Ford Fiesta 2006 Review

7-day Test

2006 Ford Fiesta LX/Zetec/Ghia

As so often happens with European models, the entry-level Fiesta LX works best on Australian roads out of all the Fiestas. When the $15,990 sticker includes air-con, spending the extra $700 on ABS leaves you with the same mechanical package as the Zetec for a saving of almost $2000.

You won't miss the Zetec fog lights and for everyday commuting, the softer standard suspension and smaller 15-inch steel wheels with higher profile tyres are more comfortable. The taller LX and Ghia gearing delivers slightly better economy.

The LX is surprisingly well-equipped with airbags, power windows/mirrors and leather-wrapped steering wheel. Cabin layout, gauges and storage are better than some more expensive European small cars. Because it's German, the LX suspension settings and edgy handling are as firm as most Australian drivers would want -- perhaps too tight if the roads are lumpy. The new LX seat trim pattern, rubber gear-lever boot and black cabin accents are as classy as the upper levels.

From 20 metres, no one will know that it's not a Ghia, nor a Zetec which is good news for the entry LX buyer. After living with each one for seven days I had to look up the brochure to tell you the only way anyone can identify the three-door LX from the Zetec model are the alloys and fog lights. Even then you would have to count the spokes on the wheel covers to be sure.

The Fiesta LX always feels cheeky and slightly raucous in an agile and entertaining way. It wins awards because it goes hard, handles and stops well yet is quite comfortable if you don't mind a firm, sporty feel. And that is why it is neither a Corolla nor Focus substitute if you don't want their extra bulk. It is noisier, not as relaxed on the highway and doesn't pretend to be anything other than a youthful runabout.

For a driver, it will cover long distances without working up a sweat or giving you any aches and pains but the surprisingly roomy back seat is still best for children over longer distances. The pokey 1.6-litre engine which allows the Fiesta to stay with most 2-litre small cars in performance delivers useful savings at the pump with Ford's claimed 6.6litres/100km quite achievable.

Ford's Fiesta facelift brought more changes to the Zetec than any other Fiesta level. Now much more than a dress-up pack, the Zetec brings lowered and stiffer suspension, upgraded dampers, more aggressive front anti-roll bar and revised suspension bushes front and rear. It delivers the best small hatch this side of a Renault Clio Sport and VW Polo GTI at a substantial saving.

While the Zetec is no match for either in the grunt department, a new close-ratio manual transmission unique to the Zetec ensures that its 74kW/146Nm is always accessible under Australian speed limits. Zetec gear ratios change the character of the Fiesta completely as can be seen when compared with the standard ratios in brackets: 1st: 3.58 (3.15), 2nd: 2.04 (1.93), 3rd: 1.41 (1.28), 4th: 1.11 (0.95), 5th: 0.88 (0.76). Final drive: 4.06 (4.25). Where the standard Fiesta manual sacrifices top-end acceleration to get you cruising as frugally as possible in an overdrive fourth or fifth, the Zetec launches with a strong first gear and continues the rush each time you change gear.

The power seamlessly flows into the next gears without hesitation as the ratios overlap and keep the willing engine in its sweet spot. Even fourth, which is closer to the standard Fiesta's third gear delivers serious overtaking punch at cruising speeds. Ford lists an increase in fuel consumption of just 0.2litres/100km but driven sensibly the Zetec seemed to do better in busier conditions where it was so much easier to always be in the right gear.

Because the Fiesta's healthy Duratec engine figures are measured using 95 RON European unleaded, not Australia's basic 91 RON unleaded, the Zetec's close-ratios should be a better match if you must run it on 91 RON unleaded. The engine can also adapt to 98 RON Premium which should generate even better fuel economy if the Zetec gear ratios allow you to change up earlier. Zetec drivers (keen LX/Ghia owners too) would do well to experiment with the different fuels and keep close records to find which best suits their usage.

Although the new seat trim and various cabin upgrades make the Zetec a better place to live, it has become a far more specialized model that might be too hard-edged for some as a runabout. Its go-kart handling and lightning directional changes are a refreshing move away from the stodge seen so often under $20,000 but they do demand more of the driver. The Zetec feels alive and communicative and its linear throttle response as a manual is one of the best at any price when so many current models don't do what they are told.

There are a few quibbles: There is a temperature gauge as there always should be in Australia but its rotation means the needle will sit halfway if the engine is overheating. The fuel gauge also sits halfway if the fuel tank is full. This forces you to read the dials, not glance at the needles. The speedo scale features odd numbers, not the typical even number speeds you encounter in Australia.

There is no footrest or driver's seat height or steering-column reach adjustment but the controls, storage and quality of everything you touch is top shelf. The remote key pad buttons need better differentiating for night use.

Ford has a great local tradition of small hatches including the KA/KB Laser Sport and the KC/KE Laser TX3 which remained highly sought-after from cradle to grave for top resale. The Zetec is bigger in every dimension except length than the icon "bubble back” TX3 and is at least several leagues ahead in engineering, safety, packaging and performance yet it risks disappearing into obscurity.

There is nothing, apart from the meaningless Zetec name, to tell other drivers you are not driving grandma's car. The Zetec deserves at least a Sports or XR3 badge with suitable graphics, badging or exterior treatment including a unique alloy wheel style.

The Germans might think it is smart not to tell anyone you are driving the lowliest or sportiest or the most luxurious model but this is Australia, which brings us to the next Fiesta model.

The big news for the Fiesta Ghia auto facelift was a price drop of $2300. Although the Ghia makes much more sense under the latest pricing given all its extra equipment, its blinkered engineering approach cannot deliver the plushest and smoothest light car on the market.

Although the Fiesta Ghia has all the raw material to be that car, it is no better than the base LX in these vital areas.

After I rode in the award-winning Indian Ford Fiesta sedan developed by Australian engineers for the sub-continent, I asked why its benchmark isolation from road shock, extra suspension travel and magic carpet ride were not offered in the local Fiesta Ghia hatch.

The response was that the hard-edged German approach was better for Australians. At the risk of bursting a few Australian bubbles, may I remind Ford engineers that our secondary roads and low speed limits have more in common with Indian conditions than flat-out autobahn blasting across Germany...

The Fiesta Ghia should be a hot seller as an up-to-date top shelf replacement for a late 1980s hatch whose owner doesn't want the extra size of today's small cars. Even though it can do the job, it will feel like a backward step.

Several older passengers described their ride in the Fiesta Ghia as coarse and unrefined. What is brilliant and involving in lesser models for a younger driver, is a turn-off in the Ghia especially when the four-speed auto seems to have the engine revving noisily most of the time.

The Ghia adds velour trim and two-tone cabin furniture in only one light colour yet it is not as plush as local Fairmont trim and marks easily. Although the extra features make a superficial difference to convenience, the Ghia needs a much smoother ride, less road noise and a more relaxed sounding engine at this level.

The Ghia still feels like a frenetic little hatch which is endearing and entertaining in LX and Zetec form but it will make a Corolla seem like a luxury model to older buyers even at base level.

Cruise control, hidden centre console storage and extra driver's seat adjustment are just some of the missing features luxury buyers want when a small or light car becomes an empty nester's sole replacement for a combination of family cars.

That still leaves the Fiesta Ghia as a benchmark design in safety, engine, handling, compact vehicle size and all round vision. Booming light car sales suggest this is exactly what many owners are now looking for.

Yet until the Ghia loses its sharp-edged, 'German is best' approach to noise and ride refinement, its greatest use to Ford dealers might be to highlight why buyers should move into a Focus.