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"In the late 1970s Ford sold a little car with a 1.6-liter 4-cylinder called the Fiesta. When gas got cheap, the little Fiesta was ditched in favor of the larger Escort, a car that would eventually become the modern Focus. Well gas prices spiked again and guess what? The Fiesta is back. The European Ford Fiesta needed about 40 percent of its components adjusted to meet U.S. legislation, but otherwise this car should be just as spry and peppy as the car we drove in Europe. Ford swears up and down that they haven&amp;#039;t messed with the ride quality, but U.S. buyers won&amp;#039;t get summer performance tires. Instead, we&amp;#039;ll get compromised all-season (480 treadwear) rubber that&amp;#039;s far less sporty. The engine is the same 1.6-liter dohc Ti-VCT available in Europe. The base transmission is a manual 5-speed, but new for the car is a 6-speed dual-clutch automated gearbox. There are no paddles, sport mode, slap-shifter or launch control. This twin-dry-clutch gearbox is designed to function as an economical alternative to the conventional automatic. Both 5th and 6th gears are overdrives, giving the Fiesta an estimated 30/40 mpg EPA city/highway rating. It offers better fuel efficiency and quicker shifting, so what&amp;#039;s not to like? Developed with Getrag, the PowerShift twin-clutch transmission is designed to support 184 lb.-ft. of torque. The little 1.6 only makes 119 bhp and 109 lb.-ft. of torque, so there&amp;#039;s plenty of overhead. The use of dry clutches and actuation by electric stepper motors means the transmission should be sealed for life, said by Ford engineers to realistically be 10 years or 150,000 miles. We fully expect a future performance Fiesta RS to come with paddles and launch control\u2014if not a Fiesta, at least the next Focus with its 2.0-liter engine. Visual differences are minimal, but noticeable. The most obvious are the large chrome plates that house light pipes and replace the round fog lights. The grille has been kept mostly intact, but bumper legislation has forced designers to get creative. There is no plan to bring the 3-door Fiesta at this time. We will only get the 5-door and sedan. The top SEL model will be fully kitted out with leather, sunroof, heated seats and the handy SYNC system. Pricing hasn&amp;#039;t been announced but Ford has set its sights on beating the Honda Fit, so expect a fully loaded SEL to be in the low $20s, with the base S and slightly up-level SE coming in below $20,000. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-shows/los-angeles-auto-show/news/a15271/advanced-coverage-2011-ford-fiesta/>