[racerme?]

tgo,

my car's back from second servicing with the suspension problem resolved.
SA said that the sound from front left hand side(drivers side) was due to a problem in the steering column.i seriously doubt it..but then the sound isn't there anymore when i go through potholes or over speedbreakers.
i must add that the last time around when i had the same problem they said that it was related to some wheel nut which was loose.

With respect to seat locking mechanism I found that indeed to be due to faulty seat cover installation.I got it done outside the dealer and hence the SA was quick to point out the flaws of getting it installed outside the dealer.I politely asked him to shut up!!guess i have to live with it now!

I will be putting up the servicing details in a seperate thread.will update you soon about it.

[shibujp]

@Tgo - great thread.

One of my friends has just replaced his second set of front flaps in 10k kms. This is definitely a recurring issue with Figos.

On the other hand, mud flaps are a problem with the Swift as well. I won a Swift, and have had incidents with both the front and rear mud flaps. The difference is that the mud flaps don't seem too breakage prone. The downside is that in one instance, the shock was transferred onto the rear bumper and ended up breaking a clip on it.

I'll be watching this thread for the solutions that you come up with.

Drive on,
Shibu.

[Tgo]

I checked the level of the car by parking it in reverse in the porch. Nothing to worry now. The car is level. Just have to take care of the Mud-flaps and the front seats now.

[odyssey045]

Gosh.. i got the same problem in my i10 kappa2.. One fine day i noticed weird sounds coming from the underside.. I tried my best a number of times to find straws/garbage stuck somewhere in the underpart, but to no avail.. One of my friends then discovered that the mudflaps had partly come off and were brushing against the tyres.. I have "adjusted" the problematic flaps so that they dont hinder the tyre movement.. Been a happy user ever since !

[Dr.Awesomeness]

i have also faced the same kinda trouble with the figo mudflaps. They are indeed suicidal. I finally found a solution. People dont cheer around, its just that i went in for a new set of sparco mudflaps and fit them in such a way that they guys amy figo before and after the installation. Ford, is that you are so stupid that you guys cant even figure out how to design a mudflap or is it that you guys are trying to break-even by selling more mudflaps than the car itself.

[Dr.Awesomeness]

Sorry folks for the bad picture quality, i didn't have my camera on me at that time, instead had to adjust with my phone camera.

[Tgo]

Originally Posted by Dr.Awesomeness

that they guys amy figo before and after the installation. Ford, is that you are so stupid that you guys cant even figure out how to design a mudflap

The sentence is not making sense. Can you post pictures of the new mud-flaps? I wanted to see the finish.

[Dr.Awesomeness]

yeah, i know. The sentence doesn't make any sense. Don;t know what happened. Sorry. Here's the pics of the new mudflaps and they work like a charm.

[Tgo]

Dear Doc,

Your DIY looks awesome. These flaps must be going with the color of your car. I always imagined the Figo to be a poor man's Focus RS (Way off target, but one can live in wonderland sometime). With anything with sparco written on it stuck to the car, you are just closing the gap.

I'd still wait for the more subtle (probably flexible) OEM mud-flaps from Ford.

[Dr.Awesomeness]

hey thansks Tgo, i have a friend who is working at ford and he said there is not much of a chance for them to produce flexible mudflaps anytime soon. But lets keep our fingers crossed?
TGO, i have another question. Do you have any problems with the ground clearance of the figo? The engine and its components sits so low in the engine bay that i have scraped them in tough potholes a couple of times. Does installing a engine underbelly cover solve the issue?

[Tgo]

Dear Dr.

Originally Posted by Dr.Awesomeness

Do you have any problems with the ground clearance of the figo? The engine and its components sits so low in the engine bay that i have scraped them in tough potholes a couple of times. Does installing a engine underbelly cover solve the issue?

You are asking a guy who has moved on from a Qualis to a Figo about the GC being a problem. Well it is a big problem for me. But I have got used to it in the last two months. I can hand out some points for people wanting to scrape the under-sides of their Figos less often.

Understand the problem:

1. Wheelbase: 2468mm
   GC: 168mm
   What we see here is a hatchback with perfectly alright GC but a longer wheelbase, according to hatch standards (No wonder we like the space available in the back seat). The problem of scraping the car over speed bumps arises when you go over a sharp one. By that I mean, a speed breaker which has short span.
2. The car squats when you have stuff in the boot or people in the back seat. Which reduces the GC more at the rear than in the front.
3. When you pass the crest of a speed hump and the front wheels are fully down and come on level road (off the hump) the car due to inertia (decending after crossing the crest) directed downwards hits the bump somewhere right in the middle of the wheelbase.

Solution:

• Remember things like you have people sitting in the back or stuff in the boot which effectively reduces the GC you have when the vehicle is unladen.
• Know which speed breakers your car scrapes over and make a mental note of their dimensions (Height, Span & Contour).
• Keep the pressure in the tyres according to the specifications on somewhere near the inside of the driver's door. You will be surprised to see that the difference in rear tyre pressure for a fully laden car is about 12 psi more than an unladen car.
• Keep away form stagnant water on the streets after rains. You never know if you're driving over a boulder or an open manhole. Remember (especially for people like me), this is no SUV/MUV.
• No matter how small and innocent the odd object lying in the middle of the road might seem. Try to go around it instead of over it.
• On unpaved roads. The ones leading to farm houses etc, where tracks are made by constant movement of heavy vehicles digging into loose ground/gravel (starting to happen on some highways also). The middle of the road is raised, the part going under your car, in between the wheels. These can be tricky at times as they can have stones or other damaging material berried in them. Go slow and keep an eye on the undulations in the tracks. Advise you to not try and drive with one set of wheels on this raised part. You will lose control sooner than you thought you would. Drive with your wheels in the tracks, with caution.

1. Negotiating the speed breakers
   • Study: While approaching a speed breaker, carefully observe the obstacle. Does it have sufficient span? Will the rear wheels start their ascent on one side before the front wheels finish theirs on the other? This helps the car ebing elevated and higher at the middle of the wheelbase than when both wheels are off the breaker at the same time.
   • Speed: Go very slow over high speed breakers. This reduces the downward inertia I mentioned before.
   • Angle of Approach: Plan the approach to really high speed breakers in such a way that the sequence of wheels passing over the crest of the speed bump is FR - FL&RR - RL or FL - FR&RL - RR. This ensures that the underbelly at mid span is always supported at a height by the wheels passing over the crest.
2. Coil Spring Adjusters
   http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...uspension.html

I was trying to find somecoil spring adjusters for my car in Jaipur, but had no luck. I was aware of something similar being put in cars in Delhi. One of my relatives got them put in his Accent to compensate for the loss in GC due to installation of a CNG tank in the Boot. I let go of the idea when I realised that these adjusters will stiffen up the ride further, which i find in the Figo to be quite firm already.

[nishantbhatia84]

Originally Posted by Dr.Awesomeness

hey thansks Tgo, i have a friend who is working at ford and he said there is not much of a chance for them to produce flexible mudflaps anytime soon. But lets keep our fingers crossed?
TGO, i have another question. Do you have any problems with the ground clearance of the figo? The engine and its components sits so low in the engine bay that i have scraped them in tough potholes a couple of times. Does installing a engine underbelly cover solve the issue?

I have 2 figos and haven't faced any issues with low ground clearance! Maybe it's my luck so far!
I haven't got any mudflaps installed yet, and looking at this thread i think I'll make do without them! What say?

[enkash]

Are these Sparcos flexible? Where did you get them from? And for how much?

Yes, I am also an affected party of broken mudflaps, just got 1 installed at the ASS and paid about 600 for it. Rip-off (and it will also be ripped off soon).

Originally Posted by Dr.Awesomeness

yeah, i know. The sentence doesn't make any sense. Don;t know what happened. Sorry. Here's the pics of the new mudflaps and they work like a charm.

[Dr.Awesomeness]

Originally Posted by enkash

Are these Sparcos flexible? Where did you get them from? And for how much?

Yes, I am also an affected party of broken mudflaps, just got 1 installed at the ASS and paid about 600 for it. Rip-off (and it will also be ripped off soon).

They are not flexible but can withstand a beating or two. The only thing you have to make sure is that you have screw them in place secure or else they tend fall off under hard use. I bought the Sparcos from a car accessory shop in Kochi, i guess you should get it in all those normal accessory shops and not hard to find. I paid around 400 bucks for a pair.

[AJ-got-BHP]

Hey Fellas,

I got my Figo Diesel Zxi exactly two months back and was going through this thread at that time as it was a big concern.

So, very conveniently did not bother to install the mud flaps to avoid the complexity. But, due to the monsoons, my white Figo was getting really dirty so was compelled to install the regular Moulded Mud Flaps which did not even last a week in spite of taking care of the bumpers by going over them in a diagonal angle.

Saw the Sparco ones but they were also as tough as the moulded ones and would hit once in a while for sure.

Final Remedy : Visited a known business associate who runs a Car Accessory Shop (nothing extraordinary) in the name of Alpha Motors located in Acre Road, Kolkata where I found the rubber type flexible mud flaps for my ford figo for Rs.150/= for a Set of 4 (2 Front & 2 Rear). I was amazed !! Got it fixed at Alok Automobiles.

Attaching some snaps here for your reference guys. Have a look and try and find something like this.

These are locally made mud flaps which come with the mark "For use in Figo" (so tacky) on the mud flap itself, but once installed that does not come to notice.

The problem has been eradicated and there is no issue of the mud flaps anymore.

Hope this helps guys.....Happy Motoring !!