Figo: Power meets buyability. Review on Ford Figo

Drove Figo ZXI from Bangalore to Srirangapatna to Somanathapura and back - 350 km round trip - with 4 adults and a baby boy of 1.5 yrs age.

First thing that impressed me about this car was its comfortable and steady handling at high speeds. Previously used to drive a Tata Indica V2 which would hold to the road at 120+ but still the steering would get shaky. Figo posed no such problems. Hit 150 kmph twice on the Mysore-Bangalore Expressway and the vehicle seemed to take it in a stride!! There was no moaning or groaning from the engine to push the horses and all this while not even crossing 3500 rpm on the meter!! The steering was extremely steady and relaxed at speeds of 130-140 on the curves of the expressway. The expect-able rolling was almost absent!!

Second thing I strongly liked about this car is the very powerful AC which dint impact the pickup of the car at all! The day in question was very hot and humid with the world outside the car seeming to be on the other side of Hades. The AC made absolutely no difference to the pickup even when trying to giddy up  in highest gear. This was a design factor to be considered by most car manufacturers in India by now (considering the fact that Bangalore has one of the best climates, cannot imagine a bad AC car in other places!!), but good to see that Ford had an eye for this detail...

Last but not the least likable factor is the mileage. We could juice the car for a 19 kmpl during the trip - one thing I would like to mention here is the pathetic state of the roads from Srirangapatna to Somanathapura and back to Mandya. The entire stretch of around 70 km nearly killed the joy of driving, had it not been for the decent suspension of the car. SO, 19 kmpl when driving at 130-150 kmph for 80% of journey and 15-30 kmph for 20% journey distance of pathetic mud roads is a VERY GOOD mileage I feel. Maybe the same car would give a 21-22 kmpl on a highway like NH4 (Bangalore-Chennai, Bangalore-Chitradurga, etc.)

The diesel variant of the Figo I drove also had an excellent music system which could tap the FM stations even at 40km outside Bangalore n still give good fidelity music playback! Another plus about the system is its bluetooth connectivity or pairing facility for up-to 5 phones simultaneously and capability to handle phone calls without lifting a finger or hand to hold the phone to ear :-) Apart from that it also has the USB, Aux-In, MP3, etc. capabilities which should satiate any music buff.

Coming to the build quality and other factors: The overall build quality is above par for a car of this segment (also considering the pricing). The interiors are spot-on with the original seat covers looking as good as an add-on cover. The seats are very ergonomically designed for superior drive comfort with head rests for all passengers. Personally, I feel the rear door inside should have had some additional space for stuffing the water bottles and other odds & ends, but its not a major set back for a car with so much creature comforts! The tires should have been 15" for an engine with such monstrous power in it, but the 14" still does a good job in the indian road conditions while adding a few kmpl to the mileage.The wipers do a good job of cleaning up the high amount of dust that is characteristic of Indian highways or roadways with the intermittent wiping option providing some relief to drivers who drive in drizzling conditions.

EXCEPT for the rear window (which killed a bit of the beauty, I feel) which doesn't close fully and needs manual pumping of the lever, overall the car does a nice job of being the perfect mate for the drive crazy Indian who has to cope with some of the toughest road conditions in world.