Ford Fiesta

Best-selling Fiesta is fun to drive, good-looking and cheap to run

Auto Express Car Reviews

Rating:
Latest deal price: from £8,350 to £13,590
For : Brilliant to drive, smartly styled, cheap to run
Against : Not as spacious as rivals, cheap plastics, expensive extras

The Ford Fiesta is a great all-rounder – and one of the best Fords ever. It beats the Vauxhall Corsa and Volkswagen Polo in virtually every way, combining stylish looks inside and out with a driving experience that simply isn’t bettered in the class. The downsides are a slight lack of cabin space and some low-rent plastics.

Our pick: 80bhp 1.25-litre Zetec

Video: watch CarBuyer's video review of the Ford Fiesta

Styling

Few superminis are more stylish than the Fiesta. With bold headlights, chic rear taillights and a shape that mixes lots of angles and curves, this is a very good looking car – and a real leap over its bland predecessor. Zetec S models are pricey but they come with a sporty bodykit and design alloys.

Interior

The smart design continues on the inside with a neat mobile phone-inspired centre console, some stylish switchgear and neat dials. It’s very easy for all shapes and sizes to get comfortable as the steering adjusts for reach and rake and there’s lots of travel in the seats. There are five trim levels in all – Studio cars are a bit basic, but Edge versions have air-con and remote central locking as well as electric windows. Zetec models are sporty, while Titanium cars are luxurious.

Driving and Performance

This is where the Fiesta scores big. With sharp steering, an agile chassis and a decent amount of grip, there a few cars that are more fun to drive. But it’s not just good on a country road, it has a big-car feel on the motorway too – it's quiet and refined with a comfortable, if firm ride. There’s a wide range of petrol engines, with 59bhp and 80bhp 1.25-litre units, a 95bhp 1.4 and a 118bhp 1.6. The diesels include a 67bhp 1.4 and a 94bhp 1.6. Our choice is the 80bhp 1.25 petrol, which provides a fine blend of performance at a good price.

MPG and running costs

The Fiesta is very cheap to run thanks to good fuel economy, reasonable servicing costs and strong residual values. We’d stick with the 1.25-litre petrol, which does around 50mpg. For those who do the occasional motorway jaunt but spend of your time in the city too, the lowest bills come with the 1.6 diesel Econetic version which does 68mpg and emits less than 100g/km of CO2.

Practicality

Five-door versions have more space for rear passengers than three-door models, but the Fiesta isn't as spacious as a Volkswagen Polo or Renault Clio. The boot is good for the class, even if the lip is quite high. The rear seats split and fold flat so you can increase the luggage area.

Safety and reliability

Thanks to a five-star EuroNCAP crash test rating, and standard features such as stability control and five airbags – including a driver's knee ’bag – the little Ford ticks all the right boxes. A slight negative is the fact that some poor quality plastics have crept into the cabin and curtain airbags are only available as an option. Ford has made big efforts to improve reliability across the board and the Fiesta continues that approach.

For an alternative review of the latest Ford Fiesta visit our sister site carbuyer.co.uk

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3 Comments

4.5 Stars for styling!

Please AE stop dumbing down, we're not all that naive and gullible some of us have independent minds as well as good taste. Im an industrial designer and I'd give it 1 star. Welcome to the real world!

By JTravolta77 on 18 August, 2011, 11:01pm

Why 5 stars???

I recently drove a Fiesta for 8 days and was really surprised at how much I disliked it. The drvers seat was almost touching the rear seat when I adjusted it so no one could sit behind me and the ultra cheap plastic dials were a shock as was the uncomfortable firm ride. I cannot believe this car gets a 5 star rating. Yes it was quiet with sharp steeering but the rest was poor. IMHO A Kia Soul is much better than this.

By billdyke7 on 3 October, 2011, 11:39am

A fair review

I'm not sure where the hate has come from, but having lived with a fiesta for the last 12 months (having come from a 00 golf & 02 A4), I will concede the plastics are cheap and do let the interior down but £ for £ it's arguably the best small hatch on the market. Economy is consistently close to quoted figures, it handles itself well on the odd country lane and feels much bigger than it actually is on the motorway.

If people are going to criticise reviews, they ought to be better informed.

By eshrules on 21 March, 2012, 8:24am

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Pictures

Ford Fiesta