Road test: Ford Fiesta vs Holden Barina

By Feann Torr & Peter Maniatis

They're attractive, they're practical and though they may not have the levels of machismo that some new cars buyers yearn for, make no mistake - they deliver plenty of thrills.

When you consider that light cars or super minis make up a solid proportion of the new car market in Australia - about 14% at last count - it says a lot about their universal appeal.

Granted, the cost effectiveness of light cars, in terms of both fuel consumption and asking price, makes them easier to swallow for many drivers who want something that simply goes from A to B without blowing a gasket - and gone are the days of cheap and nasty compact cars, replaced by 3-year warranties, SRS airbags, hi-tech engines and pragmatic interiors.

These two light cars in particular, both designed in Europe, are aesthetically pleasing small vehicles that will appeal to drivers who are wanting something that's easy to live with in almost every respect, from servicing to driving to changing the radio station, and all this with a touch of cosmopolitan flair.

But underneath their svelte exteriors and nouveau sheet metal lies a couple of compact cars that really excite the senses when a few twisty roads are thrown into the mix, transforming a seemingly generic pair of light cars into a decidedly capable duo.

Drive

Ford's new Fiesta handles like a dream thanks to a tight chassis and sorted suspension

Neither the Barina nor the Fiesta output the kind of power figures that will make performance car enthusiasts swoon, 66 and 74 kilowatts respectively, but when coaxed they both offer pretty good poke.

Off the line, the compact cars do a surprisingly good job of getting up to speed - due largely to their light weight, and the resulting power-to-weight ratios.

The Spanish-built 1072kg Barina is the heavier of the two, but because the 1059kg Fiesta we tested was equipped with an automatic transmission, it helped even the odds somewhat.

The bigger-engined 1.6-litre Fiesta commands an 8kW buffer over the 1.4-litre Barina, and you can feel the extra power of the Ford when swapping between the two.

Even in its automatic guise, the Fiesta provided good levels of acceleration for its class, and while the Barina was no slouch, it felt less solid and not quite as willing.

Because the Fiesta engine develops peak power @ 6000rpm, it pulled harder for longer, while the Barina hit an invisible wall of sorts when passing its peak power threshold 5600rpm, and the power slowly dropped off the closer it got to the redline.

The Barina's clutch was light and the gear changes felt confident, and rowing quickly through 2nd, 3rd and then 4th created a real connection between car and driver.

The Fiesta Zetec model we tested was an auto, which commands a $2300 premium over the manual version, and though it was a more powerful car than the Barina, the lack of a clutch pedal took away some enjoyment. An auto box on the Barina costs $2,000.

We're sure that if you compared the Fiesta Zetec manual ($18,990) and the Barina CD ($17,990), a closer match both on price point and powertrain, the Fiesta would offer better involvement - but as stands, the automatic-equipped Ford doesn't quite have the same involvement as the manual Holden.

Out on the open road, the Ford takes the cake - but not before the Barina gives it a few scares. Both the GM and FoMoCo compact cars have monocoque bodies, and together with independent front suspension, they both track around corners with such alacrity, it was at first quite remarkable.

While the two hatchbacks are an absolute joy to drive around town, with awesome manoeuvrability and able to duck in and out of carparks with the agility of a Potoroo (and not a Hairy-nosed Wombat like the Crewman Cross8) and changing lanes with just a simple flick of the wrist, they're also seriously sharp apex carving tools.

Holden's Barina is also a real go-getter when pushed, offering good grip levels

When we took the Fiesta and Barina up into the hills for a solid cornering session, little did we know how well they would perform.

Both offer impeccable levels of grip and communicative steering, which lets you know exactly when you're about to reach the limit of tyre-on-road adhesion.

The Fiesta Zetec we tested sat on optional 16-inch alloys ($900) shod with 195/45 R16 rubber, while the Barina CD came equipped with 185/55 R15, and even though the Fiesta was lighter, faster and equipped with better rubber, the Barina's rear suspension did a more complete job of absorbing shocks, both generally and mid-corner.

Furthermore, riding over ruts or pot holes mid-corner with the right foot firmly planted, the Barina kept its composure marginally better than the Fiesta, but it was much of a muchness as both cars held their lines admirably.

Overall, the Fiesta takes the cake - but only just in its automatic guise - for outright fun when hammering through the switchbacks and screeching around hairpins, yet the Barina's MacPherson struts up front ensured it was always nipping at the heels of its arch nemesis.

While both cars have firm suspension, neither could be classed as stiff, as both do a good job of soaking up the bumps and lumps that abound on Australian roads.

Both cars changed direction without the heaviness of larger cars - the phrase "point and shoot" is an apt one here - and, again, because of their bantam weights they decelerate very rapidly indeed, though it should be mentioned that the Fiesta gets drum brakes at the rear, while the Barina has discs and calipers all round.

When it came down to it, neither car was favoured over the other, and whether it was the Ford or the Holden, both cars involved the driver, with reassuring brakes, impeccable handling and good driving positions.

Out on the open road, the Fiesta felt more composed, where the Barina felt like it was revving harder and sometimes straining just to keep up, let alone overtake. Put this down to the 200-odd cubic centimetres of extra engine capacity the Fiesta has over its rival.

Engine

Barina's 1.4-litre twinport engine

On paper the 1.6-litre and 1.4-litre engines found in the Fiesta and Barina do little to excite, but on the road they certainly feel like more than their meagre power outputs suggest. Part of this is due to the aforementioned power-to-weight ratio.

Consider the Barina's 66kW of power. Many motorcycles of half its 1.4-litre capacity make more power, but it still offers solid acceleration, so long as you stay on top of the gears and are willing to manhandle it somewhat.

The Holden mill revs fairly hard and somewhat angrily up until about 5500rpm, whereupon things go downhill fairly quickly.

Peak power tapers off, but early shifts keep things on the boil, and the 5-speed manual gearbox is quite a nice piece of kit, sliding through the gates without major protest.

The Fiesta motor is the pick of the two however, with a smoother, more linear build-up of power and a less frantic or high-pitched attitude. While the Barina's manic approach makes it feel quicker on the road, it's actually slightly slower, and the 4-speed auto of the Fiesta managed quick-ish changes to boot.

Despite the Ford being endowed with a 400rpm longer powerband, the slightly heavier Barina still manages to perform admirably with its 14% capacity deficit. The Ford was the winner in the powertrain department, thanks to a smoother power delivery, and where the Barina's engine would be getting intrusive and a little noisy at freeway speeds, the Fiesta went about its business with a little less intensity.

Vital statistics are as follows:

Though the Barina's twinport engine beats the Fiesta on fuel economy, 5.9-litres of fuel used per 100km compared to 7.5-litres, the automatic Barina also consumes 7.5-litre of fuel per 100km, so on an even playing field its a draw.

The Fiesta Zetec really turned heads

When all things are considered, the smaller Holden engine is still a peppy little performer, and even with a cast-iron block (compared to the Fiesta's all-alloy construction) the Barina offered solid acceleration via the nicely spaced ratios of the 5-speed gearbox.

Overall however, and the Ford engine takes the cake thanks its larger power reserves and smoother operation.

Exterior

For compact cars today, it's all about European design. Those who don't have it want it, and those that do, flaunt it. For example the Fiesta.

Out of the two, the Ford gets the gong for prettiest car, and it's visual connections with the Focus and exaggerated wheel arches provide for a familiar yet sporty product.

Though both cars are easy on the eye, with hallmark Euro styling cues such as the vertically-positioned brake lights, the deciding factor was determined by public opinion: the Zetec turned many more heads than the Barina.

The Zetec has 16-inch alloy wheels that really give the light car an almost rally-like feel, filling out the flared wheel arches perfectly.

The 15-inch alloys on the Barina aren't quite as eye-catching, but still look the part and give the Holden exponentially more presence than if it was equipped with plastic hub caps.

From the front, its a closer call, as both models have sporty foglights and dynamic front end styling, with chunky lower air dams giving them a more athletic demeanour. They're both nice to look at stationary and while in motion, and in the end it will come down to personal preference as which is better - even we couldn't agree.

Interior

Holden's Barina (top) and Ford's Fiesta (bottom) have similar interior layouts

A good portion of the light car's target audience are young adults in the under 40 age bracket, and the interiors have been styled to reflect this.

Though both are fairly conservative overall, not likely to upset grandma's old-world sense of style, they nonetheless manage to bring a sense of vitality to proceedings.

The Barina CD's interior is quite inviting, and offers some nice tactile features, such as chromed door handles (inside), intuitive switchgear and the steering-wheel controls make life a lot simpler while on the road.

Some of the Barina's components, much of which makes up centre console, are from the Opel parts bin, and anyone whose driven an Astra will recognise them.

The plastics around the handbrake didn't fit exactly flush in the test car we drove, but on the upside the seats were quite comfy and steering wheel's a beauty.

The Fiesta's tiller felt good as well, but rather than than emulate the Barina's handy 'on-wheel' controls, the Ford gets a small control fob that sits behind the wheel on the left-hand-side, and wasn't quite as intuitive to use. Better than nothing though.

The stereo's themselves are acoustically efficient - the space they fill being smaller than most - and though there's very little between them (Barina has 6 speakers, Fiesta has 4), the Ford light car included an auto-volume-increase tied in to the road speed of the car. While not perfect, it is still a nice touch.

Both car's instrument clusters are easy to read, with sporty accents here and there, but the Fiesta had the more ergonomic interior overall with better lateral seat bolsters and more contemporary air vents giving it a more striking and memorable look.

The Barina was a 5-door model, the Fiesta a 3-door, and though this made the Barina more practical in terms of passenger ingress and egress, both had similar sized rear seats that would be hard pressed to fit three 170cm tall adults - but two works out nicely.

Seeing as the Barina and Fiesta are hatchbacks, loading goods (and even bulky items) into their boots is child's play, and both offer near-identical levels of bootspace - 260 litres for the Barina and 261 litres for the Fiesta. The Fiesta Zetec had a neat auto-opening boot feature, which made it easy to lift up, even with heavy bags in both hands.

Overall: 4/5, 3.5/5

Fiesta Zetec
Barina CD

If there can be only one winner, it would go to the Fiesta, and had we tested the 1.6-litre manual Ford, the margin would have been greater.

On performance terms, the cars are very close, and boy-racers everywhere will be able to keep the Holden vs Ford rivalry alive well into the next decade if cars like these keep rolling off the manufacturing lines.

But where the Fiesta gains ground is with its slightly classier interior, more attractive exterior and its finely formed chassis. Both are great to drive in almost any situation, and will navigate dense urban environments better than any other class of car.

The buzz-box engine found in the Barina will no doubt delight any who use it, but the Fiesta's motor is simply a newer, more modern, more advanced engine, and you can feel the difference, even with the power-sapping inclusion of an automatic transmission.

At the end of the day, neither option is a bad one. Both bring lots of standard features to the table and after punting them around for a week, it's clear that they both represent brilliant value for money as well. Just weigh up your personal preferences - and of course brand allegiance - and delight in the fun that these pint-sized four wheelers offer.