2009 Ford Fiesta Zectec S review from UK and Ireland

The car is great, I only paid £11000 for it after the scrappage scheme and general arguing over the price, and have all the extras like the 17" wheels, USB bluetooth, leather interior, metallic paint and some other bits. Got it brand new and have not once been disappointed with it.

Was really surprised how good it is on fuel, seeing as it's the highest BHP engine they do, getting about 38MPG.

Never had a car with low profile tires and lowered suspension before, and the first few days of having it I thought that something was wrong, as it felt very rough on some roads, but talking to friends they said it's normal, and it's just the bad roads in Cornwall. Take it on a proper tarmac road and the handling is better than my brother's Golf GTI. Never once has it under or over steered or got out of shape, but I backed off as I was to chicken to push it any harder LOL.

Acceleration is good, but it really kicks in in 3rd gear at about 4000 revs, where you feel the car just surge forward.

Brakes are perfect; went onto a quite road and did an emergency stop to see if I could feel the ABS working, not a thing!!! The car didn't even skid and I never felt the ABS working, but I knew it was as the light came on the dashboard.

The interior is good, really comfortable with the racing seats, and the stereo/phone controls are all voice activated, so no need for looking across at buttons.

The speakers in the car are very good; my last car I fully kitted out with subs and speakers with the intention of doing the same to the fiesta. There is no need unless you want to spend £1000 on your sound system; don't bother because you won't beat the quality you already have.

Boot not the biggest, but can still get a body board in the back with extra stuff, and the room for the rear passengers is surprising good from what it looks like outside. My 6'3" mate had no problem in the back when I had a car full.

The one minor thing I will say about the car is with the 17" wheels the turning circle is not the best, moving in and out of car parks and garages normally takes two shunts, but that could just be my bad driving.

All I can say is get yourself down to the Ford dealership and have a test drive and a fiddle with all the stuff on the car, and see if it is for you, but I haven't found anyone that hasn't liked it yet.

Look on youtube for Top Gear's review of it; after seeing that I got the car.