Living with FEZ

[mowog]

It’s been almost week since the XR4 arrived; I have had some fairly strong opinions about the Fiesta in the past and got into some flame wars with lovers of the little fella. At the time the XR4 was not available and many of the flamers were living on the glory of a car that wasn’t for sale in our market. Well the XR4 has been with us for a little while now and has developed a real fan base out there.

After a week my opinion hasn’t changed a great deal about the Fiesta, it’s a fine little car and a great run about. On the issue of performance the jury is out on that the engine is still very tight and needs some time to give its best. But I don’t think it will ever be the performance car some here think it is.

Handling I don’t see what all the fuss is about it’s a fine little car that steers well but it still drives like a small FWD hatch, it sure isn’t like its on rails or some giant killer as it’s made out to be by some here. It’s a capable little car against its peers but it’s not really the outstanding handler some people would have you believe it is.

It’s interesting to read about some of the issues people have with the XR4 and one of those is the Aircon cycling. My 18 year old son has told me that he has this problem when he drives the XR4. When I drive it I don’t get the problem, I think this issue must have some root cause in how the car is driven.

Choices… I have a Territory Ghia AWD and an XR6 Turbo Ute as stable mates for the XR4. Each car has its merits I would not fill the back of the XR4 with rubbish for a tip run. And I wouldn’t take the XR4 on an extended road trip simply because I have better cars for that job. The road trip choice comes down to how many people (and dogs) are going. The XR6 is always my first choice it uses less fuel than the Territory on a trip and its overtaking ability is just bloody great. The Territory comes out if a bit of light off road stuff is on the agenda or if I need more seats.

The XR4 well its doing a great job in the fleet as run about. Doing delivery work for the wife’s dressmaking business and going to shops. I would never own an XR4 as my only car the thing is just too limited for my life style. The kids love it, it has a cool factor for Generation Y and it has a great safety package which as parent gives me some piece of mind when the kids are out in it.

To sum up the XR4 is a fine little around town car for shopping duties and day trips. I can see why to Generation Y it has some hero status, but to older buggers like me it’s just a shopping car.