One morning, on my way to work, a bright orange Ford passed by that made me take a second look. I don’t remember Ford cars looking this good and I posted about it on Facebook. The next day, an email from the head of marketing at Ford Malaysia came asking if I would like to take it out for a spin and I eagerly said yes.

So after a weekend of the best Ford-play I ever had, I can tell you the Ford Fiesta is the sex. I can’t tell torque from cork but I can tell you the sound system rocks. There are two audio presets that can direct all the sound toward the driver and another that spreads it out evenly for all the passengers to enjoy.

First thing I did was paired my iPhone with the car so that I could play any song from my playlist via Bluetooth. I could also play any radio station in the world through an app called Tunein Radio. I also had Wolfgang’s Vault and Last fm going. Suddenly, the Fiesta wasn’t a car any more, it was a live rock concert in Madison Square Garden or a bar playing the smoothest jazz from Nawlins. It was incredible, I could stay in the car all day wishing the jam would last forever. Thunderstorm, bring it on.

Ford is also pushing all the right buttons by taking away a lot of the usual buttons, knobs and levers. There is no door lock thingy on each door. It’s centralized into one button on the command center (pimped out dashboard). One push and all doors are locked to outsiders but passengers can open their doors at any time. There is also no lever to open the gas tank which Ford didn’t tell me so I spent a good few minutes looking high and low for it at the gas station. The attendant helped me with it and we found that it opens from the outside and there is no cap to cover the tank, you just stick the nozzle in and pump away. Woot. No more forgetting, losing or struggling with the cap and breaking a few expensive french-manicured nails.

I get a kick out of machines talking back at me. I only wish the voice was a guy’s, like Colin Firth’s. The Fiesta comes standard with a female voice in British accent. Kinda like the voice you hear from an answering machine, “For English, please press 1.” Voice recognition was ok. It had no trouble recognizing the numbers I say out loud but when it comes to names – slight problem, especially names in Malay, Chinese or Indian. It’s still great for answering calls, dialing numbers and talking hands-free. The voice control also lets you change radio stations, play a cd or play from an external device like an iPod, iPhone or Android. It is not Ford SYNC® but it’s close enough. No other car in this price range comes with a voice activated control.

“But what about the driving experience?” you ask. The car handles very well on the road. Pickup is gradual but fast and sometimes too fast with a little jerk forward. Have to learn how to press the accelerator. The steering is fantabulous. The few friends I have passed the keys to to test drive agrees. It was very responsive and stable at sharp corners. I could almost turn the wheel with a finger and yet it stays straight when I’m going straight.

So, do you have to trade-in a kidney to buy a Ford Fiesta? If you want to but it’s pretty a-ford-able. The only thing stopping you from taking one home today is the waiting list which can be up to 3 months depending on the color you choose. White and Aurora Blue are the best selling colors. Honestly, take the Chilli Orange. The Fiesta looks best in bright colors.

For more information on the Ford Fiesta, go to http://www.ford.net.my/.

Thank you Ford for a lovely experience in the Fiesta. Especially to E.S. Lee, Hazel, Steven Tan and Vivienne Huang from the Ford family. Thanks also to Tony Wong (who took photos), CW Loh, Ramesh V, Azizi J for the feedback and inspiration.