Test drive Ford Streetka 2003 - 2006 convertible

Streetball

This street sport is available to everyone - two teams play one basketball ring. Our team played two at once - in Ford Streetka and Ford Sportka.
Despite mid -April, the azure coast met us with dank weather. Lead clouds, cold wind and endless drizzling rain resembled Moscow at the end of October. Huge palm trees and agaves, growing here in abundance, only emphasized how much we were not lucky with the weather. The fact that on the first day of the test drive we had to ride on Streetka convertibles were especially pleased. We were looking for comfort in the saying the worse - the better. The weather gave us a chance to understand how comfortable (or uncomfortable) you can feel behind the wheel of such cars on your native asphalt.
Elephants in the shop. Several dozens of pretty miniature cars were waiting for us in a parking lot near Nice Airport. The appearance of the kids turned out to be not just a catchy, but just a defiant. We almost turned our heads when we left the airport door, and a bright red Streetka drove past. There is nothing surprising here - not only GHIA engineers, but also Pininfarina’s designers attached their hand to the creation of the body. Moreover, the design of the car from the very beginning was conceived by futuristic. The donor - Ford KA - would look like this multi -colored company with an ugly duckling.
   
My colleague and I chose a silver car from afar and, I must say, with some apprehension we began closer acquaintance. Everyone understands that such a pretty miniature car is most likely intended for a woman or for a small complexion. Which, moreover, will ride light. We are both both tall under 190, and we weigh no less than the centner. With difficulty shoving two road bags into the small trunk, we literally squeezed into the baby’s salon. The camera had to be put in my feet and think about where to stick caps and a map of the area. The caps found a place behind the seats, and the map was put under the rug. It is a pity that we had no glasses - instead of a glove compartment, Streetka has a very nice eye. In general, the internal design turned out to be pleasant, and the eye rests on it. Circles and ovals are guessed literally in everything - even the central console and door cladding have the shape of a circle.
Tango together. Focusing on the map, we began to get out of Nice. Immediately, a rather soft suspension attracted attention - we overcame the numerous bedridden police officers of various calibers almost silently, without giving a suspension and our own teeth. For a car of this size, this is a rarity.
   
The only inconvenience was due to the mismatch of our growth in the size of the car - the heads slightly protruded beyond the upper frame of the windshield. Therefore, it was quite cold and uncomfortable to go open. In addition, the upper metal strip above the windshield seemed excessively massive to us and worsened the review greatly. If you sit down ... in the end, when a light snowball went, we closed the roof. It closes manually and very easily - even the child will cope. With a closed roof in the typewriter, it became homely comfortable, although completely crowded.
Here the city is over, the road became two -lane, winding and reached out into the mountains. Here I had to suffer a little our motor. In order not to lose face in front of the Aborigines on Renault and Peugeot, we quite often had to twist the momentum to the maximum 5-6 thousand. But Streetka did not behave very briskly in the limit modes - now he was not disturbed by the height, but our weight. But we were not offended: the long -flowing handle of the checkpoint and stretched, unsportsmaning transfers did not provoke an aggressive riding along unfamiliar mountain serpentines.
Actually, Ford was not going to create a powerful high -class sports car. Streetka is conceived and executed as an affordable, inexpensive double relatives. The owner should not spend a lot of money on maintenance and insurance. The new 95-horsepower 1.6-liter eight-valve Duratec engine guarantees sufficient car dynamics weighing about a ton and is economical in maintenance.
   
For such reasoning, we ourselves did not notice how we ended up in Cannes at the final point of the route. They left Streetka not without regret - a very touching car.
NO MAKE UP. The next day we had to get acquainted with a more energetic and aggressive Sportka. At first glance, it seems more serious than Streetka, primarily thanks to a hard roof. In addition, regular foglights appeared, a spoiler built into the roof. The back turned out to be no less attractive than that of Streetka, although one differs very much from the other, but a common funny detail reminiscent of the bloody connection of the babies is preserved - a round lamp of the rear.
Inside, Sportka does not look so playful - the black decoration of the cabin is highlighted by aluminum details, the seats are covered with perforated skin with contrasting firmware.
When you get behind Sportka, you feel that you got into another car. Firstly, in the back there was enough living space to transport, for example, children. The trunk seems to have become more spacious. The aluminum handle of the checkpoint has become short -handed, the steering wheel is covered with leather, in semi -sports seats you feel almost Schumacher. In addition, in Sportka there is a decent standard stereo system with a CD player and a six discs built-in in the dashboard. Front mats with the Sportka logo are delivered in the standard. Air conditioning, electric mirrors and hatch in the roof are installed as factory options.
 
 
BODY-BUILDING. Cars differ not only externally. It is worth ride on Sportka quite a bit to understand how better the car is going on a Co specially designed box with a shorter than Streetka, gearboxes. The engine is the same, but it undermines the machine so briskly that I immediately want to participate in street races. Yes, and the motor begins to pull already with 1,500 revolutions. To match the new character and alloy wheels with low -profile rubber, increased track, sports hard suspension and reinforced brakes with calipers from Focus. Unfortunately, for the Russian buyer, there is practically no Sportka tuning - the exhaust and that tuned.
In fairness, it should be noted that Sportka was created based on the Streetka relatives, from which he borrowed the main elements of the power unit and chassis. But Sportka initially laid down the idea of \u200b\u200ban active drive - the car passes any turn swiftly, easily and confidently.
Hard pressure. Sportka anterior suspension with MacPherson racks with improved characteristics has a new constructive crossbreak. The rigidity of the reptile stability increased by 64 percent compared to KA, and the rigidity of the front springs - by 30 percent. This contributes to good controllability, thanks to which it seems that Sportka is traveling, as if on rails. At the back, engineers increased the angular stability of a semi -dependent suspension, developed on the basis of the Fiesta pendant, and increased the collapse of the wheels to ensure the optimal convergence, stability and stability of the car’s behavior under all driving conditions. The angular rigidity of the rear suspension is increased by 45 percent compared to the usual ka, and the stiffness of the springs by 7 percent.
He steer and holds the road Sportka and really wonderful. To reset it from the turn, we must try. But we didn’t even try, because the road stretched along the edge of a high cliff with tiny red roofs below. And we were waiting for a long way home to spring Moscow. Where is the time to think about what I will ride in the summer. Maybe on one of the two KA? Hardly. Sportka will not be imported to Russia, according to intelligence data, and Streetka can be counted on the fingers. And they will cost something like the closest image competitor - mini. And this, you see, is no longer a streetball, but a fitness center for the elite.
Text Alexey Ilyin, photo of the author
 
Model/Modification Ford Streetka Ford Sportka
Manufacturer/country Ford Motor Co./ Germania
ENGINE
Type/number/location of gasoline cylinders/4/r venom
 
Working volume (cubic cub) 1597 1597
Power (kW (lp) at about./Min.) 70 (95) at 5500 70 (95) at 5500
Moment (nm at about./Min.) 135 at 4250 135 at 4250
TRANSMISSION
Front front drive
Mechanical gearbox 5-speed
Brakes, safety
Front ventilated ventilated disk disk
The rear drum drum
ABS, assisting electronic systems Option Abs
Front airbags for the driver and passenger front for the passenger
Dimensions/mass
Length/width/height (mm) 3650/1695/1335 3650/1640/1436
Wheel base (mm)/clearance (mm) 2448/140 2447/140
Tires 195/45 R16 195/45 R16
Asselled mass/complete (kg) 1061/1285 934/1300
The volume of the fuel tank (l) 42 40
Maximum speed (km/h) 173 174
Acceleration to 100 km/h (sec.) 12.1 10.6
Fuel consumption (city/highway, l/100 km) 10.6/6.4 10.4/6.0
The price in Moscow has not yet been determined

 

A source: "Autopilot"