Ford SPORTKA
June Neary Plants Her Right Foot In Fords Sparky Sportka
Much as I like
Ford Kas, Im conscious of the fact that at least four of my friends have them and theyre all girls. Whenever I think of the stereotypical girly car, I think of the Ford Ka. I prefer something with a little more attitude and when Ford announced they were building a Ka with a bit more oomph, I was interested. None of my Ka driving friends could quite see why but thats their loss.
The Sportka is a Ka like no other, trading the cutesy appeal for something a little more focused.
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Dont bother with the Sportka is youve got a growing family as access to the rear isnt the best. If youre planning on buying for purely selfish reasons though, it makes a great choice. Theres plenty of room up front for two and theres even a decent amount of room in the back. Visually, its a Ka and Streetka mix.
Sportka shares the roadsters bespoke headlamp units and body-coloured front bumpers with integrated headlamps. At the rear, its much the same story, the spoiler on the tailgate blending in to a wrap-around rear bumper with a centrally positioned rear reversing light and two rear reflectors. There are flared wheelarches, lowered ride height and six-spoke 16-inch alloy wheels shod with low profile tyres. Inside, there are sports seats trimmed in a keyed fabric with leather as an option.
Doors and dashboard are finished in ebony black, while the instrument cluster features black dials with white, backlit numerals. Jewel-like touches of aluminium are dotted around the cabin. The gear lever is topped with the aluminium ball that Puma owners will remember (great in summer but freezing to the touch in winter). The oval centre dash clock is framed with aluminium and the arms of the leather-bound steering wheel are braceletted with aluminium bands.
The SE model adds leather seats, air conditioning and powered heated mirrors.
I have to admit at first I thought the Sportka would be a lot less fun than it actually was. Fortunately
Ford have given the Sportka a fair turn of pace. It sits on a modified Ka chassis that has been tuned for sharper steering and handling dynamics. The suspension has been lowered and stiffened with improved toe and camber control, backed up by more powerful brakes and revised steering for pin-sharp response.
Power comes from a relatively low-tech eight-valve 1.6-litre engine which makes up for a slight deficit in outright power with a healthy 135 Nm slug of torque for strong pulling power through the gears. This is a welcome feature in a segment where many of the cars have to be revved off the clock every time you want to extract some decent performance. A close-ratio five-speed gearbox enables you to get the best from it.
Sixty from rest occupies 9.7s on the way to a maximum of 107mph. Yet at the same time, you should be able to achieve close to 40mpg in normal use. Ive also never come across a steering wheel quite as fat as the one fitted to the Sportka.
Quite a few warm hatches lie in this sector of the market, priced at around the £10,000 mark occupied by this Ford: Citroens C2 VTR, Vauxhalls Corsa SXi and the entry-level
MG ZR 105 are all well established names that the Sportka has to beat. Although the Max Power brigade will doubtless plump for the
Citroen, I prefer the rather more chunky feel of the Sportka.
Even if the image isnt right up your street a spell behind the wheel may well be enough to convert you to the Sportkas charms. The interior might be starting to look a little old but the car feels like a hyperactive toddler whenever you spark up that engine. If it didnt put so many laughter lines on your face, you could sell this car as something to keep you forever young.
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