The Ford Fiesta Mk3 Is Britain's Favourite Car, Made BETTER? (1992 1.3 Ghia Road Test)

The Mk3 Ford Fiesta took everything we loved about Britain's best-selling car, and modernised, refined and improved it to make the package even better! What's it like as an affordable classic car 30 years on? Phil went for a drive around Mallory Park!
Thanks to Rebecca Palmer for loan of her lovely Fiesta Ghia.
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Chapters
0:00 The Mk3 Ford Fiesta
0:38 An All-New Fiesta
1:25 Engines and Hot Models
2:41 Zetec Engine
3:53 Driving Impressions
5:00 Nothing Special?
6:10 Still A Good Car
7:14 Ride & Handling
8:00 Failed To Prepare - Ford Were Complacent

[@davidvanhansen]

My first new car and I saved up for it for a long time. In 1989 it was a 1.1 with a 55 hp Kent engine and then in 1991 I "swapped" it for a black RS turbo (buyed in Belgium). As a soldier you earned relatively good money and you could save a lot too. Those were wonderful times and the country roads and motorways in Germany were simply wonderful.

[@ClassicsWorldUK]

What a memory!

[@maximumattackrallying]

HCS meant "high compression swirl" as I recall. A good looking car in XR/RS form and, with some suspension bits from a later car, could be a good fun warm/hot hatch.

[@andypreston1524]

My parents bought a 1991 Radiant Red 1.1 Ghia, nearly new....it had covered around 1500 miles mostly as a hire car on Guernsey. We had it delivered from a local low mileage car specialist near Eastbourne still wearing it's Guernsey registration plates, 22500.....it was subsequently re-registered with an Eastbourne mark, H652 JJK....They ran it until mid 2001 before PX-ing it in immaculate condition at Birchwood Ford in Eastbourne for a nearly new Mk5 1.25 Zetec, which my mother still owns today. Never saw the 1.1 Ghia again sadly. Great little cars 👍👍👍

[@charliecoco2115]

HCS was High Compression Swirl as far as I know.

[@andypreston1524]

It did indeed stand for that. Still very much based on the old Kent engine. Simple sturdy little engines 👍

[@Glenn1503..]

I had one about 15 years ago and wow what a car. I trusted it a 100% it was bloody reliable. OK it was a bit flat but I can't praise it enough.

[@usuallyfixingtinkering]

Great review of a "Good" Supermini, never excellent in any area but did the job well enough to be marketed heavily enough to be Britain's Best Selling Car for years. In the development of the MK3 Ford took some Peugeot 205's, dissected them and worked out what the special ingrediant that the MK2 was lacking against it's competitor. Look at the shape of the rear end, it's a copy of a 205! This particular car with the CTX gearbox is particularly rare, not many people bought them with this option gearbox and very few survive. I own a 1989 1.4 Ghia CTX (subject to a recommission on my channel) and I'm just enjoying the relaxing nature of the CVT through a flip floppy but pretty comfortable driving experience. The suspension is the most simple set-up you will ever see, so no wonder why! The MK3 Fiesta I consider to the Genesis, which spawned the brilliantly engineered MK4 in the same bodyshell and 'Edge' styling MK5, 13 years of production for one platform which a host of changes. It's the Fiesta that a generation of people think about today when they say the name!

[@m4xww]

I've had three, love them, the current one has only done 8000 miles to!

[@ClassicsWorldUK]

We'd love to see that!

[@aston-martin-internationalist]

My Dad had 2 of them brand new, both auto (CVT). A G reg blue 1.1 L G949MYD and a red 1.3 LA (a very rare model), K934HYD, Radiant Red and a very mild facelift (nice velour interior, clear indicators, smarter badging and a few other detail changes); as a 13 year old lad, I loved it! Both now sadly reverted back to the ferrous ore felm wence they came. They were a bit shit, but I'm very fond of them.

[@ClassicsWorldUK]

If you were fond of them, then that's all that matters!

[@martijnkosters9024]

My giddy aunt, my first car is becoming a classic. Review does it justice, even through my rose tinted glasses I know I would find it quite underwhelming if I would drive one now.

[@mumwifeteacher]

Caught napping / not thinking ahead / doing the bare minimum and fords three pillars of quality.

[@neilmustow368]

I learned to drive in a MK 3 Fiesta LX 5 door in red in 1991 aged 17

[@simonhodgetts6530]

Finally passed my test (3rd attempt) in a Fiesta Flight. A nice car - not to my taste, but nevertheless it felt positively grown up in comparison to the K10 Micra and Supercinq I learned to drive in.

[@giulianomarco]

I had four Fiestas, two of them mk3s. I got my 1.6S 2-door on the day they came out (late April/Early May 1989). I got my 1.1L 4-door six years later. The S was no XR2, but it was no slouch, either. I paid £400 for ABS and £200 for a factory sunroof. The S needed firm arms with no power steering, small wheel and fat tyres. The L was actually better to drive (less engine weight). I'm over 6'3" and had plenty of room. Ergonomically they were great, everything to hand. Pedals were perfectly weighted. But they did tend to fade and rust - Rosso Red especially.

[@mattylamb9194]

I believe Fords of that time probably were at/near top of class for driving position and dashboard layouts. They did do that very well

[@alexandrecouture2462]

It still seems to be better than the Ford Festiva we had here in Canada!

[@semiretired86]

and the 5 door Fiesta 1,3 non Ghia was priced between a nicer spec 3 door Corolla and a base 4 door base Corolla and it was launched the same year as the 3rd gen Mazda 323 (BG)

[@jimmyssanctuary2194]

0:39 Ford really fooled me into believe that the Mk. 3 Fiesta was a "cleansheet" design when they were introduced, but I later found out these were really a [very] heavy re-skin job of the previous Mk. 1 & 2 (albeit a well-executed one; just like the Granada). You can clearly spot the lineage and the same underlying structures when you view them from the side; more apparent on 3-door models.

[@usuallyfixingtinkering]

That's the first time I've heard of that, looking at the underpinnings of my own MK3 I can't find any similarities with a MK2, the floor pans are different as well.

[@Paulo-ov4yo]

Mk1 and 2 were the best for me

[@SA-zoom1]

Cooking models means the bottom of the range! The fiesta also got better and better with age and by the end of its run it had class leading handling and peppy zetec engines. It was also consistently the best selling car in the uk.

[@AnthonyNewman-lp5qq]

No. Cooking model means GTi etc

[@thomash2806]

HCS=High Compression Swirl CVH=Compound Valve(-angle) Hemispherical

[@alifloydtv]

Constant Vibration and Harshness ;)

[@LesterLovesWatches]

Mk1s are always best in any model, because there’s nothing earlier to improve on, apart from another older model (viz Beetle > Golf).

[@cliveprocter3698]

Think you hit the nail on the head, complacency. Late 80s/early 90s Ford at their penny pinching worst. Just make it as good as the 205 when the 205 was already a generation old. And then spend the next 12 years face lifting it every other year.

[@robertlloyd7493]

😊 over 30 years old.....gosh

[@Philljag]

Mk2 fiesta will always be the best.

[@MrAndreCoutinho]

Nope

[@Philljag]

@@MrAndreCoutinho mk3s rusted worse than the mk2 the handling was better and mk2 look better.

[@mattylamb9194]

@@Philljag - I think Mk 1s look the best. Mk3 has better looks than Mk2 in my book

[@davidvestey6014]

Rover metro for me please, much more fun

[@oliverlock7160]

High compression swirl

[@austinmatthews347]

High compression swirl engine

[@nigelbond4056]

Isn’t it a 1.3? 🤣

[@ClassicsWorldUK]

*Ahem* now amended...