Road Test: Ford Fiesta 1.3 LX 3dr

The new Fiesta will be available from April 2002 in five-door body style only - at least for the time being. The new car is much longer, wider and taller than the outgoing version and this maximising of interior space is one of the car's big selling points. Trim levels will be the familiar LX, Zetec and Ghia and, prices should be fairly similar to the outgoing range.

Engine-wise, the range starts with the 1.3-litre eight-valve 67bhp petrol, moves on to the 1.4-litre 16-valve 79bhp petrol (expected to be the most popular choice) and tops out with the 1.6-litre 16-valve 99bhp petrol model. But no European car range would be complete without a diesel version, and the new-generation Fiesta gets a new-generation TDCi derv-drinker. With a modest capacity of 1.4 litres, a modest eight valves and an equally modest 67bhp, this common-rail turbocharged unit at least provides a respectable 118lb ft of torque.

The Fiesta's interior reminds me ever so slightly of the Mondeo, with the design of the door handles and the textures of the plastics. But it's got an all-new instrument binnacle, which is clean and clear. Just two dials for road speed and engine speed, one square liquid crystal display for fuel and temperature gauges, one rectangular LCD for a digital clock, trip and odometer with ancillary warning lights and indicator flashers lighting up the dark spaces in between.

The seats are quite comfortable and, thanks to the height adjuster on the driver's seat, the up/down movement of the steering column and the carefully positioned gearshift (higher than the old Fiesta), getting a good driving position is easy and quick.

It's been a long time coming, Ford's new baby. And like a lot of overdue babies, it's a bit heftier: the 1.6 Ghia five-door is around 50 kilos heavier, while all the variants are 87mm longer, 50mm wider and around 100mm taller.

It's a marvel how a small car with such a relatively short wheelbase can ride so comfortably. The Fiesta's chassis is extraordinarily well damped, controlled and utterly sorted, providing what should be a hard act for any competitor to follow. Which is really all that's hard about it.

But getting it to this point can't have been easy. This point being a chassis that will bail you out if you make a mistake - like getting an unknown bend wrong and having to brake in the middle of it - while still allowing you to experiment with adjusting the cornering line on the throttle. Any movement of the tail is gentle and progressive. The restoration of equilibrium is equally so. This chassis doesn't know the meaning of the word 'snap'.

The 1.4-litre petrol version I drove also sadly doesn't know the meaning of the word 'power'. If there's any fun to be had from the Fiesta's chassis, you'll ideally need a gutsier engine than this. To make any decent progress, it needs to be worked hard, which is too much like hard work for me. And keeping up with other traffic on the motorway means a constant droning.

Much better is the TDCi. Although it really lacks the mid-range punch that 118lb ft might imply and any substantial top end, this oil-burner has more flexibility and requires less gear-changing than its petrol counterpart. The engine is a joint project with the French company PSA, which produces Citroens and Peugeots and is therefore acknowledged as masters in the dark art of diesel engines. It's light for a diesel, constructed mainly from aluminium, so it doesn't make the Fiesta feel nose-heavy. In normal running it's also quiet.

The brakes deserve a mention, too. Discs at the front, drums at the back, ABS with EBD electronic brake distribution as standard, they feel good and work just as well.

Another good aspect of the new Fiesta is something we all hope we'll never need, the intelligent dual-stage airbags - two at the front and one on each side, the optional inflatable side curtain and the computer-aided designed crumple zones and crash protection. But at least they're there.

But the Fiesta's steering didn't offer very much feel, the 1.4-litre engine (despite apparently having its induction tuned to sound rorty) sounded like nothing much at all and, in a left-hand-drive car in left-hand bends, I found myself leaning this way and that because the left A-pillar was in the way.

The car's extra weight and higher centre of gravity (perfectly reasonable and unavoidable given the safety and accommodation standards) now makes it feel nothing like the old Fiesta, I thought really was magic to drive. Now I'm missing that raw edge. That's progress for you.

Colin Ryan