Ka
Overview
Introduction
In the early 1990s, Ford started showing some really
weird concept cars, such as the one to the left here. Looking at this image these days, I can see
rather more of the current generation Fiat Punto than the Ford Ka – so maybe
Ford have a few things to say to Fiat!
The Ford Ghia 
Saetta, shown here, has a definite Streetka feel about
it! Note that there are some aspects
that never made it into the Ka as we know and love today – the bonnet vents and
the side plastic strips, and those big wheels wearing low profile tyres.
But the headlights made it! The grill, more or less, too.
The Saetta now looks more and more like the Streetka,
but that’s another story altogether!
I’ll cover the Streetka in detail elsewhere in this site.
For more information on the
revised 2003 Ka, see here.
The
Ka – 1996 to 2002
Ford’s Ka was introduced to the
Many people have voiced their
objection to this engine, protesting that it is inferior to Ford’s other small
capacity petrol engine available when the Ka was launched, the 1·25 litre Zetec-SE (now renamed the
Duratec 16v), jointly developed with Yamaha and used in the mark four Fiesta. In fairness, the Endura-E and the Zetec-SE
have completely disparate power delivery differences –
the Endura-E has lots of low down torque, the Zetec-SE doesn’t but it fights
back with lots of poke higher up, where the Endura-E wanes. Part of me agrees that the Ka would be a good
home for the Zetec-SE, but I do not believe that the Endura-E is as poor as
people make it out to be. The low down
torque makes it ideal for city driving, and makes the baby blue oval very easy
and flexible to drive. It is not
especially economical, but that said, the Zetec-SE has very similar economy figures when used in the
Fiesta compared with Endura-E powered models.
Ford have probably made a very
clever marketing decision with the Ka.
If a punter wants a small car with the Zetec-SE engine, he or she has to
buy the Fiesta, and pay more than for the Ka (because it is a larger car). Yes, there is less power, and yes the Ka
could certainly cope with the Zetec-SE engine, but it was designed first and
foremost to be an inexpensive city car rather than a hot hatch.
In 2002, Ford introduced the Mark Five Fiesta (I don’t buy the
argument that the 2001 revisions to the mark
four Fiesta made that the mark five, heh). I awaited the introduction of the fifth generation Fiesta with
anticipation for two reasons. One is
that the new Fiesta would probably improve on the existing Fiesta’s strengths (it
would have good handling, but more space, one would hope). And two, now that the Mark Four Fiesta was no
longer being sold, Ford would be able to expand on the Ka range without
encroaching too much into Fiesta sales.
I had hoped that this would entice Ford to develop new Ka models -
ideally using newer engines (including the 1·25 Zetec-SE and the delightful
1·6 litre version as used in the Puma
or the Focus). It turns out that I wasn’t too far off the
mark – the revised Ka, released in 2003, includes a revised 1·3 litre Endura-E,
renamed the 1·3 Duratec 8v (the
two engines are compared here)
and the 1·6 litre “RoCam Zetec” (renamed the 1·6 Duratec) engines. As I write, Ford have finally
confirmed that they will be releasing a Ka TDCi, but not until 2008.
As a footnote to this section, the
revised 1·3 litre Duratec is compared with the Endura-E here.
Of course, the Ka has the chassis
to cope with more power, and the Puma proves that with
minor tweaking, the Fiesta-based underpinnings can be made to handle better
than almost all other cars in the same class.
Exterior Design
Lets face it, the Ka’s exterior design is either a
love it or a hate it affair.
Generally, ladies tend to like it,
and gentlemen tend to dislike it. I have
grown to like the overall shape of the Ka, more through appreciating the little
touches and the way in which the machine has been put together.
You will struggle to find a
straight line on it (but look hard enough and you’ll find at least one). Everywhere you look, curved body panels meet
with other curved panels. The Ka was the
first of Ford’s “New Edge” designs to be released, and whilst it might be too
much “in your face” for some people, it is becoming more and more
accepted. From behind, some people think
that the Ka looks like a dog taking a dump.
That’s an interesting observation (and I am curious as to how many
Kas and dogs were studied to reach the conclusion). I like the pert “wheel in each corner”
stance, and although we’ve made some changes (such as the deliberately
raised subtle spoiler at the edge of the roof),
the wrap-around rear window and the way the bonnet dips between the lights.
The headlights merit special mention. Each jewel-like
unit is an extension of the wing, and in the case of our Ka, makes him look a
bit frog-like (hence his name, “Kermit”). This design has certain advantages and
disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage
is that the shape of the dipped beam at night takes some getting used to, and
there is almost no light leakage above the beam pattern (thus road signs are
not lit up until you 
are very close). The addition
of some subtle lightbrows hasn’t done anything to
the useable light at night.
The advantages are not so obvious
from a brief test drive. One is that the
light glass stays relatively cool, so in winter, road grime tends to wash off
rather more than be baked on. The Ka’s
lights might not be the best in the
The other advantage is that they
are difficult to damage with stone chips, since the shape means that they
bounce.
Charlie and I thought long and
hard about replacing Kermit’s standard headlamps with his triple Morettes. In
the end it was the practical aspects of the Morettes that did it for us: they
offer comparable dipped beam performance but on main beam, they are
excellent. My new commute meant that I was relying on the headlamps
rather more!
Interior Design
When Ford’s interior design team were briefed about
the Ka, I’m sure they wanted to make something as unique as the exterior. I’ll bet they were itching to build a
funky-looking dashboard, perhaps with a multitude of dials, maybe a pod mounted
rev counter in the centre, perhaps a high-tech warning instrumentation screen,
or maybe a digital speedometer. I’m
grateful that this idea never emerged: the Ka’s dashboard dispenses with many
of the “nice to have” gadgets and leaves the driver with a very simple arrangement. He or she has everything that they need.
You get a big speedo, a small fuel
gauge, and a cluster of warning lights the fuel gauge.
At first, I wasn’t so taken by
this idea. I can live without knowing
the car’s revs, but I did want to see the coolant
temperature so that should the donk
start to overheat, I could do something about it before the warning light came
on (which usually means it is too late).
However, there are no notable instances of the Endura-E overheating unless the cooling fan doesn’t work,
and having heard ours cut in, I am more relaxed about it. I now have access to coolant temperature,
amongst a whole host of other bits of information, via my OBD-II Scanner.
Moving away from the dashboard, the Ka has cubby holes
and storage spots dotted all over the cabin.
The Luxury’s leather interior differs from the cloth trim Kas in that it
has only one map pocket behind the seats, and a pouch in the front of the
drivers’ seat for a small notebook. It
also has a bottle holder between the front seats, plus the ones in the door
bins, and moulded storage units under the centre console, and either side of
the rear seats. The storage box (where
you would ordinarily find a glove box) is too small to hold CDs, but the
storage box set in the rear drivers’ side wheel arch is deep enough to easily
accommodate a two litre bottle of drink, Dervy’s lunch, and the handbook.
The steering wheel is not
adjustable, but the seat has the usual fore and aft movements, plus a seat
height adjustment. It is easy to get a
comfortable driving position, and whilst they feel a bit of a luxury item, the
electric mirrors make it easier to optimise the rearward visibility to suit the
situation.
Space in the rear of the Ka is limited per se,
but is pretty much typical of the class (sub supermini) – generally
speaking, people looking at these sorts of car are not looking for a spacious
rear seat. The Cinquecento provides marginally more room in the back, but
the Lupo / Arosa have the same usable space.
There is room for two, and the seats are reasonably comfortable, providing
those up front move the seats forward.
I’d add that we didn’t buy the Ka for the rear seat, so the lack of
space isn’t too much of a problem for us – but if you’re looking for a small
car to carry four adults, there are better choices – see here.
As noted above, the Ka lacks a CD
or cassette storage space (something that you couldn’t fault the Mondeo with). The door bins are large enough to store a CD
wallet, which is some compromise, but quite an omission given the fact that the
standard Ford 6000CD is a good little unit.
It’s easy to use, has plenty of features, is loud and crisp with the
standard speakers. It is possible to add
a CD multichanger, perhaps in the boot or under one of the front seats, but we
would have preferred to have the 5000 unit (a stereo radio 
cassette player) with a multichanger (a similar set up to the Lucy’s Sony multichanger).
Special mention must go to the
funky clock, which is both useable and looks pretty cool. Whilst I thought that the Siecento Sporting’s
centre-mounted rev counter was also a nice feature, and in some respects I’d
like a rev counter for the Ka, I prefer the clock.
Acceleration and Braking
As said
previously, the Ka uses a rather old Ford 1·3 litre engine, called the Endura-E, and you can find out a little
bit more information about the donk here. This engine, which dates back several
decades, has seen service in the Ka, Fiesta,
Escort and Orion in various derivatives.
Although the Endura-E was phased out of passenger cars for the 2003
model, it soldiers on in some European markets (called the 60 PS 1·3 Duratec 8v) and in the Ka van derivative.
Meanwhile, the Ka’s version has 60
PS (produced at 5,000 rpm) and 105 Nm (produced at 2,500 rpm).
This gives the Ka adequate, but hardly sparkling, acceleration. 62 mph comes up in just over fourteen seconds
and it will eventually reach a true 96 mph.
In other words, the Ka isn’t the quickest city car around.
It must be said that these headline figures do not
illustrate the nature of the Ka’s performance.
With lots of torque available at comparatively low engine speeds, the Endura-E is a good choice for a city car. The pickup is very quick, giving the Ka a
real “point and squirt” ability at roundabouts.
This low down grunt is allied to quick steering and sensibly low gearing
(heads up all Vauxhall Corsa drivers), which
means that it is a pleasure to nip through traffic.
The Ka also has quite remarkable
hill climbing abilities for a 60 PS car.
The reasons for this good hill climbing are because of low gearing and
an engine that produces lots of torque at low engine speeds. This is another trait that makes the Endura-E
a useful engine for the Ka. The closest
car, in terms of size and power output, that I’ve driven is the Punto 60S. The Punto 60S has a higher power to weight
ratio than the Ka, but a lower torque to weight, and taller gearing. In fairness, the Punto does feel quicker than
the Ka on a flat road, but the opposite is true going up
On the open road, acceleration is a little wanting
above around 50 mph or so. Despite this,
the Ka is a good motorway cruiser, and is commendably quiet and refined at an
indicated 70 mph. Rumour has it that the
Ka is surprisingly adept and capable at even higher speeds.
The brakes initially feel rather
limp, but give them a strong enough push and they bring the Ka to a halt well
enough. Ka models with ABS
have ventilated front discs (most non-ABS models have solid discs) and
rear drums. If you stamp on the brakes,
to get the ABS to kick in, the car stops well enough with the throbbing brake
pedal hammering away under your foot.
However, many drivers believe the Ka to have lacklustre brakes and it’s
a common upgrade.
Handling and Ride
The Ka still tops the chart when
it comes to city car handling, and the ride is just about at the top too. The suspension is supple when it needs to be,
yet show it a corner and it doesn’t roll anywhere near as much as sector
competitors, excluding GTIs. Press on
hard enough and under power the front eventually washes out wide, but in the
dry you do have to be somewhat loopy to get it to exhibit this sort of
behaviour. You can get the tail out
reasonably easily using the trailing brake oversteer technique, which is
discussed a little more here. However, for most people, almost all of the
time, the Ka offers an excellent blend of a good ride with great handling –
more details here.
As a direct comparison with the
Mondeo we used to run, Lucy, on standard suspension the
Ka is almost as smooth for almost all of the time. On the motorway, the longer wheelbase of the
Mondeo gives it a better ride, but in our bumpy cities, the Ka’s suspension is
less noisy and slightly more controlled than the Mondeo TD. Ultimate grip is stronger, too (but to be
fair, the Lucy’s tyres were of an inferior quality to the Ka’s). When you want to chuck the car about, the Ka
makes it easy. Whilst power steering
doesn’t improve the car’s grip (see here), it
does make for a very quick system in terms of lock-to-lock (of 2½ turns).
For Kermy’s fourth birthday, we
replaced the standard suspension with the Ford Racing suspension kit – springs with matching
dampers. Have a read of the article for
more information but the overall effect is a broadly comparable ride (Kermit
is slightly harder some of the time) but with sharper responses. If you’re at all enthusiastic about your
driving, it is a welcome upgrade.
Ford Ka Gearing
For the Endura-E equipped Ka, sold in the
Ford’s rationale for using the
shorter gearing on the PAS-equipped Kas is that the power steering robs the
engine of some power, and by using the shorter gearing you both compensate for
this, and help the overall performance.
However, this is to the detriment of fuel consumption.
I discuss my plans to
change Kermit’s final drive ratio here. You can read my notes on gearbox ratios and
their effect on performance here.
Crash Protection
I crashed my Ka, which you
can read about here.
Despite rolling him I survived without serious injury.