Team-BHP (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/)

-   The Indian Car Scene (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/)

-   -   Ford Figo-based compact sedan - The Aspire (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/144066-ford-figo-based-compact-sedan-aspire-59.html)

I'm not sure if you have watched the Overdrive TV show today. The diesel Figo Aspire trumped the Amaze, Zest and Xcent in most of their ratings. They also said it does 0 to 100 kms in 11+ seconds, which brings it on par with the 1.6 Duratec! And with a top speed of 190, it beats the latter too! :Shockked:

Looks like Ford has a winner at their hands now.

The only negative things I heard in the episode was the lack of grabby brakes and the smaller boot. Let us see how the sales charts for this month look like.

Congrats.
Your impressions of the gearbox would be appreciated. In India we associate the Dual Clutch GB with VWs implementation (Pros and cons alike) and seem to think all DCTs will have the same operating characteristics. But some people don't seem too enthused about the Ford box. So your views please.

Regards
Sutripta

With that power to weight ratio, the specified 0-100 KmpH timing was expected but 190 kmpH top speed?:Shockked:

Now I'm wondering what on earth where they thinking without giving all Diesel variants ABS stopping power.

I have used the Jetta for 5 years and I think the Ford DCT is not in the same league as the VW, as they have better integration of their DCT and engine. It is more responsive and smooth.

But since we are talking about the sub 10 lac category here, and the options are Hyundai AT, Honda and Nissan CVT, Maruti/Tata AMT etc, in my view the Ford should be patted to give this transmission in this category. In my opinion, it is unfair to compare Ford with VW DCT. It will be just like comparing jetta with BMW. Ford needs a pat to bring such a technology and safety at this price point and make it accessible to people in this bracket.

As for me my dad was very clear he wanted a car sub 10 lac for occasional 4 people and this is the best we could buy. :)

Someone had mentioned before 190kmh is indicated and not true.
True speed is mid 170kmh.

Doubt if it be really 190.

Thanks for this info. Was able to watch on their Youtube channel (Link for reference):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASQA-g0T9HI

Few other take-aways from that comparison.

• Xcent is still the most feature rich and has the biggest boot.
• Although Amaze has almost same power/torque specs as the Aspire, runs out of breath on the highway much sooner. More tuned for a city level commute.
• Inspite of the biggest engine, the Amaze top speed called out is the lowest (I have heard it is limited.Anyway the speeds mentioned are not relevant or safe for Indian conditions)
• Zest longevity is pointed out as a concern. Several parts/switches having issues in the car they got for the test.
• Xcent has the lightest steering. Aspire is on the heavier side.
• Did not drill down into the Dzire. Is focused on the other 4. Dzire is only talked about.
• Aspire is the top choice due to the great blend of features and performance it brings and also due to the ride and handling that is not seen in this segment.

Note: Personally I am not sure why this top speed stuff is discussed as a major item. The speeds talked about are anyway not legal or safe for any of our roads. More of a bragging thing I assume

In overdrive, they mentioned the true top speed to be 177 kmph but the speedo indicates 190 kmph at that time. With that kind of power:weight ratio, this is expected.

The overdrive review was all praises for the Aspire. they hardly mentioned anything negative about the car.

Autocar had a comparo of the Aspire and the Zest on the the telly today.

0-100 11.06 sec
20-80 10 sec
40-100 12.xx sec.

Of course, the aspire won :)

There's a picture of a silver aspire a couple of pages back. Here's a white one (Trend, I think)
Take your pick!

Attachment 1404336

This angle gives it aggressive look somewhat of Mustang's front look.
This variant is base variant Diesel. Feature wise I feel it's still good as compared to competition. Front grill is in silver as well as rear end lining.

Ooh, seems like its the official test drive. The magazine (which I bought after 7years just for the Aspire) had it at 11.03secs.

First time seeing the white Aspire and it looks good, even in the base variant(Ambiente?) Usually the black bits and steel wheels stick out as sore bits but here it looks quite good. Anyway can put the alloy wheels and chrome grille if needed.

Was preffering the black->blue->grey. But now the white is same preference as black.

Am not being greedy, but Ford should make the ABS standard given the performance of the fantastic engine.

PS: isnt the govt going to make ABS standard in October something this year? Don't want to buy an Ambiente/Trend now and feel stupid when ABS is made standard, when it along with PS/airbag can't be retrofitted.

Test drove the 1.2 manual and 1.5 auto yesterday at the Elite Ford outlet.
1.2 was to compare with my Figo 1.2 since they have the same engine and the 1.5 to compare with the Dsg in Polo.
Both were short drives of around 3kms since the crowd was a lot at the showroom. I did mention to the advisor that I want a longer driver on the automatic once the initial rush decreases.
The automatic although similar in shifts to the VW DSG, is super confused when the pedal is floored. On slight pedal input it works flawlessly and shifts up quickly which is hardly noticeable. But the moment the pedal is mashed, it drops a gear, immediately ups a gear which doesn't give a good driving experience at the end. I also noticed that everytime I slowed down to 10kmh or less, it drops to first and on accelerating it has an annoying sudden jerk which would have been avoidable if it shifts to second.
Coming to the engine, the 1.2 VW is in a different league because of the turbo. The 1.5 Ford needs it's time for some decent speeds and has a raspy note everytime it revs up. The power factor is missing altogether. It is just a run of the mill gasoline engine. I would say the 1.5 auto would be perfect for city use and not for enthusiasts like I thought.
The steering is ultra light at low speeds and weighs up nicely as speed increases. The shocks do a good job and doesn't have that annoying thud when hitting potholes. But I did notice that the body shake is quite a bit when taken at higher than crawling speeds.

The 1.2 manual was a very short drive and it was enough to know it's just slightly better than the old 1.2. With the AC, the engine almost stalled when crawling and accelerating in second. When accelerating, turned off the AC and it added some extra power. Initial power is lower than the old 1.2 due to the variable valve timing.,but much better post 2500-3000 rpm., but still not enough for a compact sedan. I would say, Ford should have downsized the 1.5 engine instead sticking to the old engine and adding vtec' to it. Engine though is smooth and silent and there is no annoying harshness in sound and feel when revving probably due to the shorter air intake.

I feel diesel is the trump here and Petrol would be the same story.

Adding to the above, the sports mode on the automatic is better than the Drive mode.
Since I prefer downshifting for slowing down, the buttons are good fun for the same and I would prefer using this all the time, except for the fact that most of the time, only one hand can be on the steering. This will also eliminate the confusion in gear selection in drive mode and good thing being the gear selected shown on the display.

I didn't notice the exciting blip when downshifting like the TSI.

MODS : Please merge both posts.

Visited the Elite Ford showroom @ Marathahalli Bangalore, on the Outer Ring Road today afternoon.

Just as i entered the showroom, a couple were taking the TD car out for a drive.( It was a petrol). I met one of the sales men to whom i inquired about the 1.5 TDCi, he promptly told me that they only have display cars and the TD car is yet to arrive ( may be next week he said) , same response from Lathangi Ford at Bannerghetta Road.

They had kept all the "display" Aspire's on the first floor, the ground floor was occupied by two Ecosports and one Figo.

Initial impressions.

1. From the front angles is where the Aspire looks really good.

2. The side profile is also good as the boot integration does not stand out in any odd way, side profile is a pass in my opinion

3. From the front 3 quarters, the wheels don't look ( seem) small, but from the sides, it does seem a size small.

4. The doors feel light, in fact quite light and does not close with a thud or anything close, if you want to feel the difference, try it on the Ecosport and come back and try the same on the Aspire. ( The sales man said the Ecosport and Aspire use the same steel but Ecosport gets double gauge thickness than the Aspire's- I nodded my head)

4. Step inside the driver's seat and you'll feel deja vu if you have already experienced the Eco Sport / new Fiesta - having said that, its a good position, the steering gets tilt adjustment, the instrument cluster though in many reviews say seems basic - feels good enough. The driver's seat height adjustment has decent range. Steering is not as chunky as you would like but is sturdy.

5. The rearward visibility again a tad bit low , but we can judge only when driving it. The knurled round buttons on the Auto A/C looks and feels really good.

6. Headlight / Fog light round knob switch is on your right, which also houses the boot release button, be a tad bit careful before you press this one - the boot is spring loaded and once you press the button, it unlocks and boot opens ( swings open) and i felt its a wee bit fast as it does open - ensure no one s placing their hands near the boot or the area where the rear wind shield blends with the boot.

7. Boot space is decent enough but some exposed un-painted / primed metal was visible - i guess it was part of the rear seat frame - Ford ought to cover that. Loading lip is a tad too high and the boot opening can accommodate fairly big suit cases, the boot feels adequate enough as per the segment.

8. Step into the passenger seat ( rear) and the seats are quite comfortable, the rear seat recline is good enough. Very comfortable for 2 at the back with the rear arm rests drawn out - the best configuration. Bring in the additional passenger and it gets tricky. It can accommodate 3 slim - medium built passengers, but if you are medium-well built or bigger , 3 is not comfortable. The transmission hump is present but not a show stopper.

9. I am 5 feet 9 and having adjusted the driver seat to my liking, there is enough space in the rear for the passenger's legs and bit more. Overall 2 at the back is best, 3 may be "ok" depending on passenger's dimensions. The curtain airbags symbol is placed right above the B pillar ( just as in the Ecosport) - kudos to Ford again for giving this feature.

10. Opened the bonnet, the bonnet is on the heavier side and seemed like the engine and its allies are well packed together. Bonnet closes with a loud thud.

Overall its a good package but the light doors left a wee bit of dissatisfaction in my mind, went down and spent some time with the Ecosport, collected both the Aspire's and Ecosport's price lists and left requesting the sales man to give me a call once the TD vehicle arrives. Aspire 1.5 TDCI Titanium+ ESR Price is 8,44,084. Ecosport Titanium O ESR Price is at 10,43,884.

Yes they are in 2 different segments but could not stop my mind from comparing the Aspire with the Eco sport. Thought to myself that i will decide after completing the TD of the Aspire.

The TD which should be within a week or 2 at the maximum.

Today I went for test drive of Aspire AT & Ecosport AT at Delhi Ford. On both vehicles took a test drive of about 15kms each. Before this had gone for test drive of Polo GT TSI.

Aapire AT

1.Overall visibility of the road from driving position is quite good. Lot of positions for driver to get comfy.
2.Backseat space adequate for me and my day, overall quite good even with 3 medium build people in back. Scooped out seats are a good touch.
3. Over all fit and finish pretty good though loose nuts here and there are visible.
4. Did not feel solid built though on par with Amaze etc.

Driving-
1. In D mode car moves from stop to start very nicely and without any jerks, though pressing of accelerator causes engine to make loud noises and for a second or two nothing happens, flooring the accelerator a bit more causes vehicle to gather speed. I would say D mode is only good for stop start bumper to bumper traffic.
2. In S mode while accelerating engine makes some noise but accelerates quite nicely and without any jerks. At times I felt car getting a bit confused but after couple of kms and few corrective actions take by me to change gears 'S' mode seemed to understand my driving style. Post this acceleration was as per my liking.


Overall millage for my drive hovered around 6.5km/l this included few stretches of open road and couple of kms of heavy traffic.

I really liked how I did not have to press accelerator in bumper to bumper traffic, all I had to do was brake.

Looks are subjective and overall to my liking though on reflection I would say Aspire is hip while Vento is classy.

Aspire AT vs Ecosport AT
1.D mode was not to my liking at all, engine made lot of noises and nothing happened period.
2. S mode is slightly better but unlike Aspire where S mode understood me, here the car had a mind of its own and acceleration was pretty average.

Overall millage for the trip hovered around 6.9km/l.

Aspire AT vs Polo GT TSI

1. Build quality - salesman opened the polo door and banged it shut still no rattles. Then salesperson asked me to do it, I did it with full force and still no rattles. Wow, if I do this with my Swift or Aspire I am pretty sure something will break.
2. Steering wheel is more comfortable and oozes quality in comparison to Ford.
3. Interior does not feel airy and view of the road is not as much as I would like.
4. I don't know why but I have never been able to find comfortable driving position in Vento/Polo.

Driving -
1. Acceleration is very good and even on slight touch car gathers speed very quickly.
2.Engine is carefree at all times and does not make any noise.
3. Because of great acceleration I had too use break a lot, after sometime my right knee started paining. I guess one needs to learn how much to floor the pedal here, with Aspire AT no such learning required.

Overall millage for trip hovered around 9km/l.

Difference between onroad Delhi prices of Aspire AT and Vento Highline AT is approx 3.2L. I am not sure if its worth it or not but I do know for a fact Vento/Polo TSI is a better car in driving and build.

My dad who also drove Polo TSI found Aspire AT to give lot of jerks and build quality very sub-par. He clearly favors Vento/Polo TSI.

^^

It seems that though the Aspire AT is having comparable power and similar dual clutch transmission as the Polo TSI, the difference in performance is pretty huge.

I think given the segment the Aspire is in, it will be more reasonable to compare the Aspire AT with the likes of Jazz CVT/Amaze ATXcent AT. If anyone has driven these cars, please let us know your views.