I imagine that Ford were playing it safe in choosing to use a 'conventional' auto (there are so many types of automatic boxes around these days, each manufacturer using a different name that this term is becoming meaningless !) on the Mk 7 Fiesta for reliablility and probably cost reasons. It's not the cheapest type of auto transmission but it's not the dearest either. Their obvious alternatives were the GM type of robotised manual or DSG (which sounds pretty good) licensed from Borg warner or a CVT. What type of auto was offered on the Mk 6 Fiesta, does anyone know ? By conventional I mean epicyclic with a hydraulic torque converter.

Incidentally, Nightowl, the 'paddles' operation was used on the MG TF sportscars which had the same CVT (continuously variable) made by the German company ZF as in the Rover 45 I had with CVT. MG Rover called it 'Steptronic' I think which is an odd name considering it has no 'steps'! The sequential six-speed manual control was just transferred from the steering wheel to the gearstick in the 45 model. This was extremely quick in operation with no detectable delay. The 1.8 petrol model I drove for three years had incredible pulling power throughout the smooth ratio range and good mpg. Pity the German-built box kept failing. I had two (I think, I began to lose count) replacement transmissions in this car which, together with talking to Powertrain engineers at MG Rover where I was working as a contractor at the time, led me to believe that the unit could not handle the torque of this size engine and its use should be limited to smaller engines. Nightowl, was the Citroen Sensotronic a ZF CVT transmission ?

Magenta:

The SensoDrive five speed semi-automatic transmission is an electronically controlled manual gearbox, with the clutch and gear-change functions electronically managed. As a result, the vehicle has no clutch pedal and the gear lever - which remains present - has no mechanical link with the gearbox. The SensoDrive gearbox is managed by a control unit, which controls two actuators. One actuator changes gears while the other, which is equipped with a facing wear compensation system, opens and closes the clutch. The gearbox control unit also dialogues with the engine control unit. The SensoDrive gearbox has two shifting options of either the fully automated mode, or the paddle-shifted/gear-shifted manual mode. It took some getting used to because the car would "roll" back on a slope (for example) if you didn't have your foot on the brake. In a normal (Fiesta) automatic of course, the car creeps forward on a level surface - or stays still on a slight incline, etc because the gears are constantly engaged. The C2 wasn't a conventional automatic by a long shot. It was great fun though!

Magenta:

The SensoDrive five speed semi-automatic transmission is an electronically controlled manual gearbox, with the clutch and gear-change functions electronically managed. As a result, the vehicle has no clutch pedal and the gear lever - which remains present - has no mechanical link with the gearbox. The SensoDrive gearbox is managed by a control unit, which controls two actuators. One actuator changes gears while the other, which is equipped with a facing wear compensation system, opens and closes the clutch. The gearbox control unit also dialogues with the engine control unit. The SensoDrive gearbox has two shifting options of either the fully automated mode, or the paddle-shifted/gear-shifted manual mode. It took some getting used to because the car would "roll" back on a slope (for example) if you didn't have your foot on the brake. In a normal (Fiesta) automatic of course, the car creeps forward on a level surface - or stays still on a slight incline, etc because the gears are constantly engaged. The C2 wasn't a conventional automatic by a long shot. It was great fun though!

From your description it sounds as though the Citroen Sensodrive was the same as the GM five speed 'semi automatic' Easytronic used on the Vauxhall Astra which I couldn't get on with at all mainly due to slow changes and lurching. I suspected at the time that this was down to software rather than a mechanical design problem. I took it in several times (the one time was a genuine fault as it kept sticking in one ratio) and was told there was nothing wrong. The 'rolling back' feature I remember well !

I didn't like the Astra in general. Although the basic engineering of the underpinnings,engine and chassis, was quite sound and was a useful workhorse, it seemed to have been finished off in a design office devoid of any motorists and had lots of silly design errors.

Anyone else out there with a Fiesta Mk 7 Auto (or a previous model) or am I the only one ? I would be interested to hear your comments.

Yes, I have just bought a Titanium 1.4 Auto in Vision Blue, 9 months old and 4k miles. So far really impressed with ride, drive, build quality, noise levels and comfort. This is my 5th Automatic, having had (in order) 1996 Volvo S40 2.0 Auto, 2000 Saab 9-3SE 2.0t 3-door Auto, 2004 Honda Jazz SE CVT-7, and 2007 Honda Civic 1.8SE i-Shift.

I tried the latest Honda Jazz CVT but it felt a bit gutless and the Honda dealer made me a derisory offer for the Civic. I am expecting similar fuel consumption to the Civic which could average up to 42mpg touring but as low as 26mpg on the 2 mile commmute to and from work. The Fiesta is as nice to drive as the Saab which was the best of the previous bunch.

Yes, I have just bought a Titanium 1.4 Auto in Vision Blue, 9 months old and 4k miles. So far really impressed with ride, drive, build quality, noise levels and comfort. This is my 5th Automatic, having had (in order) 1996 Volvo S40 2.0 Auto, 2000 Saab 9-3SE 2.0t 3-door Auto, 2004 Honda Jazz SE CVT-7, and 2007 Honda Civic 1.8SE i-Shift.

I tried the latest Honda Jazz CVT but it felt a bit gutless and the Honda dealer made me a derisory offer for the Civic. I am expecting similar fuel consumption to the Civic which could average up to 42mpg touring but as low as 26mpg on the 2 mile commmute to and from work. The Fiesta is as nice to drive as the Saab which was the best of the previous bunch.

Hi Ian, welcome to FOC.

Nice to hear you're impressed with the auto fiesta, especially after having all those larger more powerful higher end cars previous.

Paul :)

Hi Ian, welcome to FOC.

Nice to hear you're impressed with the auto fiesta, especially after having all those larger more powerful higher end cars previous.

Paul :)

Exactly what I was about to say Paul ! Yes, Ian, it shows that the Fiesta auto must be quite good to compare with those bigger cars.

When I was looking for a near-new auto to replace my manual Fiesta, it seemed that there were hardly any around as Ford Direct could only find two or three in the whole country over a period of several weeks, let alone with the criteria I had requested such as mileage, colour etc. I eventually found this car at a non-franchise garage in Norfolk which is only 180 miles away ! However, it had only done 296 miles from new and the price was right so to was worth the journey to collect.

Pleased to hear there are a few more around as I felt a bit lonely !

Alan

Exactly what I was about to say Paul ! Yes, Ian, it shows that the Fiesta auto must be quite good to compare with those bigger cars.

When I was looking for a near-new auto to replace my manual Fiesta, it seemed that there were hardly any around as Ford Direct could only find two or three in the whole country over a period of several weeks, let alone with the criteria I had requested such as mileage, colour etc. I eventually found this car at a non-franchise garage in Norfolk which is only 180 miles away ! However, it had only done 296 miles from new and the price was right so to was worth the journey to collect.

Pleased to hear there are a few more around as I felt a bit lonely !

Alan

I was lucky with this one as I found it locally at a small family owned Ford Dealer after the salesman at the main Dealers seemed to lose interest in finding me a Ford Direct car. I bought the Saab in Sheffield, the Jazz in Huddersfield and the Civic in Grimsby so it made a change to find exactly what I wanted just 20 minutes away!

Another point is that the makes you mention, Ian, Saab and Honda both have very good reputations which again, says a lot for the Fiesta (although as Saabs have in the recent past shared GM underpinnings with Vauxhall, I always thought that some Saabs looked like an obsolete Vauxhall model such as the Cavalier !).

I always liked the early Saabs such as the Saab 92 to 96.

I believe GM recently sold Saab to Spyker Cars so I wonder how future Saab cars will turn out.