2011 Ford Fiesta Review and Prices

by Chuck Giametta

2011 FORD FIESTA BUYING ADVICE

• The 2010 Ford Fiesta is the best car for you if you want to downsize without downgrading. Think of the all-new 2011 Ford Fiesta as automotive espresso: lots of flavor, a bit of a kick, no filler.

• Distilling everything Ford’s estimable European designers know about building a subcompact car, the 2011 Ford Fiesta is a game-changing blend of fuel efficiency and driving brio. Offered as a four-door sedan and four-door hatchback, this new-to-the-U.S. car boasts daring styling, a $14,000 starting price, and 40 mpg on the highway – with automatic transmission. It offers Americans a high-feature subcompact born of a culture in which cars like this are primary transportation for middle-class families. 

• Should you wait for the 2011 Ford Fiesta? If you’re in the market for an inexpensive subcompact such as the Honda Fit or Toyota Yaris, hold off until you test drive this new, entry-level Ford.

2011 FORD FIESTA CHANGES

• Styling: The 2011 Fiesta is Ford’s smallest and least-expensive car, but shares with the upcoming 2012 Ford Focus a dramatic ensemble of swoops and wedges Ford calls “kinetic” design. Both have roots in Ford’s overseas styling studios and represent the company’s new, global approach to car design. The 2011 Fiesta four-door hatchback is about as long as the Honda Fit four-door hatchback. The Fiesta sedan is a substantial 13.5 inches longer – it’s one of the longest cars in the subcompact class. Both Fiesta body styles ride the same wheelbase. This distance between the front and rear axles is a primary determinate of a car’s interior volume, and Fiesta’s 98-inch wheelbase is par for the category. The 2011 Fiesta sedan has a lower starting price than the hatchback. It’ll be the better-selling of the two body styles, but it looks downright awkward from some angles. The better-proportioned hatchback is the more adventurously styled of the two and is being positioned upscale of the sedan. Both Fiesta body styles use the same dashboard and general cabin decor. The instrument panel is highlighted by a central section of buttons, knobs, and an information screen purposely laid out to mimic the design of a mobile phone. The 2011 Fiesta shares its basic engineering with the Mazda 2 from Ford’s Japanese partner. Fiesta and the Mazda 2 are already on sale throughout Europe and Asia; Fiesta is in fact Europe’s No. 2-selling car. The 2011 Mazda 2 will come to the U.S. several months after the Fiesta. The cars have different styling and different engines, but both are based on Ford’s global “B” car platform -- “B” referring to an international size category. Tiny “city” cars like the Smart ForTwo occupy the smaller “A” class and compact cars like the Honda Civic and Ford Focus are in the “C” class.

• Mechanical: The 2011 Ford Fiesta employs conventional small-car components: front-wheel drive, a beam rear axle, and front-disc/rear-drum brakes. But it aims for a more sophisticated feel than subcompacts designed exclusively for the U.S. The only engine is a dual-overhead-cam 1.6-liter four-cylinder with all-aluminum construction and variable camshaft timing. It’s rated at 119 horsepower and 109 pound-feet of torque. Those numbers are par for the class, as is use of a five-speed manual as the standard transmission. The 2011 Fiesta breaks rank, however, by offering as its automatic transmission what gear-heads call a dual-clutch manual. This mimics the operation of an automatic but actually is an advanced-design self-shifting six-speed manual. Compared with comparable conventional automatics, dual-clutch manuals save weight and complexity, change gears more quickly, and offer substantial advantages in fuel efficiency. Ford markets this one as the PowerShift six-speed automatic. With it, the 2011 Fiesta has higher fuel-economy ratings than it does with the five-speed manual transmission. Ford does not, however, give PowerShift drivers the ability to manually choose gears via steering-wheel paddles or a separate floor-shift gate. Fiesta is the first U.S. Ford product to offer PowerShift but gets in line behind several recent Ford cars and crossovers in use of the company’s new electric power steering. It’s standard on all 2011 Fiestas and replaces the old-fashioned hydraulic steering system. The electric system puts less power- and fuel-robbing drag on the engine. And Ford programs it to counteract the destabilizing effects of crosswinds and road crowns and to iron out vibration from an imbalanced wheel. Also standard on all Fiestas is an antilock brake system (ABS) for better control in emergency stops and Ford’s AdvanceTrac antiskid system designed to mitigate sideways slides. Wheel sizes are 15- and 16-inches standard and 17- inches optional, depending on model. The 2011 Fiesta is not available with a sunroof. Features: The 2011 Ford Fiesta sedan comes in three levels of trim: entry-level S, volume-selling SE, and uplevel SEL. The 2011 Fiesta hatchback comes in two models: SE and top-line SES. Depending on model, Fiesta can be optioned with features seldom seen in the subcompact class, including automatic climate control, remote start, and keyless entry with pushbutton ignition. Heated front seats, leather upholstery with contrasting-color piping, and heated mirrors also are available. So is mood-altering lighting that cycles through seven shades of cabin illumination. Fiesta buyers can even order custom exterior graphics of tattoos or op-art flowers. A few subcompacts offer navigation systems that display maps and directions on a dashboard screen. The 2011 Fiesta isn’t among them. SE and SEL models have a 4-inch LCD dashboard screen, but it’s used to display various audio, climate, and trip information. For navigation, Fiesta SE and SEL buyers can order Ford’s Microsoft-developed Sync infotainment system that furnishes turn-by-turn directions via text on the display screen and verbal instructions through the radio speakers. This navigation service comes with a complimentary three year subscription and also furnishes real-time traffic, weather, and news. Sync includes steering-wheel audio controls, Bluetooth cell-phone and audio streaming, and a USB interface for iPods and other digital devices. All 2011 Fiestas have an auxiliary audio jack, plus a tilt/telescope steering wheel, height-adjustable driver’s seat, and cup holders that expand from Red Bull to Big Gulp size. All versions also come with Ford’s EasyFuel system that eliminates the conventional gas-filler cap. A 60/40 split folding rear seatback, air conditioning, and power mirrors and locks also are included. Passive safety features include head-protecting curtain side airbags and a driver’s knee airbag.

2011 FORD FIESTA PRICES

• Base prices for the 2011 Ford Fiesta range from $13,995-$17,995. These prices don’t include options and are for car with the manual transmission; Ford’s PowerShift automatic transmission is a $1,070 option. (All base prices in this review include the manufacturer’s destination charges; Ford’s fee for the 2011 Fiesta is $675.) Fully optioned, a 2011 Ford Fiesta SEL sedan or SES hatchback will breach $23,000.

• The 2011 Ford Fiesta S sedan is priced from $13,995 and includes the aforementioned standard equipment, plus a center floor console, manual windows, rear-seat heat ducts, and an AM/FM stereo with four speakers. The S has 15-inch steel wheels with wheel covers.

• The 2011 Ford Fiesta SE sedan starts at $14,995. The 2011 Ford Fiesta SE hatchback is priced from $15,795. Both include as standard remote keyless entry, the LCD dashboard screen, and a stereo upgraded to include a CD player. They get slightly fancier trim, and the hatchback gains a rear spoiler. Options for Fiesta SE sedans and hatchbacks include Sync, cruise control, and 15-inch alloy wheels. Also available: a dress-up Sport Appearance Package that adds Euro-style LED exterior marker lamps and puts a rear spoiler on the sedan; a Winter Package that includes heated seats and mirrors; and Sirius satellite radio and the ambient-cabin lighting package.  

• The top-of-the-line 2011 Ford Fiesta SEL sedan and Fiesta SES hatchback carry the same $17,795 base price. They build on the SE-model by adding as standard the Sync system, an 80-watt six-speak stereo with Sirius satellite radio, and power heated mirrors with integrated turn-signals. SEL sedans and SES hatchbacks also have a leather-wrapped steering wheel with cruise and audio controls, power locks with remote keyless entry and alarm, and a one-touch up/down power driver’s window. They have a trip computer, unique floor console, ambient lighting, an electrochromatic auto-dimming rearview mirror, and an auxiliary 12-volt power point for rear passengers. SEL and SES models have 16-inch alloy wheels with 195/50R16 tires.

• Options available on all Fiesta models include 17-inch alloy wheels ($1,950) and a cargo management system that adds a cargo net and compartmented trunk/hatch organizer. Manual-transmission models can get a package that backlights the doorsills and the gear-pattern on the shift knob. Fiestas equipped with the remote keyless entry can also be optioned with a touch pad mounted on the outside of the driver’s door that allows the owner to enter a code to unlock the door without accessing the key fob.

• Exclusive to the SEL sedan and SES hatchback is an optional Upgrade Package that includes keyless entry and pushbutton ignition, heated front seats, a perimeter alarm, and chrome exterior trim.

2011 FORD FIESTA TEST DRIVE

From behind the wheel:

• Pooling global resources to develop a state-of-the-art car design that can be tweaked to suit individual markets seems like an obvious approach to cost-efficient car-building. But only now are U.S. automakers getting serious about it.

• Ford calls its initiative “ONE Ford” and the 2011 Fiesta – along with the all-new 2012 Ford Focus – are its spearheads. This guarantees the Fiesta sold in the U.S. is the same basic design built to satisfy demanding European drivers. It also means our test drive of a Euro-spec 2011 Fiesta SES hatchback with manual transmission, leather seats, and 16-inch wheels is a good representation of how its U.S. counterpart will perform.     

• The 2011 Fiesta accelerates eagerly and the 1.6-liter four is revs smoothly to overcome a bit of low-rpm sleepiness. The manual linkage engagement is friction-free but has longer travel than you’d find in a sports car. With 119 horsepower pulling just over 2,500 pounds, Fiesta’s power-to-weight ratio is spot-on for a class in which no car counts acceleration as a selling point. Ford should, however, sell lots of 2011 Fiestas on the strength of the car’s road manners: they’re impressive for any class of vehicle.

• Steering is naturally weighted and responsive. Tight, slow turns reveal wonderful maneuverability. Tight, fast turns trigger some noseplow and tire scrub. But the 2011 Fiesta has a friendly nature that encourages spirited driving. It’s what enthusiasts call “tossible.” Also remarkable for such a small, light car is a suspension that keeps the Fiesta stable over highway-speed dips and furrows yet nicely isolated from the shock of potholes and bumps.  

Dashboard and controls:

• The 2011 Ford Fiesta dashboard sacrifices some functionality in the name of design. The main instrumentation – a speedometer and tachometer bracketing a gas gauge and a small message screen -- crowd into a compact binnacle directly before the driver. They avoid obstruction by the steering wheel rim – barely – but won’t invite easy viewing by drivers’ whose, uh, maturity renders small type difficult to read.

• Ageism also is evident in the dashboard’s central stack. Ford touts it as “designed to feel as useful and familiar as the keypad on a mobile phone.” If you’re familiar with controls designed for an automobile dashboard, however, you may not find it easy to use this Blackberry-style, double keyboard of small, lookalike buttons. Worse is the climate-system ensemble – a trio of undersized controls with tiny markings tucked below the central stack, well out of easy reach and sight. Thankfully, every button and knob is sharply backlit, including the small but efficiently positioned audio and cruise rockers on the steering wheel.    

• The 2011 Fiesta breaks no new ground for the quality of its interior materials, but you have to hunt and peck for plastics that feel flimsy. Surfaces you’ll contact regularly are padded, skinned, or grained appropriately, and brushed-metallic-look trim does a fair job of teching things up. Overall, Fiesta’s cabin feels busy, with multiple curves, cutlines, pods, and plains designed to excite the eye rather than sooth it.     

Room, comfort, and utility:

• By prioritizing design elements like a rakish roofline, Ford shows it’s willing to trade some function for styling personality outside, too. The 2011 Fiesta isn’t notably roomy for a subcompact car – certainly not as spacious as the Honda Fit. But Fiesta’s roof is tall enough to insure expansive head room for front-seaters. And those under 5-feet-8 or so won’t brush the ceiling in back. Front-seat travel seems sufficient to accommodate drivers with long legs, but even tall grade-schoolers will find their knees pressed into the front seatbacks and their Skechers squeezed by the small footwell. 

• The 2011 Fiesta’s front bucket seats aren’t generously sized but are supportive and do a sufficient job holding you place as lateral g’s build. The rear seat has no surplus of cushioning but is adequately contoured for comfort. Demerits for a too-low center-console armrest in front and for absence of any center armrest in the rear. Credits for impressive suppression of unpleasant mechanical, wind, and road noises. Ford says it took pains to fit Fiesta with a specially laminated windshield, enhanced door seals, foam-baffled roof pillars, and other sound-deadening measures. The 2011 Fiesta is one subcompact that won’t mount a sensory assault on long drives.     

• At 12.8 cubic feet and augmented by folding seatbacks, the Fiesta sedan’s trunk is among the more spacious in a class where no sedan really has an expansive cargo hold. That’s one reason hatchbacks make more sense in cars of this size. Too bad the Fiesta hatchback’s lower rear seat cushions remain anchored in position, denying owners a flat load floor and diluting much of the hatchback-versatility formula.

2011 FORD FIESTA FUEL ECONOMY

• EPA mileage estimates for 2011 models were not released in time for this report, but Ford made available 2011 Fiesta fuel-economy ratings based on its own EPA-type testing.

• Ford says the 2011 Fiesta with the manual transmission will have fuel-economy ratings of 29/38 mpg (city/highway). It says a Fiesta with the PowerShift automatic will rate 30/-40 mpg.

• Those are highly impressive numbers. No car in Fiesta’s competitive set averages more than 29 mpg in the city, and only the Hyundai Accent’s special fuel-miser Blue edition gets as high as 36 mpg on the highway. You’d have to spend around $20,000 or more for the similarly sized Honda Insight hybrid to get 40/43 mpg or pay over $22,000 for the larger Toyota Prius and its 51/48-mpg rating.

• Note that the 2011 Fiesta is also available with a Super Fuel Economy package with additional aerodynamic details such as underbody shields and wind blockers in the lower-grille intake. Ford has not released data suggesting this package will change the EPA ratings, however.

2011 FORD FIESTA SAFETY AND RELIABILITY

• At the time of this review, the 2011 Ford Fiesta had not been subjected to government crash testing that awards a maximum five stars for occupant protection (safecar.gov). However, Ford engineers say they’re confident the 2011 Fiesta will earn the maximum five-star rating, citing not only its assortment of airbags but also a body structure designed for strength and rigidity.

• In initial overall quality, the Ford brand ranked slightly above average in ratings compiled by J.D. Power and Associates, the leading automotive consumer survey firm (jdpower.com). The 2011 Ford Fiesta was too new to be included in J.D. Power quality surveys at the time of this review.

• For overall reliability, the Ford brand rated about average in J.D. Power surveys measuring problems reported by owners of three-year-old models. Again, the 2011 Fiesta was too new to be included.

2011 FORD FIESTA RELEASE DATE

• Look for the 2011 Ford Fiesta in showrooms in summer 2010. U.S.-market Fiestas will be assembled at Ford’s plant in Cuautitlan, Mexico.

• The 2011 Fiesta, by the way, isn’t the first car by that name sold here. Ford imported a tiny, high-mileage two-door hatchback Fiesta for model-years 1977-1980. It was sourced from the automaker’s operations in Germany and Britain, where the Fiesta has been an ongoing member of Ford’s lineup.   

WHA’TS NEXT FOR THE FORD FIESTA

• Having made its debut overseas in 2008, engineering for the 2011 Fiesta will already be about half-way through its lifecycle by the time in hits U.S. showrooms. The car will look fresh to American eyes, but Ford is even today toiling away on the next-generation model, due perhaps for 2013 or 2014.

• To save money, Ford could decide to keep the current-generation Fiesta in play for the U.S. market well past 2014, perhaps giving it a cosmetic facelift. It could also introduce a sport model – 1.6-liter turbo EcoBoost? -- around the time the new-generation car goes on sale overseas. However, that sort of staggered product timeline does not seem compatible with the ONE Ford global product strategy, so Americans may see a redesigned Fiesta sooner than we think.

2011 FORD FIESTA COMPETITION

• Honda Fit: Fiesta can’t match this roomy little wagon’s class-leading cargo utility or rear-seat space, but it does compete for driving fun, comfort, and design sophistication. That’s high praise. Fit’s fuel economy is a pleasing 27/33 mpg with manual transmission, 28/35 with automatic. Fit is priced from around $15,600, and its fold-flush-with-the-floor rear-seat design helps make it the most functional car in the class. Fit’s next major changes will likely come for model year 2013.

• Toyota Yaris: A visual dullard compared to the Fiesta and Fit but no slacker for value or refinement. Yaris is among the few B-class cars to offer three body styles. Its four-door hatchback beats out its two-door hatchback for versatility and surpasses the four-door sedan for good taste. Any Yaris model is highly refined for this class and fuel economy is a pleasant 29/36 mpg with manual transmission, 29/35 with automatic. Prices start a little over $13,000. Yaris gets redesigned for model-year 2012.

• Hyundai Accent: This little car from South Korean has forced its way to the top of the subcompact-class sales race, taking the lead by a nose over the Honda Fit. Credit goes to sales generated by the Cash for Clunkers program, but also to Hyundai’s smart marketing and Accent’s impressive value-for-money equation. The Accent two-door hatchback starts under $11,000 for a special stripper model. The more viable sedan is priced from around $13,600. Accent’s the oldest and least refined car in this group, but it’s solidly built and fuel-efficient, topping out at 28/36 mpg. Accent is due for a model-year 2012 redesign.