Post by ChrisM on Mar 3, 2021 18:06:17 GMT
Finally the Fiesta went in for its service and MoT today, no issues thank goodness.
Loan car lottery provided me with a Puma 1.0 125 ST-Line auto in a grey that looked lighter than Ford's usual Magnetic colour (apparently it is "solar silver"); 70-plate but with under 250 miles on the clock, so effectively brand new although the DVLA lists it as being registered on 28 January 2021. Checking the Ford website, it appears to have had a 7-speed auto and none of the hybrid assistance at all, plus the "driving assist" pack which brings AEB, rear view camera and a few other bits that I may not have realised were present and the "comfort pack" because I recognised a button for a heated steering wheel which I did not use !
It was foggy this morning and it rained here all afternoon so what with lockdown, I didn't drive it very far, just home from the garage then back again via the local town centre, around 25 miles in total... but I did wash it as it was covered in those sandy deposits we had last week when it rained, so i got to find the difficult-to-clean bits such as around some of the fake air scoops on the front and around the wheelarch trim extensions. I even got thanked for washing it when I returned it, although by then the rear was somewhat dirty again due to the rain :-(
It's wider and therefore more spacious than my 2016 Fiesta although rear legroom wasn't much to talk about. The boot is very shallow with the false floor in the upper position. It took an absolute age to pair my phone to it, not sure if that was the car or the phone playing up and needing multiple requests, but by far the most hassle of any bluetooth car pairing I have ever done. Ride and handling seemed OK but then much of the roads I used were in a pretty dreadful state, so it did a good job. Steering was OK with decent feedback, and not over-light. The full digital dash takes some getting used to - there is a "synthesised" speedo with no numbers around the dial but a digital display at its centre, a rev counter to the right of the speedo, water temp on the left and fuel gauge on the right. in the middle is an area that gives differing info such as directions when using the satnav, or average speed/fuel consumption etc.
The infotainment screen is one of those "looks like an after-thought" sticky-out tablet=type panels in the centre of the dash, with the air vents below it (too low IMHO) and it had manual aircon, not climate control which really needed to be put onto full hot for a good few miles from cold this morning, and then easing back to just over the half-way point.
Lights revert to auto every time you start the car (really annoying IMHO)... and at one point on the way to collect my own car I was driving down a 40mph dual carriageway with occasional pedestrian islands in the middle, a man with his dog on a lead was crossing from the other side to the central island and the central p[art of the dash went all red flashing up "collision avoidance" although fortunately it did not apply the brakes, which would have given the traffic behind me something to think about.
Overall - it's OK, not sure why the motoring press rave so much about it, I was glad to get back into my Fiesta. Getting seriously concerned at the way that safety systems are finding their way into so many aspects of driving, though
Loan car lottery provided me with a Puma 1.0 125 ST-Line auto in a grey that looked lighter than Ford's usual Magnetic colour (apparently it is "solar silver"); 70-plate but with under 250 miles on the clock, so effectively brand new although the DVLA lists it as being registered on 28 January 2021. Checking the Ford website, it appears to have had a 7-speed auto and none of the hybrid assistance at all, plus the "driving assist" pack which brings AEB, rear view camera and a few other bits that I may not have realised were present and the "comfort pack" because I recognised a button for a heated steering wheel which I did not use !
It was foggy this morning and it rained here all afternoon so what with lockdown, I didn't drive it very far, just home from the garage then back again via the local town centre, around 25 miles in total... but I did wash it as it was covered in those sandy deposits we had last week when it rained, so i got to find the difficult-to-clean bits such as around some of the fake air scoops on the front and around the wheelarch trim extensions. I even got thanked for washing it when I returned it, although by then the rear was somewhat dirty again due to the rain :-(
It's wider and therefore more spacious than my 2016 Fiesta although rear legroom wasn't much to talk about. The boot is very shallow with the false floor in the upper position. It took an absolute age to pair my phone to it, not sure if that was the car or the phone playing up and needing multiple requests, but by far the most hassle of any bluetooth car pairing I have ever done. Ride and handling seemed OK but then much of the roads I used were in a pretty dreadful state, so it did a good job. Steering was OK with decent feedback, and not over-light. The full digital dash takes some getting used to - there is a "synthesised" speedo with no numbers around the dial but a digital display at its centre, a rev counter to the right of the speedo, water temp on the left and fuel gauge on the right. in the middle is an area that gives differing info such as directions when using the satnav, or average speed/fuel consumption etc.
The infotainment screen is one of those "looks like an after-thought" sticky-out tablet=type panels in the centre of the dash, with the air vents below it (too low IMHO) and it had manual aircon, not climate control which really needed to be put onto full hot for a good few miles from cold this morning, and then easing back to just over the half-way point.
Lights revert to auto every time you start the car (really annoying IMHO)... and at one point on the way to collect my own car I was driving down a 40mph dual carriageway with occasional pedestrian islands in the middle, a man with his dog on a lead was crossing from the other side to the central island and the central p[art of the dash went all red flashing up "collision avoidance" although fortunately it did not apply the brakes, which would have given the traffic behind me something to think about.
Overall - it's OK, not sure why the motoring press rave so much about it, I was glad to get back into my Fiesta. Getting seriously concerned at the way that safety systems are finding their way into so many aspects of driving, though
