Ford Fiesta S Limited Edition Review New Zealand
Many years ago, almost too many to remember, I got my first car. The make and model are not relevant here, but suffice to say, it was very cheap, wasn’t pretty and wasn’t fast – well not until I ‘modified’ it. Being my first car, I of course recall everything about it, vividly. From the number plate, to the tape deck, even the seat covers but most definitely the colour. It wasn’t a standard brand palate, in fact I think it was more of a hand painted industrial wall paint, a deep blue with a hint of ‘modern’ metallic fleck to it, but to me, that colour meant freedom. Unfortunately, that colour didn’t meant fast though, but don’t worry, I had a plan – stripes.
Just as cleaning your car improves its performance, stripes make it go faster. After all, back then, both the new ‘Turbo’ versions all had them and Limited Editions had them, so it made sense, for my car to have them – and hand painted to boot. Taking a small can of airfix model paint and a tiny brush, red stripes were slowly and carefully added to my mean machine, and I have to say that once (finally) completed, they looked magnificent!
Memories of my first car came flooding back when I recently picked up Ford’s Fiesta Sport Limited Edition. Certainly not because of its looks or power, the Fiesta was in a different league, but oh those stripes.
Bonnet, roof and sides, the Fiesta Sport Limited Edition, is race stripe ready (no need for me to get my airfix paint out) and it too, looked magnificent. The model I collected was ‘Frozen White’ with black stripes (there’s also ‘absolute black’ and ‘candy red’), black wheels, spoiler kit and tints – my first impression was that it looked fast, which wasn’t too far off the truth.
Under the bonnet of this compact sporty little number, sits the 6-time winner of the International Engine of the Year “Best Engine under 1.0-litre” award, the Ford EcoBoost 1.0 GTDi engine – it’s an impressive little powerhouse that remains undefeated in that category since its launch in 2012. It produces 92kW of power @ 6,000 rpm with 170 Nm of Torque @ 1,400-4,500 rpm. CO2 emissions are claimed to be 121 g/km while Fuel Economy in Ecomode is said to be 5.4L/100km (I have no idea as I never thought to venture into Ecomode – this car has go faster stripes!)
I could say the obvious, that this car was zippy and nippy, but it’s actually much more than that. The Fiesta S has a grown up feel about it, reminiscent of hatchback’s much bigger in stature. Yes it’s easy to navigate around the city in, but there is no sense of being out muscled on the motorways either.
Although the Fiesta is compact in size, it’s definitely got a practical side to it too. From a small family point of view, it took us to the malls and markets with room to spare, and of course is easy to park. It even has a reversing camera should you require (but it appears in the rear view mirror which takes a lot of getting used to). During my week with the Fiesta S Limited Edition, the occasion arose for me to take three other adults on quite a longish run, it was a surprisingly uncramped trip, with no complaints of limited headroom in from the rear. But I will reiterate, this is a compact sporty little number – not a people mover.
The infotainment is brought to you via Ford’s ‘Sync’, which is a little frugal in technology terms, and the rather small screen is recessed way back in the dashboard. But the sunglasses pocket (which I normally find to be a redundant feature on any car), is made of a mesh net and I found this to be perfect in both size and position for my Huawei smartphone – I just forgot it several times.
With its EPAS (Electric Power Assisted Steering) and well balanced chassis, the Fiesta S takes the corners well and sits great on the tarmac. It’s a tidy car that feels fun and quite involving to drive. But, and I don’t think for one moment I’m alone in my thinking, when you add in those Stripes, restrict the numbers and call it a ‘Limited Edition’, the Fiesta S Limited Edition will, I believe, move as fast off the showroom floor as it does on the NZ roads – long live those ‘go faster stripes’.
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