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-   -   Ford Figo-based compact sedan - The Aspire (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/144066-ford-figo-based-compact-sedan-aspire-42.html)

Yep, OT and the topic has been discussed to death here.

The British, well I guess are used to it as rest of Europe drives LHD cars and the Germans who I believe made stalks mainstream introduced it there.

The Koreans like you said drive on the right but RHD oriented stalks were made especially for India unlike the Germans who are adamant on giving us LHD stalks.

Its the Japanese who we are following in this respect. Right for light/indicators and left for wipers as it is more suited for LHD traffic what with our constant gearshifts and use of indicators and hi/low beams.

Again personal choice, but its the correct way for our traffic and most of our population are used to it, hence Fords appreciative move.

Following is the chat I had with an online Ford consultant on this issue:

Please wait for a Ford Consultant to respond.

You will be assisted by 'V. Tamilarasu'

V. Tamilarasu: Welcome To Ford India! How may I assist you today?

Hemant Kamat: Hello

V. Tamilarasu: Good Afternoon Mr. Kamat

Hemant Kamat: I'm looking at the ford aspire brochure

Hemant Kamat: The accessories page lists a 'Camera and GPS Display on IRVM'

Hemant Kamat: Does this car have GPS built-in?

V. Tamilarasu: I would like to inform you that satellite navigation is not available as an standard factory feature

V. Tamilarasu: You may purchase satellite navigation camera and gps display on IVRM as an accessory

Hemant Kamat: Ok, thanks.

Looks like GPS is bundled alongwith the IRVM. Technically, we could fit this onto any Ford vehicle. Here's hoping that Ford doesn't price it exorbitantly :)

Checked Aspire - top variant @ PVS Ford, Kannur

- Car is pretty good
- Interior felt airy and leather seat is nice
- ABS and Dual airbags standard in Titanium variant only, Titanium+ gets 6 airbags
- Boot - sheet metal felt light and cheap with exposed wires
- Door handle (inside) is light and filmsy
- Boot - better integrated than Dzire but still looks awkward

My rankings

Zest>Aspire>Xcent>Dzire>Amaze

Just got a call from the local dealer requesting me to come down to test drive the diesel MT or petrol AT 1.5. I might go there tomorrow. He says the pricing will be announced on 11th evening (tomorrow) or on the morning of 12th. He didn't not have the petrol MT variant for TD which he said will only be available by the end of this month.

I also got a call from Elite Ford Marathahalli Bangalore today. I could not pick up as I was in a meeting. I had asked them to call me once the TD's were available. So looks like it was a call for the same reason. May be will drop by tomorrow.

Good to hear that the AT TD is also available.

:Shockked: And Ford promotes the use of this?
I don't really understand whether it is in fact legal to use the IRVM as GPS display or the Rear view camera display. Won't such usage hinder our rear vision, and potentially be a cause for accidents? When the display is turned off, though there is some reflection of the road behind us during a bright day, it is absolutely not equal to a proper rear view mirror.
Can anyone let me know whether my understanding is correct?

I was under the impression that AT version will be made available sometime later, since it was not provided during the media drives. Good to know that it will be available for TD immediately. I will await your feedback.

The dual airbags are standard across all the variants where as the ABS is present Titanium and above, as per the official brochure.

Your rankings are spot on but the sales charts is exactly opposite to this lol: with Dzire leading the pack. It will be intresting to see the volumes of Aspire.

I'm wondering if the Figo Aspire diesel can be the ultimate sleeper. :thumbs up

100 BHP stock, with a weight of 1050 kg translates to a power to weight ratio of 95 BHP/Ton, better than that of the GT Tdi (92BHP/Ton) and pretty much anything else from the C/C+ segment.

Add a tuning box, and you're looking at 120BHP easy, if not 125BHP.

Here's a dyno graph of an ecosport with an RD box.
Remember that the stock figo aspire has 10 Bhp more power and 10NM more torque than the ecosport 1.5 TDCI!

Source: http://racedynamics.in/ford_ecosport/



I have a couple of questions:

1) Is there any information about the crash testing of the new Figo or the Figo aspire?

2) How is the turbo kick in the Ecosport / Fiesta 1.5 TDCI?
With a tuning box, is it expected to be anywhere as violent as that in the Rapid / Vento?

With less than a day for prices to be announced this car isn't catching a lot of attention, hope this turns out to be hit. It all depends on the pricing and Ford haven't mentioned anything about the pricing, which leads to the theory that its going to be definitely priced higher than sedans in the same category. If the on road price for Automatic is 8.5, Ford can smile their way with a lot of bookings.

I checked Ford India's website this morning to find official information about Aspire's launch. Surprisingly, their website did not have any information about Aspire's launch. The news in the air is Aspire will be launched on 12th Aug and isn't it weird that their website is still not updated (with less than a day for the launch). I had an online chat in Ford's website and I have been told that the Aspire will be launched very soon but the actual date is yet to be revealed!!!

Got a call from dealer (PVS Ford Kannur) that price will be announced tomorrow and test drive starts after few days.

Got a call from Bhavna Ford, New Bombay. Pricing will be revealed after 3 pm tomorrow and test drives will start post 5 pm. FYI.

Yes they don't seem to be updating the website on time. I think when they had the media drive and revealed the specs sometime back, the website was not updated till a few days later.

There is just one more day to go for the launch of this very important model for Ford India.

Considering how well the Figo Aspire is loaded, especially the top trim level's 6 airbags, which happens to be a very welcome segment first among C1 sedans (both sub-4m & 4m+), one should not and cannot expect Ford to undercut the competition. Even the base trim level happens to be quite well loaded with 2 airbags, front & rear height adjustable neck restraints, remote keyless entry and more. There is absolutely no way the Figo Aspire is going to get a starting price cheaper than the bare-bones entry variants of some competing cars.

Having said that, I expect Ford to price the car very competitively for what it offers in terms of features. If I were to hazard a guess, I think the 1.2 Ti-VCT will be priced at 5.24 ~ 5.49 lacs for the starting Ambiente, going upto 7.24 ~ 7.49 lacs for the superbly loaded Titanium+ trim level (all ex-showroom, Chennai).

Considering how the notorious oil mafia is bent upon the shameless and despicabe loot & extortion of petrol users in recent times, I expect the 1.5 TDCi to carry a significant premium over the petrol, in the range of 1.2 to 1.3 lac rupees.

As for the 1.5 Ti-VCT with the dual-clutch AT, I think Ford are smartly delaying its launch for a couple of weeks, or one week at the very least. This is to avoid the "sticker shock". The 1.5 litre petrol engine makes this variant ineligible for the "small car" excise slab, and the dual-clutch 'box would only add to its costs.

With class leading power-to-weight ratios for the 100 PS 1.5 TDCi MT and 112 PS Ti-VCT AT variants, coupled with Ford driving dynamics, this is going to be one seriously fun machine, in addition to being the safest car among C1 segment sedans (both sub-4m & 4m+). Let's not forget that the Figo Aspire Titanium+ is going to be India's least expensive car with 6 airbags & ABS! clap:

I hope the Figo Aspire succeeds in a really BIG way, and that the Titanium+ variants get people queuing up for them in long, long lines! Only then will we see a better safety feature spread across variants from competitors. In fact, even before the Figo Aspire's launch, Hyundai have rationalised the spread of safety features on the Xcent, making ABS standard on all variants, in addition to 2 airbags on the top two trim levels. If the Figo Aspire turns out to be a blockbuster, competitors will be forced to offer better safety features across variants in their products. Everyone (even those pathological haters of Ford) would stand to benefit from such a move!

I think the Team-BHP review is already complete, and it will make its appearance tomorrow as soon as the prices are announced! This thread may have lost its buzz, but tomorrow is going to be Ford's day on Team-BHP! :)