Our Fleet Test Drive: Ford Fiesta - 8th Report

Date: 24 June 2009   |   Author: Tom Webster

Fiesta by a field

Category: Supermini P11D price: £12,744 Key rival: Vauxhall Corsa

A broken finger that required surgery prevented me from driving, and this threatened a holiday planned down in Cornwall. However, my girlfriend stepped forward to take responsibility for getting the two of us down to the South West. This caused a little anxiety as she'd never driven in London before, and relies on public transport for her daily commute.

But the Fiesta was perfect for someone not used to driving a variety of cars. She found the small Ford easy to adapt to, and managed to quell any concerns we may have had about tackling the long drive across the country. Now that I didn't have to worry about getting us to our holiday destination, I could relax and enjoy the ride.

The passenger seat proved to be almost as pleasurable a place to be as the driver's. The seat goes far enough back to provide plenty of legroom even when various handbags, coats and picnics are deposited in the footwell. The radio/iPod connection/CD player can be reached just as easily while riding up front, but sadly it remains a low point - it's just too fiddly to be used instinctively.

My girlfriend's only real gripe came with visibility. She felt the view out of the rear passenger windows was restricting when pulling out at junctions and parking. As I haven't encountered this problem so much, we put it down to the fact that she's closer to five rather than six feet in height.

Subscribe