Video: 2011 Ford Fiesta

We've covered the car's cabin and exterior styling at previous auto shows, the Chicago show and the LA show in other videos, so be sure to check those out. Here we've finally had a chance to get behind the wheel. And I gotta say, the subcompact class still often imparts a sort of tinny driving experience, and the Fiesta drives like a more expensive, more substantial car. I'll show you why. The Fiesta comes in sedan or hatchback configurations, with an automatic or manual transmission. We've got an automatic hatchback here and it uses a six speed, dual-clutch transmission. That's pretty advanced stuff for an entry-level car, and it helps the Fiesta get an EPA-estimated 38 or 40 miles per gallon highway, depending on if you get the SFE efficiency package. Again, pretty impressive. Now, some may find the automatic lurches around a little bit at low speeds, and that's typical for a dual-clutch gearbox. Other times, it lags a little bit in passing, kicking down a gear or two when you need to get around slower moving traffic. But most of the time it feels like a conventional automatic, and that's a good thing. And it also allows the engine to rev out high when it needs to. Also important, because the Fiesta's four-cylinder is a small engine. It doesn't have a lot of low-end power. That said, once you get up to higher speeds, the Fiesta tracks really well, and that means you don't have to be making constant, minor steering corrections to stay on course, like you do in a lot of other small cars. Ford said it engineered the Fiesta's steering to sort of self-compensate for crosswinds. And that shows, too. On interstate highways, this car really stays in its lane like a lot of bigger, heavier cars would. Like the competing Honda Fit, the Fiesta packs nimble engaging, handling. The steering is pretty sharp and the car doesn't push erratically in corners, which makes it pretty easy to kind of go quickly around off-ramps and down curvy roads. The brakes have a nice linear pedal feel too, and that makes it easy to fine-tune your stops. And the car is really quiet when you're going about all this. There's a bit of road noise, but wind noise is low, even when you get up to 60 or 70 miles per hour. Ride quality isn't too bad either. On most roads, you'll feel all the little stuff as you do in any small car with a short wheel base, but the bumps aren't as apparent as they are in the Fit and the suspension feels well controlled as you go over them. So what don't we like about the Fiesta? Well, it's small, even for this class. The backseat is small. The cargo area is small. Large rear head restraints really limit your visibility right out the six o'clock. You can see a lot more about that in our auto show videos. And I think that the size issue will be a deal breaker for a lot of car shoppers. But for all of its strengths, I also think that if you could fit inside, this little Fiesta has a lot of big things going for it. <v Narrator>For more car-related news, go to cars.com or our blog KickingTires.net.