[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by manish84

5. How responsive is DCT in stop-go traffic? I have read on tbhp that Polo DSG is not its best in stop-go situations (creep mode)

Not responding to your other specific questions about Ford's DCT, but wanted to chip in with one general point about this question.

All dual-clutch transmissions (and AMTs) are jerky in stop-and-go traffic, when compared to torque converters (i.e. conventional automatics). Its inherent in their nature, because torque converts use fluid coupling instead of a friction clutch, and this fluid coupling absorbs the jerks in such traffic. At the same time, its the same fluid coupling that makes torque converters less efficient than DCTs.

You can read these 2 nice (but lengthy articles):

• http://blog.consumerguide.com/automa...transmissions/
• http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2...smission-.html

Here's one relevant excerpt from the first article (Consumer Guide):

Closest in terms of perception to a conventional automatic is the dual clutch automated manual. One difference can often be felt when you’re barely moving. If you’re stopped on a slight upward incline, a conventional automatic will “hold” you there without having your foot on the brake; likewise, your car will creep forward on level ground if you are stopped and take your foot off the brake. Automated manuals often won’t hold you on an upward incline, and may not creep forward on flat ground quite as smoothly as a conventional automatic does. This is most noticed in stop-and-go traffic.

[The Rationalist]

Do anyone know someone who can customise the Ford emblem like this?

[krsna777]

Went to to the showroom to finalize the delivery date of my Figo TDCI and came across these, displays at the showroom.

Ford is claiming Aspire is the most pocket friendly for maintenance and repairs too. Ford is trying its best to shake the segment here.

[100kmph]

I just sat in the Figo and the Figo Aspire display cars at Capital Ford, Bhubaneswar. Compared to the Classic and the old Figo the door cards seem to flex a little on pushing it by the knees. The engine bay lacks a proper cover. The bonnet pop out lever from the classic is sadly not retained. You have to burn your fingers literally while opening the bonnet after a drive.
On the positive side the Ford Sync brings premiumness at this price point. The diesel is also significantly peppier than the old 68 bhp one but the 1.6 deratec is sorely missed on the manual variants.

[teemus]

Originally Posted by RavenAvi

Spare parts' price comparison between the DZire and the Aspire, showing that the Aspire's parts are equally cheap as the Maruti bestseller.

Originally Posted by teemus

If Ford dealers are any smarter, they should put up these images showing comparison of spare prices. This would burst the bubble of perception in the minds of people that Maruti spares are cheap.

Originally Posted by krsna777

Went to to the showroom to finalize the delivery date of my Figo TDCI and came across these, displays at the showroom.

Ford is claiming Aspire is the most pocket friendly for maintenance and repairs too. Ford is trying its best to shake the segment here.

Looks like Ford is following this thread closely and is listening to the feedbacks already, eh?

[samaspire]

I need fellow BHPians' opinion on the shark fin antenna - yes or no. Today is the Flipkart automotive sale and I have buy it (or not) today.

[d3mon]

Teaser pic until ownership review comes up

[teemus]

Originally Posted by samaspire

I need fellow BHPians' opinion on the shark fin antenna - yes or no. Today is the Flipkart automotive sale and I have buy it (or not) today.

Sorry, but the shark fin antenna near the front windshield is not to my liking. To me, more than shark fin it looks like a feather in the cap.

But if it's functional (not dummy like the original Ford accessory) it looks better than the regular antenna and makes sense.

[samaspire]

Originally Posted by d3mon

Teaser pic until ownership review comes up

NICE!! Silver is the best (I'm getting a silver too )
Is the image photoshopped in the Number plate area or is that place actually so uneven?

[d3mon]

Originally Posted by samaspire

NICE!! Silver is the best (I'm getting a silver too )
Is the image photoshopped in the Number plate area or is that place actually so uneven?

Yes, it's badly photoshopped.

[methecupid]

Originally Posted by manish84

Hi methecupid, could you please share your initial impressions with 1.5 DCT? Maybe something on these lines:

1. What happens if you floor the accelerator in D mode? Does it help in a quick overtake or does it just revs unnecessarily (like CVT)?
2. At what RPM does DCT upshift in D mode?
3. Is the S mode any good? Someone mentioned that it always revs upto the redline in S mode. Is it so?
4. How fun is it to drive the manual mode? Or does the tiny +/- buttons render the M mode irritating?
5. How responsive is DCT in stop-go traffic? I have read on tbhp that Polo DSG is not its best in stop-go situations (creep mode).
6. Finally, what it the realistic fuel efficiency one can expect for a home-office daily commute? I believe you drive it in Mumbai?

Sorry if it looks like too many to answer. The reason is that I am not able to take a second TD as the dealer near my home gets the AT car only on Monday to Wednesday and it is impossible to leave office before 6 pm. Hence your inputs would be of great help.

Hi Manish, your questions are not too many. Infact that's the purpose of having a brotherhood like we have in TB. There would be so many of us with questions that we intend to ask, and get some perspective. Having said that, specific responses are something I won't be able to give. The car has 172 kms on it and I have driven to office and back only once. I'm going to take it easy till 1000 kms, as advised by Ford and then probably help myself to some spirited driving. I will try answering your questions as objectively as possible, am sure other members having the AT will be able to pitch in better. The following scenario happened last evening in a conversation with my wife;

"How was the drive? Your leg holding up well" (she knew I hated the clutch 'depress'ing Scorpio
"Bahut aaram hai! It's really helping my travel in the traffic" I answered with my head. "But I wish I could get that move on when I used the gears on the Polo" I mumbled with my heart.
"You won't get everything nah, am sure you'll begin to like it"

That essentially sums up my first day experience with the car. Don't get me wrong at all, quick maneuvers do not feel labored, albeit it happens after a second for the gear to know your intentions. I can flip the indicator and move past a slow moving vehicle/ truck in front without any issue. The steering is light, hence chuckable even in dense traffic. Ofcourse being an automatic, it'll probably not be at your beck and call as a manual would be.

When on D-mode, there is no gear display nor an upshift/ downshift indicator, but I would assume it happens around 2000-2200 RPM. However, when you suddenly put your foot on the throttle, I observed it goes all the way to 3500 before shifting, and keeps doing that till it gets to higher gears. The movement isn't spirited, but not sluggish at all. I haven't used the S-mode yet, so won't opine on it and the manual toggle shifts. I had several instances of experiencing the Hill-hold and creep functions yesterday and today morning, and its superbly functional and great to have. The car doesn't slide backwards on an incline in a flyover; and moves stealthily without throttle inputs at signals. A normal Joe should not have anything to complain about.

As far as traffic is concerned, to give you some perspective I work at BKC, and yesterday I went to Powai in the morning. The car did not behave absurdly, there were no jerks and no hesitation to move. At the cost of sounding repetitive, the steering doe allow easy maneuverability. I have read about sudden jerks from the TSI, but if you are a sane driver, I don't think that will be a problem on any Auto. Same with the DCT on Ford. One thing I realized on my drive yesterday and this morning was the car is largely insensitive to the traffic. I have got 16-17 on my Polo earlier on Mumbai roads, but met with 5-6 in dense BKC traffic on the same car. With the Figo, the FE displayed a constant range of 10-11.5. Ofcourse I will get to know the real figures after a few tankfulls.

And buddy, if you need to drive or get a feel of the car, do PM me. Since you are in Mumbai too, it shouldn't be much of a bother. I sincerely hope I have been able to answer few of your queries. Will try doing a better job, as I get a hang of the car myself.

Originally Posted by samaspire

I need fellow BHPians' opinion on the shark fin antenna - yes or no. Today is the Flipkart automotive sale and I have buy it (or not) today.

Originally Posted by teemus

Sorry, but the shark fin antenna near the front windshield is not to my liking. To me, more than shark fin it looks like a feather in the cap.

But if it's functional (not dummy like the original Ford accessory) it looks better than the regular antenna and makes sense.

I agree with Teemus. There were pictures earlier which had the shark-fin on the rear and the antenna on front. I was wondering what purpose it serves, since the only reason to go for shark-fins is to enhance the look. Those two together definitely destroyed it.

Having said that, I would prefer an antenna to the shark-fin or the internal antenna since I truly believe the reception on Radio takes a hit with the fancier looking gadgets. Please correct me if I am wrong, but earlier my Polo with an external antenna was better in radio reception than my Scorpio with an internal antenna.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by manish84

1. What happens if you floor the accelerator in D mode? Does it help in a quick overtake or does it just revs unnecessarily (like CVT)?
2. At what RPM does DCT upshift in D mode?
3. Is the S mode any good? Someone mentioned that it always revs upto the redline in S mode. Is it so?
4. How fun is it to drive the manual mode? Or does the tiny +/- buttons render the M mode irritating?
5. How responsive is DCT in stop-go traffic? I have read on tbhp that Polo DSG is not its best in stop-go situations (creep mode).
6. Finally, what it the realistic fuel efficiency one can expect for a home-office daily commute? I believe you drive it in Mumbai?

Adding some comments from my side if it helps(Note: I drive a TSI and have taken a reasonable TD of the Aspire DCT).

1. Does not unnecessarily rev like a CVT. There is a small delay in the DCT downshifting and the car responding. In the TSI, post the small delay in downshift, the car just takes off as it will be in its peak torque band. The Aspire does not take off like the TSI, but did not feel it to be sluggish either.

2. As methecupid mentioned, there is no gear indicator in D mode.In addition considering the DCT is pretty smooth, difficult to notice when exactly it up shifts. The up shifts also depend on how you are modulating the accel. if you slam down, even in D it is going to shift late.

3. S mode is good. Gives the car a more peppy feel. Where it up shifts again depends on how you modulate the accel. If you slam down, it is going to go to the red line before shifting, if you drive with a light foot, it will up shift earlier.

4. The +/- is also nice (but available only in S mode- Makes more sense in D mode). Useful to quickly drop a gear or 2 for that quick over take. I don't think it will be comfortable to continuously use the Manual mode for long duration's.

5. i think the DCT/DSG stop-go thing is over hyped a little (In my opinion). Once you drive it for sometime, you don't even notice the slight lag in starting off. it is a very minor thing.

Overall, once you have driven for sometime, you can control a lot of what the AT box does by the way you accelerate. So in that way it is not too difficult to overcome the not too ideal behavior situations of the AT (This is true for all kinds of AT)

[manish84]

Originally Posted by methecupid

I sincerely hope I have been able to answer few of your queries.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Adding some comments from my side if it helps(Note: I drive a TSI and have taken a reasonable TD of the Aspire DCT).

Thanks methecupid and Rajeevraj for the response. This clears all my doubts on DCT.

What I gather is that the DCT gearbox is competent enough and once you adapt to its traits, it would be a pleasure to drive it (but maybe not fun to drive). I guess Diesel/Petrol Ecoboost+DCT would have been the ideal combination.

Budget is not a constraint and I would have happily bought a Polo GT TSI. However, I am not comfortable to buy a VW brand after the dieselgate. It is a personal choice - I don't want to buy a product from unethical company even in petrol (no offence to anyone). Further there is a tail risk of disruptions in service if VW faces very high financial fines.

So now I just need to decide between Aspire DCT and Aspire TDCi T+. Its comfort versus torque+leather+6 airbags

[methecupid]

Originally Posted by manish84

So now I just need to decide between Aspire DCT and Aspire TDCi T+. Its comfort versus torque+leather+6 airbags

Cat amongst pigeons! If I were you, I would wait for the Baleno too. The CVT may not 'on paper' be as fancy as the DCT, but with a power-to-weight ratio of 94+, it might just have that FTD you are looking for.

(P.S. as to why I didn't wait, I didn't have that Vitamin-M that you are talking about)

[heavenlybull]

Looks like the telephony controls are not there on the steering in the titanium variant. I only noticed today that the phone icons are missing on the Titianium steering http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/iipcache/154717.jpg