Ford Figo TDCi Titanium Nine months and 20,000 Kms of falling in Love

[dhanushmenon]

From the run up I did to the materialisation of alloys on my vehicle, one thing which i learnt was that “Don’t fret too much for options which will suit your tastes to ideal. The more research you do, the more confused you’ll land up at the end of the day”.

Having said that at the outset, (and still confused) I upload the snaps of the alloys on my Red Figo. I did a lot of browsing and burnt a lot of fuel trying to find the best rims for my ride. I started out with wanting something which will accentuate the looks of my car and at the same time also unique. And towards the run up to it, my choices and wishlist went through sea changes without even me realising it. I was utterly confused and bitterly at sea with the choices of alloys. At the end of the day, with my head still on a spin, and an instantaneous blurt of excitation, i nodded “YES” to one set of wheels at the showroom.

It was only later that I realised that I have horribly gone way out of track from my initial requirements on the choice. (i.e of accentuating the looks and then being unique).
Now that the payment was done and the blood rush had restored to normal, thinking back, i realise that there were far better choices available to me which would have better suited my vehicle. But the confused self of me, over ridden by the instantaneous spurt of choice, did me in. The only thing left to me is to per force like the choice i made anyway.


Advice to others who are still in the hunt for the best set of alloys; please be adviced:
1) The alloys are for those who see your vehicle and not for you who sits inside
2) The more you hunt, the more confused you’ll be. The more confused you are, the worser your choice translates into.
3) Eventually, you’ll land up buying the first alloy which clicked in your mind. So why waste time and effort hunting for more???
4) At last and most importantly, being good to look at in the display rack does not mean that it will look good on your ride too


Please have a look at my alloys.

Afterall, my choice wasn’t that bad right? (Even if it’s so, I’ll gulp it down with a pinch of salt)

[vnabhi]

Alloys look great. But there are 8 holes for nuts Vs 4 on the car. What did you do to the other 4? The picture is not clear enough to find this out.

[shk 8896]

Great alloys ,Dhanush.This lipped alloy looks stunning on a Figo.How much did you pay? and did you get it from calicut?Please do a photoshoot of the car.Drive Safe
Sreehari

[akshay380]

Originally Posted by dhanushmenon

The car has held me in good stead for the past 16 and half months of my ownership. It does have the following problems which are already known:
1) ground clearance
2) weak headlamps
3) low seating position
4) involuntary engine shut down on sudden decelerations

Thanks for sharing the observations. Here is what I have heard wrt to 2011 Figos.
1) Firmed up suspension compared to 2010. I think Vina mentioned it. My Nov 2011 car personally did not hit anything carrying 5 adults and 2 kids over some pretty bad roads and bumps in Goa.
2) Heard that headlamps(bulbs) have been upgraded. I did not find any issue with existing setup so did not bother to check wattage.

You forgot to mention about the driving experience in +ves about the car. And your thread was helpful in finalizing my car. Thanks for that. Wish you many more happy Figo miles

[dhanushmenon]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Alloys look great. But there are 8 holes for nuts Vs 4 on the car. What did you do to the other 4? The picture is not clear enough to find this out.

Thanx for the compliments on the alloys. I did not do anything with the other four holes. i just left it blank. Now that you have mentioned that, is there anything i should do with those holes?

Originally Posted by shk 8896

Great alloys ,Dhanush.This lipped alloy looks stunning on a Figo.How much did you pay? and did you get it from calicut?Please do a photoshoot of the car.Drive Safe
Sreehari

It cost me Rs.13300 including alignment, balancing and nitrogen. (When the dealer flaunts his list of freebies, he mentions a whole lot of them like fitment nuts, steel valves, labour etc. However, those are supposed to be given anyway) I did not get it from calicut. I had finalised a deal with Bal tyres for scorpion alloys but my visit to calicut was cancelled and the deal got shelved by itself.
I got this from tyrex at NH Byepass in Cochin. For the photoshoot, i am looking forward for a drive to get some picturesque background

Originally Posted by akshay380

Thanks for sharing the observations. Here is what I have heard wrt to 2011 Figos.
1) Firmed up suspension compared to 2010. I think Vina mentioned it. My Nov 2011 car personally did not hit anything carrying 5 adults and 2 kids over some pretty bad roads and bumps in Goa.
2) Heard that headlamps(bulbs) have been upgraded. I did not find any issue with existing setup so did not bother to check wattage.

You forgot to mention about the driving experience in +ves about the car. And your thread was helpful in finalizing my car. Thanks for that. Wish you many more happy Figo miles

I am very happy and honoured to know that my thread was helpful in finalising your buying decision.

The positives were not detailed intentionally. When the car is new, everyone looks out for the positives and glaring negatives. But what people will look forward to in a 35k update, i felt, was the problems particularly faced in the period of ownership. For the people who were in the hunt or in stages of finalising their decision, this might be of greater value and hence obviated.

GC issue has been bothering me for a while. Skyline_GT has adviced upsizing to 185/ 65 which will give an additional clearance of 7 mm. My tyres are soon due for change and would be shifting to that.

The driving experience has been absolute bliss. It would be unfair if i compare it with the latest 90 Bhp Punto. Leaving that one apart, i felt the 1.4 TDCi of Figo is much better than similar spec engines of Maruti, Tata and fiats. I 20 CRDi requires a separate mention as that would stand a shade ahead of Figo. However, these are all small differences.
Everything boils down to how good the car behaves with you and to this end, i have been absolutely happy flashing teeth ear to ear. I specifically like the absence of turbolag unlike the Fiat engines. The ride comfort, handling, gearing and steering controls are all spot on enabling me to whip the car in and out of tight spots and turns.
In the long run, i have been completely happy with my decision of buying this car and have been smiles all the way


That you have mentioned the driving experience and engine performance, figo_mba and a few others have installed a race chip in their figos. From what i hear the mod seems to be a league by itself. I am eagerly looking forward to TDing one pretty soon. (figo_mba, are you reading this?)

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by dhanushmenon

GC issue has been bothering me for a while. Skyline_GT has adviced upsizing to 185/ 65 which will give an additional clearance of 7 mm. My tyres are soon due for change and would be shifting to that.

The driving experience has been absolute bliss. It would be unfair if i compare it with the latest 90 Bhp Punto. Leaving that one apart, i felt the 1.4 TDCi of Figo is much better than similar spec engines of Maruti, Tata and fiats. I 20 CRDi requires a separate mention as that would stand a shade ahead of Figo.

Won't upscaling your wheels affect warranty?

As regards 1-20, it has a better top whack and more refined engine. It also has more space and better looks. But it suffers from huge turbo lag below 2000 rpm, like the Fiat engines. This apart, the feather-light steering does not inspire confidence on high-speed runs. The Figo scores much better on this front.

The i-20 also has big time problems with AC effectiveness during summers, especially for those on the rear seat. The quality of the OEM ICE is not on par with the Figo.

IMO, it is not worth the extra money over the Figo.

[dhanushmenon]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Won't upscaling your wheels affect warranty?

As regards 1-20, it has a better top whack and more refined engine. It also has more space and better looks. But it suffers from huge turbo lag below 2000 rpm, like the Fiat engines. This apart, the feather-light steering does not inspire confidence on high-speed runs. The Figo scores much better on this front.

The i-20 also has big time problems with AC effectiveness during summers, especially for those on the rear seat. The quality of the OEM ICE is not on par with the Figo.

IMO, it is not worth the extra money over the Figo.

+1 to that. Very true and aptly put to words.

Well yes, up sizing will affect the warranty to suspension. But i am already 36000 Kms old & 17 months and counting. I am taking a calculated risk. The up sizing from 175/ 65 to 185/ 65 is only 2.17% or so which is well within the realms of sanity and safety. This should not create that big a problem to the suspension. In case of any issues, I'm anyway preserving my old tires. I'll simply replace it and drive it straight to the ford SC.

From the feed backs i collected, the ride and handling appears to have only bettered with this. The grip on the road has improved as also have the feel of the vehicle. So, i think I will go ahead with it

[akshay380]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Won't upscaling your wheels affect warranty?

IIRC, the suspension warranty is valid for 35K/1year. You may want to check on that too.

[dhanushmenon]

Did 40,000 Kms servicing a few days back with the odo reading 41300.

Total cost came to Rs 3124/- after the "figo 2 yr celebration service campaign" discounts and offers. The initial bill was Rs 4250/-

40,000 Km update

1) The car is responding quite well and cruising smooth without any problems.
2) The ECM update has solved the problems of involuntary engine shutdowns as of now. I haven't faced any for the last 6,000 Kms.
3) The mileage is steady hovering around 17 kmpl in normal drive conditions (50% highway and 50% city) with 100% AC and 19 Kmpl on Highways.
I havent been consistent highway drives recently. These days, my drives are all short ones not extending for more than an hour at the max. I am sure the fuel efficiency figures will be better or consistent highway drives.
4) No signs of ageing of the car (read- rattles or squeaks). Build quality seems to be holding to the test of time and use.
5) Ground clearance issue is something which i have learnt to live with now
6) The engine is still responding very well with smooth and linear acceleration characteristics

Req to mods: Please append thread heading to : "41000 Km update on page 4"

[dhanushmenon]

Stumbled upon this landmark today.



Off late i have been having some clatter from the engine. Like some tappet noise. It is very prominent at idle with the windows rolled up. When the windows are down, it gets submerged with the engine noise. Got to get that checked up ASAP

[RaiderZ]

Congratulations Dhanushmenon on crossing the 60606 mark that I too happened to achieve yesterday .
So did you change your tyres to 185/65/r14? Which brand did you go for?
Even I plan to upgrade to the same spec after my next service (after more 4k kms).

[dhanushmenon]

Originally Posted by RaiderZ

Congratulations Dhanushmenon on crossing the 60606 mark that I too happened to achieve yesterday .
So did you change your tyres to 185/65/r14? Which brand did you go for?
Even I plan to upgrade to the same spec after my next service (after more 4k kms).

Wow. Congrats on your achievement too. Hope the blue oval gave you all happiness through out the 60k long mile munching.

Yes. I did change to 185/65/ r 14. Michelin XM 2. What a fantabulous set of tyres man!! Smooth and supple. People in other threads say that it makes noise, but I did not feel so.

I changed it at an odo of 42k somethings. That was in may 2012. Had cost me 18500 for the set of four (all costs included of nuts, nitrogen, fitting, alignment etc). I think the cost had gone up now. When u bought it was freshly launched.

No troubles yet. I would recommend it to you

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by dhanushmenon

Yes. I did change to 185/65/ r 14. Michelin XM 2. What a fantabulous set of tyres man!! Smooth and supple. People in other threads say that it makes noise, but I did not feel so.

Do you experience any scraping of front tyres whenever you are taking U-turn or sharp turns? Just wanted to know if I should upsize whenever my cars tyres are due for change.

Also, as handling is quite good with stock tyre size, did the upsize affect the handling in any way? What are your observations of last 18k kms?

[vnabhi]

I too went in for Michellin XM2 tyres of 185/65/14 profile on the date of delivery of my Figo. I paid Rs 19200 for a set of 4, including balancing and Nitrogen filling. But I got back Rs 12000 for the stock Apollos. So no sweat. I've faced not a single issue of bottoming out so far. Nor did I face any issue of scraping when taking U turns. Even the dealer agreed to my proposal to upsize, as I had a good rapport with him already on account of my Fiesta.

The Michellins are so good that the handling and comfort of the Figo is better than my Fiesta which runs on stock MRFs. I'll certainly change this summer for XM2s of the same profile, after crossing 40 K on the Fiesta.

@dhanushmenon---did you get your engine noise checked up? Please don't delay, as a stitch in time saves nine.

[dhanushmenon]

Originally Posted by shipnil

Do you experience any scraping of front tyres whenever you are taking U-turn or sharp turns? Just wanted to know if I should upsize whenever my cars tyres are due for change.

Also, as handling is quite good with stock tyre size, did the upsize affect the handling in any way? What are your observations of last 18k kms?

No scrapings or anything untoward experienced till date. The upsize did not affect handling for me. She still effortlessly glides into tricky spots and the steering is spot on.

I would suggest that you upsize to 185/65 R 14 when you fall due. That's the best combo for figo. It will also give a small respite to the GC issues (if your car is of the older,2010/2011 versions). Anything more than r14 is not recommended as it may lead to scrapping of the tyres on the wall. That may also dislodge the shock absorber settings.

While on the topic of suspensions, if you upsize the tyres, ford may nullify the warranty for suspensions. They are actually looking for reasons to nullify it at the drop of a hat. Likewise, any alloys which is not OEM also stands a risk to void the warranty.

If you think your warranty is too pricey for you, check up with your local ford dealer before doing so.

Happy figoing


@ vnabhi. I am taking my car to the SC tomorrow. I am presently at a comparatively remote location and the nearest ford showroom is 90 kms away. They denied the service of pick up and drop and I've been left to fend my way. I have to take leave from office for this and tomorrow was what I could manage a long wait.

Your concerns are well appreciated. Thanks a lot