Apr 13, 2010 01:25 AM
11261 Views
(Updated Jul 15, 2010 08:31 PM)
I sold my 11 years santro and now in search of a family hatch for the last 5 months.
Initially I wanted to buy a preowned sedan and test drove pre owned honda city, fiesta diesel, sx4, baleno, esteem. After knowing the gimmicks of used car market, I finally dropped the idea of buying a used sedan and decided upon buying a new hatchback.
Test drove, Spark, Swift (both Petrol and diesel), Santro, Beat, Astar, Estillo, Wagon R, Alto, Maruti 800, Indica (petrol & diesel), i10 kappa. Liked spark a lot among all the above (its a bang for the buck) but my brother who is 6' had severe problems getting in and out of it.
On returning home I saw the figo banner near a ford showroom & went there for a test drive. At around 2 PM on NH-5 (vizag) the roads are clear. I started the car and kept the A/c in 1. The car has solid pickup in first gear. but it gets rich earlier and then I shifted to second. suddenly there is no power for a few seconds. Later, the power increased linearly and I shifted to third gear. the pick up is solid and I just felt this familiar.
Immediately, I asked the showroom guy, is it a diesel? he said yes.
It reminded me the fiesta diesel that I drove earlier. The A/c is also like the fiesta, cools the cabin very fast. the steering is also like fiesta. I touched 80kmph and slowed down to take a u turn in fourth gear. With four persons on board, and A/c on the car continued effortlessly. There is minor body roll, but the seats support you well. This impressed me a lot. I returned back to the showroom and asked when could I test drive the petrol. they said they will come to my home after 2 days. But I left to Kolkata that night. I registered myself on the ford website for a test drive of figo. After a week I again got a chance to test drive figo. Three people came with the car to my home with a figo. I was very eager to drive it but disappointed because it was a diesel again. They said they will bring petrol figo next week.
So I went for another test drive on the diesel one. This car was in bad condition, scratched, interiors were dirty and the engine is making sound (from the outside). I sat inside rolled up the windows (tolerable engine sound now). I kept the A/c off and went to an open stretch (4km long). This time there is no power drop in 2nd gear (without A/c). The gear box is better than spark, beat & wagon R but not as smooth as swift and santro. I touched 150 kmph, the showroom guy pressed my shoulder hard and I pressed the brake hard. Brakes are decent not like the jerky ones in Fiesta. Both speed test and brake test completed.
There are no "disturbing" vibrations in the dashboard, windows, steering, clutch pedal, brake pedal, accelerator pedal or gear level. But there is noise. Noise is high during idle and the windows open. The noise diminishes gradually once you cross 30 kmph.The noise is acceptable upto 80 kmph even without the music player on. The noise is manageable upto 120 kmph if music player is on. after 120kmph, you have to increase the music player volume to beat the engine noise. If you roll up your windows, noise is manageable at any speed.
Showroom guy said that it gives a mileage of 18 kmpl even under worst driving conditions. After this test drive I dropped the idea of buying spark. My brother also liked the Figo. Now the deciding factor is if the petrol version also gives the same excitement, I will definitely go for it. Because it costs 1 lakh less and is within my budget.
Finally, if in any case I did n't like the figo petrol after test drive, then its decided, I will book Ford Figo Duratorq TDCi Exi.
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21/04/2010 (Ford Figo Duratec Titanium 1.2 Petrol)
Today I test drove the Ford Figo Petrol Titanium Model. The test drive was arranged by Ganges Ford Kolkata. They came all the way to Haldia (150 km from Kolkata) for about 5 or 6 people who registered in the Ford website for a test drive.
Since everything is common with the diesel variant except the engine, I will just tell about the engine.
I started the car and kept the A/c on in "2". With 4 members on board the car lugged very well in all gears. I drove the car on an straight road of about 2 km. The car reached 80 kmph effortlessly (with a/c on). There is a sporty roar from the engine as you build up speed. Clutch is soft. The sporty roar from the engine may also make you feel that your are driving at a higher speed (but there is no vibration). I continued to drive at 80 kmph till I was behind a truck. I slowed down to 40 kmph and followed it for sometime. Later I overtook the truck and continued at 80kmph. All this happened in the fifth gear itself. After reaching the end of the road, I took a u turn and kept the A/c off and started the pedal to metal test.
This car reaches 80kmph easily (with or without A/c) and reaches 120 kmph in decent time. The road is only 2km long and so I could not touch top speeds. After 120 kmph the progress is slow.
The showroom guy told that the mileage will be 12kmpl with A/c and 14-15 kmpl without ac.
In my opinion, A/c is good. Got good space for 5 people and has good stability at speeds above 100kmph. The figo petrol is more suitable for people looking for a family hatch.
If you can forget that this car has 1.2L engine, this car is better than Wagon R, Estillo, Santro Xing and i10 Era (1.1L). and comes in the same price range.
BY THE WAY I bought Figo 1.4TDCi Zxi on 25th May 2010..
Already drove 1500 km. getting 16.5 - 17.5 kmpl (1st service due). My driving consists of 50% in 5th gear and 70% A/c. I expect the fuel efficiency may increase 1-2 kmpl after 1st service.
I will post a detailed review on my Figo once I am past 3000km mark
