Ford about a second there, it looked like Ford was going to have one of the most competitive superminis, the all-new 2018 Fiesta. However, it doesn't seem to be a match for the freshly revealed VW Polo.
Sure, the Germans have installed full-LED headlights and adaptive cruise control that works up to 210 km/h. However, you pay extra for those. No, we're surprised that the new Focus doesn't live up to expectations in the space department.
While Mat Watson's initial review of the baby Ford doesn't directly point out this flaw, the 290-liter trunk is on the small side; there's a massive ridge, and the rear seats don't fold flat at all. Meanwhile, both the SEAT Ibiza and the VW Polo have about 350 liters of space.
The problem seems to stem from Ford adapting the old Fiesta platform once again (the model they launched in 2013 was "all-new" only in name). Both legroom and headroom continue to be tight in the back of the rakish B-segment car. We could blame the 3-door design, but who buys that unless he has to?
We have a feeling Ford made the changes to the Fiesta based on people's behaviors at dealerships. Plenty of folks want "exactly the one I saw in the magazine/on TV" and when the dealer throws in free service or a discount the deal is as good as done. To that end, the new car stands out more, as the ST Line, Vignale and Titanium models all have a unique appearance.
Another little thing that bugs us is the performance. Ford didn't use any big engines and in fact downsized the Fiesta ST as well. In this review, Mat drives the 140 PS version of the 1.0 EcoBoost that's supposed to do 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 10 seconds flat but actually manages 9.5 seconds.
It's not all bad news though, as the abundance of redundant buttons has been substantially reduced. And it is a beautiful-looking little thing with a new 6-speed manual and soft-touch materials.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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