The 2011 Ford Fiesta has kind of got my attention. Has anyone played with the radio in one of these? How bad does the AM sound & what is the AM/FM reception like? FM selectivity? Can't tell from the stock photos what kind of antenna is used.
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2011 Ford Fiesta Radio
- Thread starter BobOnTheJob
- Start date
M
Mid West Clubber
Guest
I can tell you that at least reception wise, Ford Stock radios are very good for sens, and selc.. the AMs arent all that great, they tend to have alot of noise when the engine is running, especially when you hit the gas.. but dont let the radio stop you from buying a car you really like,, if its a standard radio not built into the dash, you can always replace it down the road.. i have a 97 ford contour, and FM recpetion is the best for sensitivity and selectivity of any radio i have had. AM on any Factory radio is about average at best, especially when driving, which is what the purpose of the car is RIGHT.. GM factory radio are really good too, mainly for sound quality, I dont think the FM is quite as good as a fords, but its darn near close... just avoid Chrysler Products,, they tend to have by far the worse radios,, even on the expensive cars like the 300.
I travel in my work, so I get to sample lots of different makes. I haven't driven a Fiesta, but in general Ford radios are usually pretty good....although I've found GM radios to usually be slightly better. I agree that Chrysler radios are below average, and that noise from the engine can be a problem. Hyundai radios are probably the worst....which is a little surprising given that the overall quality of their cars has improved quite a bit over the last decade or so.
My wife drives a Mercedes ML 350. Radio is terrific on FM, but horrible....and horrible sounding, even with Bose sound....on AM. Complete with loads of engine noise. But this problem is only on AM. One feature of the radio I like is it that it has weather band....which blows away any portable I've ever heard, and makes for some interesting DXing.
Me? I drive a '99 Buick LeSabre beater that I bought new, but now with over 250,000 miles. Original equipment radio still performs beautifully. All that driving and still virtually zero engine noise (and the car still runs great). Best of all as a DX machine, I'll simply paraphrase one professional radio reviewer and say "it sniffs out weak signals like a trained pig sniffs out buried truffles"!
My wife drives a Mercedes ML 350. Radio is terrific on FM, but horrible....and horrible sounding, even with Bose sound....on AM. Complete with loads of engine noise. But this problem is only on AM. One feature of the radio I like is it that it has weather band....which blows away any portable I've ever heard, and makes for some interesting DXing.
Me? I drive a '99 Buick LeSabre beater that I bought new, but now with over 250,000 miles. Original equipment radio still performs beautifully. All that driving and still virtually zero engine noise (and the car still runs great). Best of all as a DX machine, I'll simply paraphrase one professional radio reviewer and say "it sniffs out weak signals like a trained pig sniffs out buried truffles"!
The stock radio in my 2008 Honda Civic is apparently very good, with great FM selectivity as well as good AM though the AM sound is OK. I could hear KDKA Pittsburgh just south of Lynchburg, VA about 215 miles away. I have not tested radios in other vehiles in the last few years, however, I have read that radios in some German vehicles perform porrtly in the audio, especially BMWs.
I know a lot of people don't like in-glass antennas, but mine seem to work well in hearing distant AM stations.
I know a lot of people don't like in-glass antennas, but mine seem to work well in hearing distant AM stations.
The factory radio in my 2005 Ford Focus is OK on FM although separation isn't that great, but it's too weak on AM. Chrysler radios must be worse now than in past years. The factory radio in my 2005 Dodge Caravan is great on AM and FM. I also had a 2002 PT Cruiser with the same model radio and it was great too.
I have a 05 Crown Vic with CD and cassette. I THOUGH I had a crappy AM tuner (I live in Central Mass) as there is a lot of external noise; when driving in IL and IA etc reception was great. So before we knock the radio, let's consider one's location.
The FM tuner is good to VG, no complaints.
The AM part of the radio on my last car, a 2005 Vibe, was outstanding, however. Crazy good in the midwest. FM was good-along lines of radio locator contours but no more.
Think about it; if the car manuf. cannot put in a decent radio in with today's technology, you wonder where other areas of the vehicle are being nickel and dimed.
The FM tuner is good to VG, no complaints.
The AM part of the radio on my last car, a 2005 Vibe, was outstanding, however. Crazy good in the midwest. FM was good-along lines of radio locator contours but no more.
Think about it; if the car manuf. cannot put in a decent radio in with today's technology, you wonder where other areas of the vehicle are being nickel and dimed.
vibe said:
I'm convinced that that the car makers are now more interested in pushing satellite radio, DVD players, Navigational systems, etc. rather than AM or FM or even CD, which are only there because it's considered a base item.
cyberdad said:
So we'd be interested in knowing what you picked up on the weather band in the Mercedes. I have to laugh when I think about it, my friend had a BMW Z3 and he didn't even know he had weather band on his car radio. I believe it was a Blaupunkt C33 Radio. I said to him: "what's this button do, it's marked WB?" And lo and behold, after I pressed the WB button, the NOAA broadcast came on. He was impressed!
stormy01 said:
In two years of owning the vehicle, I still haven't given it a real serious listen. Most of my drives in the wife's car are short errands around town on Saturday mornings. On longer drives, she's with me and can't stand more than tuning in for just the local forecast. Let alone allowing me to DX! On longer trips the radio has a cool feature where what it does when you turn it on....or tune to the weather band....is it automatically seeks the strongest local signal. So you quickly get a local forecast regardless of where you are. It's like simultaneously automatically hitting the scan button when you turn the radio on.
But to answer your question, when I have fooled around with it here in Mc Henry County, I regularly get downtown Chicago, Rockford, Lockport and Milwaukee (which I think is actually a suburban location). Usually....and especially during tropo season...there's stuff in the background of the more distant stations. But I've never taken the time to identify it...although I'm sure it'd be worth doing. Mrs. Cyberdad has some travel coming up next month, while I'll be home with her car....so maybe when I have more than just a few minutes at a time in the car I'll make it a point to check it out.
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