Bumper Ka? (Ford Ka 3-dr)

Member Name: pipefish

Product:	Ford Ka 3-dr
Date:	18/07/03 (895 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very good for town driving, Light steering, Economical

Disadvantages: Limited power, twitchy steering less welcome for motorway driving, Side view constrained

I have had a Ford Ka as a courtesy car for several days, during which time it has been up and down the motorway, around ring roads and on several long journeys into the Welsh valleys on commuting. The version I had was a 3 door 1.3 engine 2002 plates.

Generally the interior is well laid out and all the standard features are there - power steering, CD radio with TA, RDS etc, electric windows. If you have driven other Fords the dashboard will seem familiar and seems similar to the newer Escort and Focus. As on other Fords there is a dial to the right of the steering wheel to control the light intensity but not a light indicator on the dash to show the setting so it is best to check first so that you are not driving on high-beams or sidelights for all the journey and not knowing it. All the other standard options are present and correct including intermittent windscreen wipers. There are not radio controls on the steering wheel on the version I had.

I found the car very responsive around town and on A-roads - the drive is very brisk up to a certain limit. It also handles sharply - the brake is a little on the heavy side - it grips the road well into corners and there was little indication of roll on them. I found the handling and drive very similar to a Focus. It was very sharp pulling away from roundabouts and so very good for dual carriageways and ring roads broken up by roundabouts and traffic lights. (why do they do this?)

Economy is good - I drove several hundred miles and it did about 35-40 mpg.

However I found that the driving was less responsive on the motorway - if you put your foot down when going at 80 very little happens and the top speed is not much above this.
Cabin noise is very quiet at high speeds though and the engine noise was well insulated.

Another thing that took getting used to was the sensitivity of the steering - it really is very light and just a small flick of the wheel makes it turn or move l
anes. I think I clipped a few kerbs turning getting used to this. This got a bit annoying on the motorways as it was very easy to swerve without keeping close attention.

The driving position is good if a bit high up although you do not get the best view of the front bonnet or traffic to the side when looking over your shoulder. It does have concave mirrors with an extra curve on the edge to see to the side although I did not like having to rely on these. I found it a bit difficult to guess the width of the car when driving through gaps because of its styling. Parking also took a bit of getting used to - basically the rear wheels are right at the back of the car so you should be able to reverse right back although I did not want to put this to the test!
There is plenty of space in the boot and it is quite deep compared to superminis or mini cars. To get into the back the seats can be tilted forward as usual but they also slide forward as well at the same time so there is more space to get in the back.

So overall I think it would make an ideal car for suburban and town - it is very nippy at mid and low speed and with the light steering should make easy work of parking. However it shows its limitations on the motorway where the steering becomes twitchy and I would not use it for long distance commuting. However on ring roads and town it was very responsive and nippy.

Summary: