Fiesta gives Ford a serious compact for 2011

If Ford is correct, consumers in the United States have successfully conquered their previously-insatiable thirst for large cars and trucks, and will be taking a giant step by going small.

The theory is that in 2002, there were 23 million vehicles purchased from the small-car segment, and by 2012, there will be 38 million. While always producing cars for that segment in the U.S., and more and better small cars for European markets, Ford is unleashing a new two-pronged attack with the soon-to-come global Focus renovation, and the just-arriving Fiesta. The Fiesta is aimed at the smaller end of the segment, smaller than Focus, but the new car is bristling with new tricks that promise performance, fuel economy (up to 40 mpg), good handlling, impressive looks, adequate compact roominess, and great pricing — everything the modern U.S. consumer/family could want.

Who are we to question Ford — the only U.S. auto manufacturer that had enough foresight, and acted on it, so that it didn’t need government tax dollars for bailout loans in order to stay in business. In the past year, while arch-rival General Motors and Chrysler have been scrambling to regain their equilibrium, Ford has brought a series of cars, trucks, and technologically advanced ideas to the marketplace, with the new Taurus, the improved Fusion including the hybrid, the upgraded Mustang, the Flex wagon, and the new F-150, as well as the Transit Connect, and a flock of new engines, plus such things as EcoBoost, which offers meaningful performance upgrades without denting fuel efficiency via turbocharging.

Many consumers might remember the Fiesta when Ford brought it in after great success in the small-car-conscious European market. It was a tough little car, fun to drive even then, and very economical. Cheap gas and the popularity of large vehicles caused Ford to quit bringing in the Fiesta, but it kept selling in Europe. Last year, Ford sold 750,000 Fiestas globally, and it passed the Volkswagen Golf in European sales.

Candlestick Park outlines the Fiesta Hatchback.

The U.S. market is different, however. We’ve grown away from small cars, despite economic and environmental reasons that we should be clamoring for the return. Simple things like gas mileage are greatly dependent on light weight, fun-to-drive handling depends a lot on agility, another weight-related virtue, and strong performance can be obtained from a small engine, if the vehicle is light enough. The Fiesta scores on all these counts.

In aiming at the U.S., Ford will bring in the popular 4-door hatchback (5-door?), and it is adding a specific 4-door sedan, with a neatly sloping rear roofline — just in case there is any factual basis to the theory of U.S. buyers not being enamored with hatchbacks. Frankly, I like the silhouette of the sedan, which looks similar to the sweeping lines of the new Mazda6, but there is no question the hatchback offers the versatility that lures customers around the rest of the world.

The sleeker sedan, left, joins the hatchback.

With the bottom line as a prime objective, Ford is pricing the 4-door-sedan at a base $13,995, and the hatchback at a base of $15,795. That makes it competitive with the Honda Fit.

Driving hard through the mountainous roadways near San Francisco, up and back to Half Moon Bay, the Fiesta had plenty of pep, and its advanced electric steering was sure-feeling and made it easy to carve precise lines around the tightest curves. The standard 5-speed manual transmission handles the small, 1.6-liter 4-cylinder engine very well, although it led me to an easy question: Why no 6-speed manual? Ford’s answer was that it was the same transmission used globally.

Then we switched to the automatic version, and there is no doubt that the PowerShift automatic was designed to make the perfect fit with the Fiesta and its powerplant. It is not just an automatic, but an all-new sequential-manual. This system, designed by transmission specialist Getrag, has an enclosed transmission that actually has two clutches inside. One of them activates first-third-fifth, and the second handles second-fourth-sixth. When you accelerate, the transmission’s electro-mechanical actuators shift with fluid smoothness, because it simply changes which clutch is engaged.

Sophisticated road-racing cars went to sequential manuals, because the computerized device can shift in a couple of milliseconds, much quicker than an expert can shift a stick with a clutch. Audi introduced and perfected the first real-world DSG (direct-sequential manual) for the A4, A3, TT, and the same unit is also used by Audi parent Volkswagen for the Golf GTI, and for both the new Golf and Jetta TDI turbo-diesel models, and it was added to replace the Tiptronic in the CC for 2010. Mitsubishi also has an outstanding sequential-manual for the Lancer and Evolution, and the Outlander crossover SUV. Porsche, with its long-awaited PDK, uses the same technique, and BMW has revised its transmission for similar effect.

The slick idea of a sequential-manual led me to my second serious question about the 2011 Fiesta: Why is there no manual override on the shift lever, and more important, why are there no steering-wheel shift paddles to allow the driver the sheer joy of manually choosing gears to bring the Fiesta to true, sporting optimum? Ford said its market research didn’t show a great demand for manual operation of the PowerShift, but my response was that is what truly amplifies what is best with the Audi, VW, Porsche, Mitsubishi, and BMW clutchless-manuals.

The question of “Who are we to question Ford?” answered itself, when I continued to ask different engineers why there aren’t paddles, until finally one of them said, “Not yet.” That was more encouraging than the fluff that nobody wants them, anyway.

Ford stressed that the Fiesta will compete most directly with the Honda Fit, and adds the Toyota Yaris, Nissan Versa, Mini Cooper, and also the larger Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla. Ford has to be careful here, of course, because once they tie in the Civic and Corolla, they’re invading Focus territory, which would beg the question: Fiesta or Focus?

For the U.S., the sedan adds another look.

In competitive driving, the Fit was the primary target, and Ford claims better fuel economy, more power, quieter operation, and better handling, and we all gathered in the parking lot of Candlestick Park — where the San Francisco Giants used to play — and we played on a high-speed slalom course and on a cone-lined autocross circuit. Both of those sessions featured some sudden and heavy thunderstorms that rolled in off the ocean and forced us to drive through some serious puddles.

Strangely enough, for our group the only Fiestas there were stick-shift models, although it seemed to be a perfect setting to see the PowerShift go through its maximum paces. Without question, the Fiesta did the job, although the autocross was best mastered by accelerating hard at the start, hitting second, and simply leaving the stick in second while thrashing around the twists and turns.

I must say, though, that while the Fit leaned more in turns, the steering-wheel paddles in the Fit are what makes it such a popular small car for customers who want a little sporty feel with their economy. My opinion is that the presence of paddles will be an asset for the Fit and not having them will be a potential deal-breaker for comparison Fit-Fiesta shoppers.

However, by the time we got through the mountain driving, I was less intense about my paddle question. The PowerShift works very well on upshifts, which is no surprise, but it works surprisingly well in downshifting, too. We had driven up one particularly twisty section, and we came back down the same way. Having driven it only once, I was looking forward to that downhill hairpin, and I admit I went into it too hot. Not too hot for my driving, or the car’s suspension, which is what I was trying to test in that turn, but too hot for the Fiesta’s computerized controller, which downshifted the PowerShift two gears, throttle-blips and all. It was impressive, almost as though the car was saying, “What the heck is this guy doing? Oh well, we’ll save him.”

You can hate it when cars are smarter than the drivers, but this was impressive, and could be a factor in the devices potential sales. The transmission is scarcely larger than the 5-speed manual, and is the same size as the outgoing 4-speed, while boasting wide ratios that attain maximum fuel economy with two overdrives, in fifth and sixth. That led me to yet another question: Is Ford the first company to offer a 6-speed automatic but only a 5-speed stick? Nobody was certain. But it is an oddity.

The 1.6-liter engine has modest numbers, with only 120 horsepower and 112 foot-pounds of torque, but Ford again has proven that technology can overcome meager numbers. Ti-VCT, which is “twin independent variable cam timing” adjusts the intake and exhaust valves depending on driver demand and load. The snappy performance shows the merit of such technology, and the misleading nature of the statistical numbers.

Steve Pinta, chief engineer of the North America Fiesta, explained that the car’s light weight was achieved by using 55 percent high-strength steel, including ultra-high boron steel in the front A pillars and the side door sills. High-grade steel provides better strength even with less steel, improving both weight and safety. Seven airbags, including a driver knee bag, adds to the safety, as does the standard-issue AdvanceTrac with stability control. For interior quiet, acoustic improvements to the windshield, pillars, headliner, front and rear doors, floor, and door seals give the Fiesta the secure feel of a larger, heavier car.

A Fiesta option is direct-sequential shifting.

Handling is conquered by front struts, a rear twist-beam axle, stabilizer bars, and a couple of features called drift-pull, which alters torque to help straighten out a wayward car, and anti-nibble cancellation, which counters the tendency to feel twitchy in cornering. That’s in addition to the electric steering system.

Ford claims that people making over $100,000 a year in salary are the new breed of small-car buyers, and of considerable interest to new and younger buyers are things like mobile device interaction. Ford, of course, answers with its uniquely impressive Sync system of interactive electronic devices. The Fiesta interacrts with Apple Link and Blackberrys, and uses Smart Apps to allow coive control and touch-screen handiness. Ford also anticipates more and better website applications to create the optimum mobuile application environment.

Striking looks, outlandish colors like lime green among the nine available colors, with seven different interior lights, and, if you choose leather interior, three different leather colors.

Whether you consider such features as gimmicks, and prefer quick engines, advanced transmissions and great handling, Ford stresses that the cohesiveness of all those ideas are what sets the Fiesta above the competition. Altogether, they make the Fiesta a very impressive choice — even for those among us who are waiting for the “not yet” addition of paddle-shifters.