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| This is the perp. Only ever rent one. |
In the late 90's I used to help pay for two company Fiestas in a publishing company - these days called Paprika - try them for good service. I really dug 'em, those little Fiesta hatches that were also voted Car of the Year in SA in 1998.
So when Ford launched their dual, dry clutch transmission to keep up with the Joneses in their VWs and Nissans, I was piqued. When the suits at Ford further boasted their PowerShift dual clutch transmission "will help the 1.6-liter Fiesta deliver an expected best-in-class fuel economy rating of at least 40 mpg on the highway" my excitement was positively tumescent.
Alas, having driven it... well, lets just say my excitement is now negatively tumescent. Maybe even shriveled.
There I was, King of the feather-toe drivers, expecting to at least get close to 40 mpg, or 17 km per litre in metric. But I could do no better than 11 km per litre in open road and city driving. (That's 8,8 for those liking the l/km ratio.) While 17km per litre is respectable for an auto, it is not brilliant. I get 13 km per litre from my own, octogenarian mobile, the 2,0 auto Toyota Camry, which epitomizes the world "sluggish".
Then there is the hunting. Within minutes of driving, you feel like yelling at the auto box to "pick a gear, ANY gear, dammit!". Like a blue-rinsed Californian retiree in front of her first cruise ship buffet, the dual dry clutch is clearly bewildered by its smorgasbord of six gear ratios. It eeny-meeny-miny-moes first hither then thither in a manner that feels exactly like a slipping clutch. Mind, this system is not quite as bad as the first continuously variable transmissions in the Smart cars, but it is a definite runner-up.
As for the sedan's design, what design? Wait, I'll try REALLY hard to remember what it looks like... nghhhh...
Nope. Sorry. After a week all I'm left with are vague impressions of too high, too narrow, and a large, tacked-on boot. Oh!, I remember something now: my pull-case - standard size for overhead-luggage bins - barely squeezed through the boot's prim letterbox opening. And (aargh!) I just had another vivid flashback to that slip-slider clutch. And the too hard suspension.
I may need therapy. Really, how can the hatch be so good and the sedan so...
...which sedan are we talking about again?
Enough said, the four door Ford Fiesta Powershift auto in Ambiente cladding sells for a recommended retail price of R205 130, VAT and emissions tax included. Like the first Fiestas, it still comes with a nifty sound system, now with a cable plug for your MP3.
This price range is a hotly contested niche where sexy styling rules. In the Fiesta sedan's case, you are buying a MP3 player with wheels. And a dry clutch that comes across like a wet blanket.
