By Bryan Redeker       

Hopefully by now, many of you have had the opportunity to look through my collection of pictures and analysis of the Fiesta interior. If you have not, please do so here http://www.flickr.com/photos/brgt350/sets/72157619610363000/ . Since I spend most of my time inside the Fiesta, rather than looking at the outside, I have been able to really study the interior. The more I drive it, the more I find that everything is well thought out. Usually I sit in traffic and stare at the cheap plastic of a rental car, or try to figure out what the designer was thinking when he/she put the radio controls behind the shift lever or some other thoughtless location of an item. There is also the complaint of when I first get into a car and can’t find a good place for my cell phone and my glasses. I don’t have any of those issues with the Fiesta. The original Focus was the same way, but the Fiesta really is a considerable step above the Focus. All of my items have a place, and all of the controls are placed very well in the cockpit. Here are a few examples of my favorite interior design elements;

• 1.) Steering Wheel: Probably my favorite part of the Fiesta, as it is designed exactly how I would want a steering wheel. 3 spokes, leather sides, reliefs for my thumbs, thin side spokes. Simply put, this car has the perfect wheel from the factory.
• 2.) Gauge Cluster: Bright red thin needles, large face for easy reading, elegant fonts, and a bright white hue to back light the lettering make looking at the gauges a joy. American Fords from 05-09 have had fat needles, huge fonts, little faces, and were hard to read. The Fiesta’s cluster suffers none of those issues. Cluster is on par with the 00-04 Focus and Contours. To top off the gauges, each pod of the cluster is painted bright silver metallic, and each juts out from the dash. The pods stick out just far enough to reduce glare, but too so far you can’t read the cluster. 2005-2009 Mustang’s suffered this issue, and was fixed in 2010. The painted silver pods are also a good contrast of materials when placed next to the soft dash.
• 3.) Interior Lighting: Finally, back to red lighting and not the boring blue/green of the 90’s. All of the buttons, displays, accent lighting are red. The only thing not red is the back light of the gauges, which is a cool white. Overhead lights shine down on the console, giving a red glow in the cockpit. Red lights above the glove box illuminate the passenger side floor, and lights under the HVAC controller help light the console in a red glow. Driving the Fiesta at night reminds me of being in a fighter plane!
• 4.) Center Stack: The radio and the rest of the high-use interior functions are placed towards the upper center of the dash. A quick glance down and to the right for the driver reveals all of the controls, and the large digital display. No more looking around low in the cockpit to find buttons or status. A short hand movement from the steering wheel finds the controls. This car has amazing interior layout! Of course, the entire center stack glows red at night.
• 5.) Rear Seat Belt Holders: One of my biggest pet peeves is the sound of a loose, clanking seat belt in the back of the car while I am driving. To combat this, I always buckle the rear belts to keep them secure. Well, the Fiesta actually has a spot for those pesky buckles. Another one of my favorite things about the interior is the small slots located near the c-pillar at the top of the rear seats. The slots hold the buckle in place and keep it from clanking around. Such a simple way to fix one of major complaints about having a car with back seats. Job well done!
• 6.) Center Console: There is a small slot next to the hand brake, just behind the gear lever. I have found this to be a great place to store my phone and my iPod while driving. It is the perfect size to keep the phone and iPod constrained while enjoying twisty roads. There is also a cavity below the HVAC controller that also works well for the iPod. Cup holders are out of the way of the shifter, and are deep enough to securely keep items from shifting around. A removable rubber insert would be nice to clean the cup holders after your coffee decides to spill. The rear cup holder has a decent size opening around it that can be used to place your fast food bags, camera’s, or anything else you don’t want on the seats and don’t want to slide around. The lack of an arm rest is great, since they always get in the way of shifting and look cheap. USB and 1/8″ input are also placed nicely next to the handbrake and allow for easy hook-up of electronic goodies.
• 7.) Turn Signal/Wiper Stalk: Just like the original Focus and Contour, the wiper and turn-signal stalks are placed directly at your 3 and 9-o-clock positions. Once again, the proper driving position awards the driver with controls that are at your finger tips. I have been in many cars that try to put every possible thing on one bulky stalk that looks more like a tree trunk sticking out from the steering column. You need to slide this, turn that, pull on this, push that, just to make things happen. The single stalk is a terrible design and should go away. The new Fiesta carries on Fords tradition in the European bred cars to use a stalk on both sides of the column. One side controls turn-signals, and the other is for the wipers. Simple up/down or push/pull does 90% of the functions. It is also nice because the functions match the Focus, so if I need to do a quick wipe of the windshield, it is one touch down. It is the opposite in our Escape, and that drives me nuts. The voice command button on the left stalk should really be placed behind the stalk, or moved to the back side of the steering wheel to make it easier to depress with a single finger. A small oversight and really only an issue if you use the voice commands.