Category: Superminis 
Price Range: £11,295 to £15,945
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.
It won't get much cheaper than this; Ford servicing and maintenance is affordable, insurance groupings are low, and the Fiesta's improved emissions put most models in low tax bandings.
You insurance bill will be low if you opt for a Fiesta: the entry level version 1.25 is in group 1E and even the 1.6 Zetec S will keep your bank manager happy with its group 6 rating.
Headline news on this score is the 1.6 TDCi Econetic, which releases just 98g/km, Band A - free - road tax, and 76.3mpg, thanks to revised gear ratios, lowered suspension and improved aerodynamics, low rolling-resistance tyres and other minor mods (it also has a particulate filter), but the standard 1.6 and 1.4 TDCi still return a very respectable 67.3mpg and 110g/km. The 1.6 Ti-VCT petrol gives 47.9mpg and 139g/km, good considering its performance, the 1.4 and 90bhp 1.25 both do 49.6mpg and 133g/km, and the entry-level 1.25 52.3mpg and 128g/km.
All models include the easy fuel system which means you won't have to shell out for repairs for any misfuelling disasters.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Ford Fiesta
wrote on 22 11 2008