Ford Fiesta Classic 2011 - First choice for hatch to sedan upgraders

On April 11, 2011 at the Chennai's Taj Connemara's sprawling gardens, wraps were pulled off the Ford India's entry level sedan Ford Fiesta. The low-cost 2011 edition Ford Fiesta has been christened as Ford Fiesta Classic. The company says the Fiesta Classic will be launched soon in the Indian markets. The Ford Fiesta Classic 2011 comes in 3 variants: LXI, CLXI, SXI. The SXI is the highest trim variant and it gets the 14-inch tubeless alloy wheels (hyper alloys as Ford refers to them) and all other bells and whistles.

Ford motors' fortune has been almost permanently changed by its 2010 launch and most praised hatch of the country, Ford Figo and the company doesn't want to sit and bask in the glory that Figo had brought. Instead it wants to repeat another similar success and fortune changing scenario with the low-cost entry level sedan the Ford Fiesta Classic 2011.

It should be noted that Ford Fiesta Classic was made for China, and the Ford Motors later decided to launch it in India as well. The predecessor Ford Fiesta has made a reputation of being sold a lakh units can this successor with a price tag of 5.49 lakhs live up to its predecessor's expectations and alter the fortune of Ford Motors in India further?

Looks and styling of the Ford Fiesta Classic 2011
Ford Motors have taken good care in revamping the looks and it had given a total fresh and new look to the Fiesta Classic 2011. Adopting clean lines the Ford Fiesta Classic has finally given in to the company's philosophy of kinetic design

The crystal barrel headlamps with black inserts look aggressive yet less fish-eyed than its predecessor. The turn indicators are placed on chrome-scalped ORVMs (the LXI has black colored ORVMs). The rear end doesn't look to have changed much except for the Ford Fiesta Classic badge.

Interiors of the Fiesta Classic
Interiors are dual tone with LXI and the CLXI getting Ebony and Jasper blue combination and the SXI getting camel and Ebony as the combo option.



Fabric seating adorns all the three trims and the driver's seat is height adjustable in the CLXI and SXI variants. Leather-wrapped steering (power steering with tilt option for all models) wheel with aluminum cuffs and a 2 DIN MP3 music system with 6 speakers come for the SXI. AC with heater as also the electric recirculation and power windows comes in all the variants. The ORVMs are electrically adjusted in the SXI variant only.

AC is something that surprises anyone, for complete cabin cooling took more than 10 minutes and you'd hate as much the blowing noise when the AC has been running. Electric boot release comes in all variants and the boot space is 413 liters. The 100% foldable rear seats give increased boot space option.

Motor, ride and handling
The Fiesta Classic is powered by a 1.6 liter Duratec MPFi petrol and 1.4 liter Duratorq CRDi diesel engine which belt out 101 Bhp of power. The diesel engine produces torque of 160 Nm which is tad higher than the petrol engine (produces 146 Nm peak torque). The engine is mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. While the 0-100 time for diesel was 14.4 seconds, the petrol version clocked faster at 11.3 seconds. Top speed achievable was 161 (diesel) and 169 kmph (petrol), respectively.

On ride and handling side, nothing much has been changed yet the Ford Fiesta Classic 2011 will retain the benchmark standard of handling in India for the class that its predecessor has set. Sharp steering response and the suspension (independent McPherson struts with an offset coil spring at the front and semi-independent HD twist beam coupled with gas-filled shockers at the rear puts the Ford Fiesta Classic in the 'rides well' category. However, it takes time to drive her well on narrow city roads.

Safety features
Safety features include ABS with EBD (for SXI), collapsible steering, PATS or Passive Anti Theft System, central locking and two airbags for driver and passenger in the front (SXI). Diesel returned 16.5 kmpl and petrol returned a mileage of 13.5 kmpl.

Final verdict
Ford Fiesta Classic is a stop gap arrangement for the discontinued Josh Machine Ford Ikon and also the forthcoming Ford Fiesta. Slight design change cannot change Ford Motors' fortunes but with that being said smaller price tag can actually bring in more customers to the Ford. Until the new Fiesta comes off the wraps, this is definitely a worth considering sedan and for those who are looking to upgrade from a hatch this is a good bet for the price.