Diesels, they say, are the new sports cars. To anyone accustomed to the clattery old "Free State Ferrari" - the original Mercedes-Benz 300D - that sounds crazy, but there's something to it.
Today's turbodiesels produce great gobs of torque from just above idle and if they run out of steam at fairly low revs, isn't that what real drivers' cars are all about - stirring the 'box, keeping the engine in its working rev range, always being in the right gear?
I like diesels because their power delivery is so similar to that of a big V-twin motorcycle, because they reward precise driving with solid performance and because car and driver have to be a team before the whole plot comes together.
Take a hard-working 1.6-litre turbodiesel, drop it into a feisty three-door hatchback with pinpoint steering and seemingly limitless roadholding, and you have a recipe for a very naughty little car that's so much fun to drive it would've been illegal under the previous regime.
It's called the Ford Fiesta Trend 1.6 Diesel and it's a blast.
It's all about the numbers: one turbo, two camshafts, four cylinders, 16 valves and 1560cc - and 204Nm at 1500rpm. Common-rail fuel-injection and a small turbo give the all-aluminium engine lively response from 1500-4000rpm, where it reaches its power peak at 66kW.
That translates to surprisingly quick-off-the-mark acceleration if you supply the requisite gearstick finesse. Ford claims a 0-100km sprint in 13.5sec; during motoring.co.za's test session we averaged 13 seconds with a never-to-be-repeated best effort of 12.8sec on the fourth of six runs.
The Fiesta went up to 150km/h very quickly; it shot through the standing kilometre in just under 33sec at a true 156km/h. After that, however, it took a long time to wind up to its top speed of 184km/h (corrected for an impressively small 1.4 percent speedo error) with the engine spinning way past its power peak at 4700 revs, not far short of the 5200rpm rev limiter.
Starting at 3200 revs in fourth gear it accelerated from 100-140km/h in 11.3sec; in top gear, however, and starting with only 2500rpm on the clock, the same move took a sluggish 16.2sec.
And through all of this the little red Ford averaged 6.1 litres/100km.
Deliciously slick
Between the engine and the front wheels the power goes through a sweet clutch and a deliciously slick five-speed gearbox. The clutch takes a bit of getting used to because it takes a long way off the floor but its action is smooth and predictable, hot or cold.
The gearbox is a honey, with really short lever travel and just enough resistance so you can feel what it's doing without having to look at it, snicking through the gears with the kind of casual authority one usually associates with much more expensive machinery.
You may have to make a lot of gear changes in this car but it has the tools to make them very pleasant.
Braking is entrusted to a pair of 258mm ventilated discs on the front Macpherson struts, with drums on the torsion-beam rear. Their action lacks initial bite; maximum-G stops from 100km/h averaged about 3.2sec with the car running absolutely straight. The hazard lights come on by themselves during emergency stops, a clever way of warning the driver of the car behind you that all is not well.
Phenonomenal roadholding
The Fiesta's road-holding is phenomenal; there's no body roll worth speaking of and it runs on rails at any speed this side of insanity. Even a nasty set of bumps failed to upset the chassis' composure; it simply held its line and waited for the driver to rearrange his internal organs.
That's the downside; suspension travel is short, the low-profile tyres harsh and the damping authoritative. The ride is reassuringly firm on good roads but harsh on bumpy tar, with a lot of thumping from the Silentbloc top-out buffers.
Still, the essential entente cordiale between rubber and road is maintained and it never feels anywhere near losing its grip, even when you get a little understeer at really naughty speeds.
The power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering has a lot to do with that; it's perfectly weighted, with just enough resistance even at parking speed that you can feel what it's doing. It has a well-defined centre point and goes to sleep nicely on long straight roads - which I wasn't expecting from a car this sporty.
Understated interior
The cabin is trimmed in varying shades and textures of charcoal, its styling rather restrained apart from "bubble pattern" accents on the fabric upholstery.
The instruments are in a neat cluster ahead of the driver, the radio/CD player and air-conditioning controls on the short centre console, below the simple but effective swivelling air vents.
There's no dead pedal for your left foot - not enough space, really - but the side of the centre console makes a comfortable rest for your left leg. The front seats offer more lateral support than you'd expect from looking at them but they're a lot more comfortable than real sports bucket seats (unless you're built like a Japanese racing snake).
Rear head and legroom are a bit cramped for adults; the three-door Fiesta is more a 2+2 than a four-seater, aimed mostly at singles and dinks (double income, no kids) but it's more than adequate for young children - and there are safety advantages in not having rear doors if your kids are as adventurous as I was.
It's a very conventional layout and you won't have to search for anything - except maybe your seat belt. One drawback of a three-door layout is that the B-pillar - and with it the upper seat-belt mount - is set way back, making it difficult to get hold of the free end of the belt to fasten it.
Continuous background rumble
The other is the long front doors, which are difficult to seal. There was a little wind noise around the top of the test Fiesta's passenger door at highway speeds that, together with some tyre roar from the 50-profile rubber and fan sounds from the efficient but noisy air-conditioning, added up to a continuous background rumble on the open road.
The engine, however, was almost inaudible except when working hard and there were no creaks or rattles from the interior trim, which says a lot for build quality.
Passive safety equipment is a little basic, amounting to no more than crash bags for the front seats and impact beams in the doors. The Fiesta does, however, have an anti-theft system with immobiliser, perimeter alarm and high-strength locks all round.
The styling is typically Ford Europe, all smooth planes and crisp edges, except for the big polycarbonate headlight units, each with a silly little protrusion on top for the indicator.
'Ladybug'
Together with its bright scarlet paint, we gave the test Fiesta the nickname "Ladybug" - but it's a really a wasp, buzzing around stinging the owners of hot hatches who underestimate the capabilities of modern small diesels.
Price:
R146 950.