Dearborn, MI – For the past few years, Ford has been focused on fuel efficiency and providing a nice roster of vehicles for every type of person or family. Ford’s hard work shows its presence in the new 2014 Ford Fiesta revealed at their Year End Model Preview in Dearborn, Michigan.

The subcompact market sales have been on the rise and competition has been growing. Ford has paid plenty of attention to this market and they believe their smallest car, the Fiesta, can provide consumers with the best package for the best value.

We were able to take the new Fiestas out for a spin around Dearborn and it was a fun little car to drive around. Part of Ford’s global platform called One Ford focuses on designing vehicles that have an emotional appeal and the Fiesta refresh for 2014 is no different.

Initial Glance and a Look Inside

To the naked eye there isn’t much change to the exterior. It looks very similar to the 2013 model, except for a small change to a wide-mouthed front grill and some colours additions including Blue Candy and Green Envy to add the flamboyance and party vibe the Fiesta gives off. 

A lot of the restyling of the 2014 Fiesta was focused on the interior and especially the instrument panel. Coming standard in the Titanium model and optional in the other trims is MyFord Touch. MyFord Touch has been improved with simplified voice commands, upgraded voice recognition, a redesigned navigation screen and a simplified phone pairing process. 

A soft-touch upper dash grabs your attention, as well as a new meaty steering wheel that has a tilt/telescoping feature. Ford has taken the time and effort to refine and aesthetically update the Fiesta making it a top-of-the-line product in its segment. 

The interior upscale design efforts by Ford are easily noticeable, but simultaneously noticeable is the limited space the Fiesta provides, especially in the back seats. I guess it’s rare to see some nice styling in a subcompact which might lead to a little confusion. I think that was a compliment to Ford? Yup, it was.

To keep with the Fiesta fun, Ford has created 90,000-plus feature combinations to ensure that any Fiesta can be unique for any lifestyle. Further to this point, each Fiesta owner can customize their own exterior graphics to show off the vehicle or your own flair. Not sure if you can show off 37 pieces of flair, but in the very least you will be able to express yourself.

Under the Hood and On the Road

It might only have a 1.6-litre, four-cylinder engine that churns a whopping 120 hp and 112 lb.-ft. of torque, but it surprisingly has some pep in its step. If you’re peddling hard – it definitely feels faster and its light handling performs well on curvy roads and turns. 

The Fiesta is front-wheel drive and with the base 1.6-litre engine you get the choice of a five-speed manual transmission or the optional six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. 

There are other engine options available for the Fiesta starting with the 1.0-litre, three-cylinder EcoBoost engine available in late 2013. This diminutive engine has grabbed a lot of attention in the automotive world as it just might be a glance into the future. As small as it is, it’s able to have plenty of power (123 hp and an eye-popping 148 lb.-ft. of torque) and provide much better fuel consumption at the same time. Its trick is the combination of lightweight materials, direct fuel injection, a turbo charge and variable valve timing. Once released, Ford assures us that the 1.0-litre Fiesta will be considered the most fuel-efficient non-hybrid vehicle in North America. 

The other engine choice is found in the Fiesta ST, geared to the sporty-type of driver who enjoys more of an action drive. The Fiesta ST gets a 1.6-litre turbocharged engine delivering 197 hp at 6000 rpm and 202 lb.-ft. of torque at 3500 rpm. It’s geared solely for the car enthusiast as it’s only mated to a six-speed manual transmission. 

The Fiesta ST will get a lot of stylish cues similar to its older brother, the Focus ST. It will have a meshed honeycomb grill, a lowered sport-tuned suspension and comfy bucket seats with the option of sporty Recaro seats.

In terms of driving, I can only talk about the regular 1.6-litre engine as that was the only one available to drive. The Fiesta feels fast, but isn’t that quick overall – a good recipe for any economical car geared to the youth. I had the five-speed automatic that was in desperate need of a sixth gear on the Dearborn highways. The clutch is light and easy to manoeuvre, but I seemed to bang my elbow into the vehicle console box when putting it into second gear several times. Outside of my own issues, the steering is respectable with assistance coming from the electric power steering system allowing for a nice driving feel. 

A drawback I found with the new Fiesta was its bumpy ride on the streets. Nowadays, many new vehicles place noise and bump resistance as a key feature and unfortunately I felt plenty of the cracks and potholes along my short route. On the flip side, highway driving did seem quiet and smooth.

In terms of fuel economy, the Fiesta is rated at 6.9L/100 km in the city and 5.1L/100 km on the highway. We only went for a short drive, so I don’t have the numbers to show you for the drive. I will have to test it out when it becomes available in the Ford press fleet and see if the Fiesta achieves Ford’s goal of being a fuel economy leader in its segment.

In Summary

The base Fiesta Hatch S starts at $17,682, there is a second-tier model called the SE that starts at $19,466, while the Titanium that I tested starts at $22,885. The titanium is a sizeable jump in price, but it does come with some nice added features mentioned such as MyFord Touch, heated leather seats, heated side mirrors, a Sony premium audio, and much more. Whether that’s worth it to you – only you can decide. Just be warned that the base model has manual windows, so most might fall into the SE category.

Ford has come a long way to build-up their smaller vehicles and have one of the freshest showrooms in the industry. The Fiesta is a star in the subcompact sector and easily competes if not surpasses the competition that includes the Honda Fit, Hyundai Accent, Kia Rio, Chevy Sonic, and many others. The Fiesta will only be made more exciting when the 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine and ST model become available. Ford continues to develop and improve the Fiesta that should provide a fun, fuel-efficient and emotional connection with its young audience.