FORD FIESTA REVIEW

List price from £9,995 Lease price from £150 The verdict 8

The Ford Fiesta is a common sight on British roads, and with good reason

The Ford Fiesta is Britain's best-selling car and our Car of the Year 2014. Now in its seventh generation, it seems to offer just the right mix of economy, space, affordability and driving pleasure.

It's also very popular with our readers - they recently voted it 2014 Supermini of the Year.

Space

Quite roomy, but rear seats don't fold completely flat

Some bigger hatchbacks are available for the same sort of money, but the Fiesta still has space for four adults, and access to its rear seats is easy if you choose the five-door model rather than the three-door.

There’s plenty of space for small items, too, because the glovebox and door bins are well-sized. But while the bootcan take a baby buggy, you may well have to take a wheel off first. The rear seats lie at a steep angle when you fold them down, limiting what you can carry.

Comfort

Excellent if you avoid the sportiest models

Most versions of the Fiesta are extremely comfortable because the seats offer a good range of adjustment and provide support in all the right places. And while the diesel engines sound a little grumbly, the petrol models are all impressively hushed.

Finally, the Fiesta soaks up bumps as well as any small car, as long as you avoid the Zetec-S and ST models, which have firmer suspension settings to make them feel sportier.

Dashboard layout

Some fiddly buttons, but looks classy enough

The Fiesta’s dashboard is covered in buttons, so it can be difficult to find the one you want without taking your eyes off the road for longer than you ideally would, although you do at least get simple rotary dials for adjusting the temperature inside the car.

A polo VW Polo feels classier inside, but the Fiesta looks at least as smart as most other rivals.

Easy to drive

Nicely weighted controls and you get a good view out

The Fiesta is a very easy car to drive, thanks to precise pedals, a slick manual gearbox and a near-vertical rear window that gives you a good idea of where the back of the car ends.

Steering that’s light at low speeds also helps when parking and manoeuvring. And most of the engines feel lively, with the turbocharged 1.0-litre petrols particularly impressive.

These engines are available with the option of an automatic gearbox, but you can't have a diesel Fiesta with an auto.

Fun to drive

A pleasure to drive on any road

There is simply no small hatchback that you can buy today that’s more enjoyable to drive than the Fiesta.

It feels wonderfully sharp and agile, which is great news on winding back roads. But the Fiesta is also a pleasure on more mundane journeys, thanks to its beautifully weighted controls.

The ST model ups the ante even further; it’s one of the most entertaining cars available at any price.

Reliability

Beaten by a host of rivals in satisfaction survey

The Fiesta didn’t perform particularly well in the 2013 JD Power customer satisfaction survey, finishing 73rd out of 116 cars. It was beaten by a host of rivals, including the ibiza Seat Ibiza, toyota yaris Toyota Yaris and VW Polo, although the Fiesta was rated higher than the vauxhall corsa Vauxhall Corsa.

Ford does match Seat and Volkswagen in offering a three-year, 60,000-mile warranty, but Toyota provides the extra reassurance of a five-year, 100,000-mile warranty, while Vauxhall’s 100,000-mile warranty has no time limit.

Fuel economy

Some very efficient options

The majority of engines in the Fiesta range provide excellent fuel economy.

The diesel engines are as frugal as, if not more so than, equivalent models from other manufacturers. And the turbocharged 1.0-litre engines also look very efficient on paper, although our experience suggests you’ll find it harder to get close to the official figures with these.

Only the ageing 1.25-litre petrols models look a little inefficient.

Affordability

Big discounts make it more affordable than it looks at first glance

The Studio version of the Fiesta might look cheap, but it comes with a weak engine and is stingily equipped, so it proves you get what you pay for.

There’s a big jump in price to the next model - the Style. And most other models in the range aren’t particularly well priced (the exception is the sporty ST, which undercuts some rivals by thousands).

Fortunately, Ford dealers offer big discounts that make the Fiesta far more affordable.

Service and insurance costs on all models are reasonable. And the Fiesta will also cost you nothing in road tax during the first year if you choose one of the diesel engines or a manual 1.0-litre petrol.

Safety

Performed very well in crash tests

Every model comes with seven airbags, whereas many small hatchbacks have just four, so it’s hardly surprising that the Fiesta earned the maximum five-star rating when it was crash tested by independent safety body Euro NCAP.

The Fiesta also scored higher than the VW Polo for child occupant and pedestrian protection, while matching its rival's adult occupant protection rating, so it’s a very safe choice.

If the Fiesta starts to slide, a standard electronic stability control system helps you regain control, while another system that automatically applies the brakes if it senses you’re about to have a collision in stop-start traffic is available as a cost option - but not on the cheaper, Studio and Style models.

Standard spec

Most Fiestas are decently specced, but some rivals offer more

In its cheapest, Studio specification the Fiesta comes with a CD player, but little else; you have to upgrade to the Style to get remote door locking and air-conditioning.

Next up is the Zetec, which also comes with alloy wheels, front fog lights and numerous details that make the Fiesta feel more luxurious, so this is our favourite.

Some of the Fiesta’s rivals, including the peugeot 208 Peugeot 208 and Seat Ibiza, are still better equipped, price-for-price, though. And if you want either cruise control (standard across the board on the 208) or a digital radio (which you’ll find on every VW Polo), you’ll either have to specify them as options, or fork out for the expensive Titanium or Titanium X models.