[tharian]

Originally Posted by mukundz

Hey Tharian! 3M has done a pretty cool job with the car. It looks awesome! Just a headsup. Ford appears to be having crazy amount of ongoing discounts today. Got my 40K servicing done and the SA advised me to take the gold service plan for 7.2K which includes 3 free services and 1 year of free road side assist. Since my current service would have cost around 6-7k and I had to pay 1K only for the consumables I took the plan!

And they had an offer on accessories. Bought new covers for 3.3K and the center console for Rs.510 (usually around 2.5-3k)!

Thanks for the information mukundz.

Metro Ford has called me last week and informed me this service plan details. But knowing these guys, I felt there should be a catch somewhere.

Anyway Ford called me the day after and I couldn't answer.
Think I will go for it since I will save around 4k during the 3 services.
The package they mentioned was around the same cost.

[akshay380]

Originally Posted by tharian

Yesterday was the 5 years completion with my Figo 1.2.

Crossed just 38k kms in the 5 years and running has been low in the last year.
The 50k kms service is due next month and I need to replace the brake pads since braking effect has reduced quite a bit .

The rear dampers were coated with oil for sometime now, but no unusual noises or lack of shock absorbing, so will not be changing it .
The only other complaint is the a squeaking noise when going over bumps which I think is the link rod which needs to be checked.

Other than that, no complaints or issues. Engine is getting smoother and gear shifts remain slick. After moving to V-Power, the engine is running bit silent as well.
Mileage is between the single and double digits and I don't bother anymore since I enjoy the sound .
The conical filter needs to be cleaned often since the initial torque reduces quite a bit when it clogs up.

Gave the car a good wash on occasion of the 5th anniversary.

Hey hope you are doing good. I will be out of warranty in November and want to start doing some mods. What all did you install and the cost? TIA!

[tharian]

Originally Posted by akshay380

Hey hope you are doing good. I will be out of warranty in November and want to start doing some mods. What all did you install and the cost? TIA!

Hey Akshay.

The mods done are explained from page 1 of this thread.

But in short:

-Free Flow 4x2x1 exhaust with small dia headers(no cat)
-BMC Cold Air Intake with the intake pipe extended to the front grill
-NGK Platinium plugs
- Semi-synth engine oil- which Ford uses anyway.

Sadly RRP who did the work is no longer in Bangalore and moved back to Coimbatore. I got this done close to 4 years ago , so I am not sure what are the costs now.

The good thing getting the work done at RRP although it was expensive was the parts are lasting. There are no rust or cracks on the exhaust system and not to forget the sound getting better.

Just adding: These mods do not result in a significant bump in power, so don't plan on doing this expecting a power increase.
I would guess the increase in WHP would be only around 2-3 bhp.
But the advantage to the stock set up is that power delivery is very smooth and the engine can be revv'd to 5.5k rpms without any roughness or strain and that results in fun driving.
There is a slight increase in pick up, but that is felt more post 2.5k rpms.

[akshay380]

Originally Posted by tharian

Hey Akshay.

The mods done are explained from page 1 of this thread.

Thanks buddy. Yes I have been following your build since your first post but was just curious to know if its worth. Thanks again!

[tharian]

Reverted back to the stock airbox.

On a recent trip, I felt the power has reduced compared to earlier times. Normally when this happens, it is normally a clogged air filter which get dirty soon since the intake is from the grille next to the headlamp and sucks in quite a bit of dirt.
The stock air box has a Cosworth stock replacement filter which is slightly better than the stock one. From the short drive after the swap, I could immediately feel the difference in smoothness and slight increase in initial acceleration. The significant change being the smoothness in acceleration especially after hitting the gas pedal.
Since there is not intake sound either, the overall sound has reduced and only from the exhaust now.
Will run this set up for a while as I needed a change in the car.

[tharian]

The stock air filter and the Cosworth stock replacement filter.
The difference is very less, in fact the stock one is smoother in idle and acceleration. Good thing being, the Cosworth need not be cleaned as frequently since it is a pain to remove the filter from the air box .

Comparing to the BMC CAI set up that I was running since the last 30k kms, the stock set up is any day smoother in lower range, but roughs up when revving which is the other way round on the CAI.
I haven't tried WOT with the stock set up , so not sure how fast the revs would pick up compared to the CAI.
Not surprisingly, the intake was reading almost 7 degrees less in temperature when compared to the CAI when driving. There are lots of designing in air box for noise reduction, cooling and air flow which makes it more useful for low revs driving.
I have a feeling the fuel efficiency will increase a bit as well since it has been dropping to some unbelievable figure.

Enjoying the smoothness with the clear exhaust note since the engine bay has gone silent.

[tharian]

Done with the 50k service which ended up being the most expensive of all the services in the last 5 years.
The car has run 39k kms and was due for the annual service.

There were no complaints apart from the squeaking link rod which they greased.
Brake pads were finally replaced and had lasted from when the car was bought.
Before they could try their luck on replacing the discs as well, I mentioned don't, since nothing was wrong.
One of the rear damper has been coated with oil since long and they asked me to replace it as well . Since it was functioning fine and there was no issues, it was postponed.

The surprise replacement was the belt which had its sides torn at three places. At first when they showed it to me, there was no crack or cut across, but the nylon thread had split on the sides. I gave them the go ahead to replace it and once removed, the bottom side of the belt was torn and it seemed to be a rat issue since I had been having rats entering the engine bay.

Also learnt that Ford does not use semi-synth engine oil on the Figo as it was mentioned by them in the earlier services. It is Castrol Mineral oil and was quite surprised at that.
Total damage was 7.5k .

[rakesh_r]

Originally Posted by tharian

The Hella's are a mix of spot and spread and the bulbs in it are 100w ,and with the good quality reflector and lens, the brightness is very good. I use it only for trips and outside city. It absolutely blinds oncoming traffic when on.
I will post the pictures with it on/off.

I have similar set up on my swift but using Hella Rallye 3003 with 55w bulb.Can you please tell me what is the rating of the main headlights?Somewhere I heard you mention it was a 130w set up.
Do you face any battery issues? I was planning to install 100w bulbs in the Hellas in parallel to the 100/90 set up in the main headlight.
Thanks in advance.

[tharian]

Originally Posted by rakesh_r

I have similar set up on my swift but using Hella Rallye 3003 with 55w bulb.Can you please tell me what is the rating of the main headlights?Somewhere I heard you mention it was a 130w set up.
Do you face any battery issues? I was planning to install 100w bulbs in the Hellas in parallel to the 100/90 set up in the main headlight.
Thanks in advance.

The main headlamp is 100/90 and the Hella's are 100.
The Hella's are never used apart from highways which again is very rare in the night.

No battery issues till date, it is the original one still. But if the lights are used a lot with the higher power rated lamps, it may reduce the battery life.

[tharian]

Update after running with the stock air filter set up with Cosworth filter element for 3 months.

Apart from the smoothness mentioned in low and mid range, the mileage is consistent. Earlier with the CAI , the mileage depended a lot on the driving style and dropped or increased accordingly.

With the set up, the engine is not eager to rev up and I tend to shift by 3-3.5k rpms. The noise levels have reduced quite a bit as well and much smoother to drive.

I got a good buy back price from Ford , but this is a car I am not getting bored with , so I'll stick around with it.

[tharian]

With the stock air filter set up, the engine didn't like revving much although it has a FFE and a Cosworth stock sized filter , though the upside was smoothness and less noise and of course a consistent mileage.

I wanted at least a bit of the old set up's rev happy feeling back, atleast till 4k rpm.
I had the intake pipe from the BMC Conical filter set up. Did some grinding on the air filter box inlet and fitted the intake pipe facing forward , but away from the inlet gap next to the left headlamp.
If I had to place right at that gap, one, it would suck in all the dirt and second , it would essentially would pull in hot air in this traffic.

Now, the engine revvs feel much eager than before, but at the same time, the smoothness is retained due to the stock filter box.
Of course , it does not rev easily to redline like how it used to and howl in the process, but when driving in traffic most of the times, I feel this set up is better.



Also, got rid of the annoying clatter from the left front wheel. Refer post 10258;
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...010-a-684.html

[tharian]

Scratched the new car itch by upgrading the tyres today on my Figo.

After lot of research and contemplation, went for the MRF ZLo in 195/60 size.

Checked the comparison chart with the stock tyres and the changes were less than 1% except for the width of course.

The previous tyres were Conti Eco Contact 3 which were 185/65 14. I wasn't keen on blowing anything close to 20k or above for 4 tyres since I will probably use the car for another couple years at the most and wanted a tyre in which I can enjoy the car more.

For the same price as the Zlo, I had GoodYear Assurance, Apollo Alnac 4Gs, Yokohama Earth1 as options in 185, none of which interested me.

On the higher side was Conti Comfort Contact 5 and XM2. I didn't like the thread design of the XM2 although I read and heard good reviews on it and the Conti was nothing but the newer version of what I already had.
Zlo was always on my mind for the next change and took the plunge. Hopefully I don't have any bad experiences.

The previous tyres had run 40k kms over 5 years and although the thread was not fully worn, the tyre noise inside was getting worse.
I need to experience the difference with Zlo since I havent driven much with it.

[tharian]

Update after driving around 100 kms on the new shoes.

Most of the drives have been the usual office route. The only time I can actually feel something or get a feedback is on the way to office since it is early and low on traffic.

I have been extra careful on bad roads and pot holes now since I can feel the sides are soft when going over bumps and bad patches. There is a slight spring to the car in these conditions. Coming to the tyre noise which I was expecting, it is almost as same as the Conti tyres when they were wearing out , so that is fine and I crank up the audio volume if needed.

The fun part, I take turns faster and more confidentially than before . So much so that I feel with the 195 section tyres, I am putting stress on the suspension.

Had a panic braking situation one day and apart from the Figo brakes which are not great, the tyre held with no squeaks or drama.

I need to experience the highway drive with high speed corners since I am sure that is where this tyre will shine.

Haven't refilled fuel, so cannot comment on the mileage drop if any.

As of now, no regrets with the purchase.

[tharian]

Spray painted Bosny heat resistant silver paint for the exhaust system.

The exhaust system is a Red Rooster made full system and most of the thin anti rust coating they had done had come off. There was no crack or rust apart from surface rust which was sanded off.
I had used a normal can spray few years ago which had peeled off soon enough since it was not heat resistant.

I heard recently that 3M Car Care had started this offer in which they paint the exhaust system alone to prevent rust mainly. That is when it struck me, I need to get it done on my car because of the state it was in. Inquired at the nearest 3M outlet and they were ready to do it, but they would just paint over which was not of much use without removing the old paint.

Member Audioholic helped with the brand and type of spray paint required which I ordered online.
Got down to doing it last weekend.

Jack stands are required and safer , but since I had no access to them, I used jacks to hold up the rear and then the front.(not advisable)
Started off by sanding the pipes and thankfully there was no rust holes or cracks. The mid muffler looked good ,hence it was left untouched. The end-can(muffler) was sanded down at areas were there were surface rust showing since the rest of the muffler was fine and this was a big end can.
The pipe between both the mufflers was what needed a coat of paint badly. The twin pipes heading to the mid-can was left untouched as well since I was not sure if the paint will stick at that area due to the extreme heat, and I also ran out of paint.


It is advisable to spray a coat and wait for few mins and spray the next rather than doing both together.


Also recommend for this DIY- Face mask, plain industrial type spectacles, old clothes since you are to get down and dirty, jack stands and newspaper and tape to cover the surroundings of the pipe if you don't want the paint to show on it.In my case since it was silver and most of the paint was spread to the heat shield surrounding, it didn't matter.


Some pictures of before and after sanding and multiple coats of silver paint

[tharian]

In the process of giving my car the 90's rally look.

Apart from the existing addition is another set of lamps. For now, I have just clamped on to the existing one and not wired it yet. Also need to get one more since the one I have has a broken glass.

Few months down the line I have decided to repaint the alloys to a darker shade.

Car is doing fine apart from these. The Zlo's have given it a new lease of life and taken care of the itch to upgrade the car.