Good car to own, but see the cons in the review. Review on Ford Ikon Flair

I purchased the car a year back till now there are now major problems cropped up  from this vehicle. I had made a trip from pune to chennai and back. It with-stood the long haul without any problem of 1000 kms a day . Total 3000 kms in fourdays  days . first and last day I clocked 1000 kms each

Only problem in roads between kohlapur and hubli , during  speeds above 150 km.hr you tend to loose the confidence over the  vehicle .May be because of quality of  bitumen roads is too smooth . The vehicle  sways a little . May be vehicle need a visit to a wind tunnel and a rear wing to keep the vehicle sway down.

ROCAM engine, means engine has roller follower for its  rocker , which reduces the friction in engine, earlier we used to use pad rockers for the actuation of valves, which is still available in maruti  as far as I know.

1. However speeds below 140, the feed back to driver is good. Meaty , sporty steering wheel  you will never have in any vehicles in india. You throw in to a corner the feed back you get is amazing, the chassis has been tuned excellently , keeping in mind JOSH brand . and it lives upto the image with ease.This is perfectly a drivers car, who knows how to handle the car.

   
   




2. The Peak torque comes around 2500 rpm , only engine to have this low end peak torque , all

   
   

other engines have it above 3300 till date I know in petrol engines in india

1. It does not  have peak in power compared to other 1.3 l engines . however who wants peak

power if it is not possible for the chassis to handle the same. Peak power is enough to cruise at

160 with full load

1. Gear knob is opt size and ergonomically placed and throw is perfect for its  sporty character

Amazing brakes, the bite it too strong sometimes , comparing hyundai or maruti , where you to

literally have to stand over the pedal to have it  stop. ABS is missing ? may be ford think about it . I

hope with kind of bite in brakes, we need to change the brake pads frequently.

1. Atlast  no confusing exi, sxi, lxi , vxi   -- only one version , Which has power windows for all doors,

comes with a ordinary music system, which I have changed to sony and sufficiently loaded with

other features. I really love the configuration hope most of them will be happy with the configuration

1. Controls and dash board lighting are clear and cool.

   
   




2. Dealer provided floor mat, mud flap and central locking without bargain

   
   




3. Impressive thud when closing the doors, which gives the confidenece over the vehicle over its

   
   

build

Now the CONS :

1. Missing remote boot , (was the engineer drunk while taking a decision to remove remote boot )

   
   




2. Gap between bonnet and the front grill (seems the bonnet is always open)

   
   




3. Insufficient or impractical space in dash board. ( you can't keep anything - even a 1 liter water

   
   

bottle and in my case a bottle of beer ? had to finish in one go ).

4.Rear view mirror is too small. you have to concentrate on the mirror for more than a second

during dawn and dusk to see anything behind

1. BIW guys have wasted  too much space inside the cabin

6.Suspension is too good for highway driving and cornering, but city like pune, where you could

hardly find a road without a  pot- ( this word is not allowed by mouth shut), we need a little softer

suspension  - trade off accepted !

7. Ash tray present, but Cigaratte lighter missing ?

1. Found some leakage around the fuel rail- around the second injector. Showed to planet ford.

Service person , said it is ok . I confronted saying that if fuel is less in one cylinder. It may cause a

problem with crankshaft balancing , in due course it may cause higher amount of wear, as a

consequential damage. But no body to listen. Hope they cleaned with a cloth said, it is ok .

1. First few thousand kms the fuel consumption was close to 10kmpl, after the first service it

improved to 12. After second service it went to 14kmpl.(I heard they flash ECU after the first and

second service). I don't belive 2500 km running in gives 40% increase in mileage

10.  Service from Planet ford - pune has not been so good , may be because the technicians are not

trained well by ford . Ford training centre any answer ?

1. warranty 1 year ? - ( Do see GM with 3years /1Lakh - another US manufaturer)

12.Spares are too costly, and the AC blowing out hot air is well known problem with Ikon, so go for

extended warranty costed me 5K for second year . AC valve alone will cost you 4K.

1. Arm rest in the left would have made longer drive better and comfortable( can be done after

market   too)

1. Lacquer coating over the paint is less and scratches are inevitable

15.It doesn't have rear defogger, which may be little painful during rains.

1. When fully loaded, the vehicle comes down. There is a very little gap between rear wheel and

the wheel arch. Vehicle doesn't look good from outside.

Atlast now a new ford ikon flair is about to be launched, which cost less and one version comes

with  1.4 liter TDCI engine, which is currently working with fiesta diesel. Which will be good bargain.

Over above that the 1.3 liter ROCAM costs less , about 4.5lakh