After driving my car for ~8, 000 kms in the last 3 months, here is the first hand experience of what this car will offer you.
Ultimate driver’s car : Whether you’re in Bangalore’s bumper to bumper traffic or on long straight express ways (Bangalore - Nagercoil) or the winding ghats (Bangalore - Munnar), this car will impress any driver who loves driving. The suspension is set-up to give you razor sharp handling and the engine always have enough torque to pull from as low as 1200 RPM!!! There is no turbo-lag for the diesel.
The low ground clearance myth : This car has never scraped its bottom even with 3 passengers. Only because of my fault (missed to see a speed breaker with 4 heavy weights sitting in my car) the car has scratched its bottom.
Price : This is the lowest priced car in the market now for a fully loaded variant, with so much of space and other creature comforts. While the Figo Duratorq Titanium costs 7.20lakhs after all discounts + 25k worth of accessories, the Swift is at 8.84lakhs; the Liva at 7.80Lacs; U-VA at 8.57lacs & i20 at a whopping 9.38 lacs.
Fuel Average : Driving always with the A/C on... I am getting ~17kmph on highways while driving between 80~150 kmph & 14kmph in city.
Engine & Transmission : The NVH levels of this engine is quite high compared to other small capacity diesels. Primary reason...this is a decade old SOHC Common rail block. However, drive this car and the engine impress you with its torque and smooth delivery of power. There is no peeky power delivery like the Swift engine or the i20. This is more in the lines of a Liva or U-VA engine (however, not so silent). The gear box carries superb ratios which is well spaced and progressive. I’ve never ran out of power on this car so far. I’ve test driven both the 75HP & 90HP Puntos..neither of which would come close to the Figo in driveability. The i20 is too poor with the gearing in 2nd, but once it crosses 2000, the vehicle responds with an unusual urgency. The Liva & U-VA felt quite balanced in this department.
Steering & Suspension : Another highlight is the sporty suspension & sharp steering of Figo. Though it does not cushion all the anomalies of Indian roads, what it offer is superb control over any surface. The steering provides measured feedback which helps us in taking calculated moves on high speeds or in traffic.
ABS : Normally test drivers tend to ignore this. However, I wanted to make a special mention on the ABS & EBD of Figo since this is by far the best in action which I’ve experienced. While the Swift & Liva takes time to react which is very evident and an i20 which makes a loud sound(though the sharpest brakes) while kicking in the ABS, the Polo still does not offer the sharpness which we’d expect from the unit. It’s only on a Figo where I found it to be precise(balanced) and quickly checking-in to keep the car in control... Simply loves it! Btw, the Punto offers a faded brake feel.
Interiors : The car is quite spacious for 5 with a large boot. The music system is quite good compared to stereo supplied with Liva or U-VA. I felt the Swift’s 6 speaker unit to be better that Figo’s but the price difference of more than 1lakh 60 thousand was too much for me. The plastic quality is OK. Btw, the 2013 Figo’s Blue dashboard which comes as standard with the Titanium variant is nothing but re-paited red dashboard from the 2012 Figo. The front seats are just too good, where the back seat cushions are hard. They do not feel plush though my poor mom who sat on it for hours at length complimented the car!! :|
The rear windows panes will not roll down completely and does not even come with power windows. The car badly needs an automatic air conditioning (an aftermarket unit just costs 4k. Dont know why Ford cant incorporate the same in a car which customers would not mind paying such premium for). An automatic unit would improve the fuel efficiency and A/C life dramatically.
Exteriors : Looks are generally customer dependent and I feel the car looks chic. It looks as good as a Swift and better than a U-VA or Polo (acco" to me). The paint quality is good on my car. However, has seen a lot of orange-peel effect on other Figos (mostly petrol variants!!!). Now that I clay & regularly wax my car, chances are that the paint looks more even. The exterior plastic demands thorough waxing, which otherwise will start to look faded in a month’s time.
After sales support(Lathangi Ford) : The red color(original) already sharted to show up thru the blue dashboard on my car and for the past 1 month and 10days I’ve been following up with them to get a replacement. Everytime I call the response is... "Sir the item will be shipped in 2days from Ford factory. Will call you back once the same arrives." !!! Then I again call to listen to the standard response... This is Pathetic.
The body shop manager agreed me for a teflon coating(and charged me INR 3, 800 + 2800 for underbody coating), which was done quite shabbily. Even after reporting this, they did not bother to fix the issues. I finally bought car wax and polished it myself, which is looking much better that what the ’3M certified’ guys have done using professional detailing products and buffing machine!!
I’m having difficulty in engaging the first and reverse gear and after 3 inspections and repair, it still is the same. The gear would not engage..especially in reverse. Though the service engineers agree that the issue is genuine, they do not have a solution than to ’adjust’ the clutch or ’lubricate the lining’. I need to escalate this to Ford team now for support.
The spare prices are as expensive as a Swift and have seen that it is in the range of INR 5, 000 per 10, 000 kms, which is fairly reasonable. However, I am planning to change oil every 5000 kms going forth to improve the engine life.
General :
I am using fuel additives, not to improve mileage but to retain the quality of the combustion, keep the filters and Oxygen sensors clean.
The fog lights are not of much help though it tremendously improve the looks.