[WizSatish]

Excellent mod job. The rims look amazing.

[hamhaj16]

The wheels look is not convincing, stock wheels are well proportioned and stock alloys looks decent. Although the upgraded headlamps are stunning. Sadly the absolute black variant has been stopped by ford. 2nd gen figo is a great car with best powertrain in indian version. Sadly it only comes with ford's powershift DCT in Middle East. I hope ford will work on their transmission's reliability.

[blackbandit]

Originally Posted by pavi

Great mods, alloy wheels look great on the car, looks smashing, although the projector set up with DRL is not going good with me (personal opinion, just discard as you should be loving the set up). Somehow it feels like a bike headlight. You have maintained your car pretty well. One suggestion though, work on that right front door.

I am a sucker for black cars. I know the pain associated with maintaining a black car, as I own a black 4th gen Honda city for last 6.5 years. Regarding the Rapid TSI, I can very well agree on the fact that it has some magic, it is a heart magnet. I fell for it last month and bought a white Rapid Monte Carlo.

I stay in Bangalore and the car gets parked on the road and these small dents and scratches are in abundance, especially on the right side because it faces the road when I park. I had also got my car detailed and ceramic coated by Krithi Car Care, Bangalore a year and half back. They had done a great job to ensure that the black colour was bought back to life. And a month back I got the front bumper changed and repainted as well. The door is definitely on the cards

Originally Posted by arindambasu13

Sweet alloys If there is one thing which instantly ups the oomph quotient of a car, it is well chosen alloys.

Indeed the alloys change the character of the car completely. I had done enough research on all the available choices before narrowing it down to the Massimo. And seeing the same wheels live on a random Polo few weeks before I took the decision also made me fixate on the same.

Originally Posted by Bibendum90949

Any idea how would HID's fare on a rainy night? I'm keen to know that. Please share the experience when you get to drive on such a day.

Will keep the thread updated regarding the same. As of now the throw of the HIDs and projectors is great and extraordinary.

Originally Posted by turbowhistle

Great job on alloys and the projectors, should keep you happy for another 1-2 years? Why didn’t you look at remapping the car? It would have been like driving a different car all together.

The car has already been remapped by wolfmoto quite a while back

Originally Posted by kamilharis

Got any more update plans? and if you don't mind do add the price break up so that others can take inspiration from It before calling for an update.

The first thing to be changed is the front grill to the honeycomb grill that came with the Figo sport. Since the part was not in stock i had to postpone it to a later date. Waiting for the part to arrive. . Had also planned to get Eibach Lowering Springs installed. But since the wheels scrape the edge of the fender at certain instances when going through some deep undulations on the road have kept this on hold for now.

[nischaltopno]

Originally Posted by blackbandit

FE Retrofit G5 BRT Projector Headlamps

More than the looks I was blown by the performance of the HIDs on the highway. It lights up the entire road and never have I felt the need for more lighting in my recent drive to Mangalore from Bangalore. I will let the pictures do the talking

Attachment 2110090

My 2015 EcoSport is running on a Morimoto retrofit. Sadly the headlight glass is gathering dust from inside and losing it's transparency - probably a result of bad DIY.

I was looking for changing my current setup but I am quite sceptical going for off-the-shelf replacements as the light quality might not be good. I am not too keen on a DIY (again) now and was searching for some good installer & projectors - and here comes your thread. Thanks.

Your setup looks very good to me in the both the throw and spread. Need few inputs from you to help me decide further.

• Can you please share the cost breakup - parts + labour.
  
• For wiring and powering the HIDs, did they use a relay with wiring harness or did they use a canbus?
  
• Did they have the stocks of the HID kid ready? Or do we need place an order?
  
• I think the Ford headlight sealing are cold/hard/permanent (not the soft butyl type) seal - at least EcoSport has. How good is the overall job with respect to opening, sealing and overall fit and finish.
  
• Did you retrofit into the existing/stock headlight or had to buy a new one for this job?

As always, a picture of the wiring and back of the headlight will help me in a long way.

[arindambasu13]

Any update and observations on the remapped TDCI engine in your car? Now that it has been a couple of years since you undertook the remap - how have the improvements been, reliability, performance, fuel efficiency and overall observations on the remap would be good to hear.

[blackbandit]

Originally Posted by arindambasu13

Any update and observations on the remapped TDCI engine in your car? Now that it has been a couple of years since you undertook the remap - how have the improvements been, reliability, performance, fuel efficiency and overall observations on the remap would be good to hear.

The remap has indeed changed the character of the car completely. Its been quite a long time since I am running the car with wolf map. And overall I would say it has been very reliable and I have faced no issues at all till date. I believe I got my car remapped at around 17 or 18K kms on ODO and today the car stands at 59k kms on the ODO. The car is definitely more sensitive to throttle and there is a good surge of power in the mid range. At city speeds the stock car itself is quick but the remap makes it much better. On the highway the car is a different beast altogether. I am guilty of hitting pretty high speeds all the time during my highway drives and i would argue its hard to keep it below permissible limits. As far as the FE is concerned theres not much difference and I feel it is better than stock when driven sedately. And since my experience with the car is more with the remap I don't really know the actual difference and I don't have the habit of tracking it as well. Overall I should be getting approximately 17 kmpl with not so sedate driving of mine. One thing to note is during the initial days after the remap I felt the smoke levels on hard acceleration were reduced.

[blackbandit]

Hello

I recently got my car lowered with Eibach Pro Kit Lowering springs. While I love the stance and handling on good straight roads, the momo alloy wheels with low offsets are creating issues and I am facing drastic rubbing with the outer fender line due to lack of clearance. Since this is my daily car it is kind of becoming a chore to drive. If any ecosport owners in Bangalore with 16 inch stock alloys are willing to do a direct exchange with the momo alloys I am up for it. Wouldn't recommend the oversized alloys to Figo owners though.

[blackbandit]

Its been a while since I updated this thread and today I thought I would post some updates. The car has gone some upgrades, of which some miserably failed and put a dent in my pocket and has completed 70K kms so far. The experience so far has been wonderful and the car still runs like a beast. Have faced no major issues so far touchwood. Apart from regular maintenance have changed the front struts - No issues faced with them but since they were slightly weak and a new pair fairly inexpensive decided to change them before getting the lowering springs installed, Right side engine mount - Failed during my drive back to Mangalore from Bangalore, and the front rotor disks. Penning down all the experiences one by one below

The alloy wheel saga
As part of a makeover I had gotten the 16 inch momo alloy Massimo alloy wheels for the car. Now as it has been pointed out multiple times everywhere that 16 inch is kind of an overkill for the Figo, I out of sheer curiosity (more of stupidity) decided to go ahead after seeing multiple photos of Kerala Figos sporting 16inch and also 17inch wheels on Instagram. The wheels turned out to be a disaster within few days of installing. Since they were 7.5J concave Alloy wheels they started fouling with the fenders. At first it seemed bearable but it turned out to be an outright disaster on a long journey. The wheels rubbed against the fender in literally every undulation of the road and gave a heart tearing sound throughout the drive. However since I had invested a lot in these wheels got the coil buffers installed on the front springs and solved the problem. But this caused the entire steering and suspension on the frontside to act kind of funny and I was not satisfied with the end result. However went ahead with this setup for like 2 months when the lowering bug bit me. My funny brain assumed that a stiffer set of springs would be a better result than running buffers to make the springs stiff. Ordered a set of Eibach pro Kit for the car and got them installed. And the immediate result again a disaster. The car sat so low that the wheels had barely any gap now and it was near to not drivable. The dealer of the springs told me to get wheels of 7J or lesser to solve the problem as many had installed the same and faced no issues. There began my quest to exchange my alloys. Finally got a pair of Ecosport alloys which were around 6.5J through and decided to test the same for some time. While the car looked like a monster with these set of wheels they still could not solve the fender rubs. By now the tyres in the car which were 205/50/R16 Yokohama Earth 1 had their entire sides eaten up. At this point Another person told me to go for 205/45/R16 to solve the rubbing. But here I was fed up and considering that only Cheap tyres are available at that price decided to bear the loss and ended up purchasing Freestyle alloy wheels from the ford showroom and got 195/55/R15 SDrive tyres to complete the same and I have not been happier about the decision. Posting some photos of the alloy wheel saga





As you can see in the above images the gap is almost inexistent





The car in looks amazing in this avatar IMO but it was still plagued with issues

Eibach ProKit Lowering springs
Got the springs installed and initially the wheel combo was a definite issue. But I really liked the way the car handled post installing the springs and therefore decided to get rid of the wheels and keep the springs. The eibachs have been a love hate relationship for me. While I do love what it has in offer in terms of handling and the way car takes corners I do not like the overall comfort levels it comes with. It is definitely on the stiffer side and not a passenger friendly setup overall. But the way it transformed the handling and steering characteristics of the car, and since I majorly drive the car alone I decided to make peace with the comfort issues. Listing down the pros and cons

Pros:

• Completely changes the handling characteristics of the car. The car now darts into corners and it has changed the way I drive. Initially I used to take corners cautiously owing the body roll and mass market handling of the car. Now I just fling push the car and it handles it like it's nothing. It just remains composed and maintains the driving line perfectly.
• Body roll is nearly inexistent.
• High Speed stability and cornering is amazing
• Doesn't loose composure mid corner in bad roads or in speed breakers like it used to with the stock springs.

Cons:

• Bad ride comfort. I would say it is somewhere between average and worst more inclined towards the average side. While I don't face much issues with it all passengers who sit in my car regularly have clearly told that the old comfort levels of the car have departed completed. The current cars setup is not where the passengers are happy but they do not complain too much as well. As long as I keep the speeds checked in bad roads it is just fine.
• Issues with full load. While the car behaves fine when m driving alone or with around 2 light build people onboard, it just isn't so if the car is on full load. The suspension setup feels a bit weird.
• The car sits quite low and scrapes sharp humps especially when it has people seated at the back.
• Uneven highways are felt quite sharply inside the cabin when driving at a pace Earlier the car would just loose its composure and get thrown in this situation but right now the car sticks to the road and holds it composure but makes itself felt.

Some photos with the current setup





A Not on Ford Service
While my experience with Cauvery Ford Mangalore has been great and continues to be great I cannot say the same for Cauvery Ford in Bangalore. I had visited them to get my car checked for a weird sound and vibration that had started cropping up. This was when I was running the ecosport alloys. The person who took the test drive was quite arrogant in his approach. He went ahead and challenged me saying there was no issue with the car the issue was due to the lowering springs. I went on to explain him that I've been running springs for close to a month now and never faced this sound and vibration and it cropped up recently. He refused to accept my explanation and held his ground. Giving him the benefit of doubt I got it changed at a nearby garage and the vibrations and sound still persisted so I took my car back. He now told me its the alloy wheels also. I have to revert back to stock to get the sound and vibration rectified. I was due to drive back to Mangalore and owing to his incompetency I decided to get it checked in Mangalore itself where I know the service advisors quite well. On my way to Mangalore the sound and vibrations just increased gradually and towards the end of the journey the vibrations just increased to a level where it was horrible. That's when I realised it was a cracked engine mount that was causing all the issues. The SA in Mangalore asked me to get the car if its drivable and since it was I took the car in and got it fixed within 2 hours. Props to them. The vibrations had also got the exhaust pipe to split probably was already cracked or weak and the SA got it welded at the body shop.

This goes to say that my experience with Cauvery Ford Mangalore service centre has always been top notch even after departure of Ford. Had an accident in October that resulted in a damaged side skirt, door and tie rod. The car was sent to the body shop and the entire work was completed within 2 weeks and delivered. Work done was also upto my satisfactions. Got my 70K service done recently. Took it early in the morning and it was put in the ramp immediately. The brakes were not doing well and upon inspection the rotors had scored quite badly. Since they were inexpensive got both the rotors and brake pads changed. And the car was delivered to me within 2 and half hours. The bill also came upto 9k which I feel is reasonable for the work done and change of parts. I also received multiple calls from the dealership as well as ford enquiring about the status of the vehicle after delivery and if work was performed to my satisfactions. Overall a wonderful experience with them and hope it remains the same in future.

[Sman999]

Great thread!

Even i updated my Figo's 14inch rims to 15 inch Ecosport rims. But the mistake i did was running on the stock rubber size of ecosport which is 195/65 R15. The front dives under hard braking and feels a bit scary(wobbly). I think its due to the tyre wall height. Its time to change the tyres and im looking at 195/55 R15. At the moment i dont have any other options except Yokohoma S drive and im a bit skeptical as i heard 50/50 reviews from people. The other option is MRF Perfinza 195/60 R15 which is a good 2cms less than the 195/65 tyres. I think it should suffice the problems im facing.

Any inputs/suggestions from you on this?

[Vibhanshu0923]

A list of great mods to your car blackbandit! The 16-inch rims looked awesome but you rightly reverted to the 15-inch setup as that is the best compromise between practicality and looks/handling.

Wishing you many more happy and trouble-free kms.

Originally Posted by Sman999

The other option is MRF Perfinza 195/60 R15 which is a good 2cms less than the 195/65 tyres. I think it should suffice the problems im facing.

I have been running 195/60/R15s on my Figo S for 10k kms and have not faced any issues whatsoever. The body roll is a bit more than the stock 55-profile rubber on the S but it is a very marginal increase. I have driven the car with full load at highway speeds and generally tested the dynamics within the permissible speed limits on public roads and have found no reason to complain.

Hope this helps!

[jecenth]

Nice mods. Figo S front honeycomb grill would elevate the front end further.