MK5 Fiesta 1.25
Discussion
Hey guys,
Had this for about two months now. Bought a 1.3 fiesta as a first car back in march, sold it in september due to impending MOT which it was quite clearly going to fail. Plus it's slowness got annoying. Spent *ages* looking for a decent 1.25 (I was really picky, *had* to be a 3dr, *had* to be a freestyle, minimal rust, cambelt done, under £900). Looked at a few dogs and then found this, which I picked up for £800 with 10 months MOT and 61,000 miles. Previous owner had an EP3 Type R, used to be a mechanic and showed me a bunch of pictures of old fast fords he had (inc. a MKII RS2000 Escort), so seemed like a decent bloke.
Some pictures of the car;
Initial impressions when I got it included how nice it was having a rev counter (It's not needed but theres a childish thrill in seeing the needle race all the way round when I'm giving it some), how nice it was to have steering feel after the dodgy wishbones/bushes of my last car, how smooth and revvy the engine was compared to the pushrod chain driven endura in the last fiesta, and how annoying it is to have a CD player instead of a tape deck which you can just plug an ipod adapter into.
2 months/3000+ miles later, I love it. Other than the short gearing on motorways and annoyingly low MPG, there's nothing I'd want different; IMO, at 18 with the insurance woos that come with, there's no better way to have fun than in a MK4/5 fiesta. It comes alive on the b-roads, there's so much steering feel, the wheel is perfectly weighted, the clutch is nice and heavy but not tiresome in town, the driving position is spot on, the gearbox feels amazing, and IMO the whole car is a nice blend between modern conveniance and classic simplicity. Theres no stupid over-designed bits anywhere, just simple, mechanical goodness.
It's used for zipping between brighton and north london via the m25/m23, deliverying takeway food during evenings, ferrying myself and mates about town (hills are interesting with 5 people), some occasional country lane hooning, and just general pissing about.
Only thing to go wrong so far was the heater control valve; fixed it myself, took ages mainly because I didn't actually have any tools. MPG fell off a cliff recently but that's a whole nother issue.
It's great at J-turns as well.
ETA looking at those pictures makes me realise how desperately it needs a wash. I forgot how red the paint actually is, more of a brown/maroon with all the mud and grime atm.
Had this for about two months now. Bought a 1.3 fiesta as a first car back in march, sold it in september due to impending MOT which it was quite clearly going to fail. Plus it's slowness got annoying. Spent *ages* looking for a decent 1.25 (I was really picky, *had* to be a 3dr, *had* to be a freestyle, minimal rust, cambelt done, under £900). Looked at a few dogs and then found this, which I picked up for £800 with 10 months MOT and 61,000 miles. Previous owner had an EP3 Type R, used to be a mechanic and showed me a bunch of pictures of old fast fords he had (inc. a MKII RS2000 Escort), so seemed like a decent bloke.
Some pictures of the car;
Initial impressions when I got it included how nice it was having a rev counter (It's not needed but theres a childish thrill in seeing the needle race all the way round when I'm giving it some), how nice it was to have steering feel after the dodgy wishbones/bushes of my last car, how smooth and revvy the engine was compared to the pushrod chain driven endura in the last fiesta, and how annoying it is to have a CD player instead of a tape deck which you can just plug an ipod adapter into.
2 months/3000+ miles later, I love it. Other than the short gearing on motorways and annoyingly low MPG, there's nothing I'd want different; IMO, at 18 with the insurance woos that come with, there's no better way to have fun than in a MK4/5 fiesta. It comes alive on the b-roads, there's so much steering feel, the wheel is perfectly weighted, the clutch is nice and heavy but not tiresome in town, the driving position is spot on, the gearbox feels amazing, and IMO the whole car is a nice blend between modern conveniance and classic simplicity. Theres no stupid over-designed bits anywhere, just simple, mechanical goodness.
It's used for zipping between brighton and north london via the m25/m23, deliverying takeway food during evenings, ferrying myself and mates about town (hills are interesting with 5 people), some occasional country lane hooning, and just general pissing about.
Only thing to go wrong so far was the heater control valve; fixed it myself, took ages mainly because I didn't actually have any tools. MPG fell off a cliff recently but that's a whole nother issue.
It's great at J-turns as well.
ETA looking at those pictures makes me realise how desperately it needs a wash. I forgot how red the paint actually is, more of a brown/maroon with all the mud and grime atm.
Edited by Gooly on Wednesday 14th November 03:09
Must be 8-9 year ago I had a 1.4 zetec one of these and it was a hoot - the handling on these platform cars is enviable even now.
But the 1.4 was an overbored 1.25 and a tad weak - in 50k I'd popped two engines and had enough.
Biggest tip is make sure it's always serviced with the correct oil - if you use oil too thick the oil channels in the block tend to jam and kill the engine
But the 1.4 was an overbored 1.25 and a tad weak - in 50k I'd popped two engines and had enough.
Biggest tip is make sure it's always serviced with the correct oil - if you use oil too thick the oil channels in the block tend to jam and kill the engine
james_gt3rs said:
Enjoying your 28mpg? 
am treating that as a temporary thing for now, if this tankful gives less than 300 miles I'm gonna buy an OBD reader. Also, the car it replaced if anyone's interested;
Had a cracked midpipe, was hilariously loud. I've kept the wheels, might get them refurbished and pop them on this fiesta with new tyres (the ones on them are about two profiles too high for this spec)
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