2012 US Fiesta Customisation Packages

[GoesLikeAZetec]

http://www.caradvice.com.au/111857/2...for-us-market/

Ford US has added three additional customisation packages to its 2012 Ford Fiesta range in an attempt to attract more buyers who are looking to make their car one of a kind.

Personalisation is an enormous selling point for Ford in the US, with 40 percent of Fiesta customers purchasing at least one item from the Ford Custom Accessories catalogue.

The new Premium Sport Appearance package is inspired by the hyper Focus RS, and features Tuxedo Black side mirrors, headlamps, grille surround, licence plate header and rear hatch spoiler, as well as 16-inch polished alloy wheels.

When ordered with the five-speed manual transmission, the final drive ratio is shortened from 4.07 to 4.25 for enhanced acceleration.

It’s inside where the new customisation packages really make the car stand out, however, with Ford’s stylists admitting they were inspired by famous women’s fashion designer Stella McCartney

Oxford White and Race Red provide contrast on the centre console, door panels and air vent surrounds, as well as the leather-wrapped steering wheel and insert, two-tone leather seats and contrast stitching.

Ford Custom Accessories in the US also extends to interior lighting packages, body kits and spoilers, side-body ‘tattoos’ and other graphics, stripes and bonnet colour options.

The automotive aftermarket is a $6 billion ($5.92 billion) a year industry in the US, and the more options manufacturers like Ford offer, the more money they stand to make.

While Ford Australia offers a number of customisation options on its Fiesta, it’s hardly in the same league as the US. Would you like to see similar personalisation packages available on Fiesta in Australia?



Its a terrible color the interior, but at least it will be easy to get some cool stuff from the US soon. It seriously boggles my mind that Ford Oz dont even try to sell anything like the addons. No wonder they're broke.

[Caydus]

The one thing i didn't like about the WT that i loved about the WS is the soft touch dash. the hard plastic feels really cheap and the top of the instrument panel feels flimsy to the touch. Now if i could replace the whole thing with padded pseudo-leather... mmmm, and get a full leather wrapped steering wheel instead of just the sides...

Would definately go for it if ford put out an upgrade for CL/LX stereos to be upgraded to Zetec spec with the USB. On that note, perhaps colour screen upgrade for the stereo screen with built in GPS and external GPS antenna.

Perhaps Instrument panel change from the analog needles to a digital readout.

Wonder if it's possible to add flappy paddle input to the DSG too...


Ah... a man can dream...

[In Focus]

I hear a lot about the dash, and not just in these cars, but... do you go around feeling your dash while you're driving the thing?

[Fiestaman]

Yeah - would love to get some more "bling" for my WT Fiesta.

Chrome lower grille surround would be good but nobody seems to stock this in Oz and the postage from overseas is too high.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by In Focus

I hear a lot about the dash, and not just in these cars, but... do you go around feeling your dash while you're driving the thing?

It looks like ***, doesn't feel like *** though, more like hard plastic, it looks stupidly cheap.

[greenfoam]

Is the rest of the dash the same? so you can just clip the rubber part on?

[Caydus]

i doubt that's the case. it looks flush with the rest of the dash

[LeadFoot81]

And we can't even option side skirts on the 5 door model in Oz!!

[somers181]

Ford Australia has very limited and very expensive list of body accessories available if you ask them to print off direct from their parts centre as they list quite a few options.
I wanted a rear spoiler for a WT sedan to assist guaging where the boot finishes, they wanted $275 for unpainted lip that doesnt reach the sides of the boot lid. UK and US have quite a bit of kit available but US post is ridiculous, I was quoted $125 for unpainted spoiler then $400+ for postage, stil waiting for the other company to provide price.
If you have a look at China they have quite a few parts available, spoilers, side skirts and interior stick ons. My rear spoiler was $35 unpainted and $50 postage, it was well wrapped, only issue it didnt come with template for fitting so this job took alot longer to fit correctly...... they also have parts for both hatch and sedan (sedan not released in UK)
go to: www.winsomechina.com
there are a few others, just have to google fiesta 2008 through to 2011 and take your pick, you will be surprised about what is available and pricing....

[GhiaEB]

Originally Posted by Caydus

Would definately go for it if ford put out an upgrade for CL/LX stereos to be upgraded to Zetec spec with the USB. On that note, perhaps colour screen upgrade for the stereo screen with built in GPS and external GPS antenna.

Ebay has something like that. The misses wants me to buy it and put it her WS Zetec. But I'm not sure as the car already has bluetooth and we have a portible gps.

I'm not sure how something like this would also affect warrenty.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/7-Car-DVD-Pla...item3f08429544

[Caydus]

That looks amazing if it lived up to everything it claimed. Retaining current functionality with the addition of a full colour screen with a rear facing camera, DVD Player, GPS and full MP3 USB connectivity like on the Zetec.

However, there are a few red warning bells bells set off when I read it...

1. There were more than a few grammatical errors in the writeup
2. There was never a picture of it actually installed in a Fiesta, only bad renders
3. The entire writeup seemed to be a general product description for all cars, not just the fiesta with the random "Special for Ford Fiesta" thrown in

Secondly, from a technical perspective.

• A generalized system being able to hook-up with the steering wheel controls and use it to control the DVD player when it was original designed to work only with audio?
• I remember the leads going to the Aux and USB input behind the transmission to be proprietary Ford connectors, how are they going to leverage that?
• Touchscreen control? that's going to be a pain in the *** since the screen is set so far into the dash. They didn't even mention the "d-pad knob" thingy.
• I also heard that the stereo system is heavily integrated into the on-board computer. Since they're ripping out the old one and putting in a new generalized system, don't know how they're going to make that work
• If all those hurdles are complete, it's going to be hideously expensive to install given how complex it seems to be.

I'm hopefully optimistic, because if it lives up to it's marketing, it'll be bloody amazing.

But this just looks too good to be true.

[GoesLikeAZetec]

There's a thread about this from a long time ago somewhere. They've been on ebay for ages now. I'd be wary of installing one, Danny might know if someone in europe has installed one, it'd void your warranty if something stopped working after the install of course.

Maybe youtube has a video of one actually working. I might go for a surf now...

[dannyhilton]

Yup, avoid that GPS like the plague. A guy from Europe installed one, for what it is, a cheap Chinese satnav, it's not horrible. But the menus are confusing, it runs a very early version of Windows NT (IIRC) and is gutlessly slow, not to mention the menus look cheap and nasty IMHO. And he lost use of his USB, Ford Bluetooth (the unit comes with its own Bluetooth), stereo controls and voice control with the new unit. These functions are still there, and if you instal the original stereo they'll work, but they don't communicate with the aftermarket stereo.

My advice, don't risk it. The maps were well behind also, and it took forever to find your location. A good stand alone satnav is the way to go.