2011 Ford Fiesta the New Geo Metro?
 

Sorry to invoke the name of the legendary Geo Metro for this thread, but it was the first thing that came to mind when reading about next year's Ford Fiesta. It will get about 40 hwy epa mpg on the sfe model, which is near the top (at the top?) in its class. 10 years from now it may be the unappreciated hatchback that everyone wants to mod, although the upgrade includes lower grill blockers and underbody mods already.

Super Fuel Economy Package - $795
Rear tire deflectors; Underbody shields; Blockers on lower grille; Front and rear alloy wheels with 15 inch rim diam; Front and rear tires with 195 mm tire width, 60% tire profile and T tire rating; Alloy rim spare wheel; Cruise control; Requires: [44A] 6-Speed Powershift Automatic Transmission; Excludes: [202A] Rapid Spec - Sport Appearance Package And [60A] 17" Alloy Wheels and Tires (Dealer)

Source: 2011 Ford Fiesta SE Sedan Options - 2011 Ford Fiesta SE Packages - Motor Trend Magazine

Arminius -

Wow, that's amazing. An actual bonafide eco-pack as an option. I just wish it came with a manual tranny, :( . Anyway, I wish them luck.

CarloSW2

It comes in a manual, but the manual only gets 38 mpg on the hwy. I bet the hypermilers will all prefer the manual, anyhow.

Besides, I don't want the new Geo Metro, I want the new Honda CRX :-)

I saw the Fiesta at the KC Auto show and did more research. Apparently, that 6 speed transmission is interesting in that it has no torque converter. It's supposed to be like two manual transmissions bolted together, so that one hands off to the other with mechanical clutches. Brings to mind some transmission of the past that were too complex for their own good. Ford says they are maintenance free, but on wonders about those clutches. And is the 2mpg difference worth the trouble? Can a eco-minded driver make up the difference in driving habits with a manual? And what about those underbody shields and grille blockers? Can they be ordered separately? The cool thing is that someone has been paying attention to mods that work, if they are adding them to new cars.

Fiesta would be my choice after looking over all the cars at the show. But I'm anxious to see the new Chevy Spark. I've read terrrrible things about the new CRX, trying to be a "hybred" and the extra weight making the car slow and horrible. It gets 37 with all that complexity, and isn't really fast. Heck, my old Cobalt could do that. I think Ford has it right with the Fiesta.

...economy co$ts exta? but gas-guzzling comes as a "no-co$t" option?

The grille block and undercar aero devices may not cost much, but the 6-speed auto and alloy wheels aren't cheap for Ford.

Think of the SFE as the baseline, and the regular model as one stripped of $700 worth of FE gear.

...my back-handed slap at Ford's FE marketing.

IIRC I read about that car a while back and Ford marketing went on at length about the affluent urban gadget geek they hoped to snag, so it was loaded up with tons of electronic gook. I'd be interested in a stripper version, like the old Escort Pony, with a plain ol' 4 or 5 speed stick.

...yep, we had a yellow '76 Pinto Pony wagon.

From what I can see, the basic shape of the hatchback looks like it would easily lend itself to a full aeromod and boattail like I did with my Honda Civic. The big question is the gearing on the manual tall enough to take full advantage of the aeromod's drag reduction? Since the 6 speed auto gets better mileage than the 5 speed manual (and since they don't offer the Super Fuel Economy Package with the manual) it looks like they followed the usual trend of providing short gearing on the manual for "sporty" driving. The other question is how does the dual clutch automatic respond to hypermiling driving techniques? Will it drop a gear and rev up the engine like most automatics do when you try to place it into a fuel efficient low rpm/80% throttle acceleration. Does it have an option of selecting between FE and sporty shifting behavior. But the weight and overall shape of the car are better than anything I've seen on the American new car market since the demise of the original Insight. Put a rounded, adjustable grill inlet nose on the front and a full boattail on the back and you should be able to knock the Cd well below the stock value.

I posted gear ratios for both of 'em somewhere once. Let me dig 'em up again and I'll edit this post.

So it's not that the 5-manual is "short," I think it's just that they are keeping cost down by using an existing transmission. It's more a matter of the PowerShift being long-er. That's my take.

TRANSMISSION
Standard 5-speed manual
Gear ratios
1st 3.846
2nd 2.038
3rd 1.281
4th 0.951
5th 0.756
Reverse 3.615
Final drive 4.07 to 1

Optional PowerShift™ 6-speed automatic
1st 3.917
2nd 2.429
3rd 1.436
4th 1.021
5th 0.867
6th 0.702
Reverse 3.507
Final drive 3.895 for gears 1, 2, 5, and 6. 4.353 for gears 3, 4 and R.

it is a goner already. if engines are cheap, valve craziness set to solid, and maybe a thick head gasket getting it down to 10 to 1...maybe a buggy to keep when it gets old. that drivetrain is a tharsher..trying to make a hot rod apparently.

the 195mm tread at 15 inch with 1.6 liters makes me happy.
that is about it.:thumbup:

I had a go (last weekend in fact) in a Fester TDCi, the 1.4 version, and the KA (smaller Ford - based on the FIAT 500 platform) 1.3 TDCi - both very impressive with tons of torque at low engine speed and reasonably low RPMs at 60-70.

For me the KA felt better partly because of the better engine - its a FIAT Multijet unit rebadged as a ford - and partly because of the smaller size and lower weight. The Fester rides and steers much better though.

I'm thinking of a change and the Multijet 1.3 seems to be the top Diesel unit at the moment in Europe for small cars so I'm looking at something that uses it.