Has anyone experience of the latest Fiesta auto box ? I have an '09 Fiesta manual which is great but I do miss the autobox which I had in several previous cars. I know of the potential shortcomings in performance and economy but as most people who have owned autos will tell you, it's awfully difficult going back to 'pudding stirrer' and left foot excerciser driving after having an auto.

What type of auto box is it ? A conventional auto with fluid flywheel or a "semi" auto manual with auto changing ? I know it is not a CVT (continuously variable tranmssiion) belt driven type. Interestingly, I note that it has a sequential up/down change. The best type I have driven was a CVT. Judging by the g/km figures and consumption it would be a conventional (old fashioned) box because the "semi auto" type achieve the same or better figures than the manual versions.

Anyone know ?

Has anyone experience of the latest Fiesta auto box ? I have an '09 Fiesta manual which is great but I do miss the autobox which I had in several previous cars. I know of the potential shortcomings in performance and economy but as most people who have owned autos will tell you, it's awfully difficult going back to 'pudding stirrer' and left foot excerciser driving after having an auto.

What type of auto box is it ? A conventional auto with fluid flywheel or a "semi" auto manual with auto changing ? I know it is not a CVT (continuously variable tranmssiion) belt driven type. Interestingly, I note that it has a sequential up/down change. The best type I have driven was a CVT. Judging by the g/km figures and consumption it would be a conventional (old fashioned) box because the "semi auto" type achieve the same or better figures than the manual versions.

Anyone know ?

The current auto is a conventional (some might say "old fashioned") 4 speed box with a torque convertor. Which is why the performance and economy aren't that great. For some reason you can only get it on the 1.4 petrol. It's annoying that the US Fiesta gets the latest 6 speed dual clutch auto-shift manual box, so maybe that will be rolled out over here in future. That's basically the same box that the Mondeo etc get.

Has anyone experience of the latest Fiesta auto box ? I have an '09 Fiesta manual which is great but I do miss the autobox which I had in several previous cars. I know of the potential shortcomings in performance and economy but as most people who have owned autos will tell you, it's awfully difficult going back to 'pudding stirrer' and left foot excerciser driving after having an auto.

What type of auto box is it ? A conventional auto with fluid flywheel or a "semi" auto manual with auto changing ? I know it is not a CVT (continuously variable tranmssiion) belt driven type. Interestingly, I note that it has a sequential up/down change. The best type I have driven was a CVT. Judging by the g/km figures and consumption it would be a conventional (old fashioned) box because the "semi auto" type achieve the same or better figures than the manual versions.

Anyone know ?

I have the 1.4 Titanium with an auto box. Personally, I find it to be very adequate & nippy enough for what I need it for. I spend 95% of my time driving the car on my own - but I recently took 4 people up to Northampton (from here - near Portsmouth) & the car performed very well indeed considering the extra weight. The gear change is always smooth & it's never 'jerky'.

It is what you'd call an "old fashioned" box - and as such - it's not going to perform anywhere near as well as the latest VW DSG dual-clutch boxes which are the future & the way ahead for all automatics/semi-automatics.

As AnthonyJ below says - it's annoying that it is only available on the 1.4 as I would have preferred the 1.6 auto that the Yanks are getting - if only for the extra power. I guess a 1.6 auto will be available in the UK sometime in the near future. Before the Fiesta I had a Citroen C2 1.6 VTR which was a 5-speed paddle-shift 'Sensodrive' semi-automatic system & I loved it! Very quick for such a small car (being a 1.6) and I do miss that little extra power now & again - especially when overtaking, etc.

I recently had a go in the new VW Golf with the new 7-speed DSG box. This too was "only" a 1.4 - but because it was turbo-charged - it flew! I notice that the new VW DSG boxes are both quicker 0-60 than the manuals as well as better MPG. All this is great news for me because I only have an auto licence (due to a disibilty) and I finally get the option of some very exciting & innovative auto boxes to choose from all these years after passing my test!

Has anyone experience of the latest Fiesta auto box ? I have an '09 Fiesta manual which is great but I do miss the autobox which I had in several previous cars. I know of the potential shortcomings in performance and economy but as most people who have owned autos will tell you, it's awfully difficult going back to 'pudding stirrer' and left foot excerciser driving after having an auto.

What type of auto box is it ? A conventional auto with fluid flywheel or a "semi" auto manual with auto changing ? I know it is not a CVT (continuously variable tranmssiion) belt driven type. Interestingly, I note that it has a sequential up/down change. The best type I have driven was a CVT. Judging by the g/km figures and consumption it would be a conventional (old fashioned) box because the "semi auto" type achieve the same or better figures than the manual versions.

Anyone know ?

Thanks for those comments. I was heartened to hear that it's quite a smooth change. I had a Vauxhall with an "Easy-tronic" semi auto box which I believe is basically a manual box with servo motors operating the changes and something like a conventional clutch and it was extremely jerky and almost impossible to drive smoothly. It would stay in a high gear until the engine was almost labouring then suddenly change down with a great surge. Sometimes it would stay in too low a gear and I would have to manually change up via the sequential type change. The delay when pulling away at roundabouts was quite disturbing until you got used to it and I learned the technique of 'feathering' the auto . clutch by using a bit of revs to get away reasonably quickly. I had it checked several times by a Vauxhall dealer who could find nothing wrong. The jerky change was quite uncomfortable even for the driver and most annoying. On the plus side it was at least as economical as the manual version and there was no clutch pedal which was good. As I said, by far the best auto I have had was the German ZF CVT in a Rover. This utilised oil-immersed laminated steel belts and pulleys with an external oil cooler. It was incredibly smooth as there were no steps with no detectable lag when pulling away. The six-speed sequential manual override was incredibly fast and couldn't be beaten making very fast progress through the box easy. I do believe that one day in the future, clutches will be obsolete in Europe as they virtually already are in the USA.

Ford were saying to us that in the not too distant future (I.e Next year) You will see small ecoboost engines been launched on to the Fiesta (I am not on about the 1.6Turbo ST Engine) They will combine them with the Powershift Boxes. So some point next year you may see these. No Launch date announced yet.

Thanks for the responses. I am picking up a Mk 7 Titanium auto next week so I will report on what I think of the transmission. I know from my current Mk 7 that the rest of the car will be fabulous.

Thanks for the responses. I am picking up a Mk 7 Titanium auto next week so I will report on what I think of the transmission. I know from my current Mk 7 that the rest of the car will be fabulous.

Would be good to hear your thoughts Magenta on the auto box.

Would be good to hear your thoughts Magenta on the auto box.

Only driven it about 200 miles so far but I am quite pleased with it. The acceleration is dulled a little compared with my previous punchy 1.6 TDCI as you would expect. Pulling away from rest at roundabouts etc. seems pretty good compared with other autos I have driven and is quite adequate. It seems that how well it accelerates after that depends on how you catch it and how heavy you boot the accelerator, of course. Using a light touch makes it seem very slow. You can always use the manual +/- overrride, of course but I would have expected to pull the lever back to change down and forward to change up but it is the other way round.

Quite a smooth change though. I got 43 mpg on the 180 mile journey which is what I expected.

Only driven it about 200 miles so far but I am quite pleased with it. The acceleration is dulled a little compared with my previous punchy 1.6 TDCI as you would expect. Pulling away from rest at roundabouts etc. seems pretty good compared with other autos I have driven and is quite adequate. It seems that how well it accelerates after that depends on how you catch it and how heavy you boot the accelerator, of course. Using a light touch makes it seem very slow. You can always use the manual +/- overrride, of course but I would have expected to pull the lever back to change down and forward to change up but it is the other way round.

Quite a smooth change though. I got 43 mpg on the 180 mile journey which is what I expected.

The first thing I noticed (coming from a fairly punchy 1.6 Citroen automatic engine to the 1.4 Fiesta auto) was the 'dulled' power difference which - I hasten to add - I fully expected & knew would happen...obviously. Saying that; the Citroen was 110bhp and the Fiesta is 96 - so there really isn't all that much difference power-wise.

I picked my car up in mid-January and have now driven 6,600 miles. It feels like it is still improving too - quicker slightly & better mpg than say a thousand miles ago even. It is a very capable little car which is serving me well to date with no snags or problems to date...touch wood! Being 'squeeze' in colour - and a three door Titanium with the full bodykit & the 7-spoke alloys - it still turns heads everywhere I go...and I honestly can't complain about the amount of female admirers the car attracts!!!

All in all - I am very happy with both the car & its performance. I will be changing cars at the end of 2012. Until then - it will do just fine!

The first thing I noticed (coming from a fairly punchy 1.6 Citroen automatic engine to the 1.4 Fiesta auto) was the 'dulled' power difference which - I hasten to add - I fully expected & knew would happen...obviously. Saying that; the Citroen was 110bhp and the Fiesta is 96 - so there really isn't all that much difference power-wise.

I picked my car up in mid-January and have now driven 6,600 miles. It feels like it is still improving too - quicker slightly & better mpg than say a thousand miles ago even. It is a very capable little car which is serving me well to date with no snags or problems to date...touch wood! Being 'squeeze' in colour - and a three door Titanium with the full bodykit & the 7-spoke alloys - it still turns heads everywhere I go...and I honestly can't complain about the amount of female admirers the car attracts!!!

All in all - I am very happy with both the car & its performance. I will be changing cars at the end of 2012. Until then - it will do just fine!

Although it's a'59 plate, mine had only done 300 miles when I picked it up yesterday so it is very early days performance wise. The colour (Morello) is not as pleasing as the previous cars Hot Magenta but I can certainly live with it, especially as the wife chose it so I haven't got much choice really !

Incidentally, on the subject of paint, I found the Hot Magenta paintwork extremely soft and easy to mark even after 18 months which is a bit much considering how much it cost extra. I know this is a known thing with new cars but this one seemed especially soft and I ended up with scuff marks on front and rear sills and on the boot sill. I hope the Morello colour will be a little more durable.

The dealer I bought my auto from was telling me that he thought that CVT (belt-driven) auto boxes are being phased out generally except on very small engined vehicles such as micro-cars in favour of automatically-controlled manual box type of transmission. This was because of the better emmissions and economy possible with this type of gearbox. I hope they become better than the one I had in my Vauxhall Astra !

My Mrs has got a 10-plate 5-door white 1.4 Auto Titanium. Seems faster than the 1.6 Peugeot 307 Auto she had before. Great wee car, I love driving it, the only annoying thing is that the electric window switches are too far along the door panel - I almost have to slide by elbow into the back seats in order to get my fingertips on the switches.

My Mrs has got a 10-plate 5-door white 1.4 Auto Titanium. Seems faster than the 1.6 Peugeot 307 Auto she had before. Great wee car, I love driving it, the only annoying thing is that the electric window switches are too far along the door panel - I almost have to slide by elbow into the back seats in order to get my fingertips on the switches.

lol. Yep - very true. Definitely a design fault by Ford those pesky electric window switches. I would have liked to have seen them in the centre near the gearstick or thereabouts. That's where my last cars' were (Citroen) - and a lot easier/simpler to access/use!