So Ford Canada had this brainwave to introduce their latest model, the subcompact Fiesta, via the social media. Hence their local rep loaned Hicks on Six the demo model to drive for a few days around town.

It coincided with much thought I have been putting in, about down-sizing my vehicle. Especially since I am utterly bored with minivans after 12 years, appreciative though I may be of the great utilitarian value of said minivan – the best people and cargo mover for the price that Canadian families have ever seen.

The debate goes something like this.

On the one hand …

I’d love to have a subcompact like the Fiesta – most of my driving is urban, I’m lousy at parking, seats two comfortably, four in a pinch, great gas mileage, lower operating costs, way cheaper in the first place, cheaper to replace the tires, and doing your bit for the environment. Very urban, Euro-densification etc.

And I like the idea of going against the social status thing about status-conscious people judging you by what you drive.

By those standards, no problems with this Fiesta. A fun little car with great gas mileage, two are comfortable as there’s nobody over 5 ft. 6 in. in my family, four for shorter trips. I find the dashboard a bit bewildering but then again I find most new technology takes time, and I like the Bluetooth feature (got it to work!). Seems to stop and go as good as any other small car.

On the other hand … we have WINTER, and we have tons of PICK-UP TRUCKS, OTHER TRUCKS and BIG CARS on our streets, and we occasionally drive in the COUNTRY.

Winter is better dealt with, I’m afraid, by something at least a compact size or bigger. Negotiating ruts, driving in snowstorms or on ice … I’m sure subcompact boosters could argue that little cars are just as safe as anything bigger, but they just don’t feel that way. They are scarier to drive in winter, period.

The biggest problem with the little car, in general, is the driver is too low! If every other car was small and lower, as in Europe, this wouldn’t be that big a deal. And in this department, the Fiesta doesn’t stack up. With the Fiesta’s low-slung seats, I can barely see over the steering wheel! I’m short, but not that short! And if I was shorter, as are many many folks, it’d be worse. Every time you are behind a full-size big vehicle, which is 70% of the time in Edmonton, its big rear end occupies your entire field of vision.

If I have a complaint with the Fiesta, it’s the low-slung front seats. If the seat could be moved higher, it would make a world of difference. You can move it back and forth, you can alter the recline, but in this demo at least, you cannot move the driver’s seat upward. This is a severe disadvantage and would dissuade me, as a smaller person, from purchasing this vehicle.

The country thing: It’s not often, but a couple of times a year I like to throw the canoe on top of the vehicle and venture out into the wilderness which occasionally involves somewhat raw country roads. No subcompact is going to take to that kind of treatment very kindly, but it’s part of my debate about what kind of car I’m going to get.

So, if I was strictly going to use the car as an urban vehicle, wasn’t planning on carrying anything big as cargo, I’d have a good look at the Fiesta – this one retails for around $20,000 with a few bells and whistles. But I’d have to check out the seat elevations in its competition (Honda Civic, Chev Aero, Toyota Yaris etc.) to see what gave me the best vision.

As for me – looks like a small SUV – A Toyota RAV4, Ford Escape or Honda CR-V is going to be my ticket. I just wish they’d make them with a shorter wheelbase.