FordBuyer Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 I checked out the first new Fiesta today receieved by Bill Brown Ford. It's lime green SE hatch. No options whatsoever. 5 sp. manual, basic Ford wheel covers, and blacked out plastic where the bright chrome LED running lights go. Sticker said $15,795 including destination charges. EPA ratings on sticker were 28mpg city and 37mpg highway. I sat in it and opened and shut the doors. Good fit and finish, good paint job, and felt good sitting in driver's seat. Not thrilled with the speedo and tach gauges, but rest of vehicle was first rate for an economy car. I believe the rear brakes are drum. I imagine the SES comes with lots of extra goodies this vehicle doesn't have in SE form. Anyway, Fiestas are now trickling in. I imagine Bill Brown may use this Fiesta for demoing, but I didn't ask. Bill Brown has an area off of new car prep area where it lets customers check out new vehicles that just came in. It's inside their building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mettech Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 Rear drum brakes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 Rear drum brakes? It's an economy car, not a track car for crying out loud. As long as the brakes can stop the car without issues, who the hell cares? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Reynolds Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 (edited) Rear drum brakes? Every vehicle in the Fiesta's size class are equipped with rear drum brakes. That includes the Honda Fit. Edited June 25, 2010 by Michael Reynolds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twmalonehunter Posted June 25, 2010 Share Posted June 25, 2010 Every vehicle in the Fiesta's size class are equipped with rear drum brakes. That includes the Honda Fit. Well, for the light amount of work the rear brakes will be asked to do on this vehicle, drums should suffice. They also should last a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordBuyer Posted June 25, 2010 Author Share Posted June 25, 2010 It's an economy car, not a track car for crying out loud. As long as the brakes can stop the car without issues, who the hell cares? With its small size, and light weight, it should be a very good stopper even with drums in rear. I kind of saw the rear drums in cursory mode and didn't make a strong mental note of it. I hope I'm not seeing things and giving Ford a bum rap with early report on first Fiesta coming to dealership. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggoodin Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 Drum brakes. Who cares? My '10 Mariner Premier has drum rear brakes and it stops on a dime. Get over it folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All-Or-Nothing Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 Where are the pics?????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SVT_MAN Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 (edited) Drum brakes. Who cares? My '10 Mariner Premier has drum rear brakes and it stops on a dime. Get over it folks. The only thing drum brakes fail on is that they are more prone to fade than disc brakes. I remember seeing a test a while back where they had drum brakes versus disc brakes - the drum brakes actually stopped the car more quickly than the disc brakes - but the drums started fading really quickly - after only a few repeated hard braking situations. I don't expect most Fiesta drivers to be hot lapping on the Nurburgring so I think we're okay. Edited June 26, 2010 by SVT_MAN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 Heck. Does the car even NEED rear brakes? :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 Yeah, I've been prowling the dealerships and although the cars are online at their sites, no sign of them on the lots yet. I am in the market and would like to take one out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
battyr Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 Heck. Does the car even NEED rear brakes? :D Parking Brakes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordBuyer Posted June 26, 2010 Author Share Posted June 26, 2010 Heck. Does the car even NEED rear brakes? :D Not really...the front brakes do most of the stopping. On my 2002 Taurus, after about 4 years my Ford dealer said my rear brakes froze up with rust and I needed new brake cylinders plus hardware. I never knew it...they just picked up on it doing full oil change service. They recommended I use my parking brake at least once a week to work those rear brakes out and keep them working smoothly. So I get the feeling the only time you really use the rear brakes is when setting the parking brake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FordBuyer Posted June 26, 2010 Author Share Posted June 26, 2010 Yeah, I've been prowling the dealerships and although the cars are online at their sites, no sign of them on the lots yet. I am in the market and would like to take one out. They are tricking in to dealers in Metro Detroit and it will probably be end of July before you actually see them on lots in big numbers. Bill Brown has only one and Freep just said that Gene Buttman in Ypsilanti has two and a young woman customer just took possession of one of them. So there is at least one Fiesta driver on MI roads this weekend. And Ford can at least add up a few Fiesta sales for month of June. I predict Ford will record 400 Fiesta sales for June and 4,000 for July. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey61 Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 They are tricking in to dealers in Metro Detroit and it will probably be end of July before you actually see them on lots in big numbers. Bill Brown has only one and Freep just said that Gene Buttman in Ypsilanti has two and a young woman customer just took possession of one of them. So there is at least one Fiesta driver on MI roads this weekend. And Ford can at least add up a few Fiesta sales for month of June. I predict Ford will record 400 Fiesta sales for June and 4,000 for July. How about 40,000? Yes, 40,000 sounds good to me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bpgodfrey Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 Pat Milliken Ford on Telegraph in Redford received 2 Fiestas this last week but they have both been delivered. They are supposed to receive quite a few more in the next few weeks so I'd check with them if you want to see one in person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldwizard Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 Heck. Does the car even NEED rear brakes? :D Long ago, when the Festiva was imported (early 1980s ?), the rear drum brakes did not have self-adjusters. Consequently after 5-10,000 miles they were adding ZERO stopping power to the vehicle. With 100% of the stopping being done by the front brakes (which were not upgraded even though several hundred pounds worth of safety equipment were added) the front pads wore out very quickly (10-15,000 miles). I had a friend who loved theses cars and owned sevarl. He would adjust the rear brakes every oil change. Made the fronts pads last 20-30,000 miles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 I saw a white Fiesta sedan in a local driveway today - not sure which trim level it was though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Extreme4x4 Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 The rear drum brakes, on my 1994 F150 Lightning, were still the stock ones when I sold it................. at 116,000 miles. I had actually bought new shoes for it, and gave them to the new owner, but they were nowhere near needing to be replaced. I did alot of towing with that truck, too. My '03 Tribute had rear drums, and I loved the brakes on that. In applications where fade can be an issue, I can certainly see the need for rear discs. However a subcompact car is not one of those applications. Funny note, GM switched their trucks back to rear drums. They said it was because people didn't like the "feel" of their rear discs. Those in the know stated it was just because they were cheap. To me, a truck is something that can have an issue with fade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ausrutherford Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 The dealer near me got a silver one today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 The rear drum brakes, on my 1994 F150 Lightning, were still the stock ones when I sold it................. at 116,000 miles. I had actually bought new shoes for it, and gave them to the new owner, but they were nowhere near needing to be replaced. I did alot of towing with that truck, too. My '03 Tribute had rear drums, and I loved the brakes on that. In applications where fade can be an issue, I can certainly see the need for rear discs. However a subcompact car is not one of those applications. Funny note, GM switched their trucks back to rear drums. They said it was because people didn't like the "feel" of their rear discs. Those in the know stated it was just because they were cheap. To me, a truck is something that can have an issue with fade. My '99 F150 still had stock rear pads when I sold it at 136k. I had towed quite a bit with it as well, but I did have a lot of highway miles. My problem with Ford truck brakes are the fact that the front rotors are warped by 35k and you either spend the money to replace them or drive it with the shimmy when you stop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 GM switched their trucks back to rear drums. They said it was because people didn't like the "feel" of their rear discs. That was because their rear discs were (passenger car fashion) smaller than their front discs. Ford's rear discs are larger than the front discs. That's because you need those rear brakes when you're carrying payload--or towing a trailer without integrated braking. Half the right rear cylinder seized on my Sable, and I couldn't possibly tell you when it happened or what difference it makes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chester Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 (edited) Looks like most of the dealers are getting them near me with a dealer search. What's up with the 29 city 38mpg highway milage rating. I checked all the stickers and that's what they say with the auto tranny. I thought it was getting 40mpg. Edited June 30, 2010 by Chester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomServo92 Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 Looks like most of the dealers are getting them near me with a dealer search. What's up with the 29 city 38mpg highway milage rating. I checked all the stickers and that's what they say with the auto tranny. I thought it was getting 40mpg. It's rated at 40MPG with the SFE package. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chester Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 It's rated at 40MPG with the SFE package. What's the SFE package, and why don't any that I've seen have this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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