[ChiragM]

Ford Freestyle Flair, which could be a new variant of the Freestyle, has been spotted.



According to these images, the Freestyle Flair gets red inserts on the front skid plate, red roof rails, and dual-tone red and black ORVMs with integrated turn indicators. It also gets decals with 'Flair' lettering on the doors and on the boot. The car rides on black alloy wheels. On the inside, the car gets dual-tone black and whitish-grey seats with red contrast stitching and red inserts on the doors, which also get whitish-grey padding.

The BS6 Freestyle is available with two engine options - a 1.2-litre, 3-cylinder petrol that produces 95 BHP and 119 Nm and a 1.5-litre diesel that makes 99 BHP and 215 Nm of torque. Both engines come mated to a 5-speed manual transmission.















Link to Team-BHP News

Image Source

[R-Six]

Are they trying to pull off a Maruti type launch? So called “all new” sporty version of a normal car after pasting some stickers here and there?

If it is going to be mechanically identical to what is currently available, why bother playing around with an otherwise neutral looking car?

[Samba]

When it's a Flair, stay away from Ford!
Remember the Ikon Flair? From the awesome 1.6L petrol, it got the anaemic 1.3L petrol!

Now the good looking Freestyle got the Flair badge and Ford made it look tacky!

[ron178]

Except for the seats, the red elements look quite cheap. The sticker on the rear, especially, looks cheesy. Is this supposed to be reminiscent of the erstwhile Ikon 1.6 Flair?

I’d rather have a full-blown sport version with the 1.5L Dragon (and maybe the 6-speed slushbox) from the EcoSport, (a lá Figo S) rather than just an exterior and interior ‘sport’ kit. But I guess the car would not qualify for the sub-1200cc excise slab anymore in that event.

P.S. Moderators, can the spelling of Freestyle in the title please be corrected?

[JithinR]

Originally Posted by ron178

I’d rather have a full-blown sport version with the 1.5L Dragon (and maybe the 6-speed slushbox) from the EcoSport, (a lá Figo S) rather than just an exterior and interior ‘sport’ kit. But I guess the car would not qualify for the sub-1200cc excise slab anymore in that event.

This is actually quite a good idea and something the Ford of a decade back would have done when they weren't trying to ape Maruti to play to mass market tastes.

The Ecosport no longer has a lower Trend Plus AT.

Ford has already used the 1.5NA with TC in Figo and Aspire so we know the platform is capable of this engine gearbox combo.

Volkswagen DSG is no longer going to be there with the 1.2 TSI. Ford has a decent shot with the NA engine and TC which is going to be more reliable combination and better in daily commutes.

Besides, you call it a sport version and give it the cosmetic upgrades and a suspension to match and enthusiasts will pay up (higher tax for 1.5 not withstanding).

Unfortunately, Ford tried to follow Marutis formula and paid the price.

[self_driven]

I've always considered Ford to be a sophisticated, classy manufacturer. They've made some extraordinary decisions in the past; Ecosport's 1.0 engine, 6 airbag variants of Figo/Aspire and that amazing 1.5 AT combo in the Figo for example. And who can forget the Figo S with those fine details and all.

But it's sad to see the brand follow Maruti's footsteps to gain volumes. Ford is now losing respect in my eyes with feature cuts, quality compromises and now these ugly sticker jobs. Even the 3 star rating in NCAP came as a shock. They need to learn a lesson from Force Motors. That brand has non-existent sales but commendable dedication (or is it laziness?) to stick to the core strengths of its product even after regular updates. On the other hand, a Ford of today is watered down not only in the driving department but also in terms of build quality.

[Maverick5490]

This update is such an eyesore and unnecessary! Instead, they should have utilized the freestyle's cool image and added some Explorer or mountain graphics like the RE Himalayan.

Attaching a pic of my Wanderlust edition

[SS8939]

I think Ford is still beating around the bush here.

What I feel is that while the Figo is a good, competent car, it is utterly forgettable.

There isn't one thing that it does better than the competition. The Polo is for the enthusiast and the Baleno is for the families, which leaves the Figo somewhere in between.

If I were Ford, I'd come up with a "GT" version of the Figo, Freestyle and Aspire with better driving dynamics and ditch everything else. The company does have driving pleasure in its DNA after all.

And while we're here, can we get Ford to work on the Aspire's styling and give the Endeavour a fully loaded manual variant as well?

[TheHelix0202]

Remember the good old days when a Ford ‘flair’ meant fun? The least they could have done, is to add leather seats, different alloy wheels, flat bottom steering wheel, and maybe cut down on the garish stickering.

Edit: the 1.3 iKon wasn’t too bad, it was quite eager to get off the line and had quicker pick up than the 1.6; the mileage was better too.

[GTO]

YUCK .

Ford is usually known for having good taste in aesthetics, so this garish + loud variant is even more disappointing. 100 bucks says that the taste-less dude who signed off on this gawdy variant is the same guy who choose the colour for the old Figo's dashboard:

[karan85]

The colour combination is definitely not to my taste. The red looks absolutely garish & out of place.

Originally Posted by Samba

When it's a Flair, stay away from Ford!
Remember the Ikon Flair? From the awesome 1.6L petrol, it got the anaemic 1.3L petrol!

Sorry, but I had to correct you here. Though this Flair version doesn't look that great the Ikon's 1.3 wasn't anaemic at all. It had a great low end and the city drivability was absolutely amazing. It was slower than the 1.6 yes, but it wasn't how you quote it to be.

Our story of the Ikon Flair - We bought the Ikon Flair as a second car. Dad liked it so much that in 6 months when it was time to change the primary car we bought the Ikon 1.6 SXi. The 1.3 turned out to be more reliable as well and was with us for 8 years doing over 120K KMs while we let go of the 1.6 after 80K due to various issues we faced.

The whole family fell in love with the Ford brand and we still love the cars they make. We bought the Fiesta, and 2 generations of Endeavours because of how much dad loved the Flair. It was that car that made us go back and check if Ford had car in the budget we were looking to buy in.
So I would say, please don't stay away from Flair and don't be ridden by the unconscious bias of being shortchanged if you bought a Ford "Flair" version.

[WhiteKnight]

In terms of brand extension, that's one three many names Poor positioning. Fortunately they missed Figo.

If some one ask you which car you own, what would you say?

[Ravil]

It disappoints me to see that all the new how Ford updates, irrespective of models, have made the products worse from the previous generation. This Maruti-style update can only hurt the brand more. What 'flair' are they referring to? I'm sure this wouldn't have SYNC 3 or an auto gearbox, and hence it would be just another meaningless launch in a market where offerings are getting better on a monthly basis. I wish someone at Ford could have thought things through. Sad.

[srinath34]

Wonder what Ford sees as "Flair" in this gawdy makeover. They should have called it Freestyle "Holi" edition instead. They could have atleast looked to launch a variant that highlights its beefed up, adventure-type body of the Freestyle. Ford should instead look to market their BS6 diesels big time as a major void is created by Maruti in the same segments.

[Samba]

Originally Posted by karan85

T
Sorry, but I had to correct you here. Though this Flair version doesn't look that great the Ikon's 1.3 wasn't anaemic at all. It had a great low end and the city drivability was absolutely amazing. It was slower than the 1.6 yes, but it wasn't how you quote it to be.

The Ikon 1.3 was launched with a pushrod engine. That engine had problems and was not good to drive too.
Later Ford put the 1.3L ROCAM engine and named it as Flair. It was a definite improvement from the earlier 1.3L pushrod engine.
The Flair had a good low-end and mid-range drivability, but on highways it definitely felt under-powered.

Back in 2003 when this engine was introduced, the other cars from the same category were the Accent 1.5, Baleno, Old Honda city, Opel corsa 1.4/1.6, Maruti Esteem or the Ikon 1.6. All these cars were more or less in the same price bracket and each of the cars were hoot to drive.
All the mentioned cars were powered by engines producing 85-100 Bhp, whereas this was the only car having a 70 Bhp engine.
This car definitely had a good city drivability, but it was definitely under-powered & felt anaemic on the highways.

Now, if other categories like handling, fuel efficiency, reliability are considered, it was definitely a good car.
So when a car is considered from a broader perspective, then there is nothing wrong with the Freestyle Flair too, apart from it's tacky looks!

Anyways, I hope my post didn't hurt you.
In nutshell, what i meant was
1.3 Flair had a under-powerd engine.
The Freestyle Flair looks tacky.