Ford Fiesta facelift begins testing on public roads

Ford Fiesta facelift begins testing on public roads

The latest Ford Fiesta was first introduced as the Verve concept in the second half of 2007, and went into production as the Fiesta in late 2008. Well, it’s 2012 now, which means it’s just about time for a mid-life facelift for the Fiesta, and we believe this set of photos that our European spy photo provider SB-MEDIEN managed to capture should be the facelifted Fiesta.

There’s not much changes on the rear of this particular test mule – everything looks identical to the current Fiesta on sale. But there seems to be big changes at the front as Ford has piled on the disguise pretty heavy. We can also spot daytime running lights installed in the headlamps, which also look slimmer. The engine hood is also different – it now has four creases on it for a more pronounced ‘nose’, instead of the current Fiesta’s engine hood which is flat.

Ford Fiesta facelift begins testing on public roads

All of these design cues are reflected on the Ford Fiesta ST Concept which made its debut at Frankfurt last year. The Fiesta ST Concept also had reshaped slimmer headlamps, and an engine hood similiar to that installed on this test mule.

It looks like those new design cues won’t be unique to the ST, as this test mule is definitely not an ST, as if you look into the detailed photos in the gallery below you’ll see that this test mule uses rear drum brakes, which points to a non-high performance Ford Fiesta.

Ford Fiesta facelift begins testing on public roads

Another interesting fact about this set of spyshots is a snap of the logbook inside the car, which reveals the engine under the hood – it says 1.0 GDI 80hp. This might be a three cylinder normally aspirated 1.0 liter petrol engine with direct injection technology.

A few other engines are planned for the Fiesta, like an EcoBoost version of the 3-pot 1.0 liter that makes either 100 PS or 125 PS in two different tunes. The 125 PS version will probably replace the current 1.6 liter Ti-VCT engine, while the 100 PS version would be a nice replacement for the 1.4 liter.

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Paul Tan

After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history.

 

Comments

  • adammo on Jan 30, 2012 at 9:12 am

    why cant they redesign the rear window – hard to see!

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  • Jack Leong on Jan 30, 2012 at 9:45 am

    sigh. every car that comes into malaysia, facelift ajer ;(

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  • Mini Aston.

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  • it's all right on Jan 30, 2012 at 10:15 am

    waiting for mazda2 facelift !!

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  • Kin E on Jan 30, 2012 at 10:38 am

    the cover makes it look like hannibal lecter’s city hatch

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  • Seriously on Jan 30, 2012 at 11:01 am

    not liking the sliver piece on the back.

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  • jolly_idiot on Jan 30, 2012 at 11:16 am

    Facelift also need to test run? A new engine perhaps?

    I don’t think this will happen to Jappy as they well known in just bumper & light change for a facelift.

    Ford! Impress us with new facelift and new features!

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    • Joe Radzif on Jan 30, 2012 at 12:52 pm

      nak test angin masuk tak ke dalam enjin
      untuk membantu penyejukan enjin / gearbox dll

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  • azman on Jan 30, 2012 at 3:32 pm

    looks like instead of 0.28 drag co-efficient, its now 1.28x

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  • rally_fan on Jan 30, 2012 at 5:46 pm

    thats the problem with us layman. to us, we just see a facelift, new lights, bumper, etc. but to a manufacturer.. there are so many other things that go into a facelift and not just the looks.. even with the looks, there are many other things to test as well. even the durability of new bumpers, or lights, or like someone else mentioned, airflow..etc.

    anyways.. im just waiting for people to complain about why there are camouflage pics published…

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  • The Enthusiast on Jan 30, 2012 at 7:06 pm

    I have a feeling this facelifted Fiesta will take much of the design cues from the new Focus, which is unfortunate because the new Focus is not as good looking as the previous gen Focus. But really, it’s prime time to put in the Ecoboost engines.

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  • Fiesta is just junk car Honda Jazz hybrid the real king of hatchback worth of every penny that you pay.

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  • RedBeanBun on Jan 30, 2012 at 10:18 pm

    the covers up looks good also :P

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  • Cowabunga! on Jan 31, 2012 at 1:06 am

    put in some rear space for pete’s sake…. don’t design a car with rear seats meant for kids ONLY….

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  • Jack Leong on Jan 31, 2012 at 9:07 am

    and please fix the comments part. why can’t we post and see our comments real time in paultan.org? :(

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