Ford Fiesta Vignale review

The Ford Fiesta Vignale first appeared in 2017 as the flagship model in the range. It’s set apart from other Fiestas by having chrome-effect highlights around the side windows, along the bottom of the doors and around the front fog lights, and there’s a bespoke grille and Vignale badges on the door sills, front wings and boot lid. So if you ever looked at a Fiesta and thought, not enough bling, then you might consider the Vignale. 

Every Fiesta Vignale has smart, multi-spoke 17-inch alloy wheels, with an option to upgrade to 18-inch wheels when new. Overall, the exterior looks aren’t radically different from ordinary Fiestas, just with a upgrade.  

You might think a luxurious Fiesta wouldn’t be as sharp to drive as the rest of the range - it is. In fact, it’s great fun to drive, wherever the road takes you.  

The Fiesta Vignale’s good body control is reassuring on twisty country roads and the luxury supermini also feels stable in strong crosswinds on the motorway. It’s a dream in the city thanks to compact dimensions, light steering and suspension that deals with potholes effectively. 

You get a choice of petrol and diesel engines in the Fiesta Vignale: a characterful 1.0-litre turbo petrol motor with a choice of power outputs and a 1.5 TDCi turbodiesel. All are good choices, although the zingy petrol units are surprisingly powerful yet economical. 

The Fiesta Vignale’s interior is nicely designed, with a touchscreen mounted high on the dashboard, dials and buttons for the ventilation below it, and a mixture of analogue and digital instruments behind the multi-function steering wheel.  

The smart seats are quilted leather (the front ones are heated, along with the steering wheel - cosy) and there are coloured panels on the dashboard. Lumbar adjustment is included for both front occupants, as well as a reversing camera, adaptive cruise control (which uses radar to maintain a set distance from the vehicle in front), traffic sign recognition, a multitude of airbags, a large glass sunroof and more. 

The sunroof reduces rear headroom a little, because of the way it’s installed, so taller adults may want to stick to the front seats. Interior space is fairly good for the supermini class and you won’t find more room in the Audi A1 or Mini Hatchback. 

The responsive touchscreen measures eight inches. It comes with sat-nav and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and features large icons to make life easier on the move. The Bang and Olufsen sound system is fitted as standard to all cars and sounds terrific. 

Superminis aren’t renowned for their luggage-swallowing abilities, yet the Fiesta Vignale’s boot is reasonably deep and a parcel shelf keeps the contents out of sight. There’s certainly enough room for a handful of supermarket bags.  

The rear seatbacks are split, so you can expand storage space to take a buggy, for example, and still fit a child seat. Although, with the seats folded, there’s a step in the boot floor. An adjustable-height boot floor was available as an option on the Vignale when it was new, which largely does away with that step. 

Elsewhere, you’ll find cupholders, a decent glovebox and reasonable storage in the door bins, plus oddment space in front of the gear lever. 

All the Ford Fiesta Vignale’s engines are economical, with average economy for the petrol and diesel edging above 50mpg on longer runs – easily as good as the Audi A1 or Volkswagen Polo. 

The Vignale is fairly pricey to buy as a new car, yet its terrific value when used because someone else will have taken the depreciation hit, leaving you with a well-equipped second-hand bargain.  

We love the fact that Vignale trim gives you lots of extra goodies you’d normally find in a much larger car. You also get everything else that’s great about the Fiesta-sublime handling, a supple ride quality, slick styling and lots of safety kit (the Fiesta was given a maximum5stars in independent Euro NCAP crash testing).This makes it perfect for young families and couples who like a bit of luxury in their lives.