Ford Fiesta (2002-2008) - Which.co.uk

Which? Car review
Ford Fiesta (2002-2008)
Superminis
On the road
The Fiesta is easy and confidence-inspiring to drive, with its accurate and sensitive steering,
and overall feeling of stability. It’s not terribly exciting, however.
Performance
★★★★
Gear changes are usually smooth and precise but for quick changes at higher speeds,
fifth gear can sometimes engage inaccurately. The fact that reverse gear doesn’t click in
satisfactorily is also irritating and means you can’t really tell whether or not it’s engaged
properly.
The 1.4 TDCi gives a decent amount of power under acceleration and is flexible, meaning
you won’t need to change down a gear if you’re overtaking at higher speeds. It’s fairly smooth,
but in winter the engine can run pretty rough when starting from cold.
Model tested Acceleration (37-62mph) Rating
diesel 1.4TDCi (68bhp) manual 3-door (2003) 9.9 secs ★★★★
diesel 1.6TDCi (90bhp) manual 5-door (2006) 7.2 secs ★★★★★
petrol 1.4 (80bhp) manual 5-door (2002) 9.4 secs ★★★
petrol 1.4 (80bhp) manual 5-door (2006) 9.4 secs ★★★
Ride comfort
★★★★
The Fiesta delivers a confident and smooth driving experience, with good responsive steering.
It tends to understeer on sharp corners but this is predictable for less experienced drivers.
Overall, you get a sense of stability and assurance in the handling of this car. All Fiestas have
power steering, although electronic stability control was only optional - try to find a Fiesta
which had this fitted.
How we test
Performance
We use the sophisticated electronic timing
equipment to record standing-start and
in-gear acceleration, and repeat each test
several times.
Ride comfort
Ride comfort is assessed by our laboratory
experts who have driven hundreds of
thousands of miles in a myriad of different
models.
Model tested
diesel 1.4TDCi (68bhp) manual 3-door (2003)
diesel 1.6TDCi (90bhp) manual 5-door (2006)
petrol 1.4 (80bhp) manual 5-door (2002)
petrol 1.4 (80bhp) manual 5-door (2006)
Rating
★★★
★★★★
★★★★
★★★★