Ford Ka Two-Tone range | Newark Advertiser

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Ford Ka Two-Tone range

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Car: Ford Ka Two-Tone range

Prices: 7,995-8,595 - on the road

Insurance groups: 2

Performance: Max Speed 96mph/ 0-60mph 13.8s

Fuel consumption: (urban) 35.8mpg / (extra urban) 58.8mpg /(combined) 47.9mpg

Standard safety features: Driver's Airbag/ seatbelt 'grabbers'

Dimensions: Length/Width/Height, 3620/1631/1368mm

Ford Ka Two-Tone range

SETTING THE TONE
Fords Ka Two-Tone offers an exuberant swansong for the Blue ovals little citycar.

Bringing this level of sophistication to such a small car has been Fords greatest achievement with the Ka.

How fashion trends come and go. When Ford first launched their little Ka citycar, it wasnt many years before customers asked them to tone down the two-tone look brought about by the grey plastic applied to those bulbous wheelarches. Single colour Ka models became all the rage. Now however, it seems that in the Kas twilight months of production, the two-tone look is back.

Ford have made 1,000 Ka Two-Tone special edition models in a choice of four body colours including the new blazer blue. Fortunately, this time round, the wheelarches have been painted in moondust silver rather than grey plastic with the door mirrors colour-coded too. It remains a colour combination thats difficult to miss.

Theres a choice of Style Climate (7,995) or Zetec Climate (8,595) trim levels, the Climate part of the moniker denoting that both come complete with air conditioning. The Two-Tone models are priced exactly equally to their standard range counterparts. And equipment? Well, the Style version comes with a CD player, plus electric windows, central locking and a remote tailgate release. Go for the Zetec version and you also get 14" alloy wheels, a rear spoiler, power/heated mirrors and a Quickclear heated windscreen. In both variants, this is all on top of the standard Ka specification which runs to power steering, ABS, a drivers airbag, rear wash/wipe, tinted glass and a height adjustable drivers seat. Meanwhile, to ensure nobody makes off with your pride and joy, there are high security door locks and a Safeguard immobiliser.

Under the bonnet, the Endura-E 1.3-litre engine is the same as ever. Even though it was freshened up for use in the Ka, this old-fashioned 1.3-litre powerplant is hardly the last word in engine design. It runs out of puff very soon after you begin to rev it and takes 13.8 seconds to reach 60mph on the way to 96mph. One consolation is that youd need to find a decent hill and a fair tailwind to rack up enough motorway velocity to lose your licence! Although this engine performs its job adequately, it is a far cry from Ford's potent and sweet-sounding little 1.25-litre Zetec powertrain. The only point in its favour is economy this frugal unit can average up to 48mpg.

Despite its somewhat outmoded engine, the Ka Style redeems itself in terms of its driving characteristics. Youll forgive its lack of outright go when you can corner the car with such relish, the compromise between ride and handling being spot on. One can only sigh and wonder what a 150bhp RS Ka would have been like, especially when the 95bhp 1.6-litre SportKa hints at the possibilities.

Packaging is another Ka Style strongpoint. You wouldn't believe the amount of oddment space and front legroom that the designers have crammed into the tiny cabin. The sheer size restrictions of a car 210mm shorter than the already compact Fiesta had to catch up with them somewhere however, and as you might imagine, the sacrifices have mainly been made around the two sculpted seats in the rear.

Ford have made some recent tweaks to keep the range current. The latest cars come with variable intermittent front windscreen wipe (for different intensities of rainfall), a delayed final action wipe (which clears the screen of any drips once the front wipers have been used and switched off) and a reverse-gear rear wipe (which activates automatically if reverse gear is selected when the front wipers are in use).

On to lights and locks. Theres a theatre-style dimming interior courtesy light (the light gradually dims rather than switches off once the door is closed). And there are (at last) flashing lock indicators (the indicator lights on the car flash when remote locking is engaged). As for locks, the Auto-relock system is a useful touch: the locks re-engage if the vehicle has been unlocked but not opened for a period of time.

Inside, there are slight changes to the dashboard, the most significant of which is the addition of a new three-litre glovebox on the passenger side. This is a direct response to feedback from Ka drivers who wanted a traditional glovebox instead of the cylindrical box that came with the original styling.

If history has taught us anything about modern Fords, it is that we take a while to be fully convinced of their merits. Some models, like the Cougar and the Scorpio never get past the initial stage of customer scepticism whilst others like the Puma and Focus we warmed to reasonably quickly, if only because there was either no predecessor or the forerunner had long since seen its best days. Remember how slow we were to adopt the Sierra? The Ka was the same, the New Edge styling coming as something of a shock to the system back in 1996.

Today, it hardly raises an eyebrow but that doesnt stop it remaining a brilliant piece of design. The lines have worn well and this has resulted in an impressively durable A-list shelf life for the Blue Ovals baby. Can you think of any other new car that retails for around 7,000 that can cut the mustard in the urban style stakes?

Bringing that level of sophistication to such a small car has been Fords greatest achievement with the Ka, and the Style moniker is therefore no empty boast. Would we accept a Hyundai Amica Style? Would we, in fact, accept a Hyundai Amica Two-Tone? You get my point. Case dismissed.