Post by ChrisM on Mar 25, 2019 8:16:38 GMT
Another service (the Kuga this time) another loan car.
Almost the same as before, a Fiesta Active but this time an auto.... 6-speed by all accounts, presumably the ecoboost engine as it was petrol but not sure of the power output.
At least this one was cleaner outside than the last one from 3 weeks ago. The engine was very rough and lumpy at idle when cold, not sure if it is fitted with cylinder de-activation technology but I was initially sufficiently concerned that there was something wrong with it that I contemplated going back into the garage to complain. However whilst I was sorting out the position of the seat and mirrors etc, it improved and the lumpiness didn't return in the 50-or-so miles that I drove it.
The driving "experience" was near-identical to the manual car I had at the start of the month but...... stop-start with an auto is almost lethal! For example you come to rest at a roundabout, then just as you want to move off, the engine dies so there is a pause whilst it re-starts before the car starts to move. At least with a manual, so long as the clutch is depressed the engine won't cut out. On an auto, it really needs linking to the satnav so it doesn't cut out at junctions, roundabouts etc. The temptation to press the button to turn the system off was there...... and the engine is very eager to rev and accelerate from rest, so not a car for relaxed driving but perfectly OK for boy racers who want an auto !
Ride and handling is marginally improved over my 2016 Fiesta (which has the optional 17" wheels with liquorice-thin sidewalls) and once again, economy was worse then my Fiesta despite the presence of a 6-speed auto box in place of my car's 5-speed manual. There are very small "flappy paddles" that rotate with the steering wheel and which have very little movement - more like switches than paddles, and even when in over-ride mode, the gear is not permanently indicated on the dash, only when you operate one of the paddles does the gear selected appear momentarily in the central display, and only for a couple of seconds. Blink and you could almost miss it. this is unlike the Captur and mum's (now elder daughter's) V70 where in manual mode, the gear selected is permanently displayed on the instrument panel.
I still don't get the "active" styling on the new Fiesta, the "ordinary" flavour is better (IMHO). No photos due to shortage of time - the only one I took was one of the reg plate which I needed for the local ticketless car park !
Almost the same as before, a Fiesta Active but this time an auto.... 6-speed by all accounts, presumably the ecoboost engine as it was petrol but not sure of the power output.
At least this one was cleaner outside than the last one from 3 weeks ago. The engine was very rough and lumpy at idle when cold, not sure if it is fitted with cylinder de-activation technology but I was initially sufficiently concerned that there was something wrong with it that I contemplated going back into the garage to complain. However whilst I was sorting out the position of the seat and mirrors etc, it improved and the lumpiness didn't return in the 50-or-so miles that I drove it.
The driving "experience" was near-identical to the manual car I had at the start of the month but...... stop-start with an auto is almost lethal! For example you come to rest at a roundabout, then just as you want to move off, the engine dies so there is a pause whilst it re-starts before the car starts to move. At least with a manual, so long as the clutch is depressed the engine won't cut out. On an auto, it really needs linking to the satnav so it doesn't cut out at junctions, roundabouts etc. The temptation to press the button to turn the system off was there...... and the engine is very eager to rev and accelerate from rest, so not a car for relaxed driving but perfectly OK for boy racers who want an auto !
Ride and handling is marginally improved over my 2016 Fiesta (which has the optional 17" wheels with liquorice-thin sidewalls) and once again, economy was worse then my Fiesta despite the presence of a 6-speed auto box in place of my car's 5-speed manual. There are very small "flappy paddles" that rotate with the steering wheel and which have very little movement - more like switches than paddles, and even when in over-ride mode, the gear is not permanently indicated on the dash, only when you operate one of the paddles does the gear selected appear momentarily in the central display, and only for a couple of seconds. Blink and you could almost miss it. this is unlike the Captur and mum's (now elder daughter's) V70 where in manual mode, the gear selected is permanently displayed on the instrument panel.
I still don't get the "active" styling on the new Fiesta, the "ordinary" flavour is better (IMHO). No photos due to shortage of time - the only one I took was one of the reg plate which I needed for the local ticketless car park !
