All Renault Scénic reviews

"Beneath the somewhat ordinary styling is a car with a great chassis and enough pulling power to entertain"

It's unlikely you'll have missed the column inches devoted to the Fiesta ST sports hatch but there's a lesser known sporting Fiesta that could well be the pick of the range. What's more, it's powered by a diesel engine. Although a Fiesta diesel doesn't promise a thrilling steer, the Zetec-S 1.6 TDCi makes a great all rounder and has a chassis that can show many more illustrious GT...

"Where the Fiesta really scores is in the handling stakes"

Insurance companies have a great deal to answer for. Back in the day, the apple of any spotty youth's eye was a Fiesta XR2, 84bhp worth of the hottest wildest Fiesta money could buy. As insurance costs rose ever higher and cars became a good deal more powerful, teenagers were priced out of the market. Or have they been? The Zetec-S represents the first rung on the Fiesta performance ladder these days and is a good deal more powe...

"On a run you'll return an economy figure in excess of 76mpg. Scarcely believable, but there it is?"

If there's one word that neatly encapsulates the public's response to the latest Fiesta, it would have to be 'expectation'. Whereas Ford's popular supermini was once underwhelming, cramped and obviously built down to a price, those attributes don't cut the supermini mustard today. That's particularly true in the growing diesel sector, so this version of the latest Fiesta had to be good. ...

"Britain loved the old Fiesta and this one is a breed apart."

Like many other trades, car designers have some rather arcane jargon at their disposal. Floplines, overhangs, tumblehome, and aspect ratios ' it's pretty impenetrable to the layman. So, when a designer friend of mine looked at the latest three-door Fiesta and mentioned the "astonishingly sexy DLOs" I just nodded sagely. I later discovered he was right.

After donning a black Polo neck and consulting the Impenetrable and ...

"The Durashift gearbox adds another string to the Fiesta's formidable bow"

If you're the average British driver, driving an average mileage on decidedly average UK roads, Ford estimate you'll change gear approximately 200,000 times a year. Think about it. By rights, your left leg should be the size of a tree trunk. Which is why Ford's latest Fiesta can be specified with the Durashift EST gearbox: a system that takes the effort out of changing gear without depriving the driver of that vi...

"The steering's great, the grip impressive and the body roll well controlled?."

If Ford's latest Fiesta is to continue challenging for top spot in the supermini sales charts, then the 1.4-litre petrol-powered variants featured here must sell strongly. Very strongly.

This facelifted Fiesta will have an easier ride here than it will in Europe, where Ford's baby has always struggled to make any real impression on the buoyant Supermini sector. But even on UK shores, the going looks li...

"The Fiesta is an entertaining handler, if a little less infectious than the larger Focus"

Car manufacturers aren't exactly renowned for putting their hands in the air and admitting they got it wrong. Ford virtually admitted as much since the return of the 75bhp 1.25-litre to the Fiesta range. When the latest generation Fiesta first went on sale here, buyers were treated to an unspectacular 70bhp 1.3-litre engine in entry-level petrol models and quickly voted with their feet. Great car,...