I purchased my 1.4 ZXi petrol Fiesta on 12th August 2007. Till now, I have covered 3000 kms and thought it to be a good time to write my 1st review.
First of all, my sincere thanks to the dealer 'South City Ford' Mathura Road for their cooperation and helpful attitude.
The car has a great steering response and great manouvering capabilities at high speeds. The pickup is excellent at 3rd and even 4th gear but there is a big let down at top gear, the rpm increase is proportinately less too. I will ask the technicians to do some fine tuning in this regard in my next servicing.
The AC is too good and comfort level is also pretty high as compared to other cars in this segment, but still can't match with the ergonomics of City especially in the rear seats.The boot space is also good but lesser than SX4, Verna & Logan.
The ground clearance may be better than City's but a little more would have been great. The bonnet opening switch at the other end of the driver's seat is also not a nice thing.
The turning radius is again great, one of the best in this segment undoubtedly.
There have been a lot of complaints about the expensive parts and servicing costs of Ford India. I am yet to encounter that...but there is definitely a lot of truth in them. One more thing I like is the dashboard but the DTE meter may not be accurate one.
I have driven this car a lot on highways...one word for drivers here...please shift a gear or two back while overtaking. It is pretty poor in this at top gear. I have felt some vibration above 120 km/ hr speed. Can't conclude just at this stage, will ask the technicians for some fine tuning.
The car has great road grip but one very interesting thing is, on bad roads, I mean, on badly finished turf, there is a considerable amount of cabin noise.
The car has a great cornering ability at high speeds, I have tested this quite a few times. Though the brakes are good, I expected them to be a little more accurate and responsive at high speeds
Lastly, talking about mileage..I haven't got anything more than 11.5km/ litre on highway and for city conditions it is only 10.5km/ litre at this stage. I can't say, how much this can go up with higher kilometres run and subsequent servicings but this figure is not what the delaers commit.
I have tried to be as honest and unbiased as possible and hope it is useful to the readers and prospective Fiesta buyers. I will write more after I cover a total of 5000kms. \
Cheers
Arijit Ghosh
New Delhi
