Mother Proof's view

The 2011 Ford Fiesta is a feisty subcompact that’s fuel efficient and fun to drive. While it’s not aimed at families, it could work for smaller families who have traded the bulky child-safety seats for booster seats.

The Fiesta is available as a sedan and a four-door hatchback, which is what I had during my test drive. Its modern-looking exterior turned heads and got people talking, and the interior didn’t feel small until the kids got in with their backpacks.

When I was out on my own in the Fiesta, I had a blast driving it. It has all of the quick-response handling you’d expect from a sporty hatch and powerful braking to boot. My only complaint is my test car’s available six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission shifted much later than I would have with a manual, so it didn’t feel as speedy or smooth as I was expecting. A five-speed manual is standard.

The Fiesta starts at $13,320 for the base sedan and $15,120 for the base hatch. My test car, an SES, was well-equipped but not fully loaded; it cost $19,660. While it may take a little coaxing to get all of your family’s gear into the Fiesta, the effort would be well worth it. It was for this mom who yearns to hold onto to a tiny ounce of edgy youthfulness.

EXTERIOR
Because it’s a smaller car you might expect the Fiesta to be cute and adorable. It’s not. My Tuxedo Black hatchback was a serious road warrior despite its small stature. The sporty hatchback looks fierce and oddly menacing in a good way.

The Fiesta’s size was a plus for my family. Its small doors were easy for my kids to open and close on their own, and I never had to worry about them slamming a door into an adjacent car in the parking lot.

Parking is easy in the Fiesta. Even those people who hate to parallel park could do so in it (I’m one of those people and I easily parallel parked my test Fiesta).

With a 119-horsepower, 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine, the Fiesta gets an EPA-estimated 29/39 mpg city/highway. During my test drive, the Fiesta beat its city fuel-economy rating. I averaged 29.6 mpg in the city. The Fiesta takes regular gas, so there’s no premium price shock at the pump.

The cargo area seemed small when I first opened the hatch, but it amazed me with its ability to stow my bags from both Target and the grocery store.

SENSE AND STYLE
Family Friendly (Not Really, Fair, Great, Excellent): Fair
Fun-Factor (None, Some, Good Times, Groove-On): Good Times

INTERIOR
On the inside, the Fiesta makes good use of its space and has a funky look with ambient lighting throughout the cabin. I especially liked the strip of ambient lighting above the glove box, and my kids liked changing the lighting’s color.

My test car’s futuristic-looking stereo system was a little too complex for me to fully grasp in a one week trial, but I’m certain I would have gotten it after another week (let’s hope).

There were a lot of buttons, which is what threw me. So many options! Including the steering-wheel-mounted audio controls, there were at least three ways to change the station, and I never got completely comfortable with one way or another. My test car also had standard Sync voice-activated technology, which helped me keep my eyes on the road.

With a height-adjustable driver’s seat and a standard tilt/telescoping steering wheel, I was able to find a comfortable driving position. My kids had plenty of legroom in the second row, but I had both front seats positioned all the way forward.

With only three cupholders — two if you use one to hold a cell phone like I did — the Fiesta will force you to be diligent about tossing any old beverages to make way for the new one. The kids will have to learn to cope with just one cupholder for the backseat.

Technically, the Fiesta can hold five passengers, but I’d stick with four. The second row’s center seat is tiny. The only person that would fit in the seat would be a small child, but that’s not possible since they’d have to be in a child-safety seat, which would never fit in that space.

IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS THAT COUNT
Storage Compartments (Puny, Fair, Ample, Galore): Fair
Cargo/Trunk Space (Puny, Fair, Ample, Galore): Fair

SAFETY
During the first two days of my family’s test drive, my youngest son, who is nearly 5, insisted he couldn’t buckle up by himself in the Fiesta. However, he later forgot that he “couldn’t” do it and suddenly could buckle up on his own while in his booster seat. Despite my son’s earlier insistence to the contrary, kids can manage the seat belts just fine in the Fiesta.

I had a difficult time accessing the lower Latch anchors because the seatbacks’ cushions were so dense that I needed some real finger strength to pry the opening apart. There’s enough room in the backseat for a rear-facing infant-safety seat, but a rear-facing convertible seat took up a lot more space. To accommodate it, the front passenger seat had to be moved so far forward that someone riding in that seat might be uncomfortable. A forward-facing convertible fit without any problems. My sons’ boosters fit well on the flat seat bottoms.

The Fiesta has seven airbags, including a driver’s knee airbag and side curtains for both rows. It also has standard antilock brakes, stability control and traction control. Get more safety information on the 2011 Fiesta here.