Life without EMI's or why I remapped my Ford Figo 1.4 Titanium
After 3.5 years and 70,000 kms the old girl was finally showing her age, the linear shove of the 8V Ford power-plant was getting glacial and made every overtaking manoeuvre a game of chicken with oncoming traffic. The itch to upgrade was well and truly in action and I set out to draw up a list of potential candidates:
Accused no 1:
Ford Ecosport
Being a satisfied Ford customer the first choice was logically another Ford, the Ecosport 1.5 TDCi,
The logic was further reinforced when I went for a TD of the Diesel Titanium and sat in the well contoured driver seat, it was snug, and to use a cliche, fit like a glove.
First impression - Wow
The engine was tractable, had sufficient grunt to make the Figo feel anemic and make me let out a whieeee every time I gave it the stick. The ride was firm and it took corners flat and did not make me defenestrate my lunch.
The salesperson was all agog about the fancy push to start thingy and chimed,
saar you don't have to take the key out of your pocket saar.
Initial impression, heart happy but brain wants to double check.
The logical choice started getting chips in its armour once I moved to the back seat, space at the back was miserly and I was feeling distinctively short changed.I know that the car has to duck under the sub 4m rule and hence this squeeze at the rear, but somehow the benefits of the front seat could not redeem the miserly rear seat.
So that sent the Ecosport out of contention.
Accused no 2:
Figo Aspire
A friend has a new Aspire diesel Titanium so took it for a TD. The engine was good, interiors were good, the EPS however left me wanting (spoilt by the HPS you see) and the biggest turn off, the beige interiors!
I am not exactly a fan of light interiors and the mental imagery of mud streaked interiors after a deluge put paid to the Aspire.
Accused no 3:
Rapid 1.5 DSG
Oh boy oh boy, this was my most anticipated car and the discounts further sweetened the deal, however my doubts about the longivity of the DQ 200 remained and since the car would be doing duty
in stop go traffic daily and this being my daily driver, I had to sadly let it go.
Why a remap:
In between all this
thamasha, I inquired on the buy back value of the Figo and the value quoted gave me angina, and well and truly sealed the fate of buying a new car.
That left me with no choice but to dress up the old girl.
The options left before me were either a Remap or a tuning box.
After reading pages and pages of debates about tuning boxes vs remaps, I took the plunge for a remap.
Much water has flown under the remap vs tuning box debate and I felt a remap would suit me better.
The search began for a tuner who would suit my purpose and I choose Code 6 for the good reviews here and elsewhere and also for the fact that they would perform the remap at my convenience.
Calls were made and the day was fixed. The mandate was for driveability and in gear acceleration. Sajan turned up with his Laptop and interfaces, the connection was made and the map uploaded. After a few minutes tweaking the settings he asked me to go for a ride.
Initial impressions:
The car felt the same in the first gear, but the moment it hit 2k rpm in 2nd gear it felt eager, it was raring to gain speed and the speedo happily kept pace with the tacho.(Unlike previously wherein the speedo would be a distant second)
The thrust was so unlike the Figo and it was relentless into the 3rd, 4th and even in the fifth gear up to 4k rpm, by which time I ran out of road. He mentioned that the ECU was in the learning phase and would be
getting attuned to my driving style. It felt transformed and for the first time in its life, I could point-squirt to overtake.
I could now replicate the whieee I had in the Ecosport in the Figo. Overtaking was no longer a 5 year plan but a one day offer (OK I am exaggerating but you get the point)
Driveability was also much better and I had to consciously avoid going down a gear as I could afford to use the same gear when I slow down and I would still retain enough grunt to accelerate without getting bogged down.
I was told engine life would not suffer as the parameters are still within tolerance.
The map was not very aggressive and smoke levels were well controlled unless I went WOT. All in all, made for a happy customer!
Kitna deti hai!
This section is included purely for science.
My DTE usually shows 520 kms for a full tank of fuel.
Right now it is showing 550 kms on a full tank, despite all the high rpm testing.
I am not complaining.
I will update the DTE value once I drain this tank in a week.
Now comes the not so good bits:
I find the upsized tires wanting when I brake so looking into the possibility of getting stickier rubber.
It is recommended to change the engine oil at 5K in the interest of engine longevity.
What next:
I am happy with the car right now and nothing is planned.
A de-cat or squeezing in an intercooler in the next year maybe, wistful thinking.
Contact info:
You can contact code6 over their website.
Kitna hua:
The remap comes to 24K.
Is is worth is?
I am happy with it and feel that it has cured the itch to upgrade, at least for the moment.
The engine is a far cry from the agricultural one it used to be, I agree its no MJD yet, but it is surely a better Figo.
Would I recommend it, yes.
I have added all points I could think of, any more, please ask away.
Cheers!