The Fiesta is the smallest car Ford sells in the United States, and now it’s available with the tiniest engine the company has ever made.
Ford's first three-piston motor is a 1.0-liter turbocharged powerhouse with an aluminum block the company says is small enough to fit on a sheet of letter paper or in a piece of carry-on luggage, with room to spare. With it, Ford joins Smart, Mitsubishi and MINI in what’s quickly becoming the year of the three-cylinder.
Rated at 123 horsepower, it has just three more ponies than the Fiesta’s standard 1.6-liter four-cylinder, but it comes with a big jump in tire-twisting torque. It’s rated at 125 lb-ft vs. 112 lb-ft, while a turbo overboost delivers up to 148 lb-ft in 15-second bursts. That’s a lot longer than you’d ever keep your foot planted to the floor in a car with a five-speed manual transmission. Lift, then shift.