Category: Superminis 
Price Range: £10,595 to £15,395
Fun to drive; cheap to buy and run; comfortable and refined; good engines; sharper design.
Rear-seat space not great; no flat-folding/tumbling/sliding rear seats.
The Fiesta is back at the party; a super new supermini that would merit the full five stars if had had a little more load-space versatility.
The Ford Fiesta has long been one of Europe's favourite small cars - a runaway success from first launch in 1976, it defined the then-new so-called 'supermini' sector and more than 12million Fiestas have been sold to date. Ford has high hopes for this new model, on sale in the UK from October 2008: it's going global, from Asia to America.
As ever, there's an extensive range of versions to choose from; petrol engines are the familiar 1.25 and 1.4 or an all-new 120bhp 1.6 Ti-VCT (its name denoting twin independent camshaft timing), and the diesels 1.4 and 1.6 TDCi units, including the specially-modified 1.6 TDCi Econetic, which emits just 98g/km of carbon dioxide and is thus road tax-exempt in the UK.
Trim levels range from entry-level Studio through to sporty Zetec S and with-all-mod-cons Titanium, and there are three- and five-door body-styles.
The new Fiesta is 40kg lighter than the outgoing model, despite extra sound-proofing and added safety features, and this helps to make it much more fun to drive than the rather disappointing outgoing model.
Better-looking, more refined and comfortable, and - crucially, these days - more economical to run, it's a vast improvement, and it sets a new standard for mainstream, low-cost small cars. Low-cost? UK prices start from just £8,695 but this is no more than a headline-grabbing price because it is ridiculously spartan in terms of kit. You'll need to spend around £11k if want a decent amount of equipment but, really, that's not a king's ransom in this sector. Even the 1.6 Zetec S (featuring that superb new 1.6 Ti-VCT engine) is only £12,595.
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Latest Readers' Drives About the Ford Fiesta
wrote on 22 11 2008