2009 Ford Classic 1.4 diesel review, test drive

The Fiesta diesel’s forte is in-city driving, right in that critical second and even third gear, 20 to 40kph range, which is where most cars in urbania, more often than not, reside. And its refinement belies its preference of fuel. The engine’s adjustable pilot injection, that pre-warms and eliminates that sharp diesel rattle allows for a smooth idle.

It uses a third-generation common-rail direct injection system which has benefits like lesser emissions and better fuel consumption. The motor is more refined than the Accent CRDi and even the Octavia. Ford claims that a special valve in the head prevents the oil from draining out after the engine has stopped and this helps reduce cold start noise. Noise levels are low but when pushed to the redline, the sound from under the hood can give the game away.

However, it’s the lack of vibrations that truly shocked us. Vibrations that creep in through the steering wheel, gear level and pedal are simply not present on this diesel and Ford has done an outstanding job of isolating the engine from the cabin. The presence of a low inertia turbo also means an instant surge in power from as low as 1200rpm up and this is the key to the Fiesta’s superb driveability. Turbo lag is minimal and once you get past the initial but tiny bit of lethargy the Fiesta surges forward on a wave of torque.

Its refined manners and tall gearing are a plus on the highway and the Fiesta is a happy cruiser, capable of holding onto a steady 120kph in fifth, with the tacho registering a lazy 3200rpm. Where the Fiesta diesel does fall short is when asked to overtake in a hurry. It runs out of puff quite quickly and you need to make maximum use of the gearbox to extract every bit out of its 68 horses. This engine also does not breathe as well due to it’s two valve per cylinder head and as a result the dash to 100kph comes up in 17.48seconds.

Acceleration tapers off sharply beyond 130kph. Compared to the Accent CRDi, the Fiesta is a slowcoach and like we’ve said before, the 1.6 version of this diesel would address the car’s weakest link — highway performance. In the city, the Fiesta diesel covered an astounding 13.8 kilometres on a single litre of diesel and 18.3 kpl on the highway.