[blackwasp]

Mod Note: Our Freestyle Report has been taken live at this link. Please continue the discussion over on the new thread. Thanks!

Ford has unveiled the Freestyle in India. The compact utility vehicle (CUV), as Ford calls it, will be positioned between the Figo and EcoSport in the company's model line-up.

High points:

• The Freestyle is based on the Figo hatchback.
• Launch scheduled for Q2 of 2018.
• Aimed at first-time buyers.
• Perfectly timed unveil . 1 week before the Auto Expo, which Ford isn't participating in!
• Powered by a new 1.2-litre, 3-cylinder Dragon petrol engine that develops 95 BHP and 120 Nm torque.
• The 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder diesel engine, which produces 99 BHP and 215 Nm of torque, is borrowed from its siblings.
• Initially, only 5-speed manual transmissions will be offered with the engines.
• Gets a 6.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Sync 3. It supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, and can be operated through voice commands.
• 85% level of localisation. Over 50% of the product development was contributed by the Indian team.
• It is a global product that has been unveiled in India before other markets. It will be made in India and exported to South Africa later in 2018, followed by other markets.
• Compared to the Figo, it gets higher ground clearance, increased track width and a reworked suspension.
• Equipped with Active Rollover Prevention (ARP) and ESC - the system can apply brakes to individual wheels and decrease engine torque if a rollover situation is likely to occur.
• Gets up to 6 airbags, TCS and ABS with EBD.

Freestyle is a "cross" version of the Figo hatchback:


Front end gets a new black grille along with a revised bumper. There is absolutely no chrome, which will make it appealing to most enthusiasts:


Rear end is identical to the Figo, except for a revised dual-tone bumper and tweaked tail-lamps:


Black plastic cladding, roof rails and larger alloy wheels make the car look beefier than the regular Figo:


While the cosmetic additions look nice, there is no getting away from the fact that this is a raised hatchback (and not a CUV, Compact SUV or whatever):




Sweptback headlamps get black inserts. The Figo gets chrome here:


Black mesh grille with the blue oval logo in the middle looks smart:


Front bumper houses a slim air dam with horizontal slats and a fake skid plate finished in silver. A wind deflector has been provided:


Black foglamp bezel extends upward to form a C-shape. Tow hook cover is redesigned to match the shape of the bumper:


ORVMs with integrated turn-indicators are identical to the Figo's, except for their black covers:


No request sensors to lock/unlock the car. Only the driver's side door handle gets a keyhole:


Multi-spoke, 15-inch alloy wheels sport a brushed aluminium finish. They are shod with 185/60 section Goodyear Assurance tyres:


Black plastic cladding runs around the wheel arches...


...and onto the sides. Doors get decals along their lower edges:


Drum brakes at the rear. Wheel well looks nicely filled by these 15-inch rims:


Roof rails are finished in silver and look well integrated. Each one has three mounting points:


Tailgate and roof-mounted spoiler with integrated stop lamp are carried over from the Figo. Rear bumper gets C-shaped styling elements on both sides, a contour on the top to insert your fingers to lift the tailgate and a black lower portion with a fake silver skid plate. Number plate housing is finished in black and four parking sensors have been provided:


Tail-lamps are the same shape and size as those of the Figo, but sport reworked detailing:


Freestyle badging on the left...


...with variant on the right:


C-shaped styling elements on the rear bumper are in sync with those in the front. Fake black vents are located on the lower part. You can see the different positions of the parking sensors here as well. Corner sensors are placed low on the bumper:


Reversing camera is neatly integrated in the number plate housing between the two illuminators:


While the exact ground clearance has not been revealed yet (surprisingly!!!), Ford claims it to be higher than the Figo. The faux skid plate gets a silver finish and ends abruptly:


Ford claims to have stiffened the suspension compared to the Figo. We hope the low speed ride isn't like the EcoSport's:


Ford did not reveal the interiors of the Freestyle. While the steering wheel is lifted from the Aspire, the 6.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system is new:


6.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system with SYNC 3 software and voice commands supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Like the EcoSport, the touchscreen sticks out from the top of the dashboard:


New 1.2-litre, 3-cylinder Dragon petrol engine derived from the 1.5-litre unit that is found in the EcoSport will be used to power the Freestyle. Ford claims that the engine makes 95 BHP and 120 Nm torque. It will be paired with a new 5-speed manual transmission:


Disclaimer: Ford invited Team-BHP to the Freestyle's unveiling. They covered all the travel expenses for this event.

[deetjohn]

1) The car looks good. The only thing odd are those roof rails. I don't like them. And if push comes to shove, it should be snug fitting.

2) Nice alloys as well, the gunmetal shade adds to the charm. Wish the doors too had proper cladding down below instead of vinyls. Hopefully Ford will bring them as an accessory like in the Kwid.

3) The new Dragon engine is the heart of the matter. There is a dearth of potent petrol engines in the sub 1200 cc segment.

4) Wish an AT is added not too late. The Freestyle will then be apt for the urban jungle. Hopefully, this gets the suspension and steering of the Figo Sport.

5) The biggest plus will be that touchscreen. Hope Ford has tweaked the instrument cluster as well. The market doesn't take these things lightly now.

6) I think this will do well if its not priced too far from the regular Figo variants. Ford should ideally retire the 1.2 Ti-VCT and price this well.

[motorworks]

Originally Posted by tharian

This car will hardly do anything to improve the sales of Ford. It's just jumping onto the crossover lookalike bandwagon and primarily to showcase the new 1.2 which will find its way to the Figo/Aspire.

Sure, but you cannot deny Ford for not trying! They understand that the New Figo has not done very well like the 1st Gen, the sales of Aspire seems to come
More from fleet operators, and they do not have any new cars under 10-12 Lakhs for the next 2-3 years. So what can they do? They infuse some freshness in to the existing Figo by launching the Figo Sport and the Freestyle now which sort of keeps customers interest alive in the product. Whether it results in sales spike I do not know, but it sort of keeps Ford in the customer mind. And the freestyle essentially is based on the Figo, so the investments in the product are very low, so Ford technically has very little to lose.

[kiku007]

Originally Posted by DasJager

Woah! Our very own Team-BHP forum finds a reference in the presentation. The executive referred bhpian KIKU007 on the ford cost of ownership being lower than the bigger brands.

Interesting. I can’t remember which post was referred to. I hope it was communicated in the right context. Anyways, Ford service is cheaper than even Maruti at times. I’ve seen Dzire service bills and I’ve been shocked.

Ford has done a better job in refreshing the Figo with the Sports and Freestyle variants. But, when the base product is a flop, I wonder what level of commercial success the Freestyle will get in India.

India’s first compact utility vehicle?

[DriveOnceMore]

Originally Posted by kiku007

India’s first compact utility vehicle?

Compnies referred their jacked-up hatches as SUVs in the past.
Now just for the sake of differenciation Ford might have resorted to this terminology - CUV.

Remember MSIL using the term 'LUV'?


I feel, apart from bland looks, every other aspect with Figo was brilliant. Still it didn't sell well.
Its performance is such that it can beat Hot Hatches without being one!
Apart from being powerful, its diesel mill is frugal too.
I think, Ford has to price is sensibly and somewhere below Aspire to ensure increase in demand for this great little hatch (Figo + Freestyle)

[Chetan_Rao]

Nothing they can do about the build quality without investing a ton of money, but they should make the Sport variant suspension the default option on the facelift.

Combined with the potent diesel and hopefully competent petrol plus increased wheel size to 15 inches, we can at least have one of our favorite FTD hatches back.

[Rshrey22]

96ps and 120 nm from a 1.2, 3 pot naturally aspirated engine seems pretty stressed. Am I wrong here?

[PrideRed]

Originally Posted by kiku007

Ford has done a better job in refreshing the Figo with the Sports and Freestyle variants. But, when the base product is a flop, I wonder what level of commercial success the Freestyle will get in India.

Agree that Figo was a flop or rather a below average seller. That said the strategy from Ford is a brilliant attempt to revive Figo. They aren't using brand Figo anywhere and marketing it as Freestyle. For many potential buyers this is a brand new car just like WRV!. After all it has a new Engine, new suspension, different styling and all new name.
That said I don't know how big the market is for these Cross hatches, the only one that sells in decent number is i20 Active(and probably WRV).

[car.lover]

Originally Posted by Rshrey22

96ps and 120 nm from a 1.2, 3 pot naturally aspirated engine seems pretty stressed. Am I wrong here?

The new Dragon engine is serving the Ecosport well. The same one finds it's way here...

[strawhat]

If we are going to categorise this car in Cross-Hatch segment then perhaps the most crucial aspect would be higher ground clearance especially since Figo suffers from a terribly low height. Have they increased the ground clearance?

[Dieselritzer]

I thought Figo had the highest GC in its category.

[tharian]

Originally Posted by strawhat

If we are going to categorise this car in Cross-Hatch segment then perhaps the most crucial aspect would be higher ground clearance especially since Figo suffers from a terribly low height. Have they increased the ground clearance?

That was the old gen Figo. The new one has adequate GC

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by car.lover

The new Dragon engine is serving the Ecosport well. The same one finds it's way here...

The 1.2 uses the same block, but has a smaller stroke to reduce displacement and significantly, misses the balancer shaft to counter the vibration inherent to a 3-pot motor, so will be less refined than its 1.5 sibling.

The stats look promising, but let's wait for the drive reports if it translates to real-world performance. Even the current 1.2 motor got a good power bump from the 1st gen Figo, but it's actually poorer performance-wise (weaker bottom-end).

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

The 1.2 uses the same block, but has a smaller stroke to reduce displacement and significantly, misses the balancer shaft to counter the vibration inherent to a 3-pot motor, so will be less refined than its 1.5 sibling.

I tried searching on this and the ACI review mentioned smaller sized pistons so my guess is that it's not just stroke but different bore and hence different block. Though this seems counter intuitive as reducing the stroke would be the easier option.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Indian Car Scene. Excellent report, Kanad. Thanks for sharing!