[methecupid]

“Remain flexible and teachable - so that you can make necessary adjustments in life”
― Mz Liz

Yes! I got married last year, but honestly, the above quote has nothing to do with it. My usual answer to the inquisitive few on my personal life is – “it is too early to complain!”


However, as in all relationships, our cars become a significant half of our lives. For some it’s a weekend tryst with the dame, for others it becomes your soulmate on those long, alone highways or cluttered roads on a daily basis. The Figo has become the latter for me. The valet at my office, very recently, quipped and enquired as to why I am not getting the Scorpio. The Royal Blue apparently is quite an eye-catcher. The reason is simple – DCT. Life has indeed become so much easier, and I have become such a beacon for all lost souls at work, that I managed to convince atleast 4 of them to go for automatics. Hey buddy! Where’s that referral bonus scheme when you need the most!


Nevertheless, the lass has not disappointed on the one reason I got her home. ‘C’-onvenience is what makes one spend almost a lakh more than a comparable manual model of a car in India (which I think is too much, but not so much for Figo since it gets couple with the 1.5L engine), and you’ll be thanking your stars and constellations for making the right decision, atleast once in your life! (Again, not a comment on my new married life)


Since this is just an update, I will keep the feedback concise.

What I (still) like in the car

• The no-fuss, ease of use in the maddening traffic of Mumbai
• The ride of the car is quite pliant, and notwithstanding the occasional crashes and thuds in the large potholes BMC doubles-up to keep a check on speed, the car usually doesn’t unsettle its occupants.
• The engine is quite dramatic, without being exuberant. I have not driven the 1.2 petrol counterpart, but I don’t think we can manage with anything less than the 112 horses my car makes. I hear the diesel is quite an animal too!
• Creature comfort keeps my happy, with the steering control being my best friend. Helps me toggle through all the gibberish radio channels every day; and take that important call (not from office! From the home ministry)
• I was quite right about the novelty factor in my opening thread. I haven’t seen a lot of new Figos on the road. That means every time I enter a mall or my office, there’ll be atleast one who will crane his neck to get a glimpse of the car.
• Space in the car is quite good. I had 5 onboard once, and no one got down from the car convexing their backs.

(Honeymoon over) What I don’t like in the car

• I haven’t grown fond of that visible wiper blade up in the front.
• The build of the car is nothing to write home about. I have had to re-torque and re-adjust all four doors and the hatch multiple times to get rid of creeks. Now, I have just left it at that. Very disturbing indeed.
• The car needed atleast a size bigger tires than it is on. I think 15’ would have had made the car more balanced in its handling as well. The car doesn’t like taking turns at higher speeds, like the Polo did.
• The headlights are still a pain to drive in those dark alleys. And also in the manic city rides, especially when the car ahead has one of those ungainly white HIDs.
• The car does not respond favorably to a very heavy foot. Don’t get carried away with the ‘S’ on the gear lever – this is not a sports car. Hence, if you hold that engine at >4000 RPM for a tad too long, you’ll be opening the windows to let out the stench!

Service and Upkeep
The car has done >4800 kms in the close to 4 months I have it. The first service was diligently at 2500 and zeroed in on the service personnel who is going to be at the helm of my car troubles with Ford. The engine oil and oil filters were changed on my insistence, along with other checks (and balances) due for the first free service. The bill came to 1800, and I had a nice little smile on my face coming from my days of 5 figure bills at the VW workshops.


For the benefit of all on this forum and otherwise, trust to say that Ford has rationalized their after-sales service costs exponentially. It may not be dirt cheap, but is no more expensive to maintain than the top two manufacturers in the country.


Fuel Efficiency
The FE measure onboard MID is close to being quite accurate. Yesterday it showed 12; and that is the highest I have recorded in my daily runs. For point of reference, it includes 35% highway-clear roads and 45% city-clear roads and 25% city-cluttered bumper-to-bumper traffic. This is close to what I used to get on the manual VW Polo and to be honest; I really don’t mind the number. However, it might be sacrilegious for others – so I am going to leave the judgment to you.


So, like all relationships, we are getting to adjust with one another. The honeymoon is over, and reality has dawned on both of us. I will put up with some of her qualms pertaining to lighter build, creaking door pads and growling/ stunted gear-shitfts; but going to love it for her being exactly what she promised to be – reliable, no-fuss city ride. Oh well, really hoping on that ‘reliable’ part of it for the next two years.

[ram1980]

Thanks methecupid for this excellent ownership report. It has really given me lot of insights about this car and I'm close to finalizing the DCT as my next car.

Originally Posted by methecupid

[*] The build of the car is nothing to write home about. I have had to re-torque and re-adjust all four doors and the hatch multiple times to get rid of creeks. Now, I have just left it at that. Very disturbing indeed.
.

I recently took a TD of this car and asked the query on rattling issue to the dealer and the message I received was that this issue has been resolved now and only the initial batch had such issues. I don't know if I can believe these statements as it could be a false promise by the dealer to just convince me.

Was Ford service guys able to fix this issue for you? The car ticks all other boxes for me and I really wish this has been resolved by now.

P.S: This is my first post in this forum. I will share my observations on Figo DCT TD soon.

[methecupid]

Originally Posted by ram1980

Was Ford service guys able to fix this issue for you? .

Thanks for the kind words Ram, and a warm welcome to the herd of automotive nirvana. Glad to hear that you have zeroed in on the Figo DCT, it does its job without being flashy and overtly desirable.

Unfortunately I can't say it has been fixed completely. They tighten the screws every time I reported some creaking, but have to admit that I haven't visited them after my 2500 service. Will poke them again on my next visit, may happen in the next two months. I really wish they found a solution, will check with them and update.

In the meantime, have fun and all the best with your choice(s). Cheers!

[raj.barcode]

Fabulous review and with the feedback, we finally zoomed in on FIGO automatic over Polo TSI auto ( concerns over Transmission failures and difference of 3 lakhs in Bangalore), since it was a city run-about vehicle.
Having said that, it is quite nimble in highways if driven the right way. We have completed 600 kms in a week with a small highway run to Lepakshi about 110 Kms from Bangalore. Thanks again for the long and valuable message and helping us in the decision.

P.S; We have recorded about 12.5 mileage in the first 600 kms.

[IshaanIan]

Does Ford offer flappy paddle steering wheels with this particular Powershift gearbox on any of their international models/variants? That would truly up the charm of this normaly aspirated petrol hatch in the enthusiast community if such an option could be retrofitted.

[methecupid]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

Does Ford offer flappy paddle steering wheels with this particular Powershift gearbox on any of their international models/variants? That would truly up the charm of this normaly aspirated petrol hatch in the enthusiast community if such an option could be retrofitted.

Yes, it would be nice to have them! I loved my test drive on the Jazz, but somehow I feel these paddle shifters don't do justice on NA petrol engines, as much as say, on a turbo-powered configuration. Very recently, on its track test of hatchbacks, Overdrive designated driver (don't recall the name, he was quite accomplished) opined that he was quite surprised to know later that the Ford was backed by a Dual-clutch. According to him, he didn't feel it was acting like one. I tend to agree with him over 9945 kms I have driven my car.

As far as paddle shifters are concerned, Ford has for the past few years said its implementation will depend on 'market response'. However, recently launched the ST-Line up in UK for its Fiesta and Focus with 6-speed PowerShift automatic with wheel paddle shifters. Might be a while since this could filter into our market; leave alone implementing it without headaches and heartaches! <here's to hoping>

Link

Reminds me, I need to schedule my second service today. Updates will follow.

[IshaanIan]

Originally Posted by methecupid

Yes, it would be nice to have them! I loved my test drive on the Jazz, but somehow I feel these paddle shifters don't do justice on NA petrol engines, as much as say, on a turbo-powered configuration. Very recently, on its track test of hatchbacks, Overdrive designated driver (don't recall the name, he was quite accomplished) opined that he was quite surprised to know later that the Ford was backed by a Dual-clutch. According to him, he didn't feel it was acting like one. I tend to agree with him over 9945 kms I have driven my car.

The Jazz employs a CVT and unless you were revving the nuts off its 1.2 VTEC, it would have felt underpowered as well. Ford has chosen to tune its powershift transmission toward fuel economy rather than performance hence the dull shifts. Has nothing to do with the fact that a motor is naturally aspirated at all.

Originally Posted by methecupid

As far as paddle shifters are concerned, Ford has for the past few years said its implementation will depend on 'market response'. However, recently launched the ST-Line up in UK for its Fiesta and Focus with 6-speed PowerShift automatic with wheel paddle shifters. Might be a while since this could filter into our market; leave alone implementing it without headaches and heartaches! <here's to hoping>

Yeah I heard the recent bit of news as well. However I believe that that is for the 1.5 ecoboost motor. I wonder if the same transmission used in the Ti-VCT 1.5 has the option of paddle shifters and tuning support.

[pgsagar]

Originally Posted by IshaanIan

The Jazz employs a CVT and unless you were revving the nuts off its 1.2 VTEC, it would have felt underpowered as well. Ford has chosen to tune its powershift transmission toward fuel economy rather than performance hence the dull shifts. Has nothing to do with the fact that a motor is naturally aspirated at all.

Of late, we are seeing many posts about people complaining about underpowered engines, especially petrol hatchbacks and lower-end sedans. I think our manufacturers need to shed this obsession with FE and make some scorchers for enthusiasts. I mean two versions of the same car. In two states of engine tune. One for FE seekers and the other for 0 to 100 time seekers. But people have to accept the fact that one cannot have both. You can only pick one. You can't beat laws of physics.

[Chetan_Rao]

Wishful thinking and all that jazz (not the Japanese automotive contraption), but it would've been wonderful if Ford had never tried to downsize the lovely 1.6 Duratec block, and we'd still have the best small displacement NA petrol motor Indian buyers got to play with.

I drove a Fiesta DCT a couple years ago with that engine in the US - admittedly the 120 PS version, but still - and it was an absolute hoot and a half in S-mode on the highway! Who cares for NVH when the engine sounds like that.

[methecupid]

"No one ever said life was fair. Just eventful" - Carol Burnett

Its been more than a year that this thread got updated for the car. And if anyone thought I was not around, then they could not be more wrong. Talking of not being wrong, cheers to anyone who chose this car. The year has been so uneventful, that sometimes I would just drive it super critically. Notwithstanding the constant OCDs we have for our cars, the Ford has been incredible reliable, and happy to report, extremely thrifty. Having read scores of threads of brick-batting Ford on service costs, the unnerving history of the Ford Ikon we had earlier, and ofcourse the constant reminders of the Suzukis and Hyundais I see next to me at signals; this car has been surprisingly easy to maintain - both on the pocket and in my mind.

Keep that liking going sweetheart:

• The light steering is more appreciated now, after arm-wrestling with the Crysta's steering at slow speeds.
• Ford After Sales Service. Yes, we have a new entrant to the countdown. More on this topic later in the post.
• Tap the accelerator and the car will gallop ahead. The revs will keep climbing. Well, till an uncertain restriction of the gearbox limits it. More on this too later.

Oops! This isn't where I parked my car!:

• Mind your long arms, don't put them on the door arm-rest. <creek> Told you. Ok! Open the door and get out of the car. Just don't balance on the ... <creek> door pad!
• The rear hatch mechanism just refuses to balance it out. Either it will fling open, or not assist open at all. I have left it unattended, we just pull it open all the way.
• Have to thank the installed rear camera, or else the ears called ORVMs are not just good enough. I have crane my neck even for lane switches.
• Previously I had mentioned the car does not respond favourably to a very heavy foot. It doesn't, thanks to the transmissions rev-limiter.

Ford's Automated Manual Transmission
Yeah, sure its a DCT. So?

The transmission behaves like any other ordinary automated transmission. It shifts with no real urgency; but what got my goat is when Ford's technical team from Chennai explained to me as t why I keep getting burning stenches when the car is floored. The transmission has been programmed to limit the revs to 4000RPM.

Ask me, and I think its such a shame. The car comes equipped with a 1.5L, 112bhp engine that screams for pants down fun; and a DCT that says, "wait! where's the belt?" A word of caution to everyone considering or considered this car, keep it under leash, and this will provide comfort and convenience. More than a few seconds of the engine spooling at more than 3500RPM, and the clutch starts to burn because of the limiter in the program.


Service and Upkeep
This has been such a revelation. We have seen Ford advertise their abysmally low service costs; and that my friends, ain't no fiction. Following are some expenses I had over the past year;

a. The 10,000 km service set me back by INR 2,471. This includes engine oil, filter and the works.
b. Due to a motorcycle gash to the front fender, I requested it to be replaced. It was, at a cost of only INR 1,500 (parts price).
c. Yet another tryst with the parking wall, and the rear bumper was scarred quite badly. Cost for repairing and painting was INR 3,168.

The sides of the bumper was badly scratched up, brilliant piece of repair job done


At the cost of sounding repetitive, this car gives the Maurtis and Hyundai a proper spanking in the maintenance department. And what has helped tremendously is the behaviour of Bhavna Ford, Kalina. The service manager and personnel have been exemplary; and the support from Ford's Chennai teams have been honest and assertive. Ford has come a long way from its chequered past, and I can only hope that people here give them their due of respect and repose some faith in their abilities.

Its not common to make mistakes, but quite uncommon to own them!

Case in consideration, a simple email to Ford's Customer Care, with requisite details of the fading headlights witnessed in a few cars on the forum; and I was provided an under-warranty replacement of headlamps on my car. No unnecessary fuss, no long tele-conferences; straight-forward and honest communications.

On another instance, I complained of the internal console feeling warm on longer drives. The service personnel ordered for a warranty replacement of the console extensions and reported to me that the brackets have changed. The newer extensions do not run along with the coils that used to heat the sides.

Under warranty changes


I dearly thank Ford for being so attentive to its cheapest car in India.

Fuel Efficiency
This car does like to be driven at lengths. Try using this for 10-15 minutes, and you'll see the fuel efficiency take a dip. I have managed 12.5 kmpl on 25 kms ride to my office at BKC, and my wife has managed 8-9 kmpl on her drives which are just 8 kms from our place. Considering this car gives a much desirable 1.5 l engine to its pedestrian 1.2 counterparts, these numbers are quite respectable. But again, I am going to leave the judgment to you.

By principle I don't tend to keep cars for too long, but nothing quite satisfies a BHPian as does a car that proves him right. I was right to have chosen the Figo over its much vaunted rivals, over the more modern cars in the segment above. But the little rocket and Ford have re-emphasized its abilities and prowess in my mind. And as a token of appreciation, we welcomed a new Ford EcoSport to our garage. Thanks for being so wonderful, Ford!

[rsm97]

Useful information through update. Thanks for it.

Originally Posted by methecupid

The transmission has been programmed to limit the revs to 4000

What exactly it means? Is this restriction applicable on manual mode too? And what actually happens when the car is in top gear and accelerator input given at 4000 RPM.

[methecupid]

Originally Posted by rsm97

What exactly it means? Is this restriction applicable on manual mode too? And what actually happens when the car is in top gear and accelerator input given at 4000 RPM.

Good question there, I haven't explored. What it means is that though mechanically it is capable of going beyond, the program electronically restricts clutch action at the limiter. I have encountered burning smell inside the cabin when I had kept my foot down for a length of time at more than 3500; was told the above explanation from the technical team in Chennai and the service advisor head in the center here. That was the clutch burning away; thankfully I didn't push the car at all. Am extremely anal with my cars, a semblance to issue and I tend not to repeat it again.

The car does fairly high speeds at 3000 RPM; and honestly I would be very careful to push it any further. The behaviour stays the same in the S-mode too.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by methecupid

...Ford's technical team from Chennai explained to me as t why I keep getting burning stenches when the car is floored. The transmission has been programmed to limit the revs to 4000RPM. More than a few seconds of the engine spooling at more than 3500RPM, and the clutch starts to burn because of the limiter in the program.

Could you please describe when the problem happens? Are you in S or D mode? What speed and engine RPM, and (if you know) which gear is the AT box in?

I don't buy Ford's explanation to you. To be blunt, I think they're misleading you. The following objections come to mind when I read the Ford technical team's response to you:

1. Yes, car's have rev limiters and torque limiters, but that is always achieved at the engine and never downstream in the transaxle. Engines can limit the revs by cutting off fuelling once the revs cross a limit, and this is how they rev limit engines at the redline. There is never a need for a gearbox to limit rpm by itself (a gearbox can request the engine to limit the rpm, however, and this is achieved by the method I described above). It is sheer insanity to allow an engine to rev higher, but use the gearbox/clutch to limit the revs, that is a perfect recipe for a fried clutch.
2. Sports 'S' mode allows the engine to rise to higher revs, so I'm not sure how the technical team will reconcile that designed behaviour with this so-called limit at 4000 rpm.
3. The 2011 Fiesta came with the same AT gearbox, but with an L (low) mode that allowed the engine to rev until redline before upshifting. Again, this behaviour does not reconcile with the team's explanation of a rev limit at 4000 rpm. (See the Fiesta AT review).
4. Internationally, the same gearbox (6DCT250 / DPS6) is offered with other engines, including the 1.0L EcoBoost, which has an even higher power and torque output than the 1.5 Ti-VCT engine. I'm pretty certain Ford would have been roasted in reviews if they had a limit of 4000 rpm.
5. This gearbox (a Getrag 6DCT250 / DPS6) has an input torque limit of 280 Nm. The 1.5 Ti-VCT engine in your car puts out 136 Nm of torque, which is not even half the max limit.

Could you please ask your service centre to give you this response in writing, and inform them that you intend to escalate the matter to Ford India's management.

There have been various issues that have cropped up with this transmission (see this thread for an example), but Ford have always been decent about performing the required replacements under warranty. I see no reason why they can't and shouldn't diagnose the problem and fix any issue found.

[methecupid]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

Could you please describe when the problem happens? Are you in S or D mode? What speed and engine RPM, and (if you know) which gear is the AT box in?

Thanks for that Arun, what you say makes a lot of sense. Even without cross referencing with the Fiesta or the application of the DCT on Ford Focus, Fiesta and EcoSport in the US; I think it'll be unnatural to limit the capabilities of the engine. But I also see a lot of merit to what the service guys said, if one keeps the transmission on Neutral and try to rev, it gets limited to 4000. The PowerShift, I read somewhere, is really just a manual transmission, that shifted automatically. It's not a regular automatic transmission.

Having said so, I honestly believe that Ford will be more than assertive on its warranty replacement. Nothing that they have said or done till now suggests they'll not pay heed to any complaints on the gearbox.

As for conditions of the behaviour, it's generally during launches at traffic signals. I would assume it would be working up its gears from 2-4. You think something is wrong?

[rsm97]

Originally Posted by methecupid

But I also see a lot of merit to what the service guys said, if one keeps the transmission on Neutral and try to rev, it gets limited to 4000.

The PowerShift, I read somewhere, is really just a manual transmission, that shifted automatically. It's not a regular automatic transmission.

Restriction on RPM while revving in neutral is both common and understandable. But surprising that it is being extended to normal running. Agree with Arun that communication does not seem entirely convincing.

And though PowerShift is not the conventional automatic with slushbox, by no means is it equivalent to a manual transmission (unless one stretches the logic to the limit). It technically is highly sophisticated and should not be subject to such operating restrictions as Ford guys are trying to convey.