Ford Fiesta 1.6i Sport 120 CV, road test (part I)

I still remember the presentation of the model at the Madrid Motor Show in 2008, with that exceptional display of choreography, lights and sound, where the dancers stepped into a screen wearing one outfit and came out in a completely different one, Superman-style. Ford wanted to do the same with this model, going from a conventional design to what it calls Kinetic Design, which began with the Focus, if I remember correctly.

There is no doubt it has succeeded: it has completely transformed its design, both inside and out, and it has come out a winner. Proof of this are the Kuga and the Mondeo (already tested). We were missing the little brother (though not the baby Ford Ka, recently facelifted), and here it is. From the day I first saw it, it caught my eye, but since, as the saying goes, “appearances can be deceiving”, we wanted to check for ourselves whether the saying applies to this model or not. Will you join me?

Engine and performance

The version we tested had the most powerful petrol engine, a 1.6-litre unit that delivers 120 CV at 6,000 rpm. Maximum torque of 152 Nm arrives at 4,050 rpm, and it reaches 100 km/h from a standstill in 9.9 seconds. Figures that are more than acceptable for such a small car, without being an overly sporty version.

The sensation when pressing the accelerator is one of total smoothness, with no jerks, although it builds speed as you ask it to, which avoids unnecessary increases in consumption thanks to its variable valve timing. I say this because it is not a car for racing, but rather for the city and running errands, which it does very well. For racing, we have already presented others. Its top speed does not reach 200 km/h; more precisely, it tops out at 193 km/h, which is enough for a good journey.

Once you get used to sixth gear, driving a car with only five is not good. More than once I have tried to make the car feel more lively at higher speeds, only to realise it cannot go any faster. Nevertheless, it is a comfortable gear and nothing more is needed; it has plenty of pulling power, which keeps it from being very noisy on the motorway at normal speeds. With a little music on, you will hardly hear the wind.

Since the Sport trim (3-door) is fitted, the suspension calibration is firmer than in the 5-door version. Even so, the handling is excellent, both through corners and under braking, noticeably reducing lap times compared with the other version. It has independent suspension and an anti-roll bar at the front and semi-independent suspension at the rear. There is no harshness at any point, either in town or on the motorway, but you do notice that when entering a corner it is a little nose-heavy and struggles somewhat.

This pitching may be due to the steering, which we found slightly softer than usual. Granted, it is a city car, and the softer the steering, the better and the less effort it takes to manoeuvre around town, but on the open road it is noticeable. The tyres it comes with as standard are 195/50 R15.

The brakes, on the other hand, we found up to the job despite having drum brakes at the rear and ventilated 258 mm discs on the front steering wheels. Braking is clean and powerful, triggering the safety systems under emergency stops but giving a sense of security at all times. Its response on wet roads in terms of traction, steering and braking proved equal to the conditions.

It has a small 45-litre fuel tank, with a theoretical range of just over 900 kilometres. We did not come anywhere near that figure. With an on-board average of 86 km/h we used 13.32 litres and covered 238 kilometres. The average works out at 5.6 l per 100 km. If we move up to around 120 km/h, the average figure soars to 7.3 litres per 100 km. The low engine capacity (1.6 litres and 120 CV) makes these figures logical.

I found the range indicator on the on-board computer curious. It displayed down to hectometres, something I had never seen before, and wanting to test it to the limit, we managed to see a reading of just under 9 kilometres of range. It is the first car I have seen that shows decimals and that displays a value below 10 kilometres that is not 0.

As I mentioned at the beginning, its exterior design caught the eye (although some people do not like it at all), but what about the interior? Does it also catch the eye? We will find out in the next part.