3 Reasons To Buy The New Ford Fiesta Automatic

Hint: all of them have to do with the Powershift dual-clutch automatic gearbox. 

It’s party time as the latest automatic petrol car in town, the 2012 Fiesta Powershift Automatic, was unveiled by Ford India this morning in New Delhi. The base model, starts at Rs 8.9lakhs (ex-showroom Delhi), while the premium Titanium+ variant will cost 9.7 lakhs (ex-showroom Delhi). The reason that both these are a big deal for C-segment automatic cars is because it comes with a Powershift dual-clutch automatic gearbox, a first in its segment. This means better performance and enhanced fuel economy (16.97 Kmpl, as certified by ARAI). In fact, the new gearbox technology can make the car more fuel efficient than even the manual geared variant.

A frugal car needn't be a slouch when it comes to getting its nose up when the traffic lights go green and in line with that, the gearbox on the Fiesta will ensure that gear shift swiftly, making the Fiesta a perky performer. The Fiesta automatic retains the Ti-VCT petrol engine which produces 110bhp of peak power and 140 Nm of peak torque. This engine comes with variable valve timing to improve performance and features low friction internals for better engine life and fuel economy.

Coming back to the Powershift dual clutch automatic gearbox of the Fiesta, this gearbox has three key features that will give the Fiesta automatic a big advantage over its rivals.

 

Advantage 1: Hill Grade Assist – The Fiesta automatic comes with hill hold and hill descent control built into the gearbox. This means that you won't have to bother with quick accelerator-brake co-ordination to avoid rolling backwards during stationary starts on uphill stretches. On downhill stretches, depressing the hill grade button on the gear shift lever means that the Fiesta will maintain a constant speed through automatic braking, even as the driver needn't bother having to constantly keep braking to maintain a steady speed.

 

Advantage 2: Maintenance free – The gearbox comes sealed for 2,40,000 kilometers or 10 years. This means that it will not require any maintenance for the said period, and will last for the average lifespan of the car.

 

Advantage 3: Creep function – In heavy traffic, where automatic cars are the most comfortable to be driving, the Fiesta Automatic takes comfort and convenience to an all new level, through the creep function. This function allows the driver to creep forward or backward with the use of the brake rather than alternating between the brake and the accelerator, which will otherwise be the case on other automatic cars.