A while back I did a review on the Ford Fiesta ST which, while admittedly a bit on the slow side, was absolutely fantastic to drive. It was smooth, precise, responsive, everything you want from a hot hatch, all in one affordable economical package. The only thing I really saw as a threat to the Fiesta was its bigger, meaner, more powerful brother the Focus ST. As much as I loved both of those cars, one has to wonder how the non-ST badged counterparts compared, after all the platforms are proven winners.
The Fiesta I drove was basic boring black, with hubcaps and the same number of options you would find on a true/false exam. The added extras included: rear windshield wiper and 6 speed shift-able automatic transmission. Like cruise control? Doesn't have it. Power windows? Not a chance. But standard features include bluetooth connectivity, power door locks, and sweet set of manual windows as a throwback to the good ole days before window motors. Really though, I don't care about the lack of features, this is a sub $15,000 brand new car, we're lucky it even has air conditioning.
The Fiesta looks, well, plain boring when compared to an ST model, or even a base Focus. Ford has the Fusion, the Focus, the Escape, all proud and handsome in their designs, then you have the base Fiesta, a runt of the family. "Wilbur" would be a better name for the car, except that its not quite so cute as the little piglet from "Charlotte's Web." The interior is a step in the right direction, however. Though cheap feeling, it is well put together, and relatively attractive compared to the Korean competition. There really isn't anything besides black plastic inside, the only exception being a little piece of faux aluminum wrapped around the shifter. A bit cramped inside, but once everything was adjusted for me very comfortable.
Obviously, the first thing I did when I fired up the mighty 1.6 liter beast was to try to figure out how to turn off traction control (because who wouldn't?) but was promptly discouraged by the fact that there was no button. As it turns out you have to go in through the radio, go to menu, vehicle settings, then select traction control, which produces a loading bar on the brilliant (psych) LCD screen which progresses as fast as windows 95 trying to download a 1 gigabyte file. Once I finally got the popup box letting me know I was ready to do some smokey burnouts, I put the car in drive and set off.
Now everyone knows that I don't like automatics, but when Ford started putting the dual clutch system in the Fiesta, I knew it was a recipe for disaster. A dual clutch system in a Ferrari, or a BMW, or even a Volkswagen shifts quickly and crisply. This is often one of the main complaints about them, they aren't particularly smooth because they're so fast. Ford clearly didn't want have the only complaint about their car be that the transmission shifts too hard, so they decided to make the transmission terrible in every single way. Anyone who's ever tried to teach someone how to drive a manual knows the feeling produced by the new Fiesta. Rev's go up, clutch engages in a nice slippy/bucky transition, then do it all over again with a lurch into second gear.
Now being that I know how dual clutch systems can produce brutal launches, I did as any gear-head would and tried to power-brake launch the little runt. Left foot on the brake, right foot hard down, revs build to about 3500 before a launch control-like rev limiter has the car shaking slightly in anticipation. Drop the brake and the car sets off in a manner more disappointing than your child flunking out of high school. I measured a quicker take off by just stomping the gas off idle than by launching, the transmission is determined not to allow for even a hint of wheelspin in dry or wet conditions. Not only that but the car refuses to hit its anemic redline, hardly kissing 5800 RPM's before lackadaisically shifting up a gear, even in manual mode.
The next 10 angry minutes were spent trying to force the car to hit its 6500rpm limiter by any means possible. I mashed the downshift button more times than a 10 year old kid presses the X button on his PlayStation to no avail. After the first 30 miles I realized that I had been driving for an hour, and still had no clue how the car drove because I was so upset about the horrible drivetrain. Then, entirely by accident, I had my first success! 23 miles an hour (on the dot) in third gear: mash the gas while simultaneously clicking the downshift button and the car shifts into first, launching (yeah, right) the car forward up until redline, bouncing a couple times off the limiter before shifting firmly and solidly into second gear. For that second alone the car feels really good, proving that the car has some potential to not be terrible. After this success I decided to see how many times I could get the engine to bounce off the limiter, because I am a child and require some sort of fun when I drive. Again I realized that I was driving a car to review, yet I knew absolutely nothing about how it drove.
I buckled down, cranked down the window, and set off, determined to do a proper road test. I hopped onto the interstate and wound out the first three gears; a 25 second endeavor resulting in exactly 63 miles an hour before the lane ran out and I had to cut off a Land Rover because I couldn't get up to speed. The box on the window sticker claims 120 horsepower, yet I think its closer to 80. Roll the window back up and cruise steadily trying to determine how smooth, quiet, and comfortable the car is at speed. Its boring. Really boring. 30 seconds in and I'm suddenly finding myself trying to see how close to redline I can cruise at before the car shifts itself into the next gear. By slowly creeping up I manage 6100 revs for about 1/4 mile before the shift into 4th gear: I'm utterly useless at reviewing this car.
I stop for a little bit to get a cup of Starbucks, and a girl in the parking lot smiles and mentions something about liking my car. I found myself immediately offended by the fact that she thought it was mine, and couldn't resist telling her that it wasn't. She laughed and admitted that I didn't look like a Fiesta driver, but I still didn't like her or her stupid knee high socks. At this point you're probably realizing that I really don't like the car, and that you've pretty much wasted your time by reading this far because the ratio is slipping dangerously close to 90% comedic entertainment and 10% actual review, but oh well.
When I walked out from Starbucks with my Venti (yeah, I'm a man who drinks man-sized drinks) pumpkin spice latte (kidding) I smelled a slight burning clutch-like odor, so I decided to take it easy on the car for the next few miles. This brought me to a revelation about the car: it has excellent cup holders. Sure, these excellent cup holders come with sacrifice (a lack of an armrest) which is annoying, but these bad boys hold a cup of Starbucks tighter than a sorority girl holds her skinny vanilla double blended frap with extra whip.
Now that I knew that my coffee was held tightly in place, and the transmission had cooled off, I hit some back-roads to see if the base model had retained any ST DNA infused in the handling. Surprisingly, the car is still pretty fun on tight corners. Sure it understeers more, and won't cock a rear wheel like the ST version does, but its actually not bad. Paired with a manual transmission, stiffer sway bars, and a better set of shocks I think this Fiesta would be great to drive on back roads. Surprisingly to me Ford managed to make the car slightly torque steer in a fun manner, even though the car produces no measurable torque. For the first time since I set off I forgot all the negatives, and actually broke out a bit of a smile. That was, until I got to some roads quick enough that I had to shift out of second. Shifting in this car is miserable, slow, mushy, yet not smooth at all. This transmission has no place in any car, ever.
Now I know it may seem like I think the Fiesta S is the worst car in the world, but I really don't. Its cheap, economical, and I was able to fit 120 quarts of oil in the trunk. Every single qualm I have with the car is centered around the transmission. A manual would be much better, even a standard automatic would be an improvement. If you're really interested in the Fiesta, I strongly urge you to look for an ST. That car is truly a beautiful piece of engineering, but if $15,000 is your budget: get the manual transmission Fiesta S because even if it looks like a runt, it shares DNA with the ST. Now even if you already have an automatic Fiesta I still have good news! No matter how bad your choice was, you didn't screw up so bad as to buy a Chevrolet Sonic, and that's a reason to celebrate.
