Topic: Proudfoot's Lukewarm Ford Fiesta Review

[CatsEye68]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-drive/new-cars/reviews/ford-fiesta-giving-it-the-gears/article1909922/


Surprised at the poor fuel mileage - he wonders if the gear ratios were selected to give good test results that do not apply in real-world driving - and his criticism of how slow it is. This seems to be a car whose advance press clippings were better than reality.

[dkaz]

It's more of a spew of manual vs. DCT transmission to me, although I do like that DCT is still not as good as manual in real life. Manuals still accelerate a hair faster, despite the lightning quick shifts with DCT.

But really, a subcompact is a subcompact is a subcompact. If this guy is the import fanboy the comments make him out to be, I would take his review with a grain of salt, just like everyone elses. If I was in the market for a subcompact, there would hardly be a single car I wouldn't consider, they're all at par, the Aveo/Swift+ being an exception.

[Flinter]

I must say, the fuel economy reported by the reviewer is a bit surprising.
(city area driving 9.7 with automatic, 9.1 manual; regular gas)

We get comparable mileage in our Suzuki SX4 AWD (manual), which many regard to be a bit of a fuel hog.

[Sir Osis of Liver]

If you drive like an arse, you can drop any car's economy number into the toilet.

[rrocket]

Does the Fiesta have the same POS shifting buttons as the Focus? (no flappy paddles..just thumb buttons on the shifter)

Also..was this in the bitter cold this test?  Winter gas+very cold weather and mileage suffers. Winter gas is good for up to 15% worse mileage.

[No H2O]

Maybe these so-called experts should test these cars for what they are.

and his criticism of how slow it is.

Duhhhh, its a commuter car, you know, A to B. I'm sure it is fully capable of cruising at 100 KPH all day long. And they wonder why I don't waste my time with reviews. 

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Maybe these so-called experts should test these cars for what they are.

and his criticism of how slow it is.

Duhhhh, its a commuter car, you know, A to B. I'm sure it is fully capable of cruising at 100 KPH all day long. And they wonder why I don't waste my time with reviews. 

This sub-compact can't fit 6 footers in the back seat, that fully loaded sub-compact is more expensive than the stripper compact from the same lineup, this pickup can't do 0-60 in under 8 seconds, that heavy duty pickup has a bouncy ride, this 400hp full sized sedan gets poor fuel economy. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

Some are better at it than others. I like reading reviews, but I can make up my own mind on the subjective stuff.

[Flinter]

If you drive like an arse, you can drop any car's economy number into the toilet.

Also..was this in the bitter cold this test?  Winter gas+very cold weather and mileage suffers. Winter gas is good for up to 15% worse mileage.

Agreed, the testing was totally in the city, probably in cold weather, and I suspect there was a bit of a lead foot used. Pretty much the worst case scenario.

That said, the numbers seen by the reviewer are not totally out of whack with the Estimated New EPA L/100 km (City driving) when one factors in cold weather, and a heavy foot.

Regular Gasoline
City  8.4 l/100km (Manual), 8.1 l/100km (Auto)
Combined 7.4 l/100km (Manual), 7.1 l/100km (Auto)
Hwy  6.4 l/100km (Manual), 6.2 l/100km (Auto)

[Sival]

I don't know how this guy drove the Fiesta, but if you look at reported mileage from owners, the Fiesta does get excellent fuel economy. The average reported mileage on fueleconomy.org for the manual is 36,5 MPG (US), so 6,4 l/100 Km. For the automatic version, it's 33,5 MPG (US), so around 7,0 l/100 Km.

The transmissions are geared pretty high though, which makes the Fiesta much slower than its power rating would indicate, but this does result in great fuel economy figures in real life driving according to the owners themselves. Well, unless the driver is a moron who keeps the engine at 3000-4000 RPM at all times.

[Ice]

I call BS on the fuel economy. My XRS 2.4L gets waaay better than that. Even with the winter that we're having.

Unlike most new cars I actually went out on a test drive with the Fiesta. I was impressed. The engine is decent enough in the city and it's plenty powerful for a commuter car. It's got more zip than a standard 1.8L Corolla as far as I could tell (purely subjective). It doesn't have tons of power but I felt confident in being able to get out of the way if I needed. I'm 5'11" and I fit in the back seats no problem. The car IS small... it feels the same as if you sat in a Yaris or a Fit (Fit is perhaps the roomiest I've been in) or anything of that general size.

Would I buy one for myself? It's not right sized for my body type nor is it fast enough but I would recommend it for consideration to anyone looking in this class.

[vdk]

It's more of a spew of manual vs. DCT transmission to me, although I do like that DCT is still not as good as manual in real life. Manuals still accelerate a hair faster, despite the lightning quick shifts with DCT.

They are actually faster than 'true' manual transmissions. Look up the 0-60 for a DSG GTI and a manual GTI, IIRC the difference is about 0.2-0.3s.

I like the idea of a DCT in a car like the Fiesta, makes sense not to waste any torque in the converter.

[gotak]

It's more of a spew of manual vs. DCT transmission to me, although I do like that DCT is still not as good as manual in real life. Manuals still accelerate a hair faster, despite the lightning quick shifts with DCT.

They are actually faster than 'true' manual transmissions. Look up the 0-60 for a DSG GTI and a manual GTI, IIRC the difference is about 0.2-0.3s.

I like the idea of a DCT in a car like the Fiesta, makes sense not to waste any torque in the converter.

Plus those manual times are usually for journalist testing with press cars where they don't have to pay for repair bills. Real world manual acceleration will be even slower than test numbers simply because people shift their own cars a lot more carefully.