OV9

125hp Fiesta, a Christmas summary.

The good....

Engine was an improvement over the early 1.0 turbo I’d had for a few weeks. It was characterful and very good on fuel when on an economy run. When driving normally though the economy was disappointing but at least if you wanted to it could be very efficient.

Apple car play, apart from needing to turn notifications off I had all my music and it was very intuitive, impressive.

The steering wheel rim was a nice material and nice and thick.

Lots of mechanical grip when cornering, good body control.

The bad....

The clutch was stupidly light and had a weird damped delay so you had little feel when the clutch would bite.

The brakes were so over serviced I fear if I dropped a squash or sweet into the footwell it may do an emergency stop.

Gearbox, despite very well chosen rations it was a boingy vague devoid of feel gate, not to be rushed.

Lane assist, no you absolute conksocket do not turn the wheel abruptly when I’m arcing down a slip road, yes there is a white line close to me but I’m not driving into a ravine. Plus hey, don’t do it every time, if I change lane slowly it’ll sit back, waiting, observing till you think to yourself “ha, if I move super slow it won’t trigger” before your Ford programmes gorilla arm grabs the steering and gives it a tug back in lane. What an awful bloody system!!!!! My level of hate for this nannying piece of crap idea is hard to fathom. Yes, let’s grab the steering of this piece of crap, your vague feel less steering needs that cherry on top by randomly jerking to the left or right on the whim of some zeros or ones. If you think this system is good you are a retarded mouth breathing degenerate who struggles to stay between the lines as a child and wishes to spread your inadequacy with normal regular people who can operate a pen. We are working to the lowest level of stupidity able to pass a driving test now, soon we will have camodes in our seats as people will struggle to hold it in as they dribble on the steering wheel and vaguely guide there way from near miss to near miss.

As a mode of transport, like a little bus it is fine. As a mode of transport to gain enjoyment from, it’s a honking turd for mouth breathers.

Dave!

Sooooo... Not that much of a fan? I always turn the lane assist off. It is an annoying, distracting feature for the people that shouldn't be driving in the first place.

V8Granite wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2019 7:25 am The brakes were so over serviced I fear if I dropped a squash or sweet into the footwell it may do an emergency stop.

You obviously carry a lot more squashes than the average person. It’s never been high on my list of ”normal stuff to have in the car that might fall into the footwell”...

I’ve not tried lane assist yet, surely it doesn’t activate at all if you are indicating?

Rich B wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2019 7:34 am

V8Granite wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2019 7:25 am The brakes were so over serviced I fear if I dropped a squashie or sweet into the footwell it may do an emergency stop.

You obviously carry a lot more squashes than the average person. It’s never been high on my list of ”normal stuff to have in the car that might fall into the footwell”...

I’ve not tried lane assist yet, surely it doesn’t activate at all if you are indicating?

Was supposed to say Squashie, my sweet of choice for driving currently.

It does when indicating, but get within a foot of the white line when going down a slip road or pulling in after an overtake and it either gently guides or does a short jerk of the steering. So whenever you get near a white line, it plays with the steering, we have a lot of white lines.

I couldn’t find out how to disable it on this 2018 car, turning off traction didn’t do it and the driver aids screen didn’t give you any options either.

I thought I’d hate the engine but enjoy the car, as Ford generally get the driving and car part right, it was the opposite.

I did like how dim you could make the dash though.

Dave!

All cars I've driven with the feature have had a physical button to disable it.

A quick Google suggests it is turned on/off on the indicator stalk.

DeskJockey wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2019 10:03 am All cars I've driven with the feature have had a physical button to disable it.

A quick Google suggests it is turned on/off on the indicator stalk.

I was too busy shouting at it to turn off, think of a very old pensioner shouting at the moon for being too bright, I was doing something like that.

Dave!

V8Granite wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2019 11:59 am

DeskJockey wrote: Mon Dec 23, 2019 10:03 am All cars I've driven with the feature have had a physical button to disable it.

A quick Google suggests it is turned on/off on the indicator stalk.

I was too busy shouting at it to turn off, think of a very old pensioner shouting at the moon for being too bright, I was doing something like that.

Dave!

I can easily imagine that. Also, given your size wasn't it a bit like wearing a jumper two sizes too small?

Sounds like every other hatchback tbh.
Over servo’d brakes, soft steering and a soft clutch are pretty much ideal for a city car or commuting in traffic.

The ST exists to fix all of these issues. The ST line is just a Ghia/Zetec trim level and they feel like a completely different car to the ST.

Orange Cola wrote: Tue Dec 24, 2019 7:54 am The ST exists to fix all of these issues. The ST line is just a Ghia/Zetec trim level and they feel like a completely different car to the ST.

They are trim lines used to impress your colleagues in your office recruitment job into thinking you get paid more than you actually do when you lease one.

Beany wrote: Tue Dec 24, 2019 10:14 am

Orange Cola wrote: Tue Dec 24, 2019 7:54 am The ST exists to fix all of these issues. The ST line is just a Ghia/Zetec trim level and they feel like a completely different car to the ST.

They are trim lines used to impress your colleagues in your office recruitment job into thinking you get paid more than you actually do when you lease one.

still more than you though Bean?

Rich B wrote: Tue Dec 24, 2019 10:54 am

Beany wrote: Tue Dec 24, 2019 10:14 am

Orange Cola wrote: Tue Dec 24, 2019 7:54 am The ST exists to fix all of these issues. The ST line is just a Ghia/Zetec trim level and they feel like a completely different car to the ST.

They are trim lines used to impress your colleagues in your office recruitment job into thinking you get paid more than you actually do when you lease one.

still more than you though Bean?

Probably.