[supremeBaleno]

Keep seeing quite a few Ikon-Ds in Chennai. Looks like Ford has a winner on hand. If only they had done this much earlier. Heck, all they had to do was look on tbhp to know this would be a winner.

BTW, I saw a black Ikon-D and the 'new' front did not look bad like it looks with other colors - the color sort of hid the frontal screw-up done by Ford on the TDCi. And black anyway looks awesome on the Ikon.

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Thats really some great mileage you're getting, Budhiraj!

@Benny, thinking about swapping Mike-P for a new Mike-D ?

[benbsb29]

Thats really some great mileage you're getting, Budhiraj!
What's the kind of traffic you face in your commutes?

Between, i believe the first service would be charged at Rs.0/-, since there were no consumables charged.

[mobike008]

That's a very good mileage that your getting. I assume due to winters the AC usage was so low.

Looks like the lighter body weight of a Ford over a Fiesta is also a small contributor towards better mileage than a Fiesta.

Cheers and happy driving!

[Proxima]

Looks like a promising car, with a FE of 18 KMPL!

I am considering it, along with the Palio and the Getz mainly.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/what-c...-l-budget.html

[supremeBaleno]

@Proxima, I think the Ford-D would be a good car for your needs.

[Proxima]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

@Proxima, I think the Ford-D would be a good car for your needs.

Yes SB, I tend to agree. May miss the raw power of Getz but life is a trade off. The FE looks of the Ford seems astounding. Even better than the Swift D! What say?

Congrats on the ride, S_budhiraj.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by Proxima

Yes SB, I tend to agree. May miss the raw power of Getz but life is a trade off. The FE looks of the Ford seems astounding. Even better than the Swift D! What say?

Apart from FE, my reasoning was based on the following points :
1) It is not just you that is going to use the car, but also your Mom & sis. Unless they are real performance enthusiasts, not only is the mad power of the Getz wasted on them, but it could even be a problem for them while driving in city traffic, like kpzen mentioned.

2) While the Swift-D looks like a good option, apart from the other reasons you mentioned, the car is kinda claustrophobic with rear visibility quite bad. This again can be a problem for the ladies (and even for you) while driving in general and in reversing specifically. I speak from experience, though of the petrol variety.

Plus the Ikon has a boot, which might be useful. Only area of concern seems to be the costly Ford A.S.S.

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Plus the Ikon has a boot, which might be useful. Only area of concern seems to be the costly Ford A.S.S.

I wouldnt totally agree. Slightly more than a Maruti, but reasonable, i feel for all normal wear and tear items.

3 years in coming September, and so far my expenses have been limited to servicing needs alone.

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

@Benny, thinking about swapping Mike-P for a new Mike-D ?

No chance to think of a new vehicle now. Mike was a long term option even when i bought it. Hoping my next vehicle will be an SUV (provided they are still affordable).

[1100D]

Originally Posted by condor

Why did you go for 185/65/R14 ? The correct upsize is 185/60 R14.

If you do have 185/65 R14, then you have a 3.63% error in the odo readings.

Even I have 185/65 R14. It was an educated switch. The stock size on my 1.6 was 175/65. 185/60 would have meant a lower overall radius, even if the percentage of error was low. On the other hand, the increased radius somewhat offsets the speedo error. I dont mind the slight, very difficult to percieve difference in response. As for FE Calculations, since I know of the error, If I were to calculate FE, I would take that into account.

Now from a numerical perspective the best upsize is 195/60 R14. Visually it seems that it can be done without issues. However my tyreshop guy advised against it.

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Slightly more than a Maruti, but reasonable, i feel for all normal wear and tear items.

The prices seem to have been downward revised for a few Items which I had to change like shocks and clutch. Will give the details later (when I find them!)

[dipen]

anyone planning to try the Petes on the Ikon D.

[govigov]

18 to 19.5. hm. did you do a typo of 10% as to 100% a/c on?
great milage

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

I wouldnt totally agree. Slightly more than a Maruti, but reasonable, i feel for all normal wear and tear items. 3 years in coming September, and so far my expenses have been limited to servicing needs alone.

Benny, I meant it comparitively - compared to the other choices in consideration by Proxima. Along with mentioning the pros of the Ikon-D, wanted to keep him informed about the grey areas too, so that he can make an informed decision.

And while guys like you have had pretty reasonable service expenses as seen from your LTRs, there are many other owners on the forum who report abnormally high costs - for eg. Eddy.

Check out his maintenance expenses for a car that has done only 61K kms and is less than 4.5 years old. There is no way this kind of expenditure can be termed reasonable.

Originally Posted by Eddy

50k+ apart from regular servicing.
It is asking for another 20k. But have fixed that problem with a jugaad outside the Ford showroon. Lets see if it works out !!

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Hoping my next vehicle will be an SUV (provided they are still affordable).

Don't worry, they will be very affordable. All you need for that is oil prices to rise again to the 140-150$ or more level.
Like in the US, people would then shift to smaller & FE cars and SUVs would be going cheap.

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

And while guys like you have had pretty reasonable service expenses as seen from your LTRs, there are many other owners on the forum who report abnormally high costs - for eg. Eddy.

Check out his maintenance expenses for a car that has done only 61K kms and is less than 4.5 years old. There is no way this kind of expenditure can be termed reasonable.

Biju, while Eddy has had unfortunate experiences, we have various others on the forum namely Jaggu, Suman, Sammyboy, mail4loys, myself etc who have had no major expenses besides normal servicing costs. Servicing costs for the petrol are more or less on par with even the Swift.

Since this is Budhiraj's LTR thread, i do not want to deviate much from the topic at hand.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Since this is Budhiraj's LTR thread, i do not want to deviate much from the topic at hand.

True. I guess our discussion would be OT here.

[S_budhiraj]

Guys Thanks a ton for your responses!

FE:-

Guys you won't believe If I would say that all my drive in the recent past has been in Bumper to Bumper traffic, As due to Republic day Parade's feew of the roads were blocked Which I use, so for quite a few days had to face Chaotic traffic.

Even in my daily drive, the traffic I face is bumper to bumper.

I must say despite of all the problems traffic throws, this Machine still turns out as a winner

Reasons for Such good FE:-

Light weight:- this car is even lighter than Swift and Indica

Low end Grunt:- The machine has such a good low end grunt, that it pulls from just 1000 rpm. You can easily pull from the speed of 20 at the third gear without any fuss. All this makes it hoot to drive.

Nice Engine:- Nice smooth Engine

Power Delivery:- Linear power delivery

Looks

Even the new front looks has grown on me and know I have found them looking Chunky and Muscular.

The other reason is Morello colour

Drivability

This car is such a hoot to drive, specially in City that daily morning I have to fight with my wife for taking it.

She is really fallen in love this car. Like me she is also a bit of auto Enthusiast and likes to take this machine for a spin.

I should say that this has never let me and wife down as of know!