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Ford Ka+ Zetec 1.2 85 Ti-VCT review

Date: 06 December 2016 | Author: Debbie Wood

Category:	City car
P11D price:	£10,240
Key rival:	Vauxhall Viva
On sale:	September 2016

Earlier in the year Ford announced it was doing away with the Studio and Style options on its top-selling Fiesta to make room for this, the all new Ka+.

Despite the similarities in name, it's not actually a replacement for the Ka; instead, it's a larger five-door alternative for those who need more practicality but don't want to move up to a Fiesta's price bracket in the Ford family.

Rivalling the likes of the Vauxhall Viva and Peugeot 108, the new Ka+ comes with a simple line-up and majors on space and functionality.

One petrol engine

To keep the pricing competitive, the car misses out on the award-winning Ecoboost engines and instead has to make do with the Fiesta's current 1.25-litre petrol.

There's a choice of two power outputs: 70hp and 85hp. We'd definitely opt for the latter as there's no compromise on CO2 or fuel economy and only a small £300 price premium. Out on the road you'll be grateful for the extra power - the engine offers enough performance to feel nippy when darting around city streets and the 0-62mph sprint is officially achieved in 13.3 seconds, over two seconds quicker than the 70hp version.

Although the drive lacks character, the ride quality is very good and the steering is well weighted. Around town the engine proves smooth and pulls away from the lights eagerly. On the motorway the car does struggle to build speed somewhat, but once there, performs well.

Side

Mated to the engine is a well-judged five-speed manual gearbox and it's an easy car to drive and manoeuvre, thanks to its small turning circle.

Running costs are disappointing, though, with an official fuel economy of 56.5mpg and CO2 emissions of 114g/km. Both figures are beaten by the majority of its rivals.

More spacious than rivals

The Ka+ is 30cm longer and 12cm taller than the old car and only 4cm shorter than its Fiesta sibling, so interior roominess is impressive - even six-footers will be comfortable in the back. The boot is bigger than most of its key rivals at 270 litres too and is only 20 litres smaller than the Fiesta.

Rear

Inside offers a good mix of durable and high-quality materials, albeit the cabin is bland and some of the features such as the aircon switches and trip computer look very dated. The Ka+ also uses Ford's older infotainment system, which can be frustrating to navigate around and fiddly to use.

Two trims

You'll be able to choose the Ka+ in two trims: Studio and Zetec. The latter is expected to take 95% of sales and comes with key equipment like aircon, DAB radio, cruise control and 15-inch alloy wheels as standard.

It's not as well equipped as the Vauxhall Viva, but options are cheap. Worth considering is the City Pack for just £300, which adds rear parking sensors, electric rear windows and heated foldable door mirrors.

Inside

This version of the Ka+ stands up well against its rivals in the costs department with a 34.4% residual value, beating the comparable Hyundai i10, 108 and Viva. Because of its higher P11D price and disappointing running costs, the pence-per-mile figure is not as competitive though, with the Viva and 108 both being cheaper overall.