Ford Fiesta 1.4 Duratorq TDCI Cars Review

Duratorq TDCI Cars

New Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCI Cars Review

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Ford Fiesta Duratorq TDCI Cars

Review Ford Fiesta

How does the classy Ford Fiesta Duratorq TDCI Cars shape up with a 1.4-litre TDCi diesel engine? Steve Walker finds out.

The general consensus of opinion is that Ford has done it again with the Fiesta. We don’t want this to read like an issue of the Ford fan club newsletter but you really do have to hand it to the Blue Oval. Its cars have been consistently credible throughout the last few years with barely a hiccup on the product development front and the latest generation of its long-serving supermini must go down as one of the highlights.

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Duratorq TDCI Cars

Having got the back slapping out of the way, it’s worth having a bit of a reality check. The Fiesta is very good but it’s surrounded by talented rivals fighting tooth and nail for the hearts and minds of the UK’s supermini customers. It’s also fair to say that some Fiestas are better than others and you can bet that any weakness in the range will be ruthlessly exploited. Here we’re taking a look at the 1.4-litre TDCI models which are tasked with holding their own in the burgeoning market for affordable diesel cars.

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Duratorq TDCI Cars

The 1.4-litre TDCi engine has been a Ford stalwart for some time, showing up in the previous generation Fiesta amongst other models. Here it has 67bhp at its disposal and maximum torque of 160Nm is produced at 1,750rpm. On the road, this translates into a punchy and responsive feel at lower speeds but the sluggish 14.9s 0-60mph time tells the story of a car which is less at home when asked to stretch its legs. It might take a while to get there but once up to higher cruising speeds, this Fiesta will sit on the motorway quite happily and the lack of pace is successfully glossed over on twisty roads by the excellent chassis.

This is a fine handling car with its variable power assisted steering providing weighty reassurance at speed and a light touch when manoeuvring. The suspension absorbs bumps expertly and but stays firm enough to resist roll when cornering. The five-speed manual gearbox has a pleasantly slick action and there’s a wide range of adjustment in the driving position to keep everyone happy.

"The Fiesta is an outstanding package regardless of its engine."

Related : Ford FOCUS C-MAX ~ Ford FOCUS C-MAX Duratorq TDCI Cars
Related : Ford Fiesta 1.25 Duratec ~ Duratorq TDCI Cars Models Ford Fiesta Parts 1

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To get into a Fiesta with a better engine than the 1.25-litre units, you’ll need 1,600 to afford the 1.4-litre TDCi diesel or 500 to get the 95bhp 1.4-litre petrol. The latter option might sound attractive but that unit is only available in the plusher Style+, Zetec and Titanium trims which come at a price. Fiesta buyers looking to spend as little cash upfront as possible have little option outside the 1.25 models.

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The performance might not be stellar but running costs are agreeably low where the 1.25-litre Fiestas are concerned. Economy and emissions are 52.3mpg and 128g/km from the 59bhp cars while the 81bhp models get 49.5mpg and 133g/km. This might not be a patch on the 67mpg the entry-level diesel model achieves on the combined cycle but it will take a lot of miles to recoup the price premium Ford is asking for that car in fuel savings.

The 1.25-litre engine is a tried and tested unit that should prove reliable over the long term and with the 59bhp car squeezing into insurance group 1, these are cars that won’t serve up many nasty surprises on the costs front.

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Duratorq TDCI Cars

Ford’s Fiesta is an outstanding supermini that isn’t at its best with a 1.25-litre engine installed under its bonnet. That’s no great surprise, of course. These are entry-level engines that will sell on their low asking prices, not their sparkling ability on the road. The Fiesta’s prowess as a long distance cruiser will be diminished by the lack of power but if performance isn’t a priority, the 1.25 models should be perfectly adequate for urban motoring. The Fiesta’s considerable other qualities will still shine through and that’s what will give it the edge over rivals.

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Duratorq TDCI Cars

There’s no doubt that modern superminis are able to do a whole lot more than carrying their owner on trips to the shops and other errands about town. Big enough for the whole family, comfortable enough for long journeys, sporty enough to entertain and stylish enough to satisfy the image conscious, these cars really are all-rounders. The 1.25-litre Fiestas don’t have quite such a comprehensive array of strengths but they do a lot of what the more expensive options do at a temptingly low cost.

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Ford Fiesta Duratorq TDCI Cars

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The latest Ford Fiesta is such a slick piece of engineering that it largely masks the deficiency in outright pace with its poise and fluency on the road. This is a fine handling car with its variable power assisted steering providing weighty reassurance at speed and a light touch when manoeuvring. The suspension absorbs bumps expertly and in a manner that puts some far larger cars to shame. The Ford Fiesta provides a huge degree of adjustment in its driving position and even lankier individuals will be able to get comfortable behind the wheel. The gearchange is a fraction rubbery but very positive in its action and pleasant to use. Forward visibility is fine but the small rear window and thick C-pillars can present a problem when reversing.

The wedge-effect of the Ford Fiesta in profile doesn’t bode well for the rear seat passengers in the three-door car but the Ford Fiesta surprises with decent legroom and headroom that’s manageable even for a six-footer. The windows are small and set high up, so light isn’t abundant in the back but the shopping bags, coats and road atlases that owners will store there most of the time won’t be overly worried. The five door models fare better with a bigger glass area creating a roomier feel and all derivatives share the same easily navigable control system for their various electronic functions.

All Ford Fiesta share Ford’s ‘Kinetic’ design. Themes as seen on the Ford Mondeo, Ford S-MAX, Ford Focus and others are put to work again but the signature features seem to gain cohesion in closer proximity on a smaller car. The eye is led along the creases, across the cutaway surfaces and the multi-angular effect is highly dynamic in total. The interior styling reprises the edgy and angular themes of the outside, the fascia contrasting soft-touch materials with hard silvery plastics. The Ford Fiesta cars feels modern and is very nicely executed in terms of quality with a pronounced modern feel.

It’s the price that’s going to persuade the majority of Ford Fiesta 1.25 owners to take the plunge. It’s the cheapest way to get yourself into Ford’s iconic small car and for many, that will be a recommendation in itself. You’ll pay just over 9,000 for the entry-level Studio model with the 59bhp engine and three doors. Here, the specification isn’t palatial but you get body-coloured bumpers, tinted glass, electric power steering, a CD stereo and the Ford Easy Fuel System that will prevent you from putting diesel in it during a moment of weakness. Step up to Style trim and the options of five doors and the more powerful engine are opened up. You pay 500 extra for the 81bhp unit. There are also Style+ and Ford Fiesta Zetec trim levels for the 1.25-litre buyer to consider but these are only offered with the 81bhp engine. All Ford Fiesta models come with ABS brakes featuring Electronic Brakeforce Distribution plus front, side and knee airbags.

NEW GENERATION FORD DURATORQ TDCi Cars
Used Duratorq TDCI Cars Models New Ford Fiesta 1.25 Duratec Car Review Parts 1

Used Duratorq TDCI Cars Models New Ford Fiesta 1.25 Duratec Car Review Parts 1

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Can the entry-level Ford Fiestas still impress? Steve Walker checks out the 1.25-litre range.

Superminis these days aren’t the small fry shopping hatches they once were. Motorists expect a more rounded product when their spending their money in this popular sector of the market and current superminis have grown to accommodate them. Tipping the scales at well over 1,000kg and at around four meters in length, we’re talking about substantial bits of metalwork but that raises questions about the engines charged with powering them. Can a supermini still get away with less than 1.3-litres? Ford thinks so, fitting a 1.25-litre unit to its Ford Fiesta.

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Most superminis do campaign with a 1.2 or even a 1.1-litre unit as their entry-level petrol engine, so Ford Fiesta is by no means unusual in offering its long serving 1.25-litre powerplant with the Ford Fiesta. How such diminutive engines cope with the varied roles that modern superminis are designed to perform is less clear. The suspicion is always there that the key purpose of such units is to provide an eye-catching opening price for a model range. This will sucker the public in so they can be up-sold to something a little more salubrious and profitable for the manufacturer. So is the Ford Fiesta 1.25 merely a carrot luring us into the clutches of Ford Fiesta ’s sharp suited sales personnel or can we put it down as a worthwhile model in its own right?

Ford Fiesta Duratorq TDCI not a new engine. It was fitted to the fourth generation Ford Fiesta and the fifth, where it was actually replaced by an inferior 1.3-litre unit then reintroduced later on. It’s back in this sixth generation Ford Fiesta and now there are a pair of power options for the punters to mull over. The 59bhp entry-level option is predictably lacking in the performance department with the 0-60mph sprint taking a tiresome 16.9 seconds. The 81bhp alternative has more zip about it with a 13.3s sprint but it’s still lacking a bit in the muscle needed to propel a Ford Fiesta of the Ford Fiesta’s size around town in a nippy fashion. Maximum torque is 84Nm at 4,200rpm, whereas the less powerful option produces its 80Nm at a slightly more accessible 3,600rpm.

"…the 1.25 models should be perfectly adequate for urban motoring"

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With 100mm of extra legroom and 60mm of additional shoulder room over the standard Ford Focus hatch, space is otherwise pretty generous in the back of the Ford Focus C-MAX. Even in the standard three-abreast bench position there’s plenty of room, offering 946mm of legroom and 582 litres of luggage compartment space. Remove the rear seats altogether and there’s a monstrous 1,692 litres available. One trick Ford did miss was the ability to tumble the front passenger seat forward to a flat position. The fascia design of the Ford Focus C-MAX reflects the exterior lines in its calm maturity. The riot of bisecting lines, angles and arcs that the Ford Focus introduced have been replaced by a quietly styled dashboard with classy Sony branded stereo equipment taking pride of place. The gearlever is mounted high and feels more natural than a floor mounted stick. Materials quality has taken a noticeable hike too, the soft touch plastics used on the upper dash surface being reminiscent of latter day Audis.

The Ford Focus C-MAX TDCi versions have a great deal going for them with economical engines, some clever ideas inside and a great ride and handling set up. The styling is low key inside and out and without seven seats to offer as a carrot, it’s difficult to see hordes of buyers trading up from Ford Focus hatches into Ford Focus C-MAX mini-MPVs. Perhaps Ford’s historical lack of commitment to the mini-MPV sector has bled over into the development of the Ford Focus C-MAX. With a little more rear legroom and a little more utility, the Ford Focus C-MAX seems almost apologetic at what it has become. Still, there's no shortage of mini-MPV buyers who feel the same way and feel as if family commitments have grudgingly forced them into buying such a vehicle. If so, the Ford Focus C-MAX TDCi models may make a perfect marriage of malcontents.

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FOCUS GETS THE MAX FACTOR

If you really want to take advantage of the Focus C-MAX’s excellent dynamics, the punchy 134bhp 2.0-litre TDCi engine makes a capable partner. Backed up by a six-speed gearshift, this unit develops more torque than a Porsche Boxster S. This means that as long as you keep the needle in the sweet spot around 2,000rpm, you’ll have plenty of acceleration in reserve whether it’s just you at the wheel or even if the car is fully stacked. It gets to 60mph in 9.3 seconds and will hit 125mph where conditions permit. Despite this muscle at the command of your right foot, the 2.0-litre model still manages an average of just under 49mpg and emits 154g/km of CO2.

Prices start at around ?16,000 but the thing that may prove a deal breaker to some customers is the fact that whereas the Volkswagen Touran can be specified with seven seats and the Renault Grand Scenic is also thus equipped, the C-MAX only offers five seats. This raises a perplexing question. Just as the Ford Fusion has found little favour with buyers who couldn’t really see what it offered over and above a normal Fiesta, there may well be a significant proportion of potential C-MAX customers who can’t see the point of a car that seats no more bodies than a cooking Focus hatch.

If the exterior may still be a little low key, the C-MAX more than makes up for it with the ideas factory that is the cabin. Although it’s not available on entry-level versions, Ford’s rear seat flexibility system really is the ace in the C-MAX hole. A 40-20-40 "tip and tumble" rear seat sees the centre section flip rearwards into the luggage compartment, leaving the remaining two seats to slide diagonally along a runner towards the centre of the car, giving unprecedented levels of space for four. The rear seats are set high, which does away with the usual mini-MPV complaint of virtually sitting on the floor and means that the kids get a great view forward. The flipside to this is that if you’re regularly carting taller passengers about, that sloping roofline may cause a few grumbles.

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Ford Focus 1.8-litre Duratorq TDCi engine.

Ford FOCUS C-MAX Duratorq TDCI Engine Diesel range Parts 1

Ford FOCUS C-MAX TDCI Diesel range Parts 1

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FOCUS GETS THE MAX FACTOR

With three economical common rail diesel engines available, Ford’s C-MAX aims to take the fight to the mini-MPV class best. Andy Enright reports…

When designing a mini-MPV, there are a vast array of options open to car manufacturers. They can maximise interior space but this normally comes at the expense of driveability and style. Ford’s recent renaissance has been built upon making cars that are a delight to drive, so it’s no surprise that their C-MAX mini-MPV doesn’t resemble a hulking breezeblock. So subtle are its lines that many would have to glance twice to distinguish it from its hatchback sibling. With a frugal TDCI common rail diesel engine up front, the C-MAX proves both economical and acceptably quick. But will it be enough to steal sales form a well-established bunch of rivals?

Ford have thought long and hard about this car since its original launch, hence the recent styling changes and the dropping of the ‘Focus’ name from the title. The looks are a good deal less introverted these days with a redesigned front end that includes design elements from the S-MAX - most notably, the lower trapezoid front grille, a redesigned upper grille, headlights and tail lamps. Specify the optional bi-xenon lights and a light strip runs across the top line of the lamp unit. It’s all rather Audi, as are the LED tail lights.

The 1.6-litre diesel that props up the C-MAX TDCi range we’re looking at here is a development of the Fiesta’s 1.4TDCi common rail unit and, like the 1.8-litre TDCi and 2.0-litre TDCi powerplants, was developed in conjunction with Peugeot and Citroen, drawing on both company’s shared expertise in the field. Ford’s Centre for Diesel Excellence at Dagenham has become a well-respected think tank when it comes to state of the art oil burning engines and the latest TDCi units do its reputation no harm. The 1.6-litre engine is primarily aimed at customers with an eye on fuel economy, and will return a very creditable 57.6mpg on the combined cycle while emitting just 119 grams of carbon dioxide for every kilometre travelled.

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Despite the focus on frugality, it’ll still zip to 60mph in 11 seconds and run on to a top speed of 116mph. Torque is delivered from very low in the rev range and this makes the C-MAX TDCi 1.6 agreeably quick off the mark when you need to accelerate out of a T-junction into flowing traffic. The 1.8-litre TDCi engine develops 113bhp, is fractionally quicker to 60mph and has a 125mph top speed. Choose this option and you can expect 52mpg fuel economy.

"Ford’s Centre for Diesel Excellence at Dagenham has become a well respected think tank"

Ford Duratorq engine TDCI Cars

Ford Duratorq engine TDCI Cars 2005 TDCi (PSA DW Based) Part 1
Ford Focus 1.8-litre Duratorq TDCi engine.