[BobosCurse]

Hello, everyone. I've been lurking in a few Fiesta forums to see which is the most active and up-to-date, and it seems this one is it.

I've been looking forward to the Fiesta since last year when I first heard about it. I'm interested in the SES hatch with manual transmission.
I was actually pushed over the fence and considering the automatic based on many reviews, but reading the "Manual vs Auto" thread here pushed me back.

So I put out feelers to several Ford dealers a couple of months ago. This week two of them called me back. One will have some Fiestas on the lot June 1st, and the other June 6th.
Problem is, they both told me that they don't expect to get manual transmissions in as general stock...ever. They said these will be special order only.

I really want to test drive the manual before committing.

Do you guys think they would let me test drive someone else's special order when it comes in? Or is that a no-no?

Edit: Oh, I'm located in NW Illinois, about 50 miles south of Rockford. Chicago suburbs are about 1 1/2 - 2 hours away. Just in case someone here is in the area and spots some Fiestas.

 

[PowerShift]

Do you guys think they would let me test drive someone else's special order when it comes in? Or is that a no-no?

I have no idea if dealers allow that or not but I wouldn't want it with my car. As soon as I hear it's in I'm dropping what I'm doing and going over there.

Best thing to do would be find someone else in your area who's getting a manual (I'm getting automatic) and ask them for a test drive post-delivery. This would be the place to look for that.

 

[mrbirdman330]

Hello, everyone. I've been lurking in a few Fiesta forums to see which is the most active and up-to-date, and it seems this one is it.

I've been looking forward to the Fiesta since last year when I first heard about it. I'm interested in the SES hatch with manual transmission.
I was actually pushed over the fence and considering the automatic based on many reviews, but reading the "Manual vs Auto" thread here pushed me back.

So I put out feelers to several Ford dealers a couple of months ago. This week two of them called me back. One will have some Fiestas on the lot June 1st, and the other June 6th.
Problem is, they both told me that they don't expect to get manual transmissions in as general stock...ever. They said these will be special order only.

I really want to test drive the manual before committing.

Do you guys think they would let me test drive someone else's special order when it comes in? Or is that a no-no?

Edit: Oh, I'm located in NW Illinois, about 50 miles south of Rockford. Chicago suburbs are about 1 1/2 - 2 hours away. Just in case someone here is in the area and spots some Fiestas.

Gahhh how typical, once again we see that the standard transmission has now turned into the special order. I'll be hitting up my dealer tomorrow to see if they have their units in and what transmissions they have.

 

[LMTech]

I am sure that some dealers will order a manual so they can have it on the lot for ads with low start price and get people in the door it just may not be one of the first ones that they ordered.

 

[Chan]

They'll have a completely base model Fiesta S for sale within a month or two to get foot traffic.

 

[celestevah]

My coworkers roommate just bought a new volvo but they didn't have any manuals for her to drive. So she test drove the automatic and then test drove a manual in another volvo that would handle somewhat the same. You could probably do that ... would a focus be the most similar?

 

[BRGT350]

You won't be disappointing with the manual. I lived with the EU version for 53 weeks and loved the manual gearbox. The US ratio's are a little different, geared more towards MPG rather than performance, but it still better than an automatic.

 

[Matthew Wolfe]

My coworkers roommate just bought a new volvo but they didn't have any manuals for her to drive. So she test drove the automatic and then test drove a manual in another volvo that would handle somewhat the same. You could probably do that ... would a focus be the most similar?

Yes, that would be the best thing to do.

 

[Corvair]

Hi,
I'm near Minneapolis, and hopefully have mine by 6/21. In Cedar Rapids Iowa on 6/21. I don't think this will help, but you can drive mine. Too far and too late? I'm lucky, my dealer said if I don't like it I don't have to buy it. $0 down!!! Built our first house with $100 down, rest at closing, our second house $0 down. I love these little cities!

Dan
'11 Fiesta 5 speed on 6/21 (I hope)
'65 Corvair convertible

 

[mrbirdman330]

Did you buy your Fiesta from either Zimmerman, Junge, or Lynch out of Mt. Vernon?

 

[3Mach1]

What rpm will the 5 speed run at 70 and 75?

 

[Chan]

What rpm will the 5 speed run at 70 and 75?

About 2600rpm from the reviews I've seen/read.

 

[timo]

When I bought my focus there wasn't one within 500 miles of my dealer that had a manual trans. I told the sales person he wouldn't find one and he should just start the order paper work but insisted on looking....

 

[BRGT350]

I did not test drive a Focus ZX3 before I bought it, but I had driven a number of different Contours with the same gearbox. I knew I was going to be happy with the MTX-75. The ratio's may even have been the same between the Contours with I4's and the ZX3, but the SVTC had a different final drive gear ratio.

Concerning the Fiesta, I am not sure how close the current Focus manual gearbox is to the Fiesta. I don't even know what the Focus uses anymore since I gave up on that product line in 2005. What I can say from driving the EU car, looking at the ratio's for the US car, and feeling the throws in the show cars is that the manual is a very good transmission for the Fiesta. The US ratio's do leave a large gap between 2nd and 3rd compared to the EU version, but that is for higher city MPG. 5th is also lower, which is good since the EU car was screaming down the highway. The 2-3 ratio gap is not enough to warrent going with an automatic. The throws seem tighter and shorter for the US gearbox, and there better feel going from gear to gear. Unless you do a ton of driving in heavy traffic, I don't see why you would want the auto over the manual.