U BUM NOBS PROBABLY I DO APOLOGISE APOLOGY REJECTED BACK OFF THEN (Ford Ka in general)

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Product:	Ford Ka in general
Date:	09/11/01 (54 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: g

Disadvantages: g

My Mum has been driving a KA for about 3 years now. I regularly borrow it when I'm going on a long journey. It helps her for the car to get a good run, as she only uses it for local trips. It helps me to keep the mileage down on my car, I'm doing about 6000 miles in six months so taking the KA on the longer trips keeps this down.

~~~ Handling ~~~
The KA is a dream of a car as far as handling goes. Both my Mum's KA's have been equipped with power steering so no problems wrestling the steering wheel to park. The KA's have both had a 1.3 engine which is quite big for such a small car. I find that when I'm driving them I can whiz round corners much faster than in my own saloon car. I also find the KA is extremely quick off the mark at traffic lights, I've left more than one boy racer behind!

~~~ Parking ~~~
Ah parking, it can be the bain of your live can't it. Not in a KA, these little cars will fit into the smallest space. Where I work parking is at a premium and the multitude of KA's in the car park are always slotted in at the end of a row where there isn't really a space, good luck to them I say, my car won't fit in there. As for parallel parking, again the KA comes into its own. If there is one space left in the street its usually because its too small, but the KA will fit in like a dream.

~~~ Economy ~~~
Unfortunately the KA doesn't have a computer to work out fuel consumption. Without the computer I never work it out, but my Dad does. He has seen MPG in excess of 40mpg in Mums car and he says that on her regular long trips she's getting about 38mpg. On similar trips he gets about 29mpg out of his Focus. Oh and this car is also a lovely low insurance group so you get a nice saving on your insurance premiums.

~~~ Speed ~~~
Now a lot of people say these little cars are not built for speed, I'm guessing they have never driven them. I still shoot up the
motorway doing an easy 90mph, and I've had over 100mph out of this too. When traveling at speed this car is just as quiet and comfortable as my Focus.

~~~ Space ~~~
It wouldn't be reasonable to expect a car this size to be spacious, but it is in the front. The front of the car feels spacious and there is plenty of headroom for those six footers. The back seats are a little cramped, which doesn't bother us as we don't use this car for carrying passengers, its just Mum's runaround. The boot is absolutely tiny, but Mum can fit her shopping in by using the back seats as well. When I travel I need to put my suitcase on the back seat as it’s a lot bigger than the boot.

~~~ The KA Silver – Extras ~~~
The Silver is actually a special edition, its not part of the KA Collection (those with body colored bumpers and a few extras), it was part of a limited edition. This stylish little car comes with colour coded bumpers, alloy wheels and leather seats. You also get a CD player and matching KA mats as standard. The dashboard has silver highlights (the bezel round the clock, silver bit round the gearknob) and is clear and easy to read. The KA comes with adjustable headlights like the rest of the Ford range, although its difficult to imagine loading it with enough weight to need to adjust the lights.

~~~ What's Missing ~~~
What's missing in the KA is an interesting point. There is no rev counter which is OK, but there is also no temperature gauge which is a worry to Dad. The oddest missing thing in the KA is seat belt adjustors. On most cars you can adjust the fitting on the seat belts by sliding them up and down, on the KA this isn't an option. The seat belts can be adjusted by your dealer, which we had done. It just seems an odd thing to miss out on a car aimed at the women's market, the average woman is not excessively tall.

~~~ The Bottom Line ~~~
The KA is a lovely secon
d car to own. Many of my younger friends repeatedly buy them as their only car and swear by them as they find them more stylish than the Fiesta. As most of my friends work for Ford there choice of small car is limited to the KA and the Fiesta. My Mum loves her KA and wouldn't change it for anything, this is a car she buys through choice not through affordability. For me this car is too small to have as my only car, but I love borrowing it!

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