[hypermiler]

A short overview of my experience of owning the new Ford Fiesta Petrol (Titanium). I will not try to repeat the same information available at the other ownership reviews or the official test drive. The advantages and disadvantages cannot simply be unearthed over a few test drives and hence I believe a comparison with other test driven cars may not do justice as I might not have spent that amount of time with the rest of the cars in the same league. As I already own a Ford Fiesta (now classic) TDCI SXI for almost five years, my comparison will be relative to that. I guess most of the members at team-bhp would either be owning or have driven the classic or at-least ridden on the car and hence I think you will be able to relate at this level.



Why the new ford fiesta?

Wanted the car as a highway cruiser for occasional trips (<2500kms per year). I already own a Diesel for my office commute of 1200km per month. My requirements were:

- Great ride and handling on the highways (primary) and within the city too!
- Solid build (Vento was my next choice and the Curze LT the next) for highway driving
- Good service network and availability of trained personnel within Tamil Nadu (Chennai primarily followed by Coimbatore, Trichy, Madurai, Tirunelveli) and availability of spare parts - There were various instances when the Ford service stations were out of parts, but were able to source the parts within two hours or half a day due to the Ford factory available at Chengelpet (near Chennai) which I think is a big plus for me being situated at Chennai. Cost of parts were not a big issue. Most service personnel were able to identify and resolve issues fairly quickly and accurately. Sometimes they were good enough to rectify minor issues free of cost (blocked air filter etc) impromptu.
- Good suspension and ground clearance (the approach road for the last few kilometers to our apartment can challenge a 4wd or SUV class car ;-)) so as not to scrape through those treacherous pits and bumps.
- Long term sustainability - wanted to keep the car for over five years. A newly released car would be ideal and will be able to retain for a longer period of time.

Shortlisting the cars

This was the exciting phase where we went from vendor to vendor. Some other cars that we looked at were:

- Toyota Innova - Was a little outdated. I believe a few face-lift is expected early 2012. Too big for a family of three.

- Volkswagen Vento - Long waiting period for the diesel and unknown service network.

- Honda city - Low ground clearance, fragile build (compared to others) and an eminent face-lift kept me off it

- Hyundai Fluidic Verna - Not sure about ride quality and suspension on very bad roads. Did not even do a test drive. Long diesel waiting period.

- Chevrolet Cruze - Not very comfortable about the service network. Suspected that maintenance cost will be high. Ground clearance would be an issue. Way over my budget.

- New Ford Fiesta - Met most categories except for the price. Long term sustainability - let's hope Ford is able to pull through with this.

Showroom experience

Had been in contact with Ford (MPL was the dealer) three months before the official unveiling and had registered at the Ford website as well. Was invited for the event and was surprised to see that the car actually looked bigger than depicted in the pictures. Booked by paying 50k as initial booking amount. The next day (16th of Jul?), Ford announced the shocker price of 12.4l for the Diesel and 10.8l for the petrol Titanium. I guess there should be quite a few refund requests which was seen by the mood at the showroom a few days after. However, I decided to keep the booking and wanted to take a test drive before canceling the booking. Managed to get a TD car for both the petrol and diesel variant a few days after and immediately felt at home on both. The petrol lacked the initial torque but the price of ~1.4l more for the diesel variant did not make much economical sense for me as the monthly outgo for the diesel and the petrol car worked out to be same for my driving pattern. Casting the benefit of doubt on the side of maintenability (my existing diesel fiesta became a bit expensive to maintain from the 4th year onwards), decided to go for the petrol and finalized on the new ford fiesta petrol, titanium Sea grey.

Though the Sea Grey Titanium+ was available for immediate sale, the SA kept confusing that the car will actually be badged as Titanium rather than a Titanium+ and that there are some approvals pending for the Titanium+ variants. Though the cost was only 30k plus for the cruise control and parking sensor, decided to go for the Titanium instead due to the confusion mentioned.

As there were a lot of uncertainties on the availability of the color, arrival of the next consignment, I later decided to go for Chill Metallic, Titanium petrol instead as it was already available as part of the first consignment from Ford. Looks like it was a good choice as the next consignment happened to arrive three weeks later. Further, Chill Metallic seems to look better compared to Sea Grey which almost looks like black.

On-road price, discounts etc.

OTR: 10.8l
Discounts: None. Zilch. Nada.

Got the floor mats and the mud guards. The 3rd year extended warranty and Teflon coating with coupons for two more application were included as part of the price of the car. Mine was the third car to be delivered (on the 24th of Aug) at Chennai, the first one being a Diesel titanium+ and the other, a white Titanum (diesel?).

While waiting to take delivery, saw 2 -3 Figos being delivered to the other customers. Looks like Ford is doing well on Figos, with one being delivered very 20 minutes that day!

Sweets were exchanged and a family photograph was snapped to mark the occasion. I am yet to get the photo though... Will enquire Ford to send a copy. The other documents were couriered directly to my home promptly.

The good and / or bad about its equipment levels

After running the car for 2k kms, here are some of my observations:

+ The positives

* Great ride and handling - I can notice the difference (though I am comparing apples to oranges) of the lighter steering when I sit in the new ford fiesta from the older diesel. The car is also quicker to turn and go around corners. Not that the older fiesta was bad. It was good, but this is better... Much better. It is almost as if you are using a two wheeler where you can twist and turn, find nook and gaps and push it easily without fuss. It is that agile.

The gear shift is a joy to use and slots easily be it going forward or while reversing. Short throws makes gear changes more simpler and easier.

I did not notice any lag or lack of performance of the 1.5 duratech engine. Had been maintaining a strict < 80kmph until I crossed 1500 kms. I reached ~120 kmpl a couple of times after I had completed > 1500 kms at short bursts. Even at these speeds, I felt quite confident and completely in control. The car felt planted and sometimes, I perceived I was actually traveling slower than what the speedometer was indicating and then suddenly realized that I was at 120 kmpl. This is quite contrary compared to the older fiesta where you feel you are actually traveling much faster that you actually are and had to strain a bit to reach 120 with your entire car vibrating and the engine running out of breath.

* Safety - ABS enabled brakes were quite good and have a good grip inspiring confidence. My older fiesta diesel does not have ABS and this helps me notice the difference in the new car. Height adjustable seat belts are available, though yet to try adjusting them... Did not notice the pull-drift-compensation thingy yet. The side view mirrors where quite helpful in eliminating blind spots to a certain extent.

* Suspension - While by old fiesta scrapes through some bumps and dips of our infamous roads, the new fiesta has not scraped the bottom yet. Though both of them sport a 168mm ground clearance, the stiffer suspension ensures that it does not scrape through even with a load of three persons and a bit of luggage in the boot. It also appears to be more smoother over uneven roads compared to the older fiesta.

* Lower road / engine noise inside - Noiseless at lower speeds and basically glides through without any engine noise till the 3rd gear. Can hear minimal some road noise 4th gear onwards cruising at over 80kmph, but it is nothing to worry about. In contrast, with the older fiesta diesel, the noise is comparably higher and sometimes I had to notch up the volume of my CD player to hear the music at high speeds. But remember, when the old fiesta came in, it was mentioned to be quite compared to the others of the same class. So, I would say, road and engine noise reduction has improved.

* Great ICE - Old fiesta's music system was quite good. The newer ICE is better and is able to reproduce bass better.

Bluetooth integration works well and I was able to pair all my family's phone (Nokias, LG, Samsung) without any problems. The entire address book is available allowing you to dial in, receive or make calls in a jiffy. The numbered keypad helps in keying in numbers fairly easily.

* Looks - My opinion, where I feel the new Fiesta feels less flashier but yet futuristic. The boot may be a let down for some. But for me, it looked fine.

* Front cabin, seating, comfort - Better seats that hug you and the futuristic dash. You are seated at a higher position that the older fiesta that provides a commanding view.

The top part of the dash looks to be built of quality material, but the bottom part not so. However, most of the bottom parts are not directly visible and hence it was not a big deal for me.

The air conditioning is quite effective and cools the cabin quite quickly. There is a general perception that the interior space is wider than the older fiesta.

- Negatives or improvement areas

* Price - Could be valued 50k less. But with the other manufacturers increasing the price by adding more features and if ford decreases the price a bit during the festival season, the gap will more or less be small

* Boot space - I felt I was able to carry more on the older fiesta, the reason, the boot is more narrow, but deep. If you happen to have two large suitcases, placing them inside might be a task where as if you have smaller items, you will be able to just shove them in.

* Back cabin - Could have added a central or rear light to the cabin. Though the front ones are bright enough to light both the rear and the front. The lack of bottle holders / side door pockets is a glaring omission.

* Some ergonomic issues - The front side door pockets can hold 1 liter bottles, but are a bit shallow and if you keep lots of items, I was afraid that they might fall out owing to the lack of depth.

The hazard light is placed too near to the central lock button and the other buttons to control your mobile phone etc. As the dash slops towards you, when you operate the ICE, your palm falls on the hazard light (while your fingers are controlling the ICE) and more than once my wife accidentally switched the hazard lights on.

The hazard light switch is just below the lock button resulting in triggering it unintentionally.


Some wide panel gaps between the bumper and the reverse lights. Other places look well put-up though.



The typical Indian question

10 - 10.3 kmpl within the city (80%) at peak traffic with AC.

16.3 kmpl at 80% highways. As I was in the run-in period, I kept the speedo between 80s and 90s primarily on the highways with full AC.

17.01 kmpl at 90% highways from Coimbatore to Chennai. As I had covered over 1500kms, I drove a bit light footed, occasionally touching 120 kmph. Mostly was between 90 to 110 kmph. Possibly there is some improvement after the run-in period?

14 kmpl on mountainous roads and highways (50% highway, 30% going up and down the Kodai hills and 20% driving around Kodai where I had to be constantly on the first or the second gear) with little or no AC.

With these figures, I think it is quite acceptable. I would also say that my driving habits (with petrol vehicles) are not the best as most others who own similar cars usually indicate better mileage than me. So, I can safely assume you may be able to get better.

Some general observations

Voice base climate control, volume adjust are not so useful for which you can rather use the provided knobs or the steering mounted controls. However, voice based dialing is a big plus and the manual says you can record voice tags for phone numbers which you can call up to dial into and that I think would be a very useful feature.

Head lamps seems to have a wider range and lights up the sides to giving good visibility while driving through the nights

Cool red glow off the ICE, Multi Information Display (MID) and steering mounted controls. Now if only the illuminated gear know becomes available...



The radio supports RDS which means I will be able to get the name of the channel that is currently tuned to and sometimes, the song title that is being played too provided the radio station publishes the information.


Pressing the 'info' button provides more details.


Central locking locks all doors and hence a person will not be able to open the car from outside. Passengers inside can open the doors any time. Central locking is in effect until it is manually disabled or the driver opens the door. There were a few instances when the co-driver had to go out and then find themselves locked out until the driver either unlocks via central locking or opens the driver door or opens the co-driver door manually.

No internal boot release lever or knob! A soft touch button is hidden just above the rear number plate which can be pressed to open the boot much to the confusion of security personnel who need to check the contents before letting you in at work. Not sure if it is a security concern though as if you are not central locked, anyone from the outside may be able to open the boot, take the luggage and walk off.

Key remote has a separate button to enable opening the boot without unlocking the rest of the doors.

The floor mats cannot be fixed to the floor as indicated in the original review. However, the back of the mat has some sort of a velcro like material that sticks to the floor carpet thus preventing it from slipping. Not as sticky as actual velcro, but remains at the original place unlike traditional rubber mats.



The driver side wiper is not rigid, possibly to enable covering the curved windshield.



Things that I miss when I go back to the older fiesta

- Smoother ride
- Light steering
- One touch turn indicator
- Lower road noise
- Steering mounted controls
- Progressive and foldable side view mirrors
- One touch up / down driver side window mirror

Things that I miss when I sit in the new fiesta after driving the older diesel

- Wider and deeper side door pockets
- Rear cabin lights. Though the common cabin light is bright enough, sometimes, it is better to have separate lights at the back as during driving, it becomes less of a distraction.
- Softer and more reachable horn pads, louder horn
- Bigger dash storage compartment

Picture time

The Fiesta at the Tiruchi Dindugul highway:



At Kodai:

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownerships Section. Thanks for sharing! Congratulations, and do drive safe.

[rameshnanda]

Congratulations on your New Fiesta. The color is looking awesome.
Why didn't you opt for Diesel although you shortlisted Vento D?

[Deep Blue]

Same question! Why not the diesel since it is meant for highway runs? I assume it is because of the low mileage/year.
Congratulations!

[ghodlur]

@hypermiler,

Congratulations on the New Ford Fiesta. Must admire your loyalty for sticking to the Ford inspite of the eye ball popping price. Nice write up, I could relate to most of the details since I drive the Fiesta Classic petrol. The colour looks majestic on the car.

Handling has been the forte of the Ford vehicle and its good that that has been bettered in the new Fiesta. Can you post some more interior pics esp of the remote boot opening button?

Happy mile crunching and drive safely.

[vnabhi]

Congrats on you new Fiesta and thanks for the nice review.

However, some points you have noted regarding the older Fiesta that you own may not be tenable, becuase that was a diesel model. What strikes me immediately are:-

1. Struggling to reach 120 kmph speed
2. Vibrations at that speed.
3. Road noise
4. Noisy engine

The petrol Classic did get noisy past 3000 rpm, but that was a sound most enthusiasts would pay money to mod their cars so that they hear something like that.

[acsandeep]

congratulations on the new car,looks good.
but i have one question for you why you didn"t considered the Fiat linea Tjet+,i guess its more powerful,solid built and beautiful then NFF,linea also got amazing handling as well??

[hypermiler]

Originally Posted by Deep Blue

Same question! Why not the diesel since it is meant for highway runs? I assume it is because of the low mileage/year.
Congratulations!

I had originally booked the Diesel Titanium. But after the price announced (12.4) and the titanium was not worth the difference compared to the petrol for the savings that I may get.

For example, I see a savings of 2 rupees / km for the Diesel version (~20 kmpl) compared to the petrol (~17 kmpl). The cost difference between a titanium petrol compared to a trend diesel is ~50,000. That means, I need to run at-least 25,000 km to break even. If I do 6000 kilometers per year, it would take me four years to do that. Factor in the higher maintenance cost for the diesel and the joy of driving a petrol again, I thought petrol makes sense. Please correct me if I am wrong. The titanium diesel may take more time to break even.

The ex-showroom price of the titanium for Diesel crosses 10l resulting in a 1 lakh difference between the lower model, the trend diesel (11.4l)

1. Wanted an equipment upgrade as well. I think the trend diesel is similar to the older Fiesta SXI in terms of features which did not look like a big upgrade (comparatively) from the previous car.

2. Somehow, I felt the diesel cars had more maintenance issues compared to the petrol cars I owned. Hence wanted to keep the bigger car as a petrol as I plan to keep this over for some time.

Possibly, I will sell off the older Fiesta Diesel and go for a Figo Diesel for daily office commute (wink wink, the ever loyal Ford customer that I am. Ford are you listening? Maybe you should offer me a discount ).

[hypermiler]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Congrats on you new Fiesta and thanks for the nice review.

However, some points you have noted regarding the older Fiesta that you own may not be tenable, becuase that was a diesel model.

Thank you! I know that it is an unfair comparison, comparing a diesel to a petrol. However, this had given an unique opportunity to sit and experience both the cars over a course of a few months and years for the older car.

Will post a list of minor differences that I had noted as well shortly.

[hypermiler]

Originally Posted by rameshnanda

Congratulations on your New Fiesta. The color is looking awesome.

Thank you for the wishes! As indicated, originally wanted to go for Sea Grey. But the sales person mentioned that for the new fiesta, the lighter colors looks good. Was not too keen on silver and white. Was skeptical about Chill Metallic. The sales person was kind enough to bring the car to the show room so that I can make the decision. When I took a look at the color in person it looked quite good and now, I do not regret the change of heart with respect to the color.

Originally Posted by acsandeep

congratulations on the new car,looks good.
but i have one question for you why you didn"t considered the Fiat linea Tjet+,i guess its more powerful,solid built and beautiful then NFF,linea also got amazing handling as well??

Agreed. It is a good looking car, bigger than rivals, solid and powerful. But I was not too comfortable with the after-sales support. The fact that a factory is situated near Chennai for Ford means spare parts can be sourced quickly.

[acsandeep]

Agreed. It is a good looking car, bigger than rivals, solid and powerful. But I was not too comfortable with the after-sales support. The fact that a factory is situated near Chennai for Ford means spare parts can be sourced quickly.[/quote]
yes agreed ,that is right Fiat makes good cars but their *** is very bad,as a result most of the buyers dont buy their cars,but as your usage pattern is less and you are buying a new car,keeping in mind the same,i guess availability of spares should not be a decision factor for you,IMHO.But still you got the good drivers car,i wish ford would have provided the better interiors to the same,wish you happy miles ahead with her,drive safe.

[vb-saan]

Congratulations Hypermiler! Great review, and the color you chose looks extremely classy.

How do you rate the backseat comfort /fit & finish in comparison with the old Fiesta (and also with the other cars you TD-ed as a part of your decision making process)?

Enjoy your highway runs and drive safe!

[hypermiler]

Originally Posted by vb-san

Congratulations Hypermiler! Great review, and the color you chose looks extremely classy.

How do you rate the backseat comfort /fit & finish in comparison with the old Fiesta (and also with the other cars you TD-ed as a part of your decision making process)?

Enjoy your highway runs and drive safe!

Thanks vb-san. I am 5' 8" and when I adjust the front seat to my liking, I find that I have more than enough space at the back compared to the older fiesta.

I had not spent much time at the back on any of the other TD cars. Backseat was not a priority for me anyway. My wife sat at the back for the Cruze and felt that head-space was not adequate compared to any of the other cars TDd.

Fit and finish:

Vento > Honda City > Fiesta

[_raVan_]

Congratulations on your buy Hypermiler

It looks fantastic and is amongst the rare breed in these forums. Please do keep updating the thread with your long term ownership report as it will cultivate a confidence in prospective buyers.

[puchoo]

Congrats on the new set of wheels!! The ride and handling of the new fiesta is comparable to few and with the amount of time you are spending on the highway i am sure you are going to have a blast!