Ford FIESTA review

Few cars have so rich a history as the Ford Fiesta. This is the seventh generation since its launch in 1976.

At its launch in 2008, this latest incarnation was as distinctive as the previous version was not. It was a genuinely handsome car, but like most modern Fords, ubiquity softened the impact of its design. 
It was given a nose job in 2013 as part of a number of visual tweaks, and new engines were introduced to ensure it continued to cut a dash. But while the success of the huge trapedozial grille treatment has been widely debated, the addition of the three-cylinder 1.0-litre Ecoboost engine has been roundly praised.

Predictably for a car that has become the UK’s top seller, the range is vast, overlapping the smaller Ka at the bottom and the larger Focus at the top.

Aside from the new three-pot Ecoboost engine in two power outputs, powerplants include 1.25, 1.4 and 1.6-litre petrols and 1.4 and 1.6-litre diesels. Trim levels are the familiar Studio, Edge, Zetec and Titanium, all of which are available on the in three and five-door models. There are also the low-CO2 Econetic models to look out for.

Perhaps the Fiesta’s biggest trump card is its big-car feel. At its 2007 launch, no other cooking supermini felt as solid or grown up, and its ride shamed cars from a class or two above. Handling offered a verve that even some hot hatches failed to match.

Although the three-door Ford Fiesta has a more rakish, sporting silhouette, the five-door Fiesta’s window outline is not dissimilar to the three-door’s. “We took the five-door design as seriously as the three-door,” says Ford’s chief exterior designer, Stefan Lamm. “Both cars are based on the same body, which makes the five-door particularly sporty and dynamic.”

Pedestrian impact regulations make for longer frontal overhangs these days. The A-pillar’s descent is aimed at the centre of the front wheel to help visually shorten it, while the small quarterlight improves visibility and helps extend the rising chrome line to give the body some length.

The headlights’ sharp rearward sweep is meant to make a visual impact and shorten the apparent shutline of the bonnet. The steep vertical rake helps pedestrian impact protection and is also meant to give the Fiesta a more upmarket look than the pre-facelift model.

Martin Smith, Ford of Europe’s executive director of design, reckons the rear — where the roofline sweeps into the spoiler and the tail lights sit high on the corners — is the most distinctive part of the new Fiesta. It’s not unusual for workaday hatchbacks to be given a strong horizontal graphic at the rear. The grey ‘diffuser’ is meant to draw the eye outwards towards the wheels and to accentuate any dynamic stance.

The kick at the rear edge of the back window is now a Ford signature and helps boost visibility. The outline of the window, meanwhile, is barely changed from that on the Verve concept car which previewed the production car.

The pronounced wheel arch ‘lips’ are also a feature on new European Ford models. They’re meant to give some tension and muscularity to what otherwise might be large and flatly dull panels.

With MacPherson strut front suspension, a torsion beam suspending the rear and a monocoque steel body, there is little technically that we haven’t seen before.

Open the door to the Ford Fiesta and it’s difficult not to be struck by how stylish and dramatic it appears. Plain vertical surfaces have been all but banished, with the entertainment controls swooping away on the dash top. The dials are sited sweetly in pods, while the steering wheel appears sportingly styled and the gear lever – while not as high as in some rivals – sits pleasingly close to the action. It’s an instant, gratifying hit.

Such was the visual and ergonomic appeal, the 2013 facelift saw only minor changes to the positioning of electric window and heated seat switches and door handles. 

Under closer scrutiny, some neat touches still impress: gloss black or metallic silvered areas (although obviously plastic) look decent enough and there’s a small panel between the glovebox lid and the dash top that emits a classy, ambience-inducing glow when the lights are on. 

The dashboard top is pleasingly textured in soft-touch material, too. From there on in, however, the Fiesta’s interior gets more ordinary. Everything appears accurate and well constructed, but while there’s that soft texture to the dash (which you’re unlikely to touch much), you’ll find harder plastics on the door caps, which will get touched far more frequently. Likewise on the otherwise neatly styled heating and ventilation controls, and the rest of the centre console.

We have, however, come to expect fine ergonomics from Ford, and the Fiesta is no exception. The driving position is very good, with the Zetec getting comfortable seats that even adjust for height. The steering wheel moves for reach and rake, pedals are well spaced and the minor switchgear operates with precision. But while the driver is as well catered for as in any car in the class, that’s less the case for passengers or luggage.

The interior is no more than respectably spacious for four averagely sized adults, and those in the rear seats will have to wind their own windows and do without roof-mounted grab handles. Storage space is better: the Fiesta has a false boot floor, which can be adjusted for height to make it easier to load and unload heavy luggage, while a central rear armrest and larger door pockets aid day-to-day usability.