normally). The back seat seatbacks fold down to give more cargo room, so I could very likely fit a bike or something else a bit bigger in the back. My only concern there is that the back of the seatbacks are metal, so I'd be very hesistant to throw a bike in there with no other protection (like an old blanket). I don't know how passengers in the back seat would do as far as room (with the external cage on my leg, I'm not exactly a representative case right now since I don't fit in the back seat of any car right now).
Overall, I'm very impressed with the Fiesta. To be quite honest, the Fiesta will be my next car. The big question will be whether I keep my Element for the cargo capacity or whether it becomes the down payment on the Fiesta.
