What Have We Got?
Cars are complicated pieces of machinery so Ford have selected a Fiesta model with simplicity its main focus point.
And this model, the 3 door Fiesta Trend was a hit with the reviewers at the recent SMMT drive it day and I’ll tell you why.
Driving
I hadn’t read the spec sheet for this new Fiesta. At times I like to just jump in and go to see if it wows me. And I can say that it did.
The simplistic appeal to this Fiesta comes from its 1.1 litre 3 pot engine. Just when every little engine in a biggish car is fitted with a turbo, this little engine leaves that at home on the table.
Performance figures are amiable and with just 85PS of power from a free revving engine, it manages to trundle along quite nicely. With no turbo, throttle inputs are met with immediate action except when nearing its peak of performance or when there is a hill to climb. This will also be why there are only 5 gears.
With the chassis being very communicative, making it a fun car to drive, hustle it through the gears to keep the engine at its peak and it’ll reward you with a dash that is both driver licence safe and exciting.
Inside
From the drivers point of view, the Fiesta Trend has all that you could want in a nippy city car. The 8” touch screen was easy to use, reasonably quick to function at the touch of the finger and the graphics are easy on the eye.
Plastics feel good quality and the choice of seat fabrics is both sophisticated and business like. For such a base model, it would in this case, seem out of place. Trend is its name but Trend it does not set. I don’t think a little funk would go a miss in here with a smattering of colours to lift the well fitted cabin.
Living With It
Fords NCAP pack comes as standard. This gives you extras like lane keep assist, speed limiter and tyre pressure monitoring. The electronic stability programme also comes with hill assist. So it all stacks well in its favour as a reasonable specced car for the money.
Is being a 3 door a hindrance? Not really. The front seats fold forward enough to allow easy entrance and a 3 door hatch always looks sporty over the 5 door.
The Verdict
The Fiesta Trend was a bit of a runaway hit at the SMMT drive day. There were not many bad words to be said about it. It was universally liked. And you can see why. It’s well put together and for a small car of £15,995, you weren’t left feeling short changed.
The drive is both engaging and without sounding detrimental to Ford, so simple and uncomplicated, that it makes it a drivers car without it costing the earth.
The Lowdown
Car – Ford Fiesta Trend 1.1 TI-VCT 5 speed manual
Price – £16,495 (as tested)
MPG – 44.8 – 48.7mpg (WLTP lowest-highest)
Power – 85PS
0-62mph – 13.8 seconds
Top Speed – 105 mph
Co2 – 114(g/km)
All pictures Stuart M Bird
