Anyone else curious about this car? Wonder how fun it will be to drive compared to the Fit.

 

car looks great IMHO, there was a pick of it from the chicago auto in maroon-ish with a body kit, looked very nice. Something about Fords lately for me, don't know if its my age , but the taurus, fusion, fiesta, and especially the new focus are luring me. Oh no, I'm getting old AHHHHHHHH!
Oh, and if what Top Gear said was true, the car should be a hoot.

 

Ideally I would love the fusion, but for a daily driver in need the fuel economy. I may take a look at this thing when it finally comes out. As for the Taurus, I think its a sweet looking car, to bad the SHO costs so much. Sigh.

 

The focus rs looks great too!

 

Nearly ever other car over here is a Fiesta. They are horrid cars IMHO.

 

Why do you say that if you dont mind me asking? It has not arrived here yet so I have not had the chance to see it in person. Have you driven it and disliked it? Just dont like how it looks?

 

It is at the bottom of the food chain in Fords European catalog. It competes with some of the very best sub-compact cars in the world, from companies that have been building world class kei-cars for a loooong time. The new Fiesta is a novel and welcome change for Ford US, but isn't really anything special across the pond. I personally kinda like it, I wouldn't trade my Fit for one though...

 

They are just bland and boring. Plus every ricer in town has one and mods them with altezza lights etc. Which is pure fail.
One of my good friends used to have one.
He soon got rid of it in favour of a civic.

 

That really doesn't tell me a lot about the car though. There are plenty of riced out fits on this forum but that has nothing to do with the car itself. Edmunds.com review says its more fun than the Fit, yet lacks a bit in cargo space.

 

i've driven both fiesta and a Jazz.

I like the fiestas looks, but inside it seems cramped and a bit dark. Radio is quite cluttered and fiddly. Dash ok but not as nice as the jazz / fit in my opinion. Nice to have a heated front screen, wish other manufacturers would do that.

Space wise, jazz is MUCH better. Boot on the fiesta is tiny, and when you fold the seats down theres a big step. Cant fit my mountain bike in unless i remove both wheels which ruled it out for me.

Driving - Well i drove a 1.6 diesel so cant really compare performance to the jazz (we only get a 1.4 petrol jazz here), but handling was great, a really fun car to drive. Less body roll than the jazz, but its a lower down car.

I like the looks of the fiesta and if it had a bigger boot / flat folding seats then i'd consider it but too small for me at the moment. Interesting that the fiesta (according to my figures) is a tiny bit longer than the jazz, but way way less space.

would i buy one?
Well if i didnt have to load my bike in all the time, and also put a lot of climbing kit in the boot, + bouldering crash mats then i'd get one! I prefer a diesel engine (+++ economy, good performance from the 1.6, and only £35 a year to tax, instead of the £130 ish of the petrol jazz). I know its odd but as i've been driving smallish cars with diesel engines for years now (currently an Audi A3 2.0TDI) i see the jazz as a step DOWN in economy for me!!! (as its only available in petrol)
I also like the way a roof carrier mounts to fix points on the roof, rather than clamping round the door frame like on a jazz.

However... although i like the styling of the fiesta now, i think it may look a bit dated soon ish. In a way (to me) it seems a bit overstyled. It'll also be popular with the boy racers round here which could put me off it if i had one!

Sorry if its a bit jumbled this reply, trying to do 10 jobs at once!!

 

I am looking to buy soon and was going to hold out for the fiesta, but the room in the rear is tiny and the mileage may be overstated. If there is no room in the rear for storage then why buy a hatch?

 

Wow just for that +1 point to the Fit :D. If they made the floor flat when seats are folded. That would give the Fit a serious competition.

 

Well I finally went to look at one since it arrived here in the states. It is a solidly built little car! The doors have an awesome thump to them when you close them. The interior is nicely finished also as far as the quality goes. I don't like the radio controls layout though. Looks like an alien spaceship (to be fair I don't like the new Fit's controls either). It is a lot smaller in back seat and trunk area than I though it would be though. I sat in the back and had about 1 inch (2.5cm) from my head to the roof. Leg room was also cramped. Trunk was deff. tiny.

I looked at the engine bay and was very impressed with the layout. Everything was easy to get to, spark plugs right on top, oil filter easy access from bottom, etc. Tons of space to work in under the hood. (maybe they could have shifted some of that space to the inside of the car).

I have not driven it yet, but all the articles I have read have nothing bad to say about it. I am also not much for automatics in small cars but a dual clutch trans in a car this small is worth checking out I suppose. I think I would still prefer a manual though.