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"  SAN FRANCISCO\u2014Ford&amp;#039;s 2011 Fiesta has joined the fight for hearts and minds in what is becoming a hotly contested small-car arena. Between 2004 and 2009, the annual small-car market in the U.S. grew by 2.2 million units. According to Ford&amp;#039;s statisticians, this so-called B-car segment will continue to grow, reaching 30 million by 2012. Which explains the recent addition to local showrooms of cars like Honda&amp;#039;s Fit, Toyota&amp;#039;s Yaris and Nissan&amp;#039;s Versa. According to Derrick Kuzak, group VP of global product development, Ford is leveraging its global assets with its Fiesta. In plainer English, the company is taking advantage of products that have been developed specifically to compete in aggressive environments abroad. Size is no longer the sole prerequisite of the B-car business. Good ride characteristics, decent performance, luxurious appointments and a high level of equipment are now part of the small-car arsenal, and any entry hopeful has to match up. With its impressive combination of design, powertrain technology and convenience gadgets at a competitive price level, the Fiesta is intended to come out of its corner fighting. The Specs Powered by a Duratec 1.6-liter inline four with a variable valve system called Ti-VCT (twin independent variable camshaft timing), the Fiesta has 120 horsepower and 112 pound-feet of torque to shove its 2600-pound mass around. Accordingly, we estimate a zero-to-60 mph acceleration time in the 9-second vicinity, with a quarter-mile time around 17 seconds at almost 80 mph. Fuel economy figures have not been finalized, but Ford expects the Fiesta to achieve about 30 mpg in the city and 40 on the highway.  Even if that ballpark acceleration figure is on the money, the numbers don&amp;#039;t reveal how flexible the engine is, nor how satisfactory the car feels in its typical daily driving role. While the standard transmission is a 5-speed manual with a reasonably slick and positive action, there is an optional dual-clutch automatic 5-speed that puts the Fiesta in pretty exotic company. Steering assist is by an electric mechanism that imparts a tactile feel Ford claims is as good as the usual hydraulic gear we&amp;#039;re accustomed to. The EPAS, as it&amp;#039;s called, also has the facility to compensate for side winds and to cancel steering nibble caused by wheel imbalances and the like. And to our pleasant surprise, the wheel even has standard tilt-and-telescope adjustment.  Suspension is by MacPherson struts in front and a twist-beam axle out back, tuned, says Ford&amp;#039;s chief engineer, Steve Pintar, to provide sportier handling than the competition without compromising ride quality. The addition of a driver&amp;#039;s knee airbag to Fiesta&amp;#039;s usual complement brings the total number of airbags to seven, while ABS and Ford&amp;#039;s AdvanceTrac stability control system are standard. Combating noise and vibration is a major challenge for small cars, and the Fiesta sports a comprehensive package of noise-deadening pads, layers and fillings. It is also fitted with an expensive acoustic windshield\u2014something of a rarity at this price level. Other unusual standard items include a capless fuel filler and blind-spot mirrors. Ford is extremely proud of the Sync hands-free communication system in its cars, and the one in the Fiesta can be used for turn-by-turn navigation or to control smartphone access to Internet radio sites like Pandora via the car&amp;#039;s voice-command system. The Drive Its dimensions may be compact, but the Fiesta provides generous space for the driver and front passenger. Rear-seat room isn&amp;#039;t bad, either, but the restricted headroom disqualified this 6-foot-5 driver from feeling completely comfortable.  Otherwise, the cockpit is a good place, its design inspired by contemporary cellphones and PDAs, according to Ford. The dashboard material is soft to the touch, and the switches are laid out in unambiguous fashion. The seats could use more support for fast mountain work, but are otherwise well suited to their likely role. The engine is smooth and fairly quiet, giving voice only when working hard, and then with a mellifluous four-cylinder snarl. One can&amp;#039;t fault the chassis for body-motion restraint\u2014the Fiesta feels flat and poised in every situation\u2014and the level of grip from the all-season tires (sourced from Hankook and Kumho) proved exceptional, particularly in light of the fact that the European Fiesta wears summer tires as standard. As claimed, the electric steering assist did little to detract from the Fiesta&amp;#039;s feel at the helm, and the car proved a keen navigator in the twisties, with excellent path control and an almost psychic interpretation of driver intent. The only glitch in its sporty dossier was a small moment of transitional vagueness before the car turns in and takes a set. After that, it&amp;#039;s a scalpel. We reveled initially at the idea of an economy car with a dual-clutch transmission, being huge fans of the system in other cars, and we loved the way it worked in traffic, where it snapped off crisp, almost seamless shifts as we went. But we soon discovered that it would benefit from a manual override for sporty driving in the hills.  Although a grade-selector button on the lever improves things a bit, and there&amp;#039;s a low position on the shifter quadrant to access the bottom gears and high revs, we missed the ability to choose a gear best suited to the situation. We&amp;#039;re not suggesting twin magnesium-alloy paddles here, but a plus/minus side slot for the selector would really help.  Our only other beef is with the brake pedal, which felt wooden and unresponsive in some braking situations, while providing good response and retardation in others.  The Bottom Line Overall, the Fiesta is likely to provide its owners with a functional city runabout that is fun to drive and versatile in operation, and that will handle a long trip or a foray into the canyons with equal enthusiasm. The Fiesta starts at around $13,995 for the sedan model, and walks all the way to nearly 20 grand with a fully equipped five-door (read hatchback) model. As such, it ought to encompass the needs of a widely varying group of people. So long as you aren&amp;#039;t ferrying the local soccer team or towing a boat, this could be your next car. With public perception of domestic-brand reliability, durability and resale value climbing in relation to the once-dominant Asian brands, this could be a good time for Ford and the American-car defectors to reconcile. And now that small cars are beating back many Americans&amp;#039; negative preconceptions, Fiesta could be poised to make good on realistic transportation needs. We\u2014and Ford\u2014can only wait and see. &amp;amp;gt; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/reviews/a5775/2011-ford-fiesta-test-drive/>