1998 Ford Fiesta Zetec 5door review from UK and Ireland

Unfortunately there have been several incidents when I was to blame:

1) drove over a piece of metal which caused a hole in the exhaust and damaged heat insulation.

2) collision with curb, a new tire was needed.

Quite a dangerous event happened last week when the cylinder in the rear drum burst leaving me with no breaks!

This car also seems to chew pads!

There have been no problems with the transmission or body work after 36000 miles.

The performance of this car is quite different from its appearance. Although it has quite subtle styling and a high ride height the cornering ability is fantastic. This is due to stiff suspension and to having fairly wide tyres for its class (185's).

With only 75bhp you would expect this car to be slow, but it feels quite nippy up to 80. My car has no sunroom, air con or electric windows so it may be lighter than others.

The engine sounds great at high revs and pulls from 4000+ it doesn't limit till 6750!

This car easily beats 1.4 clios, corsas and polo's I've timed 0-60's in the mid 9's and reached 125. It is a luke-warm hatch as it has drums on the back and only 75bhp. Saxo vtrs slightly pull away from it.

If you are looking for a cheap to insure nippy hatch I would recommend this. If you don't care how many people have the same car as you buy a vtr!