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Road Test Ford Fiesta 2011: Low in price but high on content By LORNE DRURY Metroland Media Carguide Magazine It's not often you'd think of the smallest and least expensive car in the fleet as a firm's most important, but that may be the case with Ford's 2011 Fiesta subcompact. While the F-150 pickup truck has been the bread and butter vehicle for Ford, topping the sales charts year after year, the Fiesta brings a whole new audience to the Ford brand. The Fiesta was launched here last year after tremendous success in Europe and Asia. It has won numerous awards around the world, including the Best New Small Car under $21,000 by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Based on a platform originally designed by Mazda (when the two companies were financially intertwined) and used on the Mazda2 now on sale here as well, the Fiesta comes in both four-door sedan and five-door hatchback styles. My tester was five-door SE model, starting at $16,799. Now, with gas prices currently in the $1.30/litre range in Southern Ontario, consumers are once again taking notice of small, fuelefficient vehicles in even greater the automatic and the SFE (Super dry clutch package. numbers. The "dry" transmission operUnlike most cars in the sub- Fuel Economy) package that incompact class, the Fiesta is much cludes side-tire deflectors, under- ates with sealed internal lubricamore than just a bare-bones ve- body shields, lower grille blocker, tion, reducing internal friction hicle. It offers 15 class-exclusive cruise control, spare wheel with and adding to the fuel economy. technologies and delivers 4.9L/100 wheel cap and rear spoiler (on the With no pumps and hoses, Ford says this transmission improves km highway fuel economy-- the sedan). This is a $500 option and re- fuel economy by nine per cent. best in class according to Ford. The Fiesta is ofThe Fiesta starts at just fered in five trim lev$12,999 for the S Sedan that els; S, SE and SEL has features like anti-lock in the sedan, and SE brakes (ABS), power side and SES in the hatch, mirrors, electronic powerpriced at $18,999. assisted steering, electronic What helps set the stability control, seven stanFiesta apart from the dard air bags and tilt/telecompetition in the Bscoping steering wheel. segment is the stylMany of these would ing and bold array have been unheard of on of colours, including base models of subcompacts Lime Squeeze metalin the past, but times have lic, Yellow Blaze, Red changed and technological One of Ford's top-selling models around the world, the Candy and Bright advances have made many Fiesta subcompact returns to North America for the 2011 of these features financially model year. With 15 class-exclusive technologies, the Fies- Magenta. The interior has feasible. ta also has a best-in-class fuel economy rating of 4.9L/100 the look of a much Powered by a Duratec km on the highway. more expensive vehi1.6-litre DOHC inline fourcylinder engine, making 120 hp sults in fuel economy numbers of cle, with greater use of soft-touch materials and contrasting colours and 112 lb/ft of torque, the Fiesta 6.8/4.9L/100 km city/highway. Helping Ford reach these fuel than you normally see in this segcomes with a standard five-speed manual transmission or an op- economy numbers is the new ment. Different seat fabric options Powershift transmission, a dual are available, including leather. tional six-speed automatic. One feature that stands out is The automatic has a fuel rat- clutch gearbox that combines the ing of 6.9/5.1L/100 km city/high- responsive performance and fuel the centre stack, designed to look way, while the manual comes in economy of a manual transmis- and work like a cell-phone keypad. at 7.1/5.3L/100 km. However, the sion with the convenience of a tra- Ford says this is an important elebest fuel economy is achieved with ditional automatic in an advanced ment in helping market the car to a key demographic group-- the 16- to 30-year-olds. These are people who are always connected through their cell phones, computers and other mobile devices. Ford's available SYNC system (a $650 option on the SE) integrates a mobile device with Fiesta's onboard voice-activated communications and entertainment system. For example, if you get a text message, you can tell SYNC to read it to you or you can ask SYNC to play a certain musical selection or place a phone call for you. Steering is light, yet responsive and the ride and handling is excellent for a car in this segment, certainly on par with many more expensive ones I've driven in the past year. During AJAC testing for Car of the Year last fall, the Fiesta posted a 0-100 km/h time of 10.7 seconds, yet it feels quicker on the road. It is a light car at 1,179 kg (2,593 lb) and that helps in the handling. The Powershift transmission shifts smoothly and the engine is fairly quiet at speed, although a bit noisy if you push it on takeoff. All in all, it's no wonder Ford has such big hopes for its smallest car. The Fiesta has a lot going for it and is sure to bring more customers into the Ford fold. 3 WHEELS.ca · Halton Hills · July 7, 2011 GEORGETOWN · CHEVROLET · BUICK · GMC FIRST TIME EVER! GLEN MACDONALD General Manager This Sunday July 10th from Noon - 4pm ·No Salespeople! ·No Pressure! ·1 Day Special Pricing ·Pick Your Car... And Have Some Fun No salespeople will be on the lot Sunday so you can browse through hundreds of new & used cars, trucks, vans and sport utility vehicles on the lot. Pick the vehicle you like, and complete the Silent Sunday Request form. We'll call you Monday! Chances are, you might get the vehicle of your dreams at the price you want to pay!! - -