Ford Fiesta vs VW Polo

Is the Polo at long last a contender? The Ford Fiesta was launched way back in 1976 following the success of  British, French and Italian small cars.  VW’s small car was the Golf . Over the years the Golf grew from a small car into a medium small hatch competing with the Focus and Astra. The VW Polo filled the space but somehow it has never captured the imagination of buyers in the same way as the Fiesta, Golf and other small cars with street cred’. It seems things have changed.

The Fiesta and VW’s have always stuck with clean simple lines. However the new Fiesta has sleek style curves rather like a Mazda2 while the Polo retains clean lines albeit a bit chunkier like a Golf. So the Fiesta and Polo look different.

The other main difference is there’s a credible Polo GTi. Hot hatches definitely elevate the image of a model. Think what Williams then RenaultSport did for the Clio and VXR for Corsa. It’s said the new 207 will see the return of their GTi. If the new Polo GTi catches on like the original Golf GTi – well.

Otherwise the Fiesta and Polo are very similar:

• They have the same entry-level price.
• They have a similar range of engines and trims.
• The Fiesta and Polo are virtually the same size.
• Both their 1.2 petrol engine versions have very similar fuel consumption, emissions and performance. It’s the same story with their manual 1.4 petrol engines.
• The Polo has a more efficient 1.4 automatic.
• The Polo BlueMotion diesel is highly efficient.
• Overall the Fiesta 1.6 diesel looks to me like it has the better combination of economy, emissions and performance.

So that’s it. The Fiesta and Polo are very similar apart from their style and the significant fact the Polo has a GTi. I think the Polo has at last taken the original Golf’s place in the small car sector and is a real contender. But watch out for the new 207 and Clio.

A few things to watch out for:

• When car fuel consumption figures rank closely the DVLA make the point theirs are lab’ figures and there may or may not be any difference on the road.
• If you’re thinking about diesel compare it with a petrol engine with similar acceleration and the same trim level and note the difference in their prices. Then calculate at what total mileage savings in fuel consumption pay for the premium you pay on a diesel car.
• When you consider different engines and trim options note the different car insurance groups. Car insurance groups have widened to 1 to 50 so a wider range of insurance premiums can be charged.

If you’re looking to buy a Fiesta or Polo you can happily go for the one you like the look of or find nicest to drive – subject to the deal of course. You’re unlikely to regret not buying the other one.

Regards
Ralph
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Would You Buy A Small Car With A Diesel Engine?

When we have a choice we look for something better, and improvement without it being at the expense of other aspects.

If you consider a small car with a diesel engine you can easily see fuel economy is improved and emissions are better both saving you money. However a diesel car costs more and diesel fuel is more expensive than petrol. The question is do savings exceed the added expense? Plus what are the pros and cons of diesel?

It’s worth noting some car manufacturers sell large vehicles only with diesel engines. Some only sell small cars with petrol engines. So they believe a diesel is not appropriate in small cars.

Three believers in diesel engines are Ford, Vauxhall and VW who at this time have their small cars in the top ten best sellers list. So lets check them out.

There are similar performing diesel and petrol Vauxhall Corsas for sale. A Vauxhall Corsa SXi 1.2 petrol returns a combined 53.3 mpg and costs £13520 new. A Corsa SXi 1.3 95 diesel returns 64.2 combined mpg and costs £15450. They have similar performance and there’s little difference in emissions. The difference is the diesel costs £1930 more to buy new.

An SE Volkswagen Polo 1.2 70 petrol returns a combined 51.4 mpg and costs £12190 new. The SE 1.2 75 diesel returns 72.4 combined mpg and costs £13735. They have similar performance and there’s little difference in emissions. The difference is the diesel costs £1545 more to buy new.

A Ford Fiesta Zetec 1.4 petrol returns a combined 48.7 mpg and costs £12800 new. A Zetec 1.6 diesel returns 67.2 combined mpg and costs £14150. They have similar performance and there’s little difference in emissions. The difference is the diesel costs £1360 more to buy new.

If petrol costs 1.369p at the pump it’s £6.22p per gallon. Diesel at 1.419 equals £6.45 a gallon.  Whilst I think of it the combined mpg above isn’t necessarily what you’ll return, it’s just a guide for comparison. So let’s work it out over 12,000 miles.

Vauxhall Corsa petrol. 12000 miles / 53.3 mpg =225 gallons cost £1399.50.
Vauxhall Corsa diesel. 12000 miles / 64.2 mpg = 187 gallons cost £1206.15.
£193.35 saved with diesel every 12000 miles which costs £1930 more than a petrol car. £1930/£193.35 x 12000 miles means you have to do 119782 miles to recover the added cost of a diesel Corsa new.

VW Polo petrol. 12000 miles / 51.4 mpg =233 gallons cost £1449.26.
VW Polo diesel. 12000 miles / 72.4 mpg = 166 gallons cost £1070.70.
£378.56 saved with diesel every 12000 miles which costs £1545 more than a petrol car. £1545/£378.56 x 12000 miles means you have to do 48975 miles to recover the added cost of a diesel Polo new.

Ford Fiesta petrol. 12000 miles / 48.7 mpg =246 gallons cost £1530.12.
Ford Fiesta diesel. 12000 miles / 67.2 mpg = 179 gallons cost £1154.55.
£375.57 saved with diesel every 12000 miles which costs £1360 more than a petrol car. £1360/£357.57 x 12000 miles means you have to do 45641 miles to recover the added cost of a diesel Fiesta new.

So we’re looking at about 4 years even 10 at 12,000 miles per year to recover the added cost of a new small diesel car with fuel savings. Most small car owners do 10k per annum or half that and don’t think of keeping their car more than 3-years.

You could argue a diesel car has a stronger residual value but nobody knows that for sure because the used car market is a real market with many buyers and sellers and we can’t safely make any predictions.

That’s the figures, what about the qualities of diesel v petrol? 

Diesels are more economical, durable and reliable than petrol plus they have bags of torque and feel stronger. I’d say durability and reliability are not an issue these days. Diesels are also more smelly, noisy, and slow plus they vibrate. They are quicker these days with common rail injection and turbos. Manufacturers can insulate the noise but not totally in a small car. They can isolate vibration but no so well in a small car. Diesels can be managed much better in big cars.

Petrol engines are quiet and smooth with zip. Diesels are for high mileage users.

Anyway there you have it. I don’t know if you’d buy a small car with a diesel engine. I do know why some manufacturers don’t sell them. Are the others giving you choice or just making an extra grand or two?

That’s another thing. The wider the range of cars they sell the wider the range of prices they can charge. Sometimes it’s stretched beyond viability. It’s like saying, ‘this model will save you money, oh, I’ll just take that back with an increased price.’ I suppose it’s where the term ‘mug punter’ comes from.

Regards
Ralph

Is the Nissan Juke just a joke?

Not if you take the success of the Qashqai into consideration. The story goes Nissan have launched the Nissan Juke following the great success of the Nissan Qashqai. Nissan replaced their medium small Almera with the Qashqai which competes with cars like the Ford Focus, Vauxhall Astra and VW Golf.

The question is how well does the Juke compete with small cars like the Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Corsa, VW Polo and Peugeot 207, not to mention the Clio and Punto? These are all great small cars with almost identical dimensions, price ranges and fuel consumption. I suppose it proves the old saying, ‘if they come up with the right answers to the same questions, then the answers will be the same or similar.’

So how similar is the Juke and how different is it to make a difference?

The Vauxhall Corsa price range is wide stretching from under £10k to over £17k. So how does the Juke priced from over £13k to over £20k compete?

Ford Fiesta fuel consumption ranges from 42 to 75 combined mpg. How does the Juke compare and what about emissions, speed and acceleration?

Check out the VW Polo dimensions and it’s virtually the same as the Fiesta, Corsa and other super-sized small cars in the category. The Juke is that bit bigger which raises a number of questions.

Let’s look at the detail.

If you look at the Vauxhall Corsa price range the low entry price is for a 3-door Corsa with a 1.0 3-cylinder engine and basic trim. You could consider it an alternative to smaller city cars for sale or dismiss it as a loss leader price to attract buyers. If you want a Corsa with 5-doors and a 1.2 engine with a nice trim like an SXI then the price is considerably higher.

The Nissan Juke enters the market with a 1.6 engine at just over £13k. The Corsa’s 1.6 is a tyre blistering high performance model costing over £17k. Vauxhall do have a 1.4. As a Corsa 5-door 1.4 SXI the price is near £14.5k, as a 1.2 it’s near £14k, so the Juke looks a bit of value. Some might say the Vauxhall Meriva 1.4 MPV with a similar entry price to the Juke is a consideration.

The Juke 1.6 has a combined 44.8 mpg, 147 CO2s, with a maximum speed of 111 mph and it hits 62 mph in 11.0 seconds. The Fiesta 1.6 is a sports model costing some £16k.  A Zetec 5-door 1.4 at about £13.5k returns a combined 48.7 mpg, 133 CO2s, 109 mph, 0 to 62 mph in 12.2 seconds. Are the differences in these figures significant? The two cars rank closely enough for fuel consumption that there may be no significant difference on the road and what difference there is may not amount to a lot in terms of cost. The Fiesta lower CO2s only represent a saving of pennies per week in road fund licence costs. The difference in performance may not amount too much on the road, although the Juke may feel slightly stronger. So we could call it quits.

You can see the Juke compares well for value and overall engine efficiency. However when it comes to size, is it a small car? This is important because plenty of Clio and Corsa owners had a moan when they super-sized replacement models to near 4m long and increased the width.

The new VW Polo is 3.97m long. The Juke is 4.14m long. If owners have something to say about cars being increased in length from 3.75m to 4m, then they may see this as an issue, especially as the Juke is little light on the near 300l boot space for most cars in this class.

A Qashqai is only 4.32m long. So why the Juke’s length? Well it all seems to go into the styling of the Juke. However this could give the Juke the edge. With so many cars of the same class being so similar for performance, versatility, economy and safety, the only difference can be styling.

So is the Juke a joke? Nobody’s laughing at the retro Mini and Fiat 500, the anti retro Citroen DS3 or the Qashqai, so the last laugh could go to the Juke.

Regards
Ralph