I'm puzzled that the Ka sells in the numbers it does. Minimal soundproofing, grim ride, corrosion, prehistoric engines......
Am I missing something?
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Am I missing something?
[tic mode]
Oh, but they're so cuuuuuuute!
[/tic mode
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I suppose the (predominantly young & single) women who buy them do so because the Ka handles brilliantly; is small; cheap to buy, insure & run and looks trendy. These factors also ensure easy resale and decent residuals.
If you are 19 and looking for your first car, buying a Ka must seem like a no-brainer.
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Bottom line is the Yamaha engines are too expensive. It's also the reason why the Streetka was given a 1.6 version of the old 1.3 unit and not something with more poke.
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At the end of '02, Ford finally finished production of the push-rod engine. The 1.3L engine you now find in the Ka is a lot different.
It now has: hydraulic tappets, SOHC, different oil pump, more power, no clattering.
It still has: 8 valves, chain-driven camshaft.
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NoDosh - the Ka is, quite simply, the modern Mini - forget all this overpriced, over engineereed and over here BMW nonsense.
All the characteristics you describe could equally apply to the Mini in say, the seventies, but it also has the Mini's character, driveability and even detailing - look at the basic shape of it, apart from the bonnet line, and things like the shape of the dashboard, the door bins, the big headlamps, the four seats, the round vents, and so on, all make perfect sense. The Ka was even radical when it came out and took a while to get acceptance.
I do believe the line that the 1.2 doesn't fit (or at least can't be made to fit and manufactured easily) or they'd offer it as an engine upgrade and make more per car in doing so.
Anyway, while a Punto is a more refined car and about the same price after discount, the Ka's low price, cuteness, simplicity and sheer number of dealers would sell just about anything.
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NoDosh - the Ka is, quite simply, the modern Mini - forget all this overpriced, over engineereed and over here BMW nonsense.
David, you and bradgate are absolutely right. There are lots of buyers out there who neither need nor want anything more from an urban runabout.
Like the Nissan Micra, the Ka is a small car which isn't ashamed to be small ... which is they why both sell so well
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There are lots of buyers out there who neither need nor want anything more from an urban runabout. Like the Nissan Micra, the Ka is a small car which isn't ashamed to be small ... which is they why both sell so well
Sorry, this justifies the corrosion and frankly dreadful engine how?
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Sorry, this justifies the corrosion and frankly dreadful engine how?
The engine seems quite good enough for the purpose which most buyers want it for: they don't need a 500bhp race-winner.
The Ka may corrode faster than needed, but you could buy two of them and still spend much less money than on one mondeo-alike.
That doesn't justify corrosion, but it does explain why so many buyers are not deterred.
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The engine seems quite good enough for the purpose which most buyers want it for: they don't need a 500bhp race-winner.
So Nissan and Toyota are wasting their time producing better engines with lower NVH? It's the "it'll do" attitude that destroyed the UK car industry in the 70s all over again.
The Ka may corrode faster than needed,
LOL! I never realised corrosion was something I needed. You've made my day with that one :o)
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So Nissan and Toyota are wasting their time producing better engines with lower NVH? It's the "it'll do" attitude that destroyed the UK car industry in the 70s all over again.
No, not wasting their time. Just that an engine may not be the decisive factor -- some buyers only worry that an egine is "good enough"
>> The Ka may corrode faster than needed, LOL! I never realised corrosion was something I needed. You've made my day with that one :o)
I'm sure there's lots of things out there that you never knew you needed ;-)
Long term, every steel car is gonna rust unless it's wrapped in cotton wool. However, it'd needn't rust in the first week if carefully protected.
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I suppose the (predominantly young & single) women who buy them do so because the Ka handles brilliantly; is small; cheap to buy, insure & run and looks trendy. These factors also ensure easy resale and decent residuals.
Don't forget the vanity mirror being on the drivers side visor ;)
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I've only been in a Ka as a passenger but I thought it was a dreadful little heap, noisey and uncomfortable. Made the Lupo I had at the time seem like a Rolls.
And as for being cute, viewed from the back it looks like a heap of dinasour dung. I've seen better instrument panels on the digital watches they used to sell for £1.99 at petrol stations.
And those are it's good points...
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The suggestion that the Zetec engine wouldn't fit the Ka is absolutely correct.
I was on the Press launch in Corsica in 1996 and this was the reason given to us by Ford engineers.
Contrary to what Tom Shaw feels, however, to me the Ka (even more appealing as the convertible) is a little cracker; based on the Fiesta its handling and ride are superb, like the Focus its design is adventurous (although a bit too girlish for me) and it can be picked up for very keen prices both new and secondhand.
Sticking with Ford, my son recently acquired the Focus in Zetec form with the 1.8 TDCi diesel engine - its in-gear performance is quite stunning, particularly in third, and it can see off quite a lot of supposedly quicker machinery.
It's a pretty good diesel too, which is more than can be said for some of Ford's earlier offerings in this area.
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I will accept all the criticism about the engine, but when I had one as a courtesy car, I thought the ride was good for the size of the car. Nice handling too (and I'm not your average Brit who thinks Ford can do no wrong).
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I will accept all the criticism about the engine, but when I had one as a courtesy car, I thought the ride was good for the size of the car. Nice handling too (and I'm not your average Brit who thinks Ford can do no wrong).
I've had 2 courtesy cars.. a Ka and a Micra.
If my back was against the wall and I had to have one it would be the Ka. However it is still an ugly nasty piece of motoring nonsense IMHO, but as a basic runaround thats cheap/realiable blah blah it's perfect.
Mind you I don't see how anywone can drive around in one of those Ka Squared things... surely that means it KaKa?
JaB
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... or even a Ka³. KaKaKa
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Ulri....???
... or even a Ka³. KaKaKa
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The Ka "Squared thing" was the better specced version.
Just for fun I recall asking Ford's officials whether they were planning to launch an SI or si version?
It took a little while for the penny to drop.
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I've never seen a rusty Ka. Please someone explain??
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Perhaps rust is getting picky nowadays...
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Its weak point for rust is along the vertical strip along the bottom of the sills, also common in late model Escorts and my Mondeo ;-(
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Perhaps rust is getting picky nowadays...
nah, even rust is showing respect for the genius of those who create a desirable car out of aged bits and pieces, with minimal gee-whizzery and a lot of imagination ;-)
Reading some of the criticisms here of the Ka reminds me of the rigorous logic which led British and American engineers in post-war Germany to write it off as a car which nobody would want. One of companies which turned down the Beetle was ... yes, you guessed ... Ford.
When it came to the Ka, it looks like they learnt their lesson ... just as they had learnt a similar lesson when it was time to make the Cortina. Techno-wizardry isn't necesarily what the buyer wants!
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"the Focus .. - its in-gear performance is quite stunning, particularly in third, and it can see off quite a lot of supposedly quicker machinery". That may be why a Focus driver - I think female but can't be sure - managed to hit my offside tail before I had completed my right turn in front of ?her on Friday. Can't imagine what she was doing from a standing start, making a sharp right turn into a 2-lane NSL street.
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Quite right, Tom Shaw. Couldn't have put it better myself!
Roger in Spain
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To some Ford can do no wrong, to others Ford can do no right, no matter what. (Tom Shaw, Malteser)
All i can say is read the pro posts for the Ka carefully.
(i do not own a Ka BTW)
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Not anti Ford, imagos. Quite happily running round in a 96 Mondeo 1.8TD saloon at the mo, and some of my happiest motoring days were in a Mk1 facelift Capri.
Just the Ka I couldn't stand.
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That the Ka has excellent handling is well-enough known, but I'm surprised at some people criticising the ride - I think the ride is very good, and especially so for a small car - bears comparison with a Peugeot 205.
IIRC, the 1.3 pushrod Valencia engine as first used in the mk4 Escort (?) was terribly terribly clattery, but gave rather amazing petrol economy. Not sure if this was originally pre-cat: no doubt the catalysed version wasn't quite as economical. Is it not pretty much this engine which was fitted to the Ka? Yes it's a terribly outdated design, but the low-down torque of 1.3 litres where most competitors have 1.0 makes the Ka pretty nippy in urban driving.
And one of the big attractions when a 17 year-old I know was considering his first car (surprisingly, so it seems, not an Evo 8 or a 911 GT3...), which would have to be second-hand, was that it doesn't have a cambelt.
(Yes, neither does the Micra, but for a lad, a Ka is at least *slightly* funky in comparison, and (any of the chain-cam) Corsas are just *so* predictable)
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I've never understood why a company with Ford's vast technical resources is not capable of developing a new engine...
But, in defence of the Ka, I think it makes a reasonably attractive package and the one I drove seemed to sound ok and drove as I would expect from a car of that size.
Splodgeface
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"The Ka is a cracking small car if you want a first car or an urban runabout.
"Few cars of this size feel happy once the town/city limits have been broached, but the Ka is at home zipping up motorways. The excellent chassis, borrowed from the Fiesta, gives great handing on country roads too.
"Ford had built quality sorted by the time of the Ka's arrival, so any car you look at should be solid."
My words? No. They are from What Car's guide to 101 Great Deals in used cars, which places the Ka top of the pile in the £2000-£4,999 price range.
Its final verdict: "Big car feel with small car fun."
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Isnt it funny that views are split along male female lines. Males hate them females love them. What average woman cares a jot about a push rod verses overhead cams? Its alomost as tho Ford hit the target market square on.
Gosh they did.
Its not a mans car so men? Butt out.
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Well funnily enough I see quite a lot of men driving them.
No need or requirement to be abusive.
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Its not a mans car so men? Butt out.
I'm tempted to agree, but ...
... the corollary would be that I should stop teasing the blokes about the amount of dosh they waste on cars with capabilities way beyond anything they would ever need, let alone anything they would ever be legally allowed to use.
So I'm quote happy for the blokes to sneer at the small cars, 'cos then I have an easy answer to the blokes who object to being laughed at for wanting a high-performance car to sit in the traffic jams beside everyone else. (Yes, that dynamic stability control is such a must-have for all those 20mile commutes through the 40mph-limited dual carriageways, and a lifesaver around the Elephant&Castle ...)
Life would be boring if we couldn't giggle at each others foibles :)
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It's a bit odd if they can get a 1.6 litre engine under the bonnet, but not a 1.25 litre unit. Is there something unusual about the 1.25 engine that makes it bigger than one would expect, or is the 1.6 engine smaller than one would expect.
Maybe they don't fit it for some other reason. It has been suggested in an earlier post that it is because it is an expensive engine, or the fact the design work was done by Yamaha.
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IIRC it was the increased costs of fitting the 1.25 engine that dettered Ford from using it, would have pushed the price of the Ka into Fiesta territory. Hard to believe it has been around for eight years now!
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