Exterior - Ford Fiesta 1.6 S road test

Traditional three-box shape doesn't excite much, but alloys are saving grace.

Exterior

The Fiesta used to get lost in a sea of cars, but a styling update has injected much-needed aggression to the look. Subtle skirting all around, a bootlid spoiler and a front grille off the second-generation European Focus all add up to make the car look fresh. We particularly like the iridescence that shows itself at the upper edges of the headlamp lenses; the bottom of the headlamp now has a kink that has taken them from boring to exciting. The side view is quintessential sedan, but the alloys (when clean) add a lot to the design. The rear lamp cluster has been unchanged, but the bootlid spoiler adds to the character at the rear. The red 'S' badge and the chrome-tipped exhaust could've been a wee bit bigger, but overall, Ford has gone for subtle revisions rather than brash and in-yer-face. We were expecting to get a sporty blue car for our test, but what showed up was a car in a shade of brown. Or so we thought while we collected our test car in the pouring rain. When we got the car out of the basement parking lot the next morning, it turned out to be a subtle shade of purple! The registration papers called it 'Morello' like the Rage Against the Machine guitarist, so that didn't help the previous day. It looks rich in the pictures, but when clean and in direct sunlight, you notice that the paint is metallic. No chrome other than that of the badges and the muffler's tip adorns this car, yet it manages to look good. We do quite like it.