[Subby]

All the reviews are appreciative of this car. Will eagerly wait for Team-BHP review!

A well executed product except two things that I would prefer to change - that chocolate themed dashboard and dark colored roof insulation!

From safety point, for back seats, adjustable head rest instead of fixed one should have been there.

Good effort from Ford!

[Dieselritzer]

This makes me wonder why Maruti really seals the deal with customers. Take the case with Figo:

Pros:
Fun to drive
Reliable
Better build than maruti
Maintenance cost at par
Frugal and better engine Vs what Maruti has, atleast the diesel, petrol i have no knowledge or experience driving these.
Most importantly, active safety measures + perceived safety is better than Maruti

But look at the cons:
No rear head rest. I have already cribbed enough about it. Frankly, yes this is a deal breaker. I personally wont sit at a place where i cannot rest my head. I cannot do it for 3.4 hrs at a stretch, and a car like Figo or Freestyle is easily capable of doing long drives. Infact, having the same rear seat as Aspire in terms of design, wont it bring benefit of scale rather than to have a different design for Figo/freestyle? Swift has it. Damn my 7 year old Ritz has it!

No Isofix mounts: The target audience is young, not college going folks, but young couples or folks who've just started earning and would soon get hitched and have kids. We live in times where the concept of nuclear family is becoming common where its just the husband and wife who stay together and chances are that their parents would be living in another house or another city. Imagine travelling with a baby in a car where the seat cannot stay firm. Having that tiny piece of mount makes it so much convenient. Again, Maruti now has it standard.

No cooled glovebox: Now the car does not have a rear AC vent, that is ok as not all in its segment have it, but why not have cooled gloovebox? We live in a country that sees bright sunlight and hot weather for most time of the year. The car is manufactured in a state that itself sees such high temperatures. Why not add this feature? Some of their competitors are giving this feature now.

My point is, I am not talking of features which require massive investments in engineering, product platform or design. I am talking of features which are small but add a lot of value to the overall ownership experience. I have not even mentioned the awesome projectors or HIDs that Maruti is giving their cars these days. It adds to a world of a difference in night driving experience.

Now I am sure many will start bashing me saying that Ford makes cars for the enthusiast, they make drivers car, etc. My answer would be, that with little more clever planning in equipment list, a fine balance can be attained between feeding the enthusiast and giving a family guy a car that would serve all practicality.

Note: I am absolutely in love with this car and I am eager to replace my aging Ritz, and this post is out of sheer disappointment towards the factors mentioned above.

[varunswnt]

Originally Posted by Dieselritzer

This makes me wonder why Maruti really seals the deal with customers.

Maruti is so ahead of all in terms of features vs price ratio, couple that with service and spares available everywhere and fun to drive factor to some extent in their DNA, we already know how each of their new car launch creates record of sorts.

You are correct in pointing out these really small but very useful features which won't cost a bomb to Ford but still have been kept out for illogical reasons. This refrains customers from sealing the deal and overlooking the other great factors of nice cars.

Sadly ours is the market, where we are not given options but forced to upgrade to next car. In this case upgrade to Aspire/Ecosport for read adjustable headrests.

[StepUP!]

Well, I recently bought Figo DCT. I am hoping the touchscreen unit from Freestyle can be retrofitted easily here. I am keen to get one.
Also other features like start stop button, LEDs, 15" alloys look cool to add on my Figo.

[motorworks]

Ford has a second chance to make this car clock some decent numbers. They need be absolutely aggressive with the pricing from day one and not look for price correction later. In my view, they should just price it somewhere at par with the Baleno and the elite i20, which is in the range of 6.5 to 9 Lakhs OTR. If they go higher thinking that this is a cross over and all that, then they get too close to the sub 4m compact suvs like the nexon and the Brezza, also the ecosport itself.

They should push people to consider this as an alternative to the regular hatch backs and not pitch themselves too high. Remember, no hatch cross over has done well in India, be it the elite i20 or the liva cross or even the Polo cross. But it works for them since the regular hatch brings in the numbers to some extent, may be not Polo or Liva, but VW and Toyota have done it simply because they do not have a car like the Ecosport like ford does.

[deetjohn]

Took the Freestyle for a spin yesterday. I really wanted to try the new Dragon but only the diesel was available. First things first! The new MT gearbox is really good. Short, precise throws and slots very well. Got a good feel to it. A lot like the gearbox on the Swift. A very welcome addition!

The car rides and handles well when compared to the regular Figo. The front end is tight. Think the suspension tuning is like that of the Figo Sport. Feels tough on the road over undulations, just like how a Ford should be. The steering is still not there yet though.


Great smart keys, looks and feels premium.


Gets black roof like the Endy. Looks and feels great.




The seat fabric also looks and feels great. Forgot to take pics of that though. The rear seat doesn't get headrests which is a big miss.

OE 3D rubber mats. Ingenious!


Not a fan of that brown dash. They have tried to emulate the one in the Endeavour which is rich and classy, but this is just the opposite as its just plastic. Much better compared to red dashboard of the first Figo, but it was always easy to better that.


Apart from that, the cabin is a very good place to be in.

The touchscreen on the Titanium variant is from the new EcoSport, only smaller and gets Sync 3. The ones in lower variants will be like that of the previous EcoSport - touchscreen with low resolution and no sync.


This is easily best in class. Easy on the eye even under the very bright summer sun.


Curtain airbags and height adjustable seat belts. I like! No grab handles though.


The car looks much bigger in person compared to the regular Figo thanks to the extra ground clearance, all round cladding and roof rails. Not a fan of the latter two and I think it will look much smarter without these. The cladding is really thick and not a snug fit like in the Creta or Ignis. A bit like the ones on the old Indica v2 but much better quality. Will be good to absorb some light brushes in the urban crawl.

[PraNeel]

Here is a detailed review of Freestlye by Motoroids.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IasoM4sHwi4

[thoma]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Took the Freestyle for a spin yesterday.

Originally Posted by PraNeel

Here is a detailed review of Freestlye by Motoroids.

Should really appreciate Ford to have put a hell lot of changes from an existing model. A new engine and a new transmission! Then there are so many welcome changes in the interior and exterior, including but not limited to the all new infotainment system, keyless entry, ARP, ESC, TCS, tuned suspension, increased track and ground clearence! Even the MID, USB & 12V ports, roof & seat fabric and the boot receives minor changes. The two things sorely missed are the rear seat headrests and a cooled glove box.

Wondering about the sales figures though, being not a Maruti or a Hyundai.

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by thoma

Wondering about the sales figures though, being not a Maruti or a Hyundai.

Ford loses so many customer thanks to the perception of being expensive to maintain and unreliable(This was true for older models), even after spending so much on marketing, the perception remains. Hope Ford finds a way around this.

[SoumenD]

Nice effort from Ford. If they manage to price this correctly it might just get better numbers than the Figo. Looks good inside out except for the obvious sad misses discussed in above posts( adjustable headrest, split seats etc). Hope seeing the reviews they might just add these in the production model

Since it's a cross I guess they would charge some premium over the donor car(Figo) , maybe a 40k premium. That makes a range from 5.8L - 7L for petrol and 6.5-7.5L for the diesel? Anything more and this will find it tough to get off the shelf. This car is ought to appeal to urban nuclear families who need small hatchbacks but with higher ground clearance due to the unscientific speed breakers/pot holes.

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Took the Freestyle for a spin yesterday...

Any idea if they improved the build quality compared to Figo and any word on the automatic?

[Dieselritzer]

I see all the reviewers bashing ford for skipping the rear headrest. Any chances that better sense will prevail and they will add the adjustable headrests in the production model? We know that Tata and Maruti actively follow our forum discussions, not sure if Ford care.

Yesterday me and my dad went to a ford showroom and we sat inside the figo. They did not have the Freestyle yet, and yes the fixed rear headrest are useless for anyone above 5ft 10 inches. The headrest ends at the neck level, making it even more prone to severe neck injuries incase if anyone bangs the car from behind + after 10/15 mins, the neck would start to pain in a regular journey.

I will carry the booking amount to Ford if even at the dealer level they can fabricate an adjustable rear headrest.

[r_devakumar]

I am using first gen Figo for 7 years which has 75K KMs in ODO now. I am planning for a upgrade to SUV this or next year. After seeing couple of review videos, i am getting a feeling why not another Figo . Hope and wish this retains the driving dynamics of the first gen Figo. Ford has done a good job and hope it brings decent sales number back to Figo.

[AdityaDeane]

Originally Posted by SoumenD

Since it's a cross I guess they would charge some premium over the donor car(Figo) , maybe a 40k premium. That makes a range from 5.8L - 7L for petrol and 6.5-7.5L for the diesel? Anything more and this will find it tough to get off the shelf.

As per the live interview with TBHP in a post above, I guess it'll be priced in the Tata Nexon's range. Being above Premium Hatchbacks and lower than Ecosport. Also, they pointed out once a year service interval while some competitor needs twice a year (read Nexon). Let's how on 18th once they announce the introductory prices.

[kiku007]

Originally Posted by Dieselritzer

This makes me wonder why Maruti really seals the deal with customers. Take the case with Figo:

But look at the cons:
No rear head rest.

No Isofix mounts:

No cooled glovebox:

Very interesting list of Cons for the Figo. I appreciate the inclusion of a safety feature

However, I doubt if Ford will be able to sell two extra cars by adding all the above 3.

[Dieselritzer]

Ford does make great cars, we have a diesel fiesta doing duty since many yrs. But my only complaint was that with tiny parts giving a lot more functional value, they should be incorporated. It just gives more points to talk when they're pitching the car to a prospective customer. There are so many like me who don't want to spend for an ecosport, but I'm ok to spend for a freestyle, but such tiny ommisions like an isofix mount, a small plastic piece, or a cooled glove box (would need a bit more than just some plastic parts getting fitted) or a rear headrests (just fit the aspire seat in this car). These are not engineering nightmares. It would take small tweaks to get them done, but more importantly it would make the car a complete package. Look at why i20 sells. It's a complete package. When the sales guy talks of features, there is literally nothing that can beat it. Rear ac vents, cooled glove box, day/night irvm, etc etc. It makes the sales pitch also complete. Obviously me ranting here would have no impact on what ford does. My anger is just that as a car I absolutely love it, but as a family guy who'd be seating 4 members in the car always, I want something more from the car in terms of features, and I already drive a tin can, so I'm doing every bit not to head in that direction again.