Exterior Bought a white Figo and it really looks figo (cool). It sure is not striking in its looks, but with ambiance and practicality in mind, this is the best package available. And also is pleasing on the eye. Looks good in white. Figo white is better than any white available.
Interior (Features, Space & Comfort)
Features: Its got everything minus the plush feel of a Polo/i20. But this too has got a feel of its own Better than the Maruthis (Ritz and Swift). The gear knob silver finish, bottle holders, handbrake feel are nice. Seat height adjust is a dream feature. You simply sit on the floor of the vehicle when you drive on highways and gobble up miles with ease. Ambiance is very good. Reversing the car is also easy with the outside view.
Reversed wiper and indicator sticks could have been avoided, but once you get used to them, this should not be difficult. Co-passenger can feel the gear shift if he/she has his/her legs rested on the middle panel. The plastic used here could have been different. There is ample space for 3 adults in the back with enough leg room at the rear. No compromises here. Boot is also a big plus. These are all standard. Read this space elsewhere.
Comfort: Rear seats have good under-thigh support unlike the Maruthis. Should be good for long drives with 4 passengers. No complaints from the rear benches.
Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Performance: Easily beaten by competition. With AC, Maruthis perform better. So does i20. But there should be no complaints on your Figo. Once it gets to 1800 RPM, power kicks in. And it is fun to drive. Performance wise, it beats the Punto 1.2 and matches the beat/Polo/Micra. Maruthis fare better here.
Fuel economy: My latest update from the review elsewhere: It returned close to 17 Kmpl on the highway yesterday. (Mysore Bangalore with a little heavy traffic). Ciry, these days, it returns close to 12 with AC (30%) of the time. [Bangalore, you dont need AC most of the time]
This is pretty cool I would say. It was returning very bad mileage for the first 1000 Kms. The 1000-1500 Km has been a little surprising. I would settle for a 14 average.
Gearbox is excellent. Could compare with the i20. Way better than the Punto/Micra.
Ride Quality & Handling Ride is the best (Probably the heaviest cars of them all, the Punto could match with this). Bad roads dont hustle this a bit. Maruthis cant even come close.
Handling: Again the best. 175 rubber is doing its job. Hydraulic power steering (Only available on the Jazz and Figo) makes city driving a breeze. Tight reversing also is the best. Low stance and wide rubber also helps on highways. Did somebody say Ford cars are the best handling cars in India? They are right.
Final Words I am pleased.
Ford have improved their localization. Spares are cheaper than Maruthi (They claim). So has overall cost reduced. They have the best package considering the price and also not considering the price.
Areas of improvement They can bring a newer version of a 1.2 engine to beat the Maruthis in their game.
3000 Km Post first service Update
Niggles:
Rear suspension sounds heard while going on large humps and with Audio OFF.
But this got sorted out after one long drive. No attention was required.
When 2 paired bluetooth phones come into vicinity of the Audio system bluetooth, one of the phones misbehaves. (The problem was seen with my phone and not with my wife's phone, I guess, its a problem with my phone alone)
There was a slight steering rattle after a long drive on a trecherous road (Mysore-Nanjungood), but this again got sorted out within the next few kilometers
The rear window rolls down few millimeters often and for causes unknown. I guess, this is because of the rear passengers legs rest on the window roll handle.
Audio system is the best. One of my friends asked me if I had the speakers changed. But a niggle, when the car starts, The audio switches OFF and ON and not necessarily starts from where it had left (1 out of 3 times, the system rolls back 2 songs). (USB). Not sure if this is a problem on our car alone, but not a worry and are not going to get it fixed.
The clearance is another topic which is discussed a lot. Off late, there have been very little incidents of the car bottoming. Mostly because, I have learnt to drive around the problem. Hit the breaker at a 20deg angle and it is all sorted. If you still hit the bottom, rest assured that any other small car would have hit the breaker. Its not the problem with the clearance, but is because of the longish wheelbase. A 5% more chance of bottoming when compared to the Swift. (Does this ease a few nerves?)
What we liked:
The petrol engine keeps improving with every kilometer we drive. I am really liking the response on the highways these days.
Overtaking cars is not an issue at all. I cant see why everyone likes the Figo diesel more than the petrol.
Having driven the Swift diesel and the Figo petrol on highways: Initially, when Figo was new, I used to like the turbo charged Swift for the highways, but now am enjoing the Figo more than the Swift, probably because of the linear power delivery and also matching performance even without the turbo (1500-2500 range)
Low seating with the seats down is also very useful. No fatigue even after long drives (400 Kms in a day)
Bad roads? Dont avoid the road, go for it. (Only Punto can match the ride on very bad roads, nothing else can, Havent tried the Polo yet)
Had a small shunt from the back yesterday, and nothing happend to both the cars. Figo has a neatly designed rear bumper
which has a black fender which meets the impact. Also, the bumper is very flexible and takes a lot of impact without breakage.
Electrically adjustable mirrors work perfect. A neat must have feature. (The mirrors have a 3 component build. If broken, just replace the part that is broken, and not the whole mirror)
Mileage is good. This car has run a little more than 3000 Kms and averages 15.5 on highways. (On my last waynad trip; a mix of very bad roads, Bangalore Mysore highway, Bad Kerala fuel, Edakal caves incline (1st gear), 2nd gear hairpins)
Considering the Bangalore-Mysore highway alone, it averaged 17.6 (The best yet). Less than 500 rupees fuel for a 150 Km trip is cheaper than a bus for two.
The DTE feature works well, but is always in the face. It keeps reminding us that the petrol prices are 63 per liter :( everytime we start the engine.
Headlights work perfect for Indian conditions. High beam works well for night highway driving. But the switch is to be operated using the left hand which takes a second away.
Steering and handling is perfect. This is the benchmark for any small car. Driving on winding roads is fun. City driving was never so easy before. Reverse parking, sharp turns, reversing on a busy road/ narrow road are all very easy. (Easier than our Alto)
Road noise is pretty isolated with the windows rolled up. This with the good audio system can take you into a dream world when inside.
Switchgear is neat and feels good to operate.
Wipers work perfect.
In all, the best small car for the Indian roads and for us as well. Check the teambhp website for the Online polls and a lot of comments for the Car of the year. Figo beats all its competition by a fair margin.
