2000 Ford Fiesta Zetec S review from UK and Ireland

The temperature gauge temporarily went berserk, fluctuating between cold and normal very quickly whilst driving along. Seems to have cured itself and nothing showed up at the dealer diagnosis.

Short grinding sound a few seconds after moving away. Does anyone know what this is?

The car is a fantastic drive and the handling is excellent. Shorter gearing would have been nice, especially in 5th.

More power would be great, but that would mean more than group 8 insurance and put off a lot of its potential buyers. Maybe Ford should have put the Puma engine in it and had 2 models like the Saxo VTR/VTS.

For cosmetic reasons, I changed the standard gear knob for the little round alloy one from the Puma (£20 from dealers). It sounds mad, but the previously sticky gear change (especially when going from 2nd-3rd, and 4th-5th) has been transformed by the smaller (heavier?) gear knob.

If you leave your car on the road or even on your drive at night - have a proper alarm fitted. My wheels went after only having the car a month (the Ford locking nuts posing not the slightest problem to the thieves).

Apparently they are flavour of the month. Get a shock/tilt sensor fitted.

Anyone compared the Zetec S to the new upgraded (98bhp) Saxo VTR?

Congratulate yourselves on having a fairly rare car - The new grown up Fiesta arrives at the end of the year, so your Zetec S may seem common now, but with only a 2 year model run it is likely to be a rare sight within a couple of years.