[Nikhil Paradkar]

According to the sources (Ford Training in Bhavna Ford), the automatic aspire's 1.5L 3 cylinder dragon petrol engine is ARAI certified for 16.3kmpl while the 1.2L 3 cylinder dragon engine is ARAI certified for 20.4 kmpl, also Ford MyKey is completely eliminated from the Aspire model lineup, atleast it was not mentioned anywhere in the training.

[nikipedia87]

Originally Posted by Nikhil Paradkar

According to the sources (Ford Training in Bhavna Ford), the automatic aspire's 1.5L 3 cylinder dragon petrol engine is ARAI certified for 16.3kmpl while the 1.2L 3 cylinder dragon engine is ARAI certified for 20.4 kmpl.

While the ARAI figure for the manual petrol is good, a bit disappointed with that of the automatic. Yes, it has a bigger engine and is mated to a torque converter, but at least on paper it should have been 17+. I guess the added weight as mentioned in one of the previous posts has got to do with it. Let's see what the real world mileage figures will be like.

[Nikhil Paradkar]

While Ford is all set to price the Aspire competitive especially against the Dzire, in the process it has also ditched the Leather seats which come standard in the outgoing Titanium Plus model, Ford plans to balance the pricing by providing features which the Indian car buyers appreciate, removing those which aren't that talked about and not offered by the competition. While we can't comment on working of this strategy undertaken by Ford but this surely will create problem to those buy the Titanium Plus for additional safety of six airbags and want to put on seat covers.

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by TusharK

Further, unconfirmed reports suggest that the Aspire facelift will be slightly heavier thanks to the use of Boron Steel in its construction. It is the same material that is used in the EcoSport. As a result, 0-100 km/h acceleration time of the diesel variant is expected to go up from 9.72 seconds to 11 seconds.

I don't believe that's the reason. It should be due to the new gearbox (taller ratios?) and minor changes in ECU map.

[Nikhil Paradkar]

Originally Posted by Dr.Naren

I don't believe that's the reason. It should be due to the new gearbox (taller ratios?) and minor changes in ECU map.

It will get the same gearbox from Getrag which does it's duties on Freestyle, getting rid of the rubbery IB-5 old unit.

[Dr.Naren]

Originally Posted by Nikhil Paradkar

It will get the same gearbox from Getrag which does it's duties on Freestyle, getting rid of the rubbery IB-5 old unit.

Yes, I know that .

Freestyle was also slower than Aspire in terms of 0-100 with new gearbox. I suspect taller ratios.

[nikipedia87]

Any idea if the 1.5L Dragon engine will be detuned for the Aspire? If not, it should be the most power packed and value for money petrol automatic offering in the segment, and might attract those looking out for a C2 segment automatic but are on a tight budget as well.

[Nikhil Paradkar]

Originally Posted by nikipedia87

Any idea if the 1.5L Dragon engine will be detuned for the Aspire? If not, it should be the most power packed and value for money petrol automatic offering in the segment, and might attract those looking out for a C2 segment automatic but are on a tight budget as well.

No, the 1.5L Dragon engine will not be detuned, it will make 123ps power and 150nm torque, but I think the top speed will be curbed to differentiate it from Ecosport.

[nikipedia87]

Originally Posted by Nikhil Paradkar

No, the 1.5L Dragon engine will not be detuned, it will make 123ps power and 150nm torque, but I think the top speed will be curbed to differentiate it from Ecosport.

That should be fine. As long as a car can do legal speeds, it shouldn't matter if the top speed has been curbed to 140 or 160 .

[Nikhil Paradkar]

Originally Posted by nikipedia87

That should be fine. As long as a car can do legal speeds, it shouldn't matter if the top speed has been curbed to 140 or 160 .

Well honestly I don't see a reason for Ford to limit the top speed, the case with Honda Amaze was that it has a bigger sibling the Honda City, there is same diesel engine on both the cars, except that it is paired to 5 and 6-speed gearbox respectively, so either to differentiate it or due to the chassis limitation Honda had to limit the Amaze to top speed of 145kmph only, while in case of Ford it does not have any mid-size sedan in the line-up, and Ecosport is a Compact SUV so that also doesn't interfere, Ford can let the Aspire loose as we all know how well perform both the 1.5L dragon and the 1.5L TDCI engines are and Ford should take it as an opportunity to lure the buyers of mid-size sedans to get the aspire as it would be the most powerful automatic sedan not only in its class but also a class above!

[nikipedia87]

Originally Posted by Nikhil Paradkar

Well honestly I don't see a reason for Ford to limit the top speed...

...while in case of Ford it does not have any mid-size sedan in the line-up, and Ecosport is a Compact SUV so that also doesn't interfere, Ford can let the Aspire loose...

But the point is that since its the same engine in a smaller (rather, lighter) car, the power to weight and torque to weight ratios of the Aspire will be significantly higher than that of the Ecosport (which is why I asked if any engine detuning is being done on the Aspire in the first place).

So if a customer is on a budget buts wants a good handling Ford car, he will not mind cross-shopping between a compact SUV and a compact sedan if the sedan provides him more bang for his buck. And this speed curbing must be Ford's way to differentiate and tell people that Ecosport is still their more premium offering.

[Nikhil Paradkar]

The bookings for Ford Aspire Facelift 2018 have officially begin with booking amount of Rs.11,000.

[thoma]

And they have officially announced the Aspire facelift and booking in the world wide web.

[arunphilip]

So what is its name?

Ford New Aspire? New Aspire Ford?

Or did the graphics guys miss the memo that it's the New Ford Aspire?

[nikipedia87]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

So what is its name?

Ford New Aspire? New Aspire Ford?

On a lighter note, maybe it's a 3D image which reads 'FORD brings to you the NEW ASPIRE', with the second dimension written in invisible ink .