Thanks once again to Dowling Ford for letting me take this 2018 Ford Fiesta S out for a drive!
I'll admit that going into this one, I was expecting it to be pretty much the same as the 2017 Focus SE, just a little smaller. I was so very wrong.
Walking up to the car, it's a little funny looking from the front-end. Otherwise, it's pretty unassuming, especially in black. It's fairly small, with a decent trunk and 4 doors.
Hopping into the back seats, there's plenty of space for me. It might be tougher for a tall driver with a tall passenger behind them, but it's perfectly fine for me at 5'7", with the driver's seat set for me as well. And the cloth seats are fine. They're not going to hug you and make you feel like you're living a life of luxury, but they're not going to break your back either. But luxury is clearly not the goal of this car. Simple is the goal. And I can appreciate simple.
Jumping into the front seat, the theme of simplicity continues. The steering wheel has five buttons on it, in one little cluster. The gauge cluster has analog speed, analog tach, analog gas gauge, and a small digital readout for odometer and oil temperature. The windows - manual. I didn't know you could still get a car with manual windows in 2018, but this one was offered brand new in the year 2018 with them. Quirky. I love it.
The only things taking away from the simplicity of this car are the small screen - though it's not a touch screen, and it's small, so maybe that counts as simple - and the 50 buttons in the center dash, set at a strange angle. The buttons are all slanted, and they're laying at an angle on the protruding center dash. It's more quirky than annoying. Once again though, quirky is not a bad thing. Quirky is interesting.
I note that it has Bluetooth, a backup camera, and a USB port. Not a ton of tech, but it covers the important things. Again, simple.
Clutch down, brake down, simple, standard key into the slot and turn. The clutch is light and smooth. Lighter than the Focus and smoother / less friction than the Focus, but heavier than the new Corolla hatchback (then again, so is a feather). Getting into first, the shifter is on the long side, but moves smoothly and is easy enough to navigate. I note that this one maxes out at 5th gear.
Getting going, the 1.6L 4-cylinder is enough to get this little 2,500 lb car moving pretty well.
Driving around town, it handles well. The steering feedback is good. The ride is smooth enough for a daily driver. Not a ride of luxury, but again, not the goal. The road noise is fairly apparent in this one. Definitely not the quietest thing in the world. But this peppy little car is surprisingly fun to drive. It gets off the line pretty well, and it feels good rowing through the gears.
The description may not make it sound like it deserves a high rating, but I appreciate a little bit of character, some quirkiness, and simplicity. I don't know that there's much else out there for under $10k right now that's as enjoyable as this thing. I would have loved to have this car in college, as a first manual, a simple (but still fun) daily, or as a beater in another life where I own a sports car and have disposable income.
