a peek inside the fishbowl

Sorry folks, this is not a giveaway. (I wish it was!)

A couple months ago I was offered to test drive a new Ford Fiesta for a week. I agreed to do it. Why the heck not? As much as I like our Prius I figured it would be a great opportunity to drive something small and sporty.

There was a bunch of back and forth emailing between me and the PR agency. And then, by way of an offhand FYI I was told that the car I’d be driving is a standard. (Surprise!) I replied that I didn’t know how to drive standard. I wrote, and I quote; “If you don’t have an automatic it’ll have to be Mr. Fish that drives and reviews it. Not sure how you feel about that…”

They didn’t seem to care that although the review was supposed to be mine I didn’t actually know how to drive the car. I questioned the usefulness of this, buuuuut the got the car anyway. Is it worth posting about my view from the passenger seat? I’m not convinced, but Mark agreed to jot down a few words. Here they are! (With my interruptions … because that’s what I do!)

Testing the new Ford Fiesta

Back in the late 80’s or early 90’s, I dated a woman who drove a first generation red Ford Fiesta. I remember making fun of her car choice [ed: NICE!] but later came to realize that she bought it because it was functional, cheap, and easy on gas. It wasn’t really a very reliable car though and it slowly faded from existence… at least in North America. Turns out this little car kept plodding along in other markets throughout the world.

Fast forward to today and the sixth generation Ford Fiesta makes a return to North America with a car that is still functional, cheap and easy on gas but this time with a little more style.

Our family was given a lime green (yes lime green) [ed: OMG – it was so bright it lit up the neighborhood!] Fiesta to take for a week long test drive. Andrea is not able to drive a standard so the task of driving the car fell on me. I love driving a standard car and it’s not something I often get a chance to do since our last two cars have been automatic. [Ed: I know that you think you’re slumming Mark!] For me driving an automatic is like driving a golf cart. Step on the gas and go. I love standard shift. You actually feel like you are driving the car…making important decisions based on when to shift gears by listening for the proper rev in the engine… but wait, what’s that yellow light showing up on the dash as I accelerate? It took me a while to realize the yellow lit up arrow on the tachometer was a prompt to tell me when it was time to change gears. Initially I took exception to this dumbing down of the driving process but my time with our Toyota Prius has taught me that fuel saving prompts are never a bad thing and I suspect that’s what the yellow arrow is for. Shift now or drive inefficiently. Your choice.

Speaking of fuel efficiency this small car has it in spades… it’s no Prius but it did get a respectable 8 litres/100 km in the time that we drove it. That’s a little bit better than our previous small car, a 1999 Mazda Protégé. (Our Prius by the way gets under 5 litres/100 km in the summer)… and on the “it’s no Prius” vein, it costs considerably less than a Prius… but it’s probably not a fair comparison. The Fiesta is more properly compared to the Mazda 2 and in that category the prices are not dissimilar. It’s a well optioned car with Bluetooth, satellite radio and the usual bells and whistles including the gimmicky feature of different coloured interior lights. (Pink. Blue. Red. Purple.) My kids loved the lights but they did nothing for me except diminish my feelings about this being a “guys” car. [Ed: I thought it was gimmicky too, and didn’t see the point. And what about the seat warmers that only had two settings? Off and on?] 

On the definite downside was the suspension. Holy Hanna I thought that sunken area on our street had sunk another foot before I realized it was merely the way the car handled the bump. Very clunky. Very. The doors were very tinny feeling as well but I’ve come to expect that from any sub $20,000 car.

All in all, I’d say it was a fun car to drive. I think it would be well-suited as a second (female driven) car (sorry … unless they change those colour schemes it’s just not a guys car) or as a student/young persons first car.

My last word on this is that I am not traditionally a North American car person but Ford has gone to great lengths to nearly win me over with some of their cars. They do seem to be the only North American car company that seems to “get it”. The future looks bright for them… almost as bright as that lime green paint job!

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Thank you Mark! I hope someday you will get to test drive a Porsche Carrera GT.  

Personally, I think it would make a cute second car for a family who doesn’t want to rely solely on their monster mini-van or SUV. (Have you seen the price of gas lately?) Or, as Mark mentioned, a first car for a university student. It is a small car indeed, but how much car do people need? 

We went through this when we bought the Prius. We thought long and hard about what we actually use the car for. The answer was: (a) tooting around the city (b) going to work and (c) occasionally coming home a few bags of groceries thrown in the back. And we don’t need a big car for all that.

Melanie Coulson of the Ottawa Citizen wrote a review of the car too. You can read her thoughts here. I agree with a lot of what she said. Funny thing… she test drove the exact same car we did. The PR firm dropped it off at the Citizen right after we had it. Good thing she knew how to drive a stick eh? :)