Test drive Ford Fiesta 5 doors 2002 - 2005 hatchback

All photos of Ford Fiesta 5 doors 2002 - 2005

Christmas gift for your beloved

Winter in Russia is special. And not only because snow, ice, skis and skates with mulled wine and barbecue in the interval and sauna at the end. Winter we have a wonderful time for the holidays: two Christmas, two new years, a student Tatyana's day and Valentinov for lovers, our ability to invent and borrow holidays is amazing, and from the last decade of December to the first decade of March we have more than one reason to please our loved ones with gifts. And you will be happy to give it yourself, agree, even more pleasant than to receive. And you can make a gift to yourself and the joy will be double ...

Alas, the concept of an expensive gift for the donor and receiving has a few different meaning. And if for the latter it almost always reflects the depth of feelings and the proximity of the relationship, then the first to think about things more prosaic. For example, about the remains in the bank. In a commercial, in three -liter, someone like. And if these residues have a stable growth trend, then a gift can be affected by a road in every sense.

Just about such gifts and we will talk.

Agree, well, will it come to the head of a family who had accumulated money for a single car for several years to buy a compact Ford Fiesta for a lot of money than a roomy Russian Focus? Hardly. And if the young and still not very rich business woman decided to purchase a compact car convenient in the city, then her choice will rather dwell on the cheaper Skoda Fabia than on Volkswagen Polo.

It is another matter when the car is selected without a special look at the price, and the criteria of the choice are the size, brand and features of the decoration. Dear, this Fiesta, it is so energetic road, and I saw a new Polo here, well, such a darling, a big -eyed

As a rule, the bestowers are trying to make some adjustments. Logic is different, and this time we decided to follow one of the arguments, by the way quite common. The wording is approximately as follows: for starters, I will buy her something not very powerful so that she would not kill in inexperience. Let him learn to go.
So, candidates for the role of such a gift. Volkswagen Polo with a three-cylinder 1.2-liter 12-valve engine presented by the public with the new Polo. And Ford Fiesta with a more traditional engine: 4 cylinders, 8 valves, 1.3 liters of working volume. Both are equipped, at the present time, medium: four airbags, air conditioning, a simple cassette radio, electric windows only ahead. And both with manual gearboxes of the machine with these motors are not even offered. Well, learn how to learn like that.

Different twins
Assuming that the only and unique may be a mother, preoccupied with the delivery of offspring to schools and other children's institutions, we took the family-practical five-door hatchbacks for the test. This is an important point: designers of both companies divorced three- and five-door bodies even in general perception, adding the first to sports, and the second some respect. But then then ... What do you like more, the perky adhesiveness of Fiesta or the romantic roundness of Polo? Choose with your heart to the arguments of the mind and measuring instruments in this case, it is pointless to turn. Because if you close your eyes to stylistic differences (or at least close your palm in the pictures of the front parts of the cars), you will get something like an illustration on the topic The optimal shape of a modern small class car from a textbook for universities of the corresponding profile. It is difficult to get rid of the feeling that the design units of both companies are periodically exchanged.

When choosing a face, you will not be mistaken in the internal content. It is only necessary to rearrange some words: straight lines and faces of the Polo interior emphasize traditional restraint and noble dignity, while the rounded forms of the Fiesta salon are filled with cheerful energy and optimism.

Let's move from emotional to functional.

Spacious (taking into account the size of cars) salons, convenient front seats with good lateral support and height adjustment (VW) or tilt of a pillow (Ford) two of a casket! However, the rear seat Polo is a little more convenient in shape due to deeper stamping. Yes, and it is decorated a little richer, it is noticeably in the little things.

In accordance with the proprietary tradition, Volkswagen is very friendly to the long -legged, allowing the driver and his neighbor to pretty squeeze the sitting from behind and reinforcing this possibility of longitudinal adjustment of the steering column. Fiesta limits such arbitrariness, avoiding the advance to the rights and freedoms of indigenous inhabitants of the rear seat. Therefore, apparently, there is no need to adjust the steering wheel here.

However, even if the driver does not have particularly long legs, Fiesta will puzzle him: under the left leg there is no not only the site, but the free space even a very narrow ladies' leg with difficulty squeezes into the interval between the clutch and the casing of the wheeled arch. Another strangeness of the little Ford lack of ceiling handrails for passengers: only lonely hooks for clothes stick out lonely.

The trunk of Fiesta (in the configuration of Comfort and above) is unlocked by a button on the dashboard, which is especially pleasant in the autumn-winter mud. The very cargo space is a little more convenient for Polo due to traditional attention to small things. And again: Fiesta allows you to partially fold the back of the rear seat, but the pillow is removed only entirely. So if you leave at least one passenger behind, you can transport far from every long object. Polo has a question of the option: in our case, both the pillow and back are whole, but you can order an option when they are both separated.

Training simulator
This is 15-20 years ago to a class B car was quite enough, a liter motor, and a nameplate with the inscription 1.3 was already a sign of almost sports modifications. Nowadays, comfort, active and passive security, the cars have become much harder. So if you live in a very hilly area, then you will have to fork out for something more serious. But still we will be fair: these engines are enough so as not to be a brake in the city stream. And you can even make a little! With one condition: you will have to work quite intensively by the gear lever, which for a novice driver, in general, is even useful.

In this sense, Fiesta immediately instructs good taste: convenient clutch, a clear and accurate gearbox lever and an excellent selection of gear rates turn the process of switching into pleasure.

Polo has the transmission mechanism is also good (you must say traditionally again), but the impression is spoiled by the no less traditional long -term and completely non -informative clutch pedal you do not get used to it immediately.

There is also some difference in the dispersal manner: the Volkswagen motor is better pulling on medium and begins to slowly wither somewhere around 5000-5500 rpm. Fiesta loves high speeds more, and the supply for them (cutting is about 6200) allows you to use this love for selfish purposes for quick overtaking.

If you are used to accelerating the sound, then be careful: the Polo engine is very reminiscent of a diesel engine, and not only at idle. At first, you even wonder when his hoarse baritone suddenly hangs on one note, resting on the limiter. In this sense, the perirable sports Tenok Ford is much more familiar, and besides, it will surely give a certain pleasure to a true connoisseur.

Heredity and education
But first of all, the connoisseur will pay attention to handling, which, by the way, is traditionally good for European models of the Ford concern. And our baby did not shame the family and school: an informative steering wheel, quick, clear reactions, very small rolls, the exact passage of turns, a real sports car controlled by the thrust for discharge of gas, only small! And with all this, stable behavior on direct and in gentle curves, only at the highest speeds Fiesta makes the driver concentrate, and then, if the asphalt is not perfect. Tasty, even exquisite!

Polo behavior can also be called exemplary, but not in the driver’s sense, but in the general consideration. A little more than the roll, a little slower (but no less accurate) reactions to the rotation of the steering wheel, all the settings are slightly shifted towards insufficient rotation, and there is no such willing reaction to reducing the supply of fuel. But condescension to the driver’s mistakes and excellent stability even on uneven roads. The true Volkswagen is a very balanced car, predictable and safe for a novice driver.

The brake properties of both cars are close, and there is nothing to make claims. There is a difference in the smoothness of the course, but they are minimal. Both cars are not prone to excessive comfort, but at the same time Polo suspension is slightly softer and more energy intensive, and the Ford suspension is slightly tougher and in some cases can allow breakdown.

Traditions and choice
Having already finished the descriptive part of the article, we suddenly found that it very often found derivative words of tradition. Well, let's leave it as it is. Because just the stability of a high level of consumer qualities for decades largely determines the adherence of customers of a certain brand. We do not exclude that this commitment will be decisive in the choice. Even though Polo is 1600 euros more.

Well, if there are no preferences, it remains to just decide which of the two gifts is more suitable for you in appearance and character. And find out whether the donor is ready to pay the mentioned amount for a slightly better divergence of ergonomics and comfortable trifles.

We did not find other serious arguments. Although they tried very hard.

The Ford Fiesta car is provided by the official Ford dealer, the Yu. S. Impex-Avto car dealership.
The car is provided by the official Volkswagen dealer, Alea Motorsa car dealership.

Text: Dmitry Filonov
Photo: Alexander Nozdrin