Picked up my new Fiesta Zetec S today.
Discussion
I changed from a Swift Sport which I'd owned from 2007. Great little car, but the ride was starting to get to me - I'm an old git at 40!
Always enjoyed nippy little hatchbacks and being without kids means I don't need a big car!
Enjoying it so far, it brings a smile like the Sport with better ride. Different types of power delivery, I always found the Sport to bring out the hooligan in me... This is a bit more relaxed.
Can't get my ipod classic to work yet, so I'm looking into that.
Loving it so far though!
I might actually complete the running costs thingy on this one!
Got the Mrs a 125 as a daily. Fantastic little car.
The only thing that bugs me is the size of the flywheel - there is a noticeable lag after changing gear until the power is delivered. Other than that - it has good pull and a snarly little tone. Loves to be driven hard and fast (that's what she said!!!!).
Watch out for oil consumption - there are known issues as it's quite sensitive to the type of oil.
Enjoy!
The only thing that bugs me is the size of the flywheel - there is a noticeable lag after changing gear until the power is delivered. Other than that - it has good pull and a snarly little tone. Loves to be driven hard and fast (that's what she said!!!!).
Watch out for oil consumption - there are known issues as it's quite sensitive to the type of oil.
Enjoy!
We've had ours a month, same as yours but in deep impact blue.
Got it to replace the Wife's 11 year old MINI Cooper, and compared to that the ride is pretty good!
As others have said, the power delivery takes a little bit of getting used to. There's barely any torque at idle speed, so you find that situations where you would have used 2nd gear (eg junctions on our estate where you don't quite need to come to a full stop before you pull away) require 1st gear. It's also not helped by extremely long gearing.
Although peak torque is at 1400rpm, if you plant your foot it will take a couple of seconds for the boost to build. Over 2000rpm though it drives very nicely, and it seems to get a bit of a 2nd wind at 4000rpm and accelerates hard to the red line. Can only really be done in 2nd gear though, as the red line in 3rd is over 100mph!
Overall though, I'm very impressed by the car. It's more refined than I expected, and the fuel economy isn't as bad as some people would have you believe. However, I can't get any where near the official 65.7mpg
Got it to replace the Wife's 11 year old MINI Cooper, and compared to that the ride is pretty good!
As others have said, the power delivery takes a little bit of getting used to. There's barely any torque at idle speed, so you find that situations where you would have used 2nd gear (eg junctions on our estate where you don't quite need to come to a full stop before you pull away) require 1st gear. It's also not helped by extremely long gearing.
Although peak torque is at 1400rpm, if you plant your foot it will take a couple of seconds for the boost to build. Over 2000rpm though it drives very nicely, and it seems to get a bit of a 2nd wind at 4000rpm and accelerates hard to the red line. Can only really be done in 2nd gear though, as the red line in 3rd is over 100mph!
Overall though, I'm very impressed by the car. It's more refined than I expected, and the fuel economy isn't as bad as some people would have you believe. However, I can't get any where near the official 65.7mpg
IanCress said:
We've had ours a month, same as yours but in deep impact blue.
Got it to replace the Wife's 11 year old MINI Cooper, and compared to that the ride is pretty good!
As others have said, the power delivery takes a little bit of getting used to. There's barely any torque at idle speed, so you find that situations where you would have used 2nd gear (eg junctions on our estate where you don't quite need to come to a full stop before you pull away) require 1st gear. It's also not helped by extremely long gearing.
Although peak torque is at 1400rpm, if you plant your foot it will take a couple of seconds for the boost to build. Over 2000rpm though it drives very nicely, and it seems to get a bit of a 2nd wind at 4000rpm and accelerates hard to the red line. Can only really be done in 2nd gear though, as the red line in 3rd is over 100mph!
Overall though, I'm very impressed by the car. It's more refined than I expected, and the fuel economy isn't as bad as some people would have you believe. However, I can't get any where near the official 65.7mpg
Same here, can only really manage 35-37mpg in normal driving conditions. Agree with what you mention about gearing, it almost drives like a diesel but like to rev too!Got it to replace the Wife's 11 year old MINI Cooper, and compared to that the ride is pretty good!
As others have said, the power delivery takes a little bit of getting used to. There's barely any torque at idle speed, so you find that situations where you would have used 2nd gear (eg junctions on our estate where you don't quite need to come to a full stop before you pull away) require 1st gear. It's also not helped by extremely long gearing.
Although peak torque is at 1400rpm, if you plant your foot it will take a couple of seconds for the boost to build. Over 2000rpm though it drives very nicely, and it seems to get a bit of a 2nd wind at 4000rpm and accelerates hard to the red line. Can only really be done in 2nd gear though, as the red line in 3rd is over 100mph!
Overall though, I'm very impressed by the car. It's more refined than I expected, and the fuel economy isn't as bad as some people would have you believe. However, I can't get any where near the official 65.7mpg
I've had my Red edition (140bhp) for a couple of month now and love it. I have to agree with the comments about long gearing though. The power available and the way it delivers low down the revs is amazing for a 1 litre 3 pot engine. Like someone has said before, it drives with the pull of a diesel engine but it revs like a petrol engine. Its the best of both worlds and exactly what i was after.
arun1uk said:
Got the Mrs a 125 as a daily. Fantastic little car.
The only thing that bugs me is the size of the flywheel - there is a noticeable lag after changing gear until the power is delivered. Other than that - it has good pull and a snarly little tone. Loves to be driven hard and fast (that's what she said!!!!).
Watch out for oil consumption - there are known issues as it's quite sensitive to the type of oil.
Enjoy!
I had a Focus hire car with the same engine and agree, I didn't like the feel of changing gear at high RPM as it felt like the clutch was taking some hammering with it spinning at 7k rpm for 20mins before slowing down due to the huge flywheelThe only thing that bugs me is the size of the flywheel - there is a noticeable lag after changing gear until the power is delivered. Other than that - it has good pull and a snarly little tone. Loves to be driven hard and fast (that's what she said!!!!).
Watch out for oil consumption - there are known issues as it's quite sensitive to the type of oil.
Enjoy!
Lovely car!
I had a new mk7 Zetec S with the 1.6 Ti-VCT engine back in 2009; great little car. I've since moved on to something significantly different/more powerful but my girlfriend is currently learning to drive and I'm thinking about getting another car for us to share (I currently use an MG ZT for work duties but it's getting a bit long in the tooth now) and really fancy one of these. I like the idea of long gearing too, I do a few motorway miles and it's nice to be able to sit at a decent speed without the engine screaming away.
I had a new mk7 Zetec S with the 1.6 Ti-VCT engine back in 2009; great little car. I've since moved on to something significantly different/more powerful but my girlfriend is currently learning to drive and I'm thinking about getting another car for us to share (I currently use an MG ZT for work duties but it's getting a bit long in the tooth now) and really fancy one of these. I like the idea of long gearing too, I do a few motorway miles and it's nice to be able to sit at a decent speed without the engine screaming away.
Took the Fiesta on it's first half decent run out over the weekend to Swanage. On the way there we used a mix of A roads and motorway from Crawley through to Bournemouth and over on the ferry.
It's coped brilliantly. There was only one hill that it struggled with, but it was rather steep! MPG is now over 41, and still rising. The motorway experience was excellent, very quiet and refined with enough go for me. Not as quick in the midrange as the Swift Sport, but an awful lot more relaxing to drive, there is more of a delay in acceleration, but nothing that'd put me off the car.
I've noticed it's made me a calmer driver, the Swift was very revvy which in turn needed to to work to make it go. The Fiesta is totally the opposite and the ride quality is great compared to the Sport.
Boot size is great for the size of car and easily coped with luggage and camping equipment.
Never did get my iPod classic to work, but I got around that by buying a 64gb mini flash drive and copying the music onto that. Total cost £24. Much cheaper than a new iPod!
I can't think of anything that I don't like about it tbh.
It's coped brilliantly. There was only one hill that it struggled with, but it was rather steep! MPG is now over 41, and still rising. The motorway experience was excellent, very quiet and refined with enough go for me. Not as quick in the midrange as the Swift Sport, but an awful lot more relaxing to drive, there is more of a delay in acceleration, but nothing that'd put me off the car.
I've noticed it's made me a calmer driver, the Swift was very revvy which in turn needed to to work to make it go. The Fiesta is totally the opposite and the ride quality is great compared to the Sport.
Boot size is great for the size of car and easily coped with luggage and camping equipment.
Never did get my iPod classic to work, but I got around that by buying a 64gb mini flash drive and copying the music onto that. Total cost £24. Much cheaper than a new iPod!
I can't think of anything that I don't like about it tbh.
did you get the new red/black version? (pics don't load as i'm at work)
I have been looking at the 1.6 Zetec S versions, i feel like the Zetec S is perfect for the daily commute to work as it is quick, sports suspension whilst remaining comfortable and looks great and doesn't have the harshness and the price of the ST
I have been looking at the 1.6 Zetec S versions, i feel like the Zetec S is perfect for the daily commute to work as it is quick, sports suspension whilst remaining comfortable and looks great and doesn't have the harshness and the price of the ST
Well, five months into ownership, and some bds chucked something corrosive over the bonnet/bumper. I found it yesterday morning and saw the bonnet and screen covered in something that looked like cream hair shampoo, but with a sweetish smell to it. God knows what it was.
It's affected the laquer on the paint, and melted the plastic grill. Needless to say, I'm pissed off. Racked my brain to think of anyone I've upset, but no go.
Now, insurance excess is £250 or I can get it repaired for £600 outside of insurance, by a recommended garage who is does approved BMW and Toyota repairs.
Or do I put it through the insurance, and now it's going to be done in the cheapest possible way and that it'll effect the NCB.
It's affected the laquer on the paint, and melted the plastic grill. Needless to say, I'm pissed off. Racked my brain to think of anyone I've upset, but no go.
Now, insurance excess is £250 or I can get it repaired for £600 outside of insurance, by a recommended garage who is does approved BMW and Toyota repairs.
Or do I put it through the insurance, and now it's going to be done in the cheapest possible way and that it'll effect the NCB.
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