Ford Forums is the premier Ford Forum on the internet. We discuss all Ford models on the forum. Registered Users do not see the above ads. Please Register - It's Free!
While Ford admits that its Streetka cabriolet is mainly for girls, Peter Dron drives the less flashy Sportka, expected to attract an 80 per cent male clientèle
Ford openly and accurately describes the character of its new Sportka as "warm hatch". This tuned version of the Ka may not have supercar performance, but it would leave so-called sports cars of an earlier era, such as the MGB, gasping, even in a straight line. Citroën has long enjoyed a free run in this market sector with its Saxo VTR.
Fun: Sportka's driveline sophistication combined with a slick gearchange make smooth progress easy
This new development of the eight-valve Duratec engine - built in South Africa and shared with the Streetka - produces a modest 94bhp and 99lb ft of torque. However, the Sportka (built in Valencia) is 280lb lighter than the frankly overweight Streetka, and also lower-geared. While the two Kas have an identical top speed (108mph), these changes give the tin-top model far livelier acceleration, with 0-60mph taking less than 9.5 seconds. Provided the aluminium-knobbed gear lever is given a good workout, the Sportka is more than adequately rapid on demanding roads and a match for the VTR in acceleration if not top speed. The Citroën is slightly lighter than the Ford, has marginally more power and an identical torque output, delivered at a lower engine speed. The Saxo also has a small advantage in fuel consumption, and a more significant one in lower CO2 emissions: for the present the Sportka engine meets only the Euro III standard, but Ford says it will soon conform to the more stringent Euro IV requirements.
We have come to take dynamic excellence in Fords for granted, and the Sportka did not disappoint on a demanding route in the South of France. Its accurate, power-assisted steering, with a variable ratio, supplies good feel of the road surface, and the handling is safe but fun. There is a small degree of entry understeer, especially on hairpins, but the car is basically neutral, and can easily be persuaded to tighten its line. It is very impressive during these transitional moments: grip levels from the 195:45-ratio tyres (on 6.5J wheels) remain high even on slippery surfaces. It is easy to feed the power on to the road, and there is no torque steer, partly because there is not much torque; the important thing is that there is plenty of warning when the tyres run out of adhesion. When that occurs, and the throttle is closed, there is no tendency towards abrupt oversteer, but merely a tightening of line. There is noticeably less body roll than in the more softly suspended Streetka.
Near the base of the Col de Vence, a steep descent with fast straights interrupted by heavy deceleration for tight corners, we had to come to a complete halt because a lorry driver was performing a three-point turn on a hairpin bend; suddenly deprived of cooling air, the front brake pads let off a substantial cloud of smoke. Otherwise, the brakes performed admirably and the anti-lock is highly effective. The ride is always firm, but never jarring, with none of the shell-shuddering and clonking that sometimes besets the Streetka over rough surfaces. Neither does the Sportka squeal its tyres with such little provocation as its slightly more softly set-up drophead sibling.
This little car's driveline sophistication - perfectly smooth throttle action and no sign of driveline shunt - combined with a slick gearchange and excellent brake pedal feel and response, make smooth progress easy. Smooth, but not quiet… The Duratec engine delivers a pleasant enough, sporty exhaust note under acceleration, but there is a nasty, dual-toned, boomy resonance at motorway cruising speeds, partly a consequence of the low overall gearing. Despite the comfortable seats and the well-devised driving position (with considerably more legroom than in the Streetka), long journeys would become tiresome.
The Sportka is nicely finished outside, with detailing - including the Streetka's headlamp design - that distinguishes it from the updated basic 1.3 Ka (all now have an overall colour job instead of those ugly matt-black bumpers and wheel arches); inside, however, there are some tacky signs of cost-cutting. As practical as the basic model, it offers much more fun-per-pound than the more expensive Streetka. It is an attractive overall package, and reaches the market just when the ageing Citroën is fading out, though still in demand.
While 80 per cent of Streetka buyers are expected to be female, the Sportka is undoubtedly a boy's car (with 80 per cent male customers predicted). The price has not been finalised, but when it goes on sale in June it will be "under £10,000" (Citroën gives you £5 change from that when you buy a VTR). This will include alloy wheels (identical to Streetka's), anti-lock brakes and a wide range of other standard equipment, but the very good air conditioning will add around £500 to the price.
Ford should have no problem meeting its target of selling 5,000 Sportkas in Britain in a full year.
Ford Sportka
Price/availability: "Under £10,000". On sale June.
Engine/transmission: 1,597cc, four-cylinder, 8-valve petrol. 94bhp at 5,500rpm, 100lb ft of torque at 4,250rpm. Five-speed manual gearbox, front-wheel drive.
Performance: top speed 108mph, 0-62mph in 9.7sec, NEDC `combined' fuel consumption 37.2mpg, CO2 emissions 182gm/km.
We like: Good handling, reasonable performance.
We don't like: Resonance at motorway speeds, low-budget interior.
__________________
Stacy94PGT
My first car was a 67 Mustang Coupe, 2nd one was a 67 Cougar XR-7, 3rd one was a 66 Mustang Coupe. Why did I get rid of these cars for ? I know why, because I'm stupid, stupid, stupid.
Peter Hall drives the new Streetka and finds that it is perfect - for its target audience - ladies who lunch
Jason Barlow examined the relationship between Ford's Streetka and Kylie Minogue's bottom two weeks ago, so it now falls to me to bring you all the boring details about what it's like to drive and whether you should buy one.
Clearly, the Streetka is meant to be fun. Insofar as driving any cabriolet with the roof down is fun, or being stared at by the sort of people who think that tanning their hides on the human rotisserie that is the beach at Cannes is fun, you can't argue with that assertion. Nor can you deny that it looks extremely cute, although some might argue that Pininfarina's prettification of the 1995 Ghia Saetta concept has produced an Audi TT Cabrio for Barbie and Ken, complete with a toy-like, afterthought interior lifted from the standard Ka.
And Barbie won't be disappointed by the performance, which is mild to say the least. Although the chassis is capable enough, the charmless 1.6-litre engine is something of a disappointment to anyone expecting an experience to match the sporty styling; any attempt to drive the wheels off the Streetka leads to a dead-end of adrenaline-numbing understeer, and overtaking anything faster than an old folks' day centre bus can be problematic. Driven within its limitations however, it makes smooth progress and the ride quality is pretty good, which reinforces the feeling that this little roadster has been expressly designed for the purpose of cruising gently along the promenade to a hair appointment followed by a lunch of lollo rosso and mineral water.
Talking of reinforcement, the Streetka's lack of dynamic sparkle is largely due to the weight gained in stiffening the chassis to compensate for the lack of a tin roof. It weighs as much as a Focus, and although Ford claims that it's as stiff as a Mercedes-Benz, potholes still generate enough of a shudder to have you checking the steering wheel nuts when you get home.
To be fair, the Streetka does exactly what it is designed to do, with a combination of style and performance that its target audience will find perfectly acceptable, even if they might wish for a more sophisticated roof mechanism; you must get out of the car to raise or lower the fabric hood. Whether it is good enough to take sales away from Peugeot's 206CC (whose owners have occasionally wished for a less sophisticated roof mechanism) probably depends on whether people fall in love with the look of the thing, but it is very competitively priced from £12,495, more than two grand less than the 1.6-litre Peugeot. The better-equipped "Luxury" Streetka costs from £13,745, for which you get electric windows, heated leather seats, CD changer and air conditioning, surely one of the most pointless accessories for any convertible.
As for whether you should buy an all-show-and-no-go roadster such as the Streetka rather than, say, the equally cute but dynamically more satisfying Smart Roadster, or even a secondhand example of Mazda's evergreen MX-5, I would remind you that while Cannes might be Southport with less sand and more sunshine, Southport is Cannes with less sea, more wind and an average monthly rainfall of four inches. Of course if you live in Southend rather than Southport, you may look at it differently: you might want to get a white one now, before everybody else does.
__________________
Stacy94PGT
My first car was a 67 Mustang Coupe, 2nd one was a 67 Cougar XR-7, 3rd one was a 66 Mustang Coupe. Why did I get rid of these cars for ? I know why, because I'm stupid, stupid, stupid.
Linear Mode
