HI all.

Just bought my first Fiesta (not my first car or vehicle by any means), 1.25 Zetec 2009. Hope that these aren't too old chestnut questions (if so, can someone please point me in direction of links?).

Firstly, I ideally need winter tyres where I live: aim to get some steels and have a 2nd set of wheels & tyres (but alloys will also do). Does anyone know offhand what wheels will fit and where I get them? (E Bay seems to say nothing listed does!) 15inch rims, alloys at present. Will any from a mk7 15" model fit or...? (Ideally for insurance, something at least off the same age, engine size etc would be best I guess).

Secondarily, instead of the above, anyone know any good all-season tyres which I can put on and leave all year? Not exactly the sunny South where I live; more the soggy North. I want good grip and handling, mainly rural roads, some motorway or double carriageways.

Thirdly, I'm somewhat a fan of black. The car's external paint is black, and it has black privacy glass and lovely black carpets, but it has chrome trims around the window bases and the inside is, well, a bluey grey dash with not totally black other bits and a shiny centre console surround and grab handles. Seen some lovely really black interiors on later (red) Fiestas and current-ish other Ford models. Any ideas as to how I make things blacker? Paint, dye, replacement trims etc off other models (and where?) Not into expensive customisation, but any cheap and easy cosmetic upgrades would be great.

Finally, generally anything which I should check whilst it's under its couple of month post-purchase warranty? (OK, high speed handling probably not going to get too checked in current weather & road conditions!) It's recently had new belt and water pump, MOT, service. Seems to drive OK as far as I can so far tell, but never owned one before.

Thanks in advance.

 

I seriously doubt you drive your car that fast or aggressively to need a set of summer and a set of winter tyres on a set of spare wheels, a 1.25 just isn't fast enough lol.

I have a set of uniroyal rainsport 3's on my Fiesta. Seem pretty grippy in the wet (hence the name though dur). Not had chance to really try them on the icy roads in the morning yet though.

You can fit 175/65/14 tyres with fiesta steel wheels.  If you look on ebay you will see these for sale with a yellow sticker on saying max speed 80kmh/50mph.   These are space saver spares from Fiestas.  BUT they are not really space savers as such , they are the standard size wheel from Fiesta Studio cars (the base model) and the 1.6tdci/1.5tdci  Econetic diesel models. Even my 2015 Fiesta Style 1.5tdci has these 175/64/14 steels as standard on the car.  These wheels have been the same since 2002.  So if you get some of these they will do the job nicely. It is quite easy to find them on ebay with new (old) unused tyres on where they have only been in the boot of the car and never put on a car. They won't be winter tyres of course. But if you want the wheels to put new tyres on you will get them with used tyres on a lot cheaper. As I say, these wheels have been the same since 2002 so easily available.  And changing to this size will not be a problem for speedo accuracy. The wheel is smaller but the tyre taller so overall diameter fine.  Also they are narrower so they cut into the snow more instead of slithering about on the surface (I reckon).

I put a set on my old 2007 fiesta zetec when the 15inch alloys got bent from pot holes etc

 

 

Hi,

Hopefully you won't have any issues with you current insurer regarding winter wheels and tyres but if you did find you need some help with insurance then please feel free to drop me a line.

Regards,

Dan.

Thanks. Personally, I find quite a difference between summer and winter tyres ( and all seasons), used in the right conditions. It's not speed but how fast you need to attack the corners and how tight and steep they are; and how hard you might have to brake!

Thanks for insurance info - having to get a new multicar policy, and they say it's OK.

Any thoughts on the interior and exterior trims?

Ok no worries.

Regards,

Dan.

On 14/11/2017 at 11:57 PM, Elsie said:

Any thoughts on the interior and exterior trims?

The black or dark grey plastic trims are often available through wreckers, eBay or the various Facebook Fiesta groups. I've also seen the tan ones successfully spray painted. 

Black ST headliners are also similarly available but seem expensive. I've heard of people spraying these but not personally sure how they look.