Based on a shortened Fiesta platform and an old but revised Endura-E engine, Ford has brilliantly developed a supreme small car with limited budget. The chassis is actually stronger than Fiesta, in addition to the already impressive Fiesta suspensions setup, Ka provides astonishing handling and ride ever appeared in a supermini. No competitor can match its chassis, including Polo, 106 and Fiesta.  

Besides, what the Fiesta lacks became the strongest points in Ka - pretty and artistic styling ( one of my favourite designs of all time ), highest build quality, brilliant packaging which enhances interior space despite of small dimensions, and the young-looking interior design.  

If it had a better engine, it would have scored our highest rating. What a pity, Ford did not put its excellent 1.25 litres Zetec SE engine into Ka. Instead, a well proven but slightly improved sohc 8-valver is used. Although quite quiet and torquey, its maximum output of 59hp is not enough to match with the dynamic chassis. We hope Ford would think about our suggestion. Ka is just one small step away from perfect. 
 

SportKa

Its widened wheelarches and 16-inch low-profile tires look like serious on handling, but its talent is single-sided. It is grippy and it rolls little, but it lacks inspiration to the driver. Yes, the European Ford is engineered in Germany, so it cares only about high-speed stability and ignores how important oversteering is to hatches. Luckily, the ride is good enough to take on even the bumpy B-roads. 

SportKa is the twins sister of the StreetKa. Both cars share the same styling tweaks around bumpers and wheelarches. The single-cam 1.6-litre 95hp engine is the same, so are the wheels, firmer suspension setting, bigger brakes, transmission etc. The tin-top SportKa is 127kg lighter than the cabriolet StreetKa, this account for its performance gain. 

The SportKa does not meet our expectation for a hot version of the widely acclaimed Ka. Disappointingly, it comes too late and goes the wrong direction. 
 

StreetKa

Why? because StreetKa was designed by the once-famous Ghia studio in Turin in early 2000, before Ford sacked 95% of its staffs. The design got the approval from Ford thanks to its pretty look and, more important, low cost layout. Obviously, it is built around a Ford Ka. Clever wheelarch panels change the shape of the headlamps and widen tracks (by 22mm front, 35mm rear) to ensure better handling. Lower and more steeply raked windscreen contribute to a coupe feel. New bumpers look more sporty. Swoopy rear end with new rear lights, neat hood cover and chromed rollover bars look just like TT Roadster. Ghia proves that a complete change of visual effect is not necessarily expensive.  

The production StreetKa was refined by Pininfarina because it is also manufactured there. Ford’s accountant found that projection sales is just 20,000 cars per year, not justify to set up a new production line by itself. At the same time, Pininfarina has a plant with a lot of unused capacity due to the death of Fiat Coupe and Peugeot 306 Cabriolet, thus a deal with Ford was made. Therefore, StreetKa has Latin blood in its body. It is designed by Italian and built in Italy with many components coming from Spain where Ka is made. 

Unfortunately, cost concern limits StreetKa in many ways. Firstly, the interior is virtually unchanged from the cheap Ka - the same early-90’s organic design, hard and shinny plastic. Secondly, the roof is a manually-operated fabric soft roof. How can this compete with the popular electric folding hardtop from its rivals, namely Peugeot 206 CC and Daihatsu Copen? even Smart Roadster has the option for electric soft roof, while the little Ford doesn’t. Thirdly, the StreetKa is powered by a bigger and more powerful engine in relation to the standard Ka, but it is just a 95hp single-cam 2-valve-per-cylinder 1.6-litre from the South African Ford Ka. Better than the standard car’s 1.3 push-rod design, but too outdated compare with the 16-valver from Peugeot. It is noisy at over 4500rpm and lacks punch to cope with the 1061kg kerb weight. 0-60mph takes more than 11 seconds, too slow. 

The chassis is better. Basically, Ford Ka is always good at handling. Base on its chassis, StreetKa uses stiffer suspensions - stiffer front springs, rear torsion-beam axle taken from the late Puma - and 195/45 VR16 wheels and tires to improve handling. Bigger brakes come from Focus. Its chassis isn’t as strong as the tin-top car, but reinforced rear bulkhead and the rollover bars make it strong enough for a convertible. The result is sure-footed cornering. Steering is faithful, ride is supple, body roll is well checked, grip level is high. However, perhaps the tires are too wide. The power is too weak to overcome the grip limit, thus it is far more difficult to induce lift-off oversteering than the standard Ka. This means StreetKa actually delivers less fun to drive.