Review: Ford Fiesta 1.0 EcoBoost PowerShift Trend
| by Tristan Wiggill
Ford Fiesta 1.0 EcoBoost
PowerShift Trend
Late last year Ford South Africa announced that the Ford Fiesta would be offered with a PowerShift automatic
transmission in combination with its acclaimed 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine. I drove this very car for a week in March.
Interior
This comes as a surprise,
given the dual-clutch
arrangement. This delay
often had me accelerating
more than I had originally
intended, subsequently
thwarting any desire I had
to remain as reasonably
economical as possible.
The Fiesta’s interior is
bold, hip and funky and
should appeal to the less
conservative motorist.
Hardened plastic dominates
the modern, bulging
dashboard design and
there are many, many
buttons to manipulate the
car’s impressive SYNC
infotainment system.
Perhaps one too many.
While space and
ergonomics are generally
good, I found the steering
wheel rim a bit on the
narrow side and it feels very plastic to the
touch. Something meatier and wrapped
in hide or some other material, at least
partially, would work wonders. The dials
and gauges are excellently lit up in a
fancy cool-blue hue, which makes them
very easy to read, come night or day.
Build quality appears to be out of the
top-drawer and the power of the standard
Sony audio system is notable.
➲
Engine
The engine is the Fiesta’s strongest asset
and is the perfect riposte to the powersapping Highveld air. In years gone by
many would stand by the assertion that
there is no replacement for displacement.
But with the 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine,
Ford has put that antiquated thinking to
rest, possibly for good.
However, the spirited performance comes
at a price. Over the course of the week with
the car, which included city and open-road
driving, I averaged a rather disappointing
8.9 litres per 100 km. I’m willing to admit
that the exceptional performance derived
from the 999cc petrol turbo engine was
partially to blame, simply because it’s so
sprightly, if a little laggy.
This problem can be
somewhat, if not entirely,
addressed by using what
Ford calls SelectShift,
which simply means
changes gears yourself by
The new grill lends the Ford an Aston Martin-esue face
pushing a button on the
gear-lever. There are no
shift paddles. In this setting, shifts occur
much quicker, although it’s sometimes
tricky to accurately decide when exactly
While the six-speed dual-clutch PowerShift
to change ratio if fuel economy is a top
automatic gearbox, developed jointly by
Ford and Getrag, is a welcome convenience priority.
in heavy traffic situations, it’s hard to justify
it over the five-speed manually operated
alternative. Sure it’s technically very
advanced, doing away with a traditional
The updated Ford Fiesta is a funky,
torque converter, wet clutch and hydraulic
innovative and attractive B-segment
pump, but it adds R10 000 to the list price
hatch. Its 1.0 Litre EcoBoost engine is
and, for reasons not adequately explained,
a major draw card and a technological
its engine is down on power compared
marvel at the pinnacle of the industry’s
to the manual version (74kW vs 92 kW).
move to downsized, forced-induced
The auto is subsequently slower from zero
engines. It’s general ride quality and
to 100km/h, although this hardly a makesporty handling characteristics cannot
or-break factor. The missing 18 kilowatts
be faulted and its In Car Entertainment
translate into a reduced top-speed and
credentials literally speak volumes.
thirstier fuel consumption - which by
That said, at R236 600 it’s too
extension – means it emits more Co2 per
expensive and not V6