By Bryan Redeker

            Before I write about the amazing time Brandon and I had with mission #2, let me tell you about driving the Fiesta out to Detroit. Brandon and I left Grand Haven mid-morning for Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn, and it did not take long to see again how well the Fiesta shines on the road. To avoid some traffic issues, we took a set of twisty country roads on our way to meet up with the expressway. The ground was still wet after the heavy rain earlier in the day. For many cars, this would cause an issue. Not so with the Fiesta, in fact, the car seems to really do well in adverse conditions. Every corner that I tossed the Fiesta into, it just responded with “is that all you got?” attitude and was begging for more. We took the car thru a banked “S” turn, cut the apex on both corners, and powered out to the straight part of the road. Instead of understeer, I was blessed with a perfect neutral car. No opposition for the tires, no fighting with the steering wheel, just nice balance. At one point I set up for what is a normal 2^nd gear corner, but since nobody is around, I will make it a 3^rd gear corner. Downshift from 5^th to 4^th while hard on the brakes, another flawless heel-toe downshift to 3rd and drift towards the center of the road. Turn-in towards the apex, and then quickly jump back on the gas to drift to the outside of the lane. Up-shift to 4^th, followed by a smile and a giggle. God I love this car.

            Once on the highway, the rain started again and the automatic wipers did a great job dealing with the changing conditions. The car is very comfortable to drive on the highway, no wind-noise, no vibrations, and excellent seats. Brandon and I stopped for some Shell V-power and a driver change. It’s nice not to have stinky gas hands or having a dangling fuel cap rub on the paint, cap-less refueling is really nice! Brandon took over and drove while I updated Twitter and Facebook about our mission status. The rest of his drive was fairly uneventful, and you can see it in his face that he really likes driving the Fiesta. Just outside Detroit, we stopped for some Taco Bell and for another driver change. It was my turn to get back into the Fiesta!

            Lucky for me, the on ramp back on the highway was long and twisty. I entered the ramp like I was taking the final turn going onto a straight away. Second gear, tight 90′, drift to the outside of the ramp and set up for the turns at the end of the straight. Wide open in 3^rd, coming up a kink to the left, just lift off the throttle and turn the wheel. Back on the gas, shift into 4^th for a small straight before another kink to the right. Lift off the gas, settle the car, turn-in, and drift back out while getting hard on the skinny pedal. Shift into 5^th and put on the blinker to merge. My heart races and my face hurts from smiling! The Fiesta is a car for people who want to drive, who love to drive, who live to drive. If you read this and your heart doesn’t speed up, then you should buy a Prius or a Camry and continue on with your vanilla life.

            As I get closer to Detroit, the traffic gets heavier and things start moving faster. The Fiesta has no problems keeping up with the traffic, and the great visibility make lane changes easy. One touch of the turn-signal stalk sends 3 blinks to warn people the Fiesta is moving. I love this feature! Convex side mirrors provide great views of the other cars, and are another unique feature of this car. The outstanding handling of the Fiesta make it easier to switch lanes when you find out you need to get off the highway on the right and you are 3 lanes over to the left. Steering response is outstanding, and so is the steering feel. Just point the wheel where you want to go, and the Fiesta reacts instantly. The valving of the power steering is also excellent at speed, it is not overly assisted like every other American branded car I have driven. Throttle response is also great, and there is no delay with the fly-by-wire system. In heavy traffic, the Fiesta is a joy to drive. As any trip to Detroit, once and awhile, everything grinds to a stop for no reason. Again, the Fiesta reacts with no complaints. Quick stab of the brakes hauls the Fiesta down to a stop with no zero brake fade. The suspension also stays flat under braking and avoids the dreaded nose dive causing the front tires to be overloaded and the rears to lift. The front spring rates and strut valving are some of the best I have ever seen in a production car. I would say it is closer to driving a M3 or Mini Cooper S than an economy car.

            Eventually we found the Ford Research Innovation Center with directions from my Tom-Tom and Kristen from JWT. It was very hard to concentrate on where I was going when everywhere I look I see European Focuses, Mondeo’s, Australian Falcons, and Fiesta’s. Everything that I hope comes to the US, all in one place. I wish I could show you pictures of many of things I saw, so that you could see the elegance and presence these European Fords have in the flesh. Bold Moves is dead, One Ford is alive and here to stay! Long Live One Ford!