[dkhatau]

I bought my panther black ikon in september 2006. And man am i glad that i purchased ikon, sure am very happy.For sheer driving pleasure this car is just amazing and i doubt any car under 8 lacs segment can beat an ikon in driving pleasure.

The ride is also good if you nurse the car properly.The air conditioning is at par with the best but the only problem is on starting the a/c for the first few seconds a lot of warm air comes out for which quite a few co passengers have asked whether i have accidently started the heater or what. But after that it is cool .

Have taken the car from mumbai to shirdi twice and i travel to pune almost once every two months. Boss on the expressway this car is just too good. I have touched 185 once for a few seconds but then its scary at that speed.
The best part is after the first toll naka just drive an ikon uphll on the ghat section and feel the difference in the power this car has. It just climbs the ghat as if it is a normal flat road surface.Fuel economy wise it is a bit hard on the wallet but good things never come cheap in life.I get an average of 8 to 9 in city with a/c on in full traffic and get 14 on the highways.

Maintainence wise i had opted for Total Maintanence Plan (TMP) for two years or 30000 km whichever is earlier. I have had to change the fuel pump once. The fuel pump used to go off at very high speed in second or third gears. The ford people changed it under the TMP. Otherwise no major issues with the car. Touch wood.

The tyres given were MRF ZVTS 170 R13. These tyres are very noisy in high speed but the grip levels are good. Have not come across any major issues except one puncture in the rear tyre because of a nail. Will try michelin XM1 as some of you have suggested here.

I go for 2 3M polishes in a year for the car and also do full servicing 4 times a year. I use Mobil one for the engine. Have also put K&N filter. I also use system G in normal unleaded petrol.

Boss the acceleration in 1.3 is so good, what it must be like in the 1.6.

ICE :I have a pioneer 5850 HU, 5 ways pioneers at rear, MTS at the front, alpine tweeters and a four channel pioneer Amp. The system works fine for me.

Suggestions :The braking is a thing where i feel they can do better. Also air bags provision is not there. Boot opening device should be part of stock and not an optional accessory.The positioning of window operating switch should also be changed as sometimes you tend to roll up and down the rear windows.

Conclusion : Boss ***** definitely deserves a 5 star rating. Thumbs up from me.

P.S i am a hardcore lover of IKon so wiil be biased for the car always.

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by dkhatau

Suggestions :The braking is a thing where i feel they can do better. Also air bags provision is not there. Boot opening device should be part of stock and not an optional accessory.The positioning of window operating switch should also be changed as sometimes you tend to roll up and down the rear windows.

These grouses seem to be shared by all owners. Would be great if Ford actually took these as constructive criricism and worked on them.

Between, how about putting up some snaps?

[snaronikar]

Nice write up of your experience. Yeah, the brakes sucks big time in Ikon cars. Even I'am experiencing the same apart from few niggling issues which is OK. The drive comfort, the adaptability to all kinds of terrains etc etc is the thing of Ikon. The 1.6 is a pleasure to drive with.

[danlalan]

Originally Posted by dkhatau

Boss the acceleration in 1.3 is so good, what it must be like in the 1.6.

P.S i am a hardcore lover of IKon so wiil be biased for the car always.

Yup its pretty good(1.6)..atleast i know its in comparison with the vtecs.

And before you try and thing more with your car...



1600 90ps

The first thing to be aware of is that the 1.6 90ps unit fitted in the ikon, is hugely restricted by it's tiny 26mm valves and will struggle to produce over 100bhp, even with major modification. Due to the bore size, the larger valve (32mm) heads from the 1.8 and 2.0 cannot be fitted. The only effective solutions to gain more power from these cars is Nitrous Oxide kits or transplanting the 1.8 or 2.0.