Ford Fiesta 2014 Review & Pictures: Fascinating Fiesta

F4frewin · Mar 26, 2017

1989rs500 said:

I totally agree that VW range are not bad handlers. I find the steering of VW demeaning the brilliant chassis. The big problem with me is that I own a Fiesta in impeccable condition with a pride that I own a rare car with a feeling that it would be one of a handful of well kept Fiesta's in the country. The steering, clutch, Engine and ride is so fabulous and at times I refrain from using it too much whining at the replacements available if I were to change! I was so sure that new Figo Twins will be a hoot to drive and as a viable option. I was so wrong when I found out during my test drive that the engine tuning and gear ratios are very different in Figo. Why Ford?

VW would be very good but it will be surely humbled by new Fiesta and 1.6S. I'm not talking about outright acceleration on highways which VW would trump Fiesta but certainly not by a big margin.As you said my Vento TSI is a joy to drive only if i don't take it out right after the Fiesta. In those circumstances I feel really miserable.

1989rs500 · Mar 27, 2017

F4frewin said:

Same here man, I too sometimes take too much care of my Figo because I love it, now regarding Fords future, I think Ford has moved mass market and its better for us to collect these superb drivers cars while we can because within 2 years Ford will be better known as a Maruti rival than a Fiat/VW rival from what we see from new Figo and even the Ecosports,
VW vs Ford is a tuff choice but I give equal points for both brands, both are good in their own ways.

F4frewin · Mar 28, 2017

1989rs500 said:

I don't see any difference between mass market and a car that is bloody good to drive. Old Figo is a damn good car, well proportioned spacious and good to ride. All they had to do was to plonk the 1.5tdci into the bay and it would be all set. Old Figo used to sell in good volumes and see what Ford achieved by going mass market in the new Figo. Swift ride and drive well with decent power and it really sells. Ford has to return to the days of ikon, Fiesta and Figo which were good cars and just modernise them with looks and features. The new Fiesta for India would be a distant dream!

1989rs500 · Mar 28, 2017

F4frewin said:

The issue is Ford is trying hard to localize production to cut costs, just look at new Figo pricing, its actually cheaper than a locally built Maruti SWift, so they are trying to add more VALUE at the expense of European DNA which majority of Indians dont even bother about, and I dont think the lack of numbers in sales of new Figo is due to its lack of handling+ride charm, its more to do with the competition, while I bought Figo back I in 2010, I observed that 99% buyers bought Figo because it was a hatch back that had diesel engine, the i10 had just petrol, the SWift just came with diesel, Brio had just petrol, no Micra, no Pulse, as well, the advent of diesel engines from Hyundai was more than enough to steal over 80% MK I Figo buyers, I am pretty confident that even if Ford made a superb driving new Figo it would still sell less like how the current Figo sells, because sales is more to do with Indians brand perception.

GVC1967 · Mar 28, 2017

We have to take a look at the time scale of the launch beginning with aspire ,Ford announced the product very early,but took a lot of time to actually launch the product. by the time it came out the initial interest all but had gone, coupled with the not so good build quality of the earlier fords resulted in the dismal market performance.

1989rs500 · Mar 29, 2017

GVC1967 said:

Yes I do agree with that a lot of things arent going smooth for Ford, they always loose steam in middle of campaign, Ecosport too when launched got 57000 bookings in just 1 week, but Ford couldnt deliver them in time, and a huge pie of customers bid farewell to the brand itself, but on the contrary we see people patiently waiting 8-11 months for the Brezza
So the inference is the general consensus of people too is a reason why Ford isnt doing good in our market, its not 100% Fords fault,
Even if the current Aspire and Figo had good built quality people wont give it any better sales than what it gets right now, just look at how much the Amaze sells, its costlier, has no features compared to Ford, ill built, noisy, dosent ride or handle particularly well yet people buy it more than Aspire which is a far better product, again inference is simple, a regular Indian still dosent trust Ford like they trust Maruti,Hyundai,Toyota,Honda
It will take some time for this change, till then all Ford can do is play catch up.

kkn13 · Mar 29, 2017

F4frewin said:

Fantastic to hear that
Ford truly seems to be taking India as a serious market
Must be a fairly drastic difference for you since you also own a Vento

My friend's Vento was waiting for a new starter for 2 weeks in Mumbai .
Last time I had a starter problem was with my Ritz, brand new one came in just 2
hours.

For a Fiesta, this is excellent A.S.S given the low sales numbers etc , my dad also wants to buy a new Endeavour this year (though my mom says its too big etc :D ), this experience will encourage him more since he is a Toyota fan but Fortuner disappointed him this time around compared to endeavour
I feel Ford can safely be added to list of good A.S.S in India along with Maruti, Honda, Toyota and Hyundai and Ive felt this after reading numerous Ford owner's experiences for a while now, this tops it.

1989rs500 said:

Swift always had petrol options since 2005
G series 1.3 and then K series 1.2
1.3 MJD was launched in 2006 I think, so its nearly always had both petrol and diesel

F4frewin · Mar 29, 2017

kkn13 said:

I was impressed with the way Ford shipped these products and look at the cost for a car that sold anything. The cost of one of the biggest headlamp in the market (made in Malaysia) is just 3100 and front bumper at 2500. When I left car for the claim, I thought the car would remain there for a month.
I was even taken aback by when Service center informed me that the clutch overhaul for my Fiesta is further reduced and it would now cost less than 6000 Rs including labour.
The car is nearing 40K service and the total money I spent yet is a meagre Rs.11000. I was a fairly feature loaded car and I spent zero on any after market accessory.
As you said, Ford is surely climbing the charts and very fast I would say.

1989rs500 · Mar 29, 2017

kkn13 said:

Yes but who else had a diesel?
After SWift it was just the Figo diesel to enter India as the 2nd hatch back in our country to get a diesel engine , one can say Fiat had Palio,Uno, but they were far from mainstream cars back then, the reason why MK I Figo succeeded is because
1. It had diesel engine , and that too the same 1 from the already well received Ford Fiesta sedan
2. priced as good as SWift
3. lot of space and big boot
4. frankly impressive stock music system
5. Ride handling balance

Yes for many Indians the ride handling balance is just priority 5, but rest all is what made the MK I Figo huge success, but by 2012 Hyundai came with diesel and there goes the buyer to Hyundai showrooms, add to it Polo and Micra and a lot of other suddenly arrived with hatchbacks with diesels and obviously Ford suffered,
Even today just a few Ford buyers buy Ford for its ride,handling, balance etc..90+% people buy Ford just because its cheap to buy, has lot of space inside, good mileage from diesel, and fairly cheap ASS, majority dont care about ride,handling,safety etc.

kkn13 · Mar 29, 2017

1989rs500 said:

Yeah agreed !!
I hope Ford gets rid of the slightly quirky designs in the interior and add features like LEDs and projector headlamps etc
Maybe even a diesel 1.5 AT to their lineup

Hyundai isnt much of a petrol head delight in terms of driving feel etc(Not bad by any means, rear comfort,suspension etc are very comfy)
Honda has lost its earlier momentum which it peaked during the 3rd Gen city IVTEC days especially with the Brio platform experiments, hopefully the new Civic platform will bring back the good old Honda charm like the older cars based on the older Civic platform such as 3rd gen 2009 City and 2007 CRV
Maruti is coming up but they keep offering the wrong cars with the right engines with the wrong gearboxes and wrong variants [roll]

VW is purely driving experience but poor reliability,legroom etc
Renault/Nissan is just playing cash cow off late , disappointing since I owned the 1st gen Logan (later rebadged Mahindra Verito), very solid cars but a bit of refinement etc would have helped wonders in interiors and engine department. Otherwise a solid car

Last thats left is Ford , offers a clear balance in our market at this point with proper engines, proper upcoming A.S.S but a bit more traction is needed in sales. There are clear gaps between Figo twins and Ecosport , Ecosport and Endeavour. If they fill it up asap with proper international models like they did with Ecosport and Endeavour (ie no lack of any features etc as such, a full range of variants etc) , they can surely surpass alot of the competition.
I think Id be the first to buy a mid size 5 seater crossover ie Tucson/CRV category from Ford if they offered diesel AT (not DCT) :D :P

1989rs500 · Mar 30, 2017

kkn13 said:

Yeah agreed !!
I hope Ford gets rid of the slightly quirky designs in the interior and add features like LEDs and projector headlamps etc
Maybe even a diesel 1.5 AT to their lineup

Hyundai isnt much of a petrol head delight in terms of driving feel etc(Not bad by any means, rear comfort,suspension etc are very comfy)
Honda has lost its earlier momentum which it peaked during the 3rd Gen city IVTEC days especially with the Brio platform experiments, hopefully the new Civic platform will bring back the good old Honda charm like the older cars based on the older Civic platform such as 3rd gen 2009 City and 2007 CRV
Maruti is coming up but they keep offering the wrong cars with the right engines with the wrong gearboxes and wrong variants [roll]

VW is purely driving experience but poor reliability,legroom etc
Renault/Nissan is just playing cash cow off late , disappointing since I owned the 1st gen Logan (later rebadged Mahindra Verito), very solid cars but a bit of refinement etc would have helped wonders in interiors and engine department. Otherwise a solid car

Last thats left is Ford , offers a clear balance in our market at this point with proper engines, proper upcoming A.S.S but a bit more traction is needed in sales. There are clear gaps between Figo twins and Ecosport , Ecosport and Endeavour. If they fill it up asap with proper international models like they did with Ecosport and Endeavour (ie no lack of any features etc as such, a full range of variants etc) , they can surely surpass alot of the competition.
I think Id be the first to buy a mid size 5 seater crossover ie Tucson/CRV category from Ford if they offered diesel AT (not DCT) :D :P

Some Ford DCTs are good, the 6DCT370 is a good transmission , its wet clutch and is reasonably fast and reliable as reliable as VW DSGs in Octavia etc
That said I am more interested in Fords new 9 speed AT for FWD applications , which I think will be awesome if they pair it with diesel motors

kkn13 · Mar 30, 2017

1989rs500 said:

To be honest Im not a big fan of most ATs(AMT,DSG,DCT) except torque converters especially the legendary ZF8
CVTs are more livable in terms of bumper to bumper traffic etc

Dual clutches are simply not meant for Indian conditions according to me unless you do alot of highway drives or open roads
My understanding is wet clutch is more reliable than dry clutch like DQ200?
I hope Ford gets a diesel AT soon , DCT or otherwise will also do :D
I can consider Ecosport in my current purchase decision if they release diesel AT as it fits most of my boxes especially $$$ and is fairly rev happy otherwise have to splurge for Endeavour or Tucson in my quest for power where my dad is more excited than me and my mom is convinced we can buy other things with that money [roll]

1989rs500 · Mar 30, 2017

kkn13 said:

Agree with that, I too love a good torque converter
Ford has already developed a 9 speed and 10 speed ATs both torque converters and are doing great in Fords F 150 and Raptor super truck, the 9 speed is yet to hit roads, but has a large transfer case and is an easy fit for most FWD applications above B chassis, so a Ford Kuga or Endeavor or Focus etc might get this new gearbox but the B chassis and its variants will still be using regular IB5 and IB6 manual gearboxes and as of now Ford has no plans for AT diesels in B car class, so Ecosport diesel AT is highly unlikely while a Ecosport petrol AT is definitely on the way again gearbox will be either 6 speed torque converter or the 6 DCT150

F4frewin · Apr 25, 2017

The car was sent for 40K service on 23/4. There was no issues reported. The car is just fine as good as when bought.
Total cost :- Rs.4947.00

Its been absolutely wonderful to see such low maintenance costs for car priced above 12L on road. None of my purchases made me feel vindicated as against buying this amazing Ford.

1989rs500 · May 5, 2017

This is the moose dynamics test, the website says Ford Fiesta is worlds best compact car in terms of dynamic ability, no other car is even close to Fiesta and Fords in general for dynamic abilities
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWM4nRS6XTY
Even some sports cars like AUdi TTS falls short of Fiestas dynamics according to this website
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4oT_jo9UgM
This is Fiat Tipo the next generation Fiat Punto/Linea
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1deA2B2CA9U
This is the benchmark car the 718 Boxster S
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uR6bfMeefM

Ford Fiesta 2014 Review & Pictures: Fascinating Fiesta

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