Back again with another review on Ford's new Fiesta Titanium Plus Diesel. Previously I have written about Ford Fiesta TDCi which I owned for 6 years. Now, I shifted to New Fiesta.
When I already owned ford, was leaned towards ford as I never faced any quality, service, cost, fuel economy or similar issues.
Still I took the test drives from the segment Yes, you all guessed it correct...
Fiat Linea , good product & perfect family package, totally screwed up by service
MANZA , Not a great product with quality, support issues blah blah. Easy termination.
Rapid read my detailed review about Skoda Rapid https://mouthshut.com/review/Skoda-Rapid-review-tupmtmpnpn
Vento I was assuming, more or less everything is same between Rapid and Vento. Had a test drive and confirmed my assumption
Verna impressed me but lacks in handling, steering is not great as expected. Power delivery was excellent in the segment. still I found it more jerky than linear. For city its may be a great car but on highways? this car has very artificial feedback to the driver in terms of steering and not so great at high speeds. large amount of body roll. Interior wise, its good but I personally don't like beige interior nor cheap plastic looking wooden inserts.
Where Fiesta scores? Now read the ownership review below.
Power & Transmission
Very linear, smooth, good for city driving, not at all under powered. Power delivery is more gradual so overall ride is smooth. Transmission is Very refined. No harsh differences in gear ratios so shifting is not felt by jerks. Slotting of gears is just perfect.
Breaking
I took a test drive of all vehicles with ABS, but their breaking was too hard with jerks to the passengers. This car is just perfect, very smooth but assured, precise breaking.
Ride, Handling, Suspension
Ford is known for its ride handling. Its pleasure to be in this car may as a passenger or a driver. Suspension is soft, absorbs all shocks, only small thud is heard but not felt. Passengers remain composed even after big bump. At speeds while taking sharp turns it has near to zero body roll, thanks to its well designed frame with great lower CG and nicely tuned suspension.
Driving Pleasure
Old ford fiesta was known as driver's car. and this too follows the ford's DNA. Its just fun to drive in any condition, you always feel confident, steering is just precise and responsive. New Fiesta has a Electronic Power Assisted steering and this works well. Very smooth still maintains it responsiveness. Nice and firm to hold.
Visibility is not an issue, ORVM, IRVM provides a view of complete car and extra curved ends of ORVM reduces the blind spots.
Its loaded with safety features. It has ABS & Airbags standard for all variants. Ford claims that car body is made with Boron steel which is stronger and lighter than steel.
It also has rear sensing (audio only) parking sensors, no video is provided like Verna. But works well.
ORVMs are self close-open so as soon as you lock the car, they will fold in and on unlock they will open. Mirrors are electrically adjustable.
Passenger Comfort
Seats are very comfortable and body hugging. Provide good support to your back, lower back and lumber. Rear Leg room is not great but apt for a 5'11” guy at back and a 5'11” driving the car. Driver seat can be adjusted for height as well. Power windows are anti pinch, so when you are closing the window, if something obstructs, it stops, so no worries if kids putting hands in it accidentally.
More on luxury or life style features.....
It has steering mounted cruise control, & music controls. They are neatly designed and never get accidentally pressed. (Like Manza and SX4).
Now most of the non ford marketing guys are making fun of one feature that is Voice activated commands. They say its just a gimic to attract people with something different.
But in my opinion its just great and very useful. Voice commands for AC/temperature/fan speed/changing radio station/changing audio track are really useful when you are driving. Your hands are just dedicated to steering and eyes on road. Speak out and things are done.
Even you can accept/reject/dial calls using this module and works cool. I had taken many client calls while returning home in the evening and worked perfect. Just turn on the bluetooth of your phone and car will couple it.
Music System
I have never seen a so good factory fitted music system as of today in any car. Its just great. Crisp clear sound with 6 speakers. Settings for bass/treble and mids. Adaptive volume is integrated.
Interior Layout, Design & Quality
Front console is inspired by todays hightech gadgets, easy to use interface. Buttons are nicely placed. Clean and easy to read odo and speedo. LCD display to show Total running, trip, avegare consumption for 1 hours, average consumption for 100 Kms, distance to empty etc. Pretty clean and neat.
Interior is black and dark grey, may not suit to everyone's taste but I like it as it avoids unnecessary reflections on the front wind shield from inside of the car. Quality is good, built to last. Chrome inserts at many places to create an attractive visuals.
Storage compartments, front doors can accommodate 2 liter bottles and 2 bottles can be placed in hand break console. Small pockets here and there provided. Glove box is deep and big. A drawer is provided under front passenger seat. Interior at rear is little bland compared to front area, but more leaned towards utility and space. Seat pockets and door magazine storage for rear seats provided.
Climate Control
Is very effective and cools down efficiently in hot weather. Temperature can be adjusted in the increment of 0.5 degrees either with dial or voice command. Its not noisy at all.
Cruise Control
Is a blessing if you are frequent highway traveler. You can engage cruise control once you cross speed of 30 and further speed can be increased or decreased by 5kmph using buttons provided on steering. As soon as you first apply break, clutch or accelerator, cruise control is disabled and car comes to manual control at its own.
Now about exteriors...
I love the way it looks, aero dynamic, looks compact on road but not compact by any means. Curves are nicely designed. The chrome line windowcil continues till rear quarter window looks amazing and ads a character.
Headlights are strong and most of the cars miss one thing which is always with fiesta only, that is, it has different head light units for dimmer and deeper, so on highways in the night you have both lights working for you.
Front grill is very attractive with chrome border.
Wipers are flexible and frame less, applies good pressure while cleaning the glass. It has 6 intermittent speed and 3 more speed options to use in case of heavy rains.
Kitna Deti Hain?
As of now, I have driven it just for 2000 kms. & 200-300 Kms on highways remaining all are in city like pune.
In city, It shows me 6.2 ltrs/100 kms = 16.12 KMPL .
On highways it shown me 4.9 ltrs/100 kms = 20KMPL .
So all in all, I am happy with my decision of buying this car. Dealership experience was also good, there was a delay from Ford's side in delivering my car as they had no black car in their stock. But all went well and now I own this for last couple of months. I am enjoying it.
I recommend you to have a look at this car without caring people talking against ford service and expensive spares. Those all are myths.
