Ford Fiesta review: posh trimmings fail to save Britain’s favourite small car (2024)

All good things must come to an end. It would have been inconceivable that that phrase could apply to the Ford Fiesta five years ago – a perennial best-seller and Britain’s favourite car, beloved of student drivers, school-run mums, old-age pensioners and boy racers alike. Few cars on sale in the UK could lay claim to being as truly classless.

Yet today, reading between the lines, the Fiesta is not long for this world. At a recent press conference, Stuart Rowley, the head of Ford Europe, refused to talk about the future of his smallest model, and while agreeing that there is strong demand for it, would not confirm that the current generation will be replaced.

The three-door Fiesta has already gone, and if you want a five-door you can’t even configure one online – in fact, Ford is barely making any Fiestas at the moment, as it’s ploughing every superconductor on which it can lay its hands into its more profitable models.

And profit margin is the root of the problem. There was never much of it in small cars to start with and, increasingly, there’s less and less, as safety and emissions regulations make building them more expensive.

So it’s no wonder that, in an effort to justify the Fiesta’s existence, Ford is placing an increasingly greater emphasis on high-end and luxury versions – those on which the margin is greatest.

Pros

• Great fun to drive
• Well equipped
• ST-Line bits lift standard Fiesta interior

Cons

• High price and costly finance
• Jiggly ride
• Small boot

Revised range

As a result, a spot of mid-life nip-and-tuck for the Fiesta has brought with it a strategic reshuffling of the range. The lavish Vignale version has gone – which is no bad thing really; like the old Metro Vanden Plas, it always felt like a small car with ideas above its station.

In its place sits an optional “X pack” model, which comes with a smattering of extra equipment but without the slightly over-the-top leather-and-wood-everything vibe of the Vignale. You can apply the pack to every model in the range except the miserly Trend and hot ST-3. That means the mid-range Titanium, sporty ST-Line and jacked-up Active models all get poshed-up X versions too, so you can now have your luxury Fiesta in three forms, rather than just one, as before.

It’s the ST-Line X we’re testing here, which means in addition to the ST-Line’s sporty bodykit, big wheels, sat-nav, cruise control and heated windscreen, you also get climate control, LED rear lights, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel and a reversing camera. You also get an upgrade from 17- to 18-inch wheels, which is a mixed blessing, as we’ll come to in a minute.

The cheapest Fiesta of all has a 1.1-litre naturally aspirated engine that isn’t worth your time, but the rest of the range (save for the ST-3) gets a choice of two versions of its much-loved 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo; one with a 99bhp, that can only be had as a manual, or a 123bhp mild hybrid version that comes as either a manual, or a seven-speed automatic.

Extrapolate all of that and you’ll work out that our test car sits just shy of the top of the Fiesta range, and weighs in at £25,755 on the road. The Fiesta’s an expensive car to finance or lease, too, with rates tending to come in higher than its like-for-like rivals’ unless you happen upon a special deal.

Interior appointments

Is it worth it when you climb aboard? At first glance it certainly doesn’t look too cheap. The carbon-fibre-effect plastics are a bit gauche, but they at least contribute to a greater variety of materials, along with slivers of red and splashes of faux chrome, all of which liven the interior rather nicely.

A few bits of the switchgear are a little wobbly but generally the Fiesta is screwed together well enough, and it’s easy to find your way around. The digital dials are clear and easy to read, while the central touchscreen is generally pretty good, too – intuitive to use and mostly pretty responsive, though it did lag behind once or twice for us.

The front seats feel quite claustrophobic because the dashboard is set very close, although there is in fact plenty of space even for a larger adult, and while you don’t get adjustable lumbar support, there’s plenty of seat and wheel adjustment elsewhere.

The rear seats are just about large enough for adults, meanwhile, and kids will be fine, though you get more room in an Ibiza, Skoda Fabia or Volkswagen Polo. The boot is small, too, and because there’s no false floor, the rear seats form a step down to the boot floor when they’re folded forward onto their bases.

Fun to drive

The gap in cost between the Fiesta in this form and the super-nippy ST-3 isn’t even as much as £1,000. So it had better drive pretty well if it’s going to justify its price.

It fires with a snorty rasp, which is surprising for what is essentially a bougie shopping trolley, and it hints at the Fiesta’s penchant for fun, something that becomes apparent as soon as you pull away.

Response to the accelerator pedal is sharp and crisp, while the seven-speed automatic gearbox of our test car shifts smoothly and swiftly. And as with all Fiestas of late, there’s a liveliness you just don’t get with other modern small cars.

It’s in the steering – light, but still with plenty of feel, and with a blissfully progressive action; there’s none of that instantaneous darting into a bend you get with most small cars these days in an attempt to disguise a lack of feel.

And it’s in the engine, too; still the same pugilistic little three-cylinder we’ve come to know and love, now aided by a gentle shove from the mild hybrid system. However, even then it can’t quite match the broad, wide shoulders of the Fabia Monte Carlo’s gutsy 1.5-litre unit.

It will still punch all the way around the rev counter, so that you’re rewarded for holding it in gear, and when you come to the next bend the Fiesta dives in excitedly, tracking neatly to the line you pick. While the nose isn’t quite as well pinned down as some – you can loosen its line by adding power, though it’s easy enough to get it to tighten again by feathering the throttle too – there’s still lots of lateral grip.

Indeed, what the Fiesta deals in, rather than over-engineered eagerness, is balance and poise, along with a responsiveness some modern performance cars can’t match, let alone small hatchbacks.

And the downside?

But, in this sporty model at least, there is a payoff for this verve, because the 18-inch wheels cause the Fiesta to fuss over every little imperfection, joggling you this way and that over larger ones. The result is that you find yourself swerving to avoid potholes and drain covers.

Out of town, too the ride’s imperfections take their toll. There’s just a bit too much kickback to the steering, and mid-corner bumps can deflect it – it as a result, the ST-Line X lacks the beguiling fluidity of the less dolled-up versions, whose softer suspension and plumper tyres soak it all up.

Granted, it calms down a bit at motorway speeds, but it never settles completely. As a result this model never quite achieves the languid gait of lesser Fiestas that makes them such surprisingly good cruisers.

The Telegraph verdict

While the ST-Line X perhaps a little overblown, then – not to mention rather pricey, considering it butts up against the “proper” performance ST model – we wouldn’t let that dissuade you from the idea of a more humble variant. Indeed, with a better ride quality and a more reasonable price, this latest Fiesta would probably cross the threshold of a fourth star.

Its all-round competence, combined with its zest, still make it a very attractive small car, and one that appeals more strongly to the heart than the headstrong Volkswagen Polo and Hyundai i20.

Can Ford seriously be contemplating ditching such a strong product and, in doing so, throwing away the equity it’s built up in the Fiesta name over the course of nearly 50 years? If it does, one can’t help but feel it’ll be something of a loss to us all.

The facts

On test: Ford Fiesta 1.0 EcoBoost MHEV 125 ST-Line X Powershift

Body style: five-door hatchback

On sale: now

How much? £25,755 on the road (range from £18,655)

How fast? 124mph, 0-62mph in 9.6sec

How economical? 53.3mpg (WLTP Combined)

Engine & gearbox: 999cc three-cylinder petrol engine, seven-speed automatic gearbox, front-wheel drive

Electric powertrain: 48-volt mild hybrid starter-generator with larger battery

Electric range: 0 miles

Maximum power/torque: 123bhp/155lb ft

CO2 emissions: 119g/km (WLTP Combined Low)

VED: £190 first year, then £165

Warranty: 3 years / 60,000 miles

Spare wheel as standard: No (optional extra)

The rivals

Peugeot 208 1.2 Puretech 130 GT

129bhp, 54.8mpg, £26,140 on the road

In GT form, the 208 feels noticeably more upmarket than the Fiesta, which goes some way toward justifying its higher price, though this is still an expensive little car. It is more efficient than the Fiesta, though, even without a mild hybrid boost, and while the rear seats are quite cramped, you get a bigger boot.

Skoda Fabia 1.5 TSI 150 Monte Carlo DSG

148bhp, 49.7mpg, £23,735 on the road

This top-spec Fabia’s extra 25bhp means it has a little more grunt where it matters. And while it isn’t quite as lively or as agile, the Fabia’s softer suspension makes it easier to live with. There’s more space in the rear seats, and in the boot, too – yet despite all this, the Fabia will actually cost you slightly less to buy than the Fiesta. Mind you, you do have to live with fewer toys.

Hyundai i20 1.0 T-GDi 48v 120 N-Line DCT

118bhp, 53.3mpg, £23,645 on the road

As with the Skoda, this sporty-looking little Hyundai doesn’t come quite as well equipped as the Fiesta ST-Line X, but you do get a mild hybrid powerplant that delivers an identical fuel consumption figure. There is, of course, the usual five-year warranty, too, plus a good-size boot and spacious rear seating, making this a very sensible choice. The i20 is good fun to drive, too, especially with the slightly pokier engine you get in the N-Line.

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