Jeremy Tanner Life in Boulder: Every day an adventure.

Fiestatistics

My full Fiestamovement recap is still brewing, so here’s my fiestamovement experience by the numbers…

• Final Mileage: 20,452
• Longest road trip: 1,370.7 miles one way
• Days with Fiesta: 215 ( Avg 92.125 miles per day)
• Fiesta Riders: 51
• Fiesta Riders on Twitter: 30
• States: 12 (CO, WA, OR, MT, WY, ID, NV, UT, AZ, NM, TX, OK / Every State west of Denver except California)
• Horsepower: 11 less than this
• Missions completed: 6
• Tires used: 5
• Animal Impacts Avoided: 4
• National Parks Visited: 3 (Rocky Mountain, Grand Canyon, Monument)
• Oil Changes: 2
• Kegs Transported: 2
• Hidden GPS Tracking units discovered: 2
• 14ers: 1 (Pikes Peak)
• Keys lost at SDF: 1
• Times run out of gas: 1
• Wheels Destroyed: 1
• Nights slept in Fiesta: 1 (2 if you count Andrew wimping out in Crested Butte, 3 if you count 2 4hr naps on the way to and from Seattle)
• Hitchhikers Picked up: 1
• Speeding Tickets: 1

 

Off to Seattle

Blogworld may be sending me to Gnomedex this year… This October will be my third Blogworld Expo, a solid conference in 2007 and even better in 2008. This year I’ll be moderating the “Blog as a Community Springboard Panel” with Jenn Van Grove, George Smith Jr, Bryan Elliott and Keith Burtis. Very much looking forward to it.  Today I’m packing up the Fiesta and heading to Seattle to meet with Project H, a non-profit that uses industrial design to make people’s lives better. After that Gnomedex will be on… I sometimes do, I procrastinated on buying a badge, it looks like my procrastination may have just paid off. Blogword just offered up a badge at the last minute. I’ve intended to go, but this is the first year that the timing has worked. It’ll be good to catch up with my friends in Seattle and those that are in for the conf. See you in Seattle!

20 Hours to Seattle…

The Fiesta Makes it Across the Pond

So begins my Fiestaventure. I picked the Fiesta up at the track Wednesday with 150 miles on it. We were able to familiarize ourselves with the car in the paddock area and get the feel of the standard gearbox. My last 2 cars (VW GTI, Audi 4000 Quattro) both featured a standard transmissions. It’s not like riding a bike, but it does come right back to you. Ford brought out instructors from some of the top driving schools, I had the good fortune to be paired with Jay Tischler for a few laps around the track at High Plains Raceway. I found myself smiling when I wasn’t concentrating too hard on cornering… the inline 4 only produces 119 HP, but it’s a fun little car. (A 60HP version is available in Europe, I shudder to think of it’s 0-60 time.) Speaking of Europe, though the car was manufactured in Germany I think that who it was designed for made a larger impact than where it was assembled. To drivers in Europe, small doesn’t mean cheap, it just means better on gas, easier to park and possibly, more fun to drive. These Fiestas have leather steering wheels, the keyless system found on the more expensive Lincolns, USB ports, some have heated leather seats. I favor the European style, I’d give up cup holders and cruise control to get a tighter suspension, a standard gearbox and summer tires.

Thoughts from the first 48 hours:

• The fuel system is capless it makes a funny “Woosh” noise when you put the nozzle in and it unseals.
• Being able to leave my keys and phone in my pocket is somehting I could get used to.
• This green is VERY green.
• A rear foglight is nice when driving up into the clouds out here
• I can see how why this car could be is outselling every other car in Europe

In conjunction with the Fiestamovement there’s a ride and drive tour coming across the states with the goal of giving 100,000 test drives. A fleet of Fiestas will be downtown Boulder next Wednesday (May 6th) and around Colorado through the 10th.

Ride and Drive Dates

I’ll be driving mine around the Front Range and out to different motorsport events; I’m most excited for Rally, American Le Mans, MotoGP and the Pikes Peak Hillclimb… what else shouldn’t I miss?

Fiesta Countdown now at 10 days

I got the call(s) last month form the Fiesta Movement, for the next 6 months I’ll be a Ford Fiesta Agent, test driving the Euro-spec Fiesta, providing feedback for the Americas version being developed and talking about my experiences. Out of 560 or so, my application video was one of the 100 that the selection committee liked, paired with my love of cars from Germany (This Fiesta is put together in Cologne) and a promise to write and make videos. I’ve been a small hatchback fan for quite a while, my last car was a MkIII VW GTI VR6. Last month the Fiesta beat out the VW Golf in sales to be Europe’s best selling car. Many of the best cars never make it across the Atlantic, I’d like to see more of this going on.

I’ll be picking up a neon green one in Denver next Wednesday, then driving it up for Ignite Boulder. I’m unsure what else the summer holds, likely a few road trips and a Rally America event or two… I’ll keep you updated.

Another Jeremy enjoyed his time piloting the Fiesta on Top Gear:

Looks like fun, Who wants a ride?

Disclosure: Ford will be providing a Euro Fiesta, Insurance and Gas for 6 months.