hey kermit, oops its a ka (Ford Ka 3-dr)

Member Name: angusreid

Product:	Ford Ka 3-dr
Date:	29/04/01 (1419 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great value and class

Disadvantages: none really

Kind of like a beetle shape crossed with a wide mouthed frog!

That is the description I would have to give to anyone who asked me what they looked like.

However, the Ka is the best thing since sliced bread.

My long-suffering wife, Sherry, has changed her Ka every year, the first one she past her test in.
So therefore I feel I should ask her for her opinion as well as mine.
Kind of like a joint opinion, before Anna and (I know who) produce theirs.

Firstly, let me tell you what you get for your money, or for all the analytical readers, THE FACTS

Ka1 £6995
1.3 efi engine.
Seats 2 adults with great ease in the front, and 2 small children with ease in the back.
Standard price includes Power steering
Drivers airbag
Rear windscreen wiper
Stereo radio cassette

£250 gets you metallic paint

Otherwise Blue or red are available new.

In the used standard paint variations, you will find the likes of,
Bright blue (purple)
Radiant Red
A very dark purple colour, which has proven to be very unpopular.

The windows are wind down
The mirrors are manual
There is no air con unless you want to pay appx £500.
CD upgrade is about £200
You can upgrade to a pack that gives you central locking and electric windows, but this and metallic paint would probably take you to the same price as a Ka collection, which I may tell you about in another op.
Petrol consumption
Now this is an interesting topic.
No 2 cars give the same reading as they are driven by 2 different people.
Sherry gets approx £25 full tank, 6-7 gallons and gets nearly 300 miles out of it.
This equates to about 40 miles to the gallon (roughly, so put those calculators away!)
Obviously if you do motorway miles more than townie ones, then it will differ, Sherry drives mainly in Town.

The official fuel consumption depends on, again, how you drive but if you don&#
8217;t have any air con, or don’t use it, you will get about 52mpg motorway and 36 around town.

Drive feel.

Now this is where the ka comes to life.
It has an amazing chassis design, which allows you to drive like it is a sports car.
Sherry does!
0-30 in about wow
Leaves more powerful cars standing at lights, and up to about 40, is hard to beat.
Corners like it is a saloon, and feels like it is a Puma.

No much road noise, very few vibrations, although you do get a rattle from parcel shelf.

Storage space is hard to locate, with a glove box just big enough to fit a lipstick in to it.
There is another glove box type thing in the car, but I will not say where this, is in case any potential car thief’s are reading this.
Basically if you have one, you know where it is, if you haven’t, then you can store a few tapes/CD’s and some small books in it.

The hatch boot is small.

A family shop in this one is a no-no, unless you have left everyone behind, as the back Seat does fold down to increase the luggage capacity considerably.
Otherwise 4 maybe 5 carrier bags at the most.

The legroom and headroom are amazing, contrary to other ops.
I am 6 feet, and very easily fit into one, whereas I cannot in a Fiesta.

Obviously the legroom in the back is only recommended for jockeys, or someone casting for the wizard of oz.

The steering wheel is positioned well so as to allow maximum knee room, and the seat go back a long way.

Now Sherry wouldn’t part with hers for the world, and as I no longer work for Ford, left on quite bad terms actually, I can not be seen as giving you a biased opinion, just a genuine one.

This is the best City car on the market, and comes with my highest recommendation.

Angus & Sherry Reid

Summary: