2011-15 Ford Fiesta Review

The Fiesta has finally made it to North America!

This is one of the most popular cars in Europe and there are good reasons for it.

For those of you that know me, I have never really been a big fan of Ford cars (except for the old Mustangs, the Ford GT, and old Thunderbirds) but this Fiesta may have just won some respect back from me. The Ford Fiesta has been sold in Europe and other countries around the world since the late 1970's and it was finally brought to North America in late 2010 for the 2011 year. It is Ford's smallest and least expensive car in the North American line-up trying to truly compete against other subcompacts and fuel efficient cars like the Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris and Hyundai Accent. The Fiesta had a face-lift in 2013, which is the one in the pictures. 

Take a look:

Different Styles:

The Ford Fiesta comes in a wide variety of styles and engines globally, but I will just focus on the North American models. It comes as a regular sedan or a 5 door hatchback. It comes with either a 1.6L 4 cylinder, 1.0L 3 cylinder "Ecoboost" turbo, or a 1.6L 4 cylinder "Ecoboost" engine. Transmission choices are either a 5 speed manual (only trans available on the 1.0L) or a 6 speed auto ( which is very similar to VW's DSG auto) and finally a 6 speed manual for the ST's 1.6L "Ecoboost" engine.

Styling and Comfort Impressions:

Starting with the outside, this is a smart looking car. It has good proportions and lines, however, from some angles the sedan actually looks very small (smaller than it is). It looks a bit bulgy and too large in some spots like the trunk area. The hatchback on the other hand looks good from every angle and when you upgrade to the sporty ST version it looks fantastic. A surprising thing I found out was how tall the Fiesta is compared to its larger sibling the Focus, this of course it to maximize the possible interior space due to its small length and width. The Fiesta comes in a variety of fun colours including bright green, blue, and orange.

Going inside the Fiesta keeps things  surprising with a very modern and nice looking interior. The materials look and feel nice available in either black or grey cloth or leather, or coloured leather (ST trims). The front dash looks very modern and high tech. They all come with Ford's "Sync" system which allows you to control just about everything from the radio to calling people just by your voice. I didn't really get a chance to test this feature extensively but I have heard very mixed reviews about it. Apparently the older systems were almost unusable but the newer system is much better. If you like that sort of thing I guess that's a nice touch but I prefer a simpler system. Of course touch screens are optional but when you do add it, you lose a lot of easy functionality. The Fiesta and presumably all Fords have an optional feature called "My Key" which allows you to set and lock certain setting for when others drive the car, like speed, volume, and warning messages for fuel and seat belts. This could be a great feature if the car is also being used by new drivers. Another bonus is the great sound system with 6 standard speakers!

Take a look:

So the inside looks pretty great. How does it feel? Pretty great. It has a high roof line so you can sit upright and the front drivers chair can be pumped up quite a bit. It goes without saying that I fit quite well up front with plenty of head room, and a decent amount of leg room. The car is quite narrow so elbows may bump into the passenger if you are both larger people. The seats are quite comfy with plenty of support for both city and long distance drives. Moving to the back seat, the comfort continues with plenty of headroom due to the high bubble-like roof line in both the sedan and the hatchback. as it is a small and relatively short car, the rear seat leg-room isn't the best and as I sat behind myself my knees were pressing against the chair, not as much as other cars but others still had better room. As the chair backs are soft this isn't a major issue for short drives, but I wouldn't want to be back there behind a tall person for long drives. 

Now I will give a hand to Ford as they seem to be the only other car company out there (besides Honda) that realizes that people don't want to have to take out their rear seat head restraints just to have a good view out the back. So instead of them sitting flush with the seat back like in the Honda Fit, there is a button on the head restraints that allows you to tilt them forward enough that they appear to be flush with the seat back when looking into the rear view mirror. So good job Ford, you win my small hatchback respect!


Finally, trunk space in the sedan is not the best as it is quite a small car, but the hatchback and its more versatile layout will allow for much more and much larger items. The only downside is that the back seats don't fold flat so the loading area is not a long flat surface.

Driving Impressions:

I was only able to try the Fiesta with the 1.6L 4 cylinder, so I will only be able to say how this one drives.
I have heard that the 1.6L "Ecoboost" is actually quite fun with plenty of power to fling you around. As the 1.0L 3 cylinder turbo is new there is not much info on how it drives but as it only has 3 cylinders I can say with some certainty that it will not be very smooth compared to others. 
Back to the regular 1.6L Fiesta, it keeps surprising me. Other subcompacts usually feel under powered and the engine is loud under hard acceleration and at most times on the highway, but not the Fiesta. Yes, it could have done with more power, but that's what the ST trim is for. What really impressed me was how quiet it was during all points. Quiet at idle, good at city speeds and highway cruising, the only time it made a fuss was under hard acceleration, but it had a nice sound too, not like an over sized lawnmower working hard but it sounded like a much larger engine. The auto uses the same dual clutch system as the VWs so the shifts are fast and when the shifter is put into "S" it stay in gear longer to really launch you off the line. 
It is quiet and smooth, soaking up most bumps, but it has a more sport tuned suspension so on larger bumps it feels stiff. The upside is that handling is great, it feels very composed going around corners with little lean. 
The Fiesta has plenty of pep for city driving and it does seem to still have enough juice to make confident passes on the highway (with no other passengers). 
Due to the high roof line and large windows visibility is quite good in all directions especially in the hatchback. It does however have rather thick front pillars so the little windows in the front corners of the dash are basically useless. Due to its small dimensions parking lots and narrow roads are easy to maneuver around with the Fiesta. Overall this is a very nice little car to drive around. 

Overall:

Once again I can't believe that I'm typing this but, good job Ford! The Fiesta is a fantastic little car. It looks great, it feels great, there is plenty of head and legroom for 4 normal sized adults. It has a nice modern/ sporty looking interior with a great sound system. The ride and performance is quite good for a car this size and it only gets better with the upgraded engines and trims. This is definitely a recommended pick for a first time buyer or as a fun second car in the family. It can be had for a good price new or used which help with its budget friendly-ness. The only downsides are that it is a Ford car, and they are known to have false economy numbers and once again because it is a Ford they are known to now have as high quality standards compared to Asian or German cars. However, this is a "global" car meaning the standards are higher and because they are actually manufactured else where the quality is higher as well. So, even though it is a Ford, the Fiesta is definitely a good pick for a new budget car.

Facts / Figures:

Price ( for the mid trim level): $20,000+

FWD

MPG (aprox*): 30 city /40 hwy

Cargo room (aprox*):  13 (15/27) CuFt trunk

Length: 174" (160")

Width: 68" (68")

Tank size (gal): 12.4

Miles on one tank (using combined MPG figures): 434
Average used price with 60,000KM or less: $11,000+

* when I say "approx" I usually am using the numbers given by the actual manufacturer or Consumer Reports, minus 1 to be a bit more realistic. 

Links: 

Ford Canada

Ford USA

Please leave a comment with your thoughts and opinions on any of the reviews.

J.K.