I have driven quite a number of Fiestas since the latest-generation model was introduced - enough, in fact, to think I had something close to a comprehensive knowledge of the car. But until now I had only ever experienced Fiestas with manual gearboxes, so the fact that Ford then offered an automatic for test came as a welcome change; not because I'm a fan of automatics (quite the reverse) but because there is a small but significant proportion of the motoring public which wants or needs this kind of transmission in a supermini.Unlike the Powershift system fitted to the Focus, and described in a previous road test, the Fiesta's automatic gearbox is quite conventional, and therefore feels a little old-fashioned. There are just four gears to choose from (or, more accurately, to let the transmission itself choose from, unless you take advantage of the manual over-ride) and the shifts between them are of variable quality. They can be a bit severe when you're going slowly, but they smooth out nicely if you're accelerating hard, though since I can't imagine many people being interested in this car for its performance I can't help wishing it were the other way round.There are the usual penalties, of course. Opting for an automatic adds more than £1000 to the purchase price of a Fiesta, the acceleration is inferior, the fuel economy is worse and the CO2 emissions are greater - to the tune, in the case of the 1.4-litre petrol version tested here, of 21g/km, which makes a difference of two VED bands and, from April 2010, £45 per year in tax payments.Despite all that, you might still prefer an automatic Fiesta over a manual, and this one certainly attracted the attention of an elderly couple of my acquaintance who are thinking of buying a new car soon.But they crossed it off their list very quickly because of something that I have mentioned in nearly article I've written about the current Fiesta, and wasn't going to bring up again in this one. "The rear windows aren't very big, are they?" they said. "How can you see out when you're reversing?" I said it was indeed a problem.Other Fiesta characteristics are more welcome. It feels like a quality car, it runs very quietly (as all the petrol-engined versions do) and it's surprisingly effective on a long motorway journey; I covered several hundred miles in two days and would happily have done the same for the next two. And the handling is superb.The ride isn't up to much, though. The test car's Zetec trim meant it had 16" wheels and rather low-profile tyres, and there is not a single Fiesta which rides well with those fitted. If you want a Fiesta which truly feels as near to a luxury cruiser as a supermini can reasonably be expected to, you have to go down the counterintuitive route and pick a cheap one with small wheels. Engine 1388cc, 4 cylinders Power 96bhp Transmission 4-speed automatic Fuel/CO2 43.4mpg / 154g/km
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