Auristocrat has written an excellent post pretty much confirming what i thought. Just because its built on the same platform doesnt mean its the same car. Its not like the shameless badge engineering with GM for example, where you get into a Cadillac and every button is straight from a Saab.

The DPF is a filter, the Diesel Particulate Filter its attached to the exhaust system to remove particulate matter (very toxic gases, much worse than the co2 they constantly harp about) from the exhaust gasses. They're still largely in the developmental stage, with them becoming more common in the last few years. They require quite a bit of maintenance and the problem comes from 'regeneration' which is obviously to 'clear' the filter as it were. To do this the car needs to be driven regularly, on longish trips, say half an hour on a dual carriageway for instance and it should be ok but Mazda have had serious problems with their DPF's, Ford owners in the last couple of years have had trouble with them. Its taken years for the Germans to go anywhere near the idea.

The econetic isnt much more economical than the rest of the range in the real world really. Im surprised you've found an econetic Titanium there arent many around. But 0-60 in 18 seconds is frankly walking pace and slower than the old Fiesta 1.1's from the early 90s. Not to mention the premium you pay for the econetic, they advertise it as saving you £30 on tax and a bit at the pumps but prices start at £250 more than the base model. I'd recommend an 08-10 1.6TDCi Titanium, still claiming over 60 to the gallon but much more nippy, 0-60 time half what the econetic is. Ok i know you dont go from 0-60 often in the real world but the strain and effort to get the Econetic up to speed means that it damages its economy anyway and probably wont be that nice to drive. Even a standard 1.6TDCi Titanium is only £20 to tax and will probably be quite a bit cheaper to buy even if its only a year old. Ive harped on on here many times about if you're going to spend good money on a nice shiny new car, whats £20 to tax it or a few mpg less (still very economical but a few mpg less) if it means having a nicer, better car for your money?

Edited by jamie745 on 25/08/2011 at 23:38

Cars can feel very different just thanks to suspension tuning. Compare a Fiat 500 to the new Ford Ka, not only does the Ka ride much, much better, it is in a different league handling wise - both cars are the same under the skin made in the same factory but with bespoke spring and damper specifications. The difference is the Ford suspension engineers knew what they are doing. Apparently Fiat have now sheepishly ditched their hopeless setup for the Ford specifications...