Ford Fiesta Thread: MK8 ST with 200 BHP 3cyl EcoBoost

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That's pretty impressive for a subcompact. Cars like this are why Ford is going to survive the recession. Cars like this also make me wonder what is going on at GM and why they seem incapable of building something desirable for every segment.
 
Well, they've got a bunch of great (small) cars we should have:

corsa-sri-front.jpg


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Keep in mind that the Cruze will be here next year, the Corsa may be skipped in favor of the Spark, and the Orlando will likely replace the Zafira as the MPV of choice on both sides of the Atlantic. GM makes a lot of really good (small) cars, but the problem is, a lot of them aren't sold in the US (yet).
 
GM makes some okay small cars, it's rare that a GM small car whatever it's badged as comes top of a group test here. Actually it's rare they come near the top if it's a large group being tested.
 
Well, they've got a bunch of great (small) cars we should have:

corsa-sri-front.jpg


vauxhall-zafira_460x0w.jpg


18Epica_m_m.jpg


2010_chevrolet_cruze.jpg


Keep in mind that the Cruze will be here next year, the Corsa may be skipped in favor of the Spark, and the Orlando will likely replace the Zafira as the MPV of choice on both sides of the Atlantic. GM makes a lot of really good (small) cars, but the problem is, a lot of them aren't sold in the US (yet).
I can't remember the boys on Top Gear ever saying anything good about an Opel/Vauxhall. And I have no idea what that Holdaru Legacy is all about. The Cruze actually looks cool though.
 
Do they still understeer off the road?

Also, I must admit that I rarely actually read the magazine features and columns. But of course you're the Clarkson guy.
 
You might recognize Mexico as being much closer to the United States than Europe. Thus, less expensive shipping costs and transit time. A very good, money saving decision.
 
Ofcourse I realise that, but if built quality drops then no matter how good it looks it's not going to go the way of other small cars in America. Cheap cars, cheaply made.
 
That's something we'll have to find out. Crappy build quality is a result of lax quality standards--the company doesn't care if it's built bad or not. If they keep the same high standards I don't see how quality would be able to drop besides the occasional runt.
 
Quality of the employees, quality of the manufacturing machinery, quality of materials used and quality of testing equptment and methods can all be vastly different from plant to plant. Cars built over and in Mexico have been done before and the Mexican built models have always been worse.
 
Well, they've got a bunch of great (small) cars we should have:

18Epica_m_m.jpg



Alright, I get the Corsa and the Zafira (no matter how reasonably uninteresting they are), but that? Despite its wonderfully ironic name, that's easily the least inspiring car since the Vectra. I hopped in one at the motorshow and instantly forgot it (in fact I'd forgotten it existed until you posted that picture).

Sorry, but American car industry can't be in that much of a state to require Epica-ing up just yet.
 
And no-one is worried about them being built in Mexico??

Or am I just living in the past...

You make a valid point, but the problem is that the Fords that are built in Mexico already are building some of the highest-rated models in terms of quality and reliability. The Fusion/Milan and MKZ all score exceptionally high on their tests, although off the top of my head at the moment, I can't think of any other Fords screwed together in Mexico. The Focus probably, but that's about it.
 
I'd drive one, through a mall being chased by a bad guy in a Z06. Although I'd drive my own car through a mall first haha.
 
I can tell you, courtesy of the guy I quoted in the "I'm building my own supercar, honest" thread, that Ford are really, really, really pleased with the new Fiesta. They consider it to be, by some distance, the best car in the class and the motoring press agree (there was talk that the European Car of the Year awards were... "massaged" so that the Fiesta came second by 1 point so as not to have 2 Ford winners in 3 years). It seems to be the best built too. It's lighter than its predecessor - which is a rarity in modern vehicles - and will be the firm's main source of profits from the private road vehicle sector.

Don't dismiss it out of hand because it's small - everyone who has driven one has loved it.

With regards to the country of origin... The UK car manufacturing workforce is responsible for both some of the least reliable and most dreadfully put together cars of all time (TVR, Lotus, the 1980s), but also some of the most reliable and best put together cars of all time (Civic [Swindon], Primera [Sunderland], Corolla [Burnaston]). It's not who puts it together that is the important factor - they're just following an instruction sheet. It's who designed it in the first place. There's no reason a European Fiesta should be any better or worse assembled than a Mexican one...
 
The new Fiesta is a superb little car, but no matter how well it drives it still has an interior that looks like it was designed by a 13 year old who likes drawing space ships.

The center console looks like a Nokia 8310:

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They're trying waaaay too hard to be 'cool' with it.
 
Sounds good to me :D

Could they not have got a 13 year old who could draw curves though? ;)

I prefer the new Ka myself, I think the exterior looks better, especially at the rear.
 
I hope Ford uses their kinetic design on the next mustang, or at least uses a contemporary interior. I'm really happy with Ford right now. Initially, they missed the boat but have since made a jump for it and it seems like it will pay off. GM? Forget about it. Too little to late for them.

The Big 3 in America is gonna become The Sure 4: Ford, Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai.

So as far as competition for this class, what's it look like? Honda Fit, VW Polo, Hyundai Accent, Toyota Yaris, and what else?
 
Ford's cars in Europe are almost all class-leading. The Ka heads the Citycar class with the FIAT 500 (same platform). The Fiesta heads the supermini class with the Mazda 2 (same platform). The Focus heads the small family car class with the Volvo C30 and Mazda 3 (same platform). The Mondeo heads the family car class with the Mazda6 (same platform). Their crappy people carrier thing won eCOTY 2 years ago, though I know chuff-all else about it. It's all top-of-the-class stuff, and they're at least as well put together as the more prestige vehicles in the classes.

Ford in Europe is really, really strong.
 
Which is entirely unfair, since us yanks have only recently seen the fruits of that. I'd say the ones I sat in at the auto show were as good or better inside than the Toyotas I sat in...and I sat in a Venza. Their new one.
 
We pay a lot more for our Fords, so we're entitled to better quality and better design... my 2.2 TDCi Mondeo Titanium X llists at £26k... until the recent collapse of the pound that'a close to $45k. Americans won't get the same quality as long as they expect the same car to cost $20k.. Ford would lose even more money than they already do in the US.

And the Fiesta dash is supposed to look like a mobile phone.
 
And the Fiesta dash is supposed to look like a mobile phone.

Exactly, they're trying too hard to make it 'cool'. If I wanted a phone, I'd buy a bloody phone. The dash on the last Fiesta was fairly nice, so it's not like they don't know what they're doing.

Maybe I'm just being miserable about it because my interior was designed around a marshmallow?*






*It wasn't really.
 
The new Fiesta is a superb little car, but no matter how well it drives it still has an interior that looks like it was designed by a 13 year old who likes drawing space ships.

Eh, it's not that bad.

At least not too much worse than the MkI Focus.
 
Eh, it's not that bad.

I absolutely detest it, the second I saw it at the Motor Show I couldn't believe they had actually made it look like that! Everyone else seems to like it though, so whatever floats your boat.
 
Saw the Fiesta at the Vancouver Auto Show yesterday, and I have to say, it looks even better in person. It was locked though, and on a turning table. Dammit.
 
The MK1 Focus has a pretty stellar reputation, actually. It continued to score high in small car tests and comparisons all through its life, pre-facelift, similar to how the Mazda 3 did.
 
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