[figo_mba]

Its not easy owning a Figo when your best friend is a FIAT fan and happens to own a Punto. Oh he is a bhpian too.


You just keep hearing a lot of your Figo being under powered on open stretches and how the Punto is more powerful and stuff like that.


Now faced with the odds, I could do three things.

1. I could deny that I had an under powered car and argue that Indian roads were not good enough for high powered cars etc. figo was good for the roads I drove on (kerala roads. Do i need to tell more ?)
2. I could sell the car and buy a Punto, but then in the city the Punto felt like a sitting duck and that would mean dealing with a seperate thread of problems starting from the A**
3. I could do modification or put in the RACE Chip.

And So I did!!!!

Story goes like this
I bought my Figo in Aug 2010. Did 33K kms. very happy and satisfied apart from the irritating rattles that comes and goes every now and then.
Figo was always a driver's car the thing that was lacking was the power plant. the suspension and the steering said they could handle more but the powerplant was just out of breath when all of the things came into place.


On the figo, you could do normal city ride due to the nice huge torque, low turbo lag and nice gearing but when it came to the open highways it just lacked the punch.


I was constantly being teased for having a car with not so good top end performance when I would invariably end up driving every weekend. I could still do 120-140kmph but the car felt strained


Last time we bhpians met at Kochi, I had asked my bhpian friend "coolclouds" about purchasing the chip (because he had his friend returning from Germany and then somehow the timing was not perfect.


This time I got my friend returning from Germany to get this when he returned.


On Sep 28th I laid my hands on this chip and the wiring.

Installation
The installation is pretty easy if you look at the installation manual. Things are different when you get to the engine bay. Figo has a tight engine bay and you cannot even put your hands through. Now I had the chip and I knew where to put it but I had no means of reaching there.


The Rail Pressure sensor output, where I was supposed to fix the wire, harness and the chip was out of plain sight because the airfilter box and the tubes sits above it and also because the whole fuel rail is behind the engine and the firewall is very close by. So just practically I could not reach there.


It was like the fuel rail was singing "catch me if you can"


I decided since I could not reach the rail from the top I would try and reach from the bottom. I went to a service station, put the car on a hydraulic lift and tried reaching from the bottom. This time the the transmission case was preventing me. I could just pinpoint and touch the sensor but nothing further.


So the only way was to remove the air filter box and the air inlet pipes.
So i got the mechanic in the service center to remove these things. He had no experience opening it up and that was evident from the "is this ok ? Shall i do it ? " looks that he was giving me.
I got the air filter box out and reached the sensor, connected it and checked if everything was working fine. Then connected the Race chip. SUCCESS


I HAVE THE POWER !!! I yelled like He-Man..

Experience after connecting the Race chip


I would not rate the changes in the drive as something as transformational as a rabbit to tiger sort of thing. It is more subtle than that.


The areas where I used to drive previously I drive at a higher gear (3rd instead of 2nd and 4th instead of 3rd)


I can do 100kmph without any sweat. Previously I could do 80Kmph without sweat and 100 just crawled in. The engine did not feel strained and felt like there was more.


The fuel efficiency should increase now cos the gearshifts are lesser.Have not checked it. Will do it over the weekend.

At 120kmph i am using half+something throttle there is certainly more punch. Previously my throttle was floored at 120kmph.


Driving has become effortless since lesser number of gear shifts.

Previously the car used to jarr/jerk/resonate at 50kmph in 5th gear. Now the car is very smooth at 50kmph in 5th gear. The jerking due to gear mismatch is gone.I can shift to 4th at speeds just above 30 and expect the car to just flow on. Previously this was not the case and car would jerk so much.

Car can do more than 160kmph now. I reached 160kmph on my way to office. There was still punch left. I fastest I could in stock version was 155kmph.


The car reached 100kmph in less than 14seconds. I could not time it accurately to say 100kmph in 14 point something. Again will do this over the weekend.


All speeds were calculated with GPS speed sensors on android.


No change in the turbo lag but then when did Figo suffer from turbo lag ?

Now I feel the need for ABS, bigger brakes, fatter tires and spoilers on the car.

I did not take the pics of how I installed it.
Pics after installation to come up soon.

[coolclouds]

Congratulations on your "new" car. Bring her to our next meet.
(Sorry, I couldn't help you on this last time)

[naveen.raju]

Congrats buddy. Good to hear that. I would suggest you move this thread to "Modifications and Accessories". I'm sure this thread will attract many. Follow the thread with pics and all the necessary details.

BTW, let me know the cost and the place where you did the installation. Also, how much is the torque after the installation.

[S5157]

Congratulations on the MOD.Could you please post some pictures of the installation and of the final state.

[Statement]

Congrats He-Man!! How does it drive? Do you find a major difference? Write more about how it feels to drive a more muscled Figo.

Also does it void any of the "touch me not" warranty of Ford?

[Vik0728]

Woah figo mba what an achievement boy.

I have not personally driven a Figo but anybody who has have always told me that only thing wrong in this machine was its Engine. Seems like you have Successfully gotten rid of the Glitch!!!

Some Pics please and more importantly stats data.

[figo_mba]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

Congratulations on your "new" car. Bring her to our next meet.
(Sorry, I couldn't help you on this last time)

Thanks man. No problems..
Will meet at the next time and I shal bring him (not her) along.

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Congrats buddy. Good to hear that. I would suggest you move this thread to "Modifications and Accessories". I'm sure this thread will attract many. Follow the thread with pics and all the necessary details.

BTW, let me know the cost and the place where you did the installation. Also, how much is the torque after the installation.

Cost rs 8600. Place: A normal service center for Maruti/Hyundai Cars.
ford service if your Service advisor is your buddy.

Originally Posted by Vik0728

Woah figo mba what an achievement boy.

I have not personally driven a Figo but anybody who has have always told me that only thing wrong in this machine was its Engine. Seems like you have Successfully gotten rid of the Glitch!!!

Some Pics please and more importantly stats data.

I will surely post the pics.

We do not have a dyno far down here in Kochi. So the only figures I would be able to provided would be acceleration figures and stuff like that.

[sachinj12]

Ha ha. Now you can match that Punto punch-to-punch! How much did the whole set up cost?

Why don't you do a dyno run and post the results here?

[Vibhanshu]

That's serious! Thanks for posting.

But how do you know it's 89 bhp now ?

You should have definitely went to Dyno runs before and after the installations to see the 'real gains'.

[W.A.G.7]

Wow, what an achievement!!! Can you please put in the pics asap? I am waiting to see the pics. How did you order the chip? And what changes exactly does the chip do to the engine?

All the best, enjoy the car even more now, F.E. be damned

[figo_united]

Whoa! Thats excellent figo_mba
Would appreciate if you could throw some light on what exactly the "Chip" is and what exactly it does

[ghodlur]

@figo_mba,

Great modifications. Even I was curious to know how did you arrive at 89 BHP figure as said in the thread title. Did you derive it from some calculations post chip installations. Do take some time out and post the pics of the chip installation. I am eager to know how the chip looks like.

If the chip can make so much difference to the car, why not suggest it to Ford

[ilangop]

Originally Posted by figo_mba

Experience after connecting the Race chip
The areas where I used to drive previously I drive at a higher gear (3rd instead of 2nd and 4th instead of 3rd)

I can do 100kmph without any sweat. Previously I could do 80Kmph without sweat and 100 just crawled in. The engine did not feel strained and felt like there was more.
The fuel efficiency should increase now cos the gearshifts are lesser.Have not checked it. Will do it over the weekend.

Hi, That is nice to hear about your figo. I have a doubt regarding the engine cooling. Is the temperature needle still in the normal operational zone. And remember once a friend (a fellow team-bhpian as well - Obssessed by fiat) mentioned that figo doesnt come with a temperature guage. Anyways, I hope the high temperature warning doesnt turn on while you run the engine at high performance.
Regards,
Ilango

[Figopian]

Nice job! Do post some pics and mention your mileage figure changes (if any!)

[figo_mba]

Originally Posted by sachinj12

Ha ha. Now you can match that Punto punch-to-punch! How much did the whole set up cost?

Why don't you do a dyno run and post the results here?

Yes thats what I am planning to do. The whole set up cost me Rs 8600 only. check this site

Chiptuning von RaceChip - die Powerbox für sicheres Motor Tuning

I am not sure where to find a dyno in kochi. Else I would have done it without a doubt.

Originally Posted by Vibhanshu

That's serious! Thanks for posting.

But how do you know it's 89 bhp now ?

You should have definitely went to Dyno runs before and after the installations to see the 'real gains'.

It is the claim of the tuning chip maker that the power would be 89bhp.
Dyno run is the thing even I want to do.

Originally Posted by W.A.G.7

Wow, what an achievement!!! Can you please put in the pics asap? I am waiting to see the pics. How did you order the chip? And what changes exactly does the chip do to the engine?

All the best, enjoy the car even more now, F.E. be damned

I got the chip from germany through a friend who was returning from there. He ordered for the chip online, received the package in Germany in a day and then he brought it along when he came back to India.

I will post the pics soon.

Originally Posted by figo_united

Whoa! Thats excellent figo_mba
Would appreciate if you could throw some light on what exactly the "Chip" is and what exactly it does

The chip is called race chip. The fuel rail sensor pressure is modified by the chip. So the ECU gets the fuel pump motor to maintain higher pressures. This is what I think it does. basically confuse the ECU into thinking that the Fuel rail pressure is low and boost it to a higher level.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

@figo_mba,

If the chip can make so much difference to the car, why not suggest it to Ford

The 89bhp is the manufacturer's claim. Chip is as big as some of the smaller computer mouse(s).
I was thinking why not Ford do the same.