The Mileage Champion. Review on Ford Fiesta TDCI

My car is now more than a year old and I am appending a 1 year review to the earlier one I had written a year ago

1. The car is an absolute mileage champion. It gives me close to 17 kms a liter of diesel in Bangalore’s chok a block traffic consistently since the 4th tank full. It started with 13.5 kmpl in the first tank full and kept increasing thereafter but has now stabilized at 17 kmpl

   
   




2. Power is adequate and I dont feel it is underpowered in the city. The torque is good and takes care of any perceived lack of power in the lower gears(2nd and 3rd)

   
   




3. The gearshift is an absolute beauty

   
   




4. Electricals are fantastic and the system is on par with its western counterparts with features like auto switch off of head lights left on

   
   




5. Internal space is adequate for a 6 footer like me and I dont think it should be an issue with most others. However I wish it was wider than what it is currently

   
   

3rd Generation Diesel Engine in Fiesta

The Diesel engine employed ALL other diesel cars including the Verna, the Logan and the Swift are 2nd generation CRD(Common Rail Diesel) engines unlike the 3rd gen CRD engine employed on the Fiesta. 3rd gen engines are far smoother than 2nd gen ones as they employ piezo electric crystals in timing the fuel injection into the engine unlike electrical solenoids used in 2nd gen ones. Ford also has a feature called the Accelerometer Pilot Control(APC) to reduce engine noise and has an aluminium engine. The Fiesta is therefore a much lighter engine producing higher power and torque. In fact the Fiesta is the only car in India with a 3rd gen CRD engine other than the Mercedes benz!

Aircon Technology in Fiesta

One great feature of the Fiesta that I believe may not be available in any of its C segment competitors is the variable cubic capacity AC compressor. The advantage of this technology is that as we make changes to the temperature of the AC the response is immediate in the Fiesta, 1 second to be exact whether I decrease the temperature or increase it. Simply SUPERB.

Gas Shock Absorbers

The Fiesta has all 4 gas shox but is still bumpy on Bangalore’s terrible roads!

Handling Fuel Outage

Another great point on the Fiesta is the way they have handled the issue of fuel outage. In Diesel cars, if there is a fuel outage, it is a pain to get it running back. In the Fiesta the car stops when there is some fuel still left, thereby creating an artifical fuel outage and allowing you to restart the car without any hassles by just going and filling in 7 liters of diesel in the tank. This however is not the case with other diesel cars where airblocks get in and sometimes cause severe engine damage.

Handling Turbo Lag

In diesel cars one issue that is a sore point is something called as the "Turbo Lag". What this means is that the turbo which actually causes the diesel engine to develop more power, does not start till the engine does not hit 2000 RPM. So till 2000 RPM you have a very sluggish car which suddenly gets a kick when the odometer needle touches 2000 RPM. This is the case with the Logan, the Indigo and hold your breath, even the Swift Diesel which is proclaimed the world’s best diesel engine! In the Fiesta, the turbo has been designed to kick off at 1200 RPM and hence turbo lag is reduced in a very big way. The car behaves just like a petrol car in terms of its revvability, despite the high torque.

Overall Driveability

The Fiesta Diesel’s controls like the accelerator pedal and clutch are as soft and delightful as would be a top end petrol car. Diesels usually have heavy clutch and accelerator pedals. Also the Fiesta has incorporated a technology called the "Drive By Wire" technology where the accelerator pedal is not connected to the engine via a wire as is the case with other cars. It is sensor driven and hence very responsive. Overall Ford has done a great job on the driver’s position, driveability and the fuel efficiency. What remains to be seen now is the reliability and durability of this car.

One Year Update:

After one year of use and having test driven on multiple occasions products which are competing with the Fiesta Diesel, the following are my observations

1. The car though endowed with good build quality is not as robust and'tagada' as the Ikon

   
   




2. The ground clearance is poor and I would advise people living in areas with poor roads to stay clear off this product. I am not sure however if other sedans are in any way better. I would rather reco a product like the Fusion, the SX4 or even the Scorpio to address this issue. The GC in these cars is equal to or more than 190 mm.

   
   




3. The mileage is good and over a period of time it has averaged a good 15 kmpl in Bangalore city

   
   




4. I drove the Hyundai Verna Diesel on multiple occasions and those of you who are amazed at it, please drive the Fiesta Diesel to know what refinement is. The Verna Diesel not just vibrates but also develops a humming sound that can get very irritating at around the 1200-1300 rpm levels. Gear shift quality is far lower than that of the Fiesta

   
   




5. I drove the much admired and much awaited Suzuki Swift Diesel and was truly disappointed with the fashion in which power was delivered by the engine. For once the engine at idle is far less noisy than the Fiesta but you can hear a very distinct and irritating rattle as long as you put your foot on the pedal. Power delivery is poor below 2000 RPM and it just kicks off like hell once it crosses that limit. It beats not just the Fiesta but also the Verna once it goes beyond this limit.

   
   

Just pay attention to these performance figures

20-80 kmph-3rd gear 40-100 kmph-4th gear 0-100 kmph Turbolag

Fiesta Diesel 12.5 secs appx 16.5 secs appx 17.5 secs appx 1200 rpm

Verna Diesel 12.5 secs appx 16.5 secs appx 11.5 secs appx 2000 rpm

Swift Diesel 10.5 secs appx 14.5 secs appx 15.0 secs appx 2000 rpm