Ford Fiesta facelift vs rivals: Specification comparison

The facelifted Ford Fiesta sedan is expected to reach showrooms in another couple of weeks. Before its official launch, we have managed to get our hands on the product brochure of the facelifted Fiesta sedan. It mentions that the Fiesta facelift will be sold only with a 1.5-litre diesel engine and will be available in Ambiente, Trend and Titanium trims.

When launched, the Ford Fiesta facelift will be vying for market space against the diesel variants of the Honda City, Hyundai Verna, Fiat Linea and the Volkswagen Vento. We compare the engine and the equipment available on the top manual transmission variant of each car and see how the Fiesta's credentials stack up on paper against its formidable mid-size segment rivals. 

Under the hood

The Fiat Linea's 1248cc diesel motor is the smallest among this lot and generates 92bhp and 21.31kgm of torque.

The fourth-generation Honda City is the first one in the line-up here to get a diesel engine – a 1498cc motor good for 98.6bhp and 20.3kgm of torque.

The Ford Fiesta facelift's engine displaces an identical 1498cc but makes 90bhp and 20.8kgm of torque. It has the least number of horses among the rivals here.

The Hyundai Verna diesel gets a slightly bigger 1582cc motor which produces 126bhp and 26.5kgm of torque. It has the most powerful motor here, that too by a good margin. The Verna’s diesel mill makes 27.4bhp more than the Honda City diesel.

Of the lot, the VW Vento has the biggest 1598cc engine which delivers 104bhp and 25.5kgm of torque.

The Hyundai Verna and Honda City are equipped with a six-speed manual transmission while the VW Vento, Fiat Linea and the Ford Fiesta facelift get five-speed manual gearboxes. 

Value appeal

Considering the importance of value-for-money proposition in this segment, the carmakers have made sure to equip all these mid-sizers – especially the top trims – with decent levels of kit.

Except for the Ford Fiesta facelift – which gets a six-speaker set-up – all the other cars get a four-speaker music system with CD, MP3, aux-in, USB and Bluetooth compatibility.

On the safety front, there's driver and front passenger airbags on all five competitors while only the Honda City, Hyundai Verna and the Ford Fiesta facelift get EBD. Additionally, the Hyundai Verna gets side and curtain airbags.  

The Ford Fiesta will also come equipped with an updated version of Sync, seen on the Ford EcoSport, with the ‘Emergency Assist’ safety feature.

The Fiat Linea and the Hyundai Verna get 16-inch alloy wheels as standard fitment while the City, Vento and Fiesta facelift get 15-inch alloys.

Rear AC vents, driver sear height adjust and cruise control are standard on all five cars with only the VW Vento missing out on cruise control and only the Fiesta omitting rear air-con vents. Automatic climate control is standard on all five.  

Although all five rivals get leather upholstery, only the Hyundai Verna misses out on leather wrapped steering wheel and gear knob. Ford too has skimped with leather on the shifter.

The Verna, the Linea and the Fiesta get automatic headlamps with follow-me-home function.

All five cars get electrically adjustable wing mirrors while the City, Linea and the Verna get integrated turn indicators (only the Verna has LED blinkers).

Both the Honda and the Hyundai come equipped with a reversing camera but only the City offers three different viewing options (wide, normal and a top-down). Strangely, Honda has skimped on reverse parking sensors, a feature present on all other rivals.

In terms of unique features, the top Honda City diesel is the only one with an electric sunroof while the top Verna is the only one that gets projector headlamps. The Linea comes with Microsoft’s ‘Blue & Me’ software which allows pairing of up to five mobile phones with the in-car entertainment system.

On the Vento Highline, windows can be opened and closed with the remote key and it also offers both tilt and telescopic steering adjustment compared to the other sedans which offer only tilt adjust. The top Fiesta gets puddle lamps that all rivals lack.

There's a smart key and push button start on the City, Verna and the Fiesta while the Linea and the Fiesta get rain sensing wipers.