FIESTA Better Than Corolla Cars Guide

csv8 · 21-11-2009, 06:47 PM

2009 Carsguide Car of the Year finalists

20 November 2009

Ford Fiesta

THE baby of the Ford family faces the compact heroes of Japan and Korea but comes up trumps in the light-car class. It looks good, is efficient, but - best of all - is surprisingly sporty and enjoyable to drive. A good reason to look beyond a Corolla.

Price: from $16,450
Engine: 1.6-litre four, twin-overhead camshafts
Output: 88kW/6000 revs, 152Nm/4050revs, 6.1L/100km, 143g/km

dannyhilton · 21-11-2009, 07:24 PM

Now if the buying public would realise this. Most of us have known this since the Fiesta landed on our shores in 2004. If only the aircon wasn't so gutless...

Fi.ES.TA · 21-11-2009, 07:49 PM

Rapid i also said the air-con was but if you shut off the passenger side vents it makes a massive difference im having to turn my air-con down now as it gets way to cold try it people ;)

south21 · 21-11-2009, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fi.ES.TA

Rapid i also said the air-con was but if you shut off the passenger side vents it makes a massive difference im having to turn my air-con down now as it gets way to cold try it people ;)

By shutting the side vents all your doing is forcing more air to come out of the centre vents it's not making the air colder.

regards

south21

Noddy · 21-11-2009, 10:21 PM

Guys i'm looking to buy one of these things for the inlaws. Is there an issue with the aircon not handling our climate? I live in QLD so the aircon needs to be effective....

Zetec-4-Me · 21-11-2009, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noddy

Guys i'm looking to buy one of these things for the inlaws. Is there an issue with the aircon not handling our climate? I live in QLD so the aircon needs to be effective....

I live SouthWest of Brissie (& recently we've been having 37oC+ temps) and my WS aircon keeps me comfortably cool! I did originally think that it took a long time to cool the car initially (when I first hopped in) but since I've had the windows tinted the darkest possible, the cars cooler generally so it gets cold a lot quicker.

I know that a few people seem to have problems with the air-con but thankfully I don't have an issue with mine at all. I must admit that the Accent I traded for the WS had better aircon as it cooled a hot car quicker, but seeing as it's been especially hot here lately, it's not struggling to keep up either :-)

Fi.ES.TA · 21-11-2009, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by south21

By shutting the side vents all your doing is forcing more air to come out of the centre vents it's not making the air colder.

regards

south21

Thats what i should of said but it definatley is colder with them shut off
due to all the air being forced through the 2 drivers vents.

robjh80 · 21-11-2009, 11:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Noddy

Guys i'm looking to buy one of these things for the inlaws. Is there an issue with the aircon not handling our climate? I live in QLD so the aircon needs to be effective....

Don't know about the new WS Aircon but in the WP/WQ series the aircon is complete rubbish! ... it pretty much just takes the edge of the heat in the cabin and makes it bearable, certainly doesn't make it cool as such.

Iv'e owned both a WQ Zetec and now the WQ XR4 and the aircon in both cars is garbage.

csv8 · 22-11-2009, 12:11 AM

I have a WQ Zetec..no problems with my aircon. Have you had the gas checked ??? I also have the windows tinted, don't know if that helps ???

greenfoam · 22-11-2009, 12:44 AM

If you leave the car out in the 40c+ sun for half the day then jump in, it does really struggle to cool the car down, but if you left from somewhere undercover it is able to keep the car cool inside at any sane temp. Certainly more than enough for anywhere in coastal QLD which doesnt get very hot anyway

GoesLikeAZetec · 22-11-2009, 12:55 AM

We've had a fair few days over 40 recently. We noticed if we put the sun shade up, the air con worked perfectly... It seems that left in the hot sun... those dash plastics get super hot and take ages to cool down..

As soon as we put the sun shade up it was 90% better.

greenfoam · 22-11-2009, 11:38 AM

Where did you get a sun shade that fit the window, none of the ones I have fit the strange dimensions of the thing

StormyKnight · 22-11-2009, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoesLikeAZetec

... It seems that left in the hot sun... those dash plastics get super hot and take ages to cool down..

Thats a very valid point, radiant heat off the dash will continue to heat up the air especially around the passengers faces - where they feel it the most!

The other issue is the large front glass area, a lot of sun can come in there.

GoesLikeAZetec · 22-11-2009, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by greenfoam

Where did you get a sun shade that fit the window, none of the ones I have fit the strange dimensions of the thing

Thats a very good question because none fit properly.. (hurry up and make one ford!!!!)

It takes a bit of fiddling but you can get a normal one to stay with a bit of holding your tongue in the right spot kinda thing.... As soon as we did that though its been 1000 times better.

Like stormy said, the radiant heat of that huge plastic dash area takes ages to cool.. But that all said it really isnt as good as other small cars ive had before.. You wont be sweating, but you wont be cold either....

LeadFoot81 · 26-11-2009, 11:59 AM

I thought we were the only ones re: the really average air con!

The WS definitely deserves that sort of praise from Cars Guide, even my father in law is impressed with them (works at a dealership and sees only the faults in cars)

fiestaz · 29-11-2009, 05:05 PM

the air con in my WP Fiesta Zetec seems to work great. it will spend all day outside in really hot temperatures, and about 5 seconds after i turn the car on the air coming out of the vents is cold. if i leave it for about 30 seconds before i get in the car its comfortable temp to set off in.