[blackbandit]

Disclaimer: This review is based purely on my opinion and my experiences with the car. A big shout out to TeamBhp and all you fellow members as this community played the major role in helping me choose and bring black bandit home.

Well here it goes as the title speaks this is going to be my humble review on the ford figo 1.5 tdci trend variant - Black bandit as ive named it. I am not a good writer however i will try my best to cover everything in detail and make it a pleasant read. Late to the party but here i am finally with the ownership log after almost a year and half of penning down this review. What started as a initial review is now taking its turn as a long term ownership review.

So in the first post let me brief out with key points and the following posts will contain a detailed outlook.

What car ?
Diesel or petrol - Dint matter. Had to be a good performer with sorted dynamics
Segment - Dint matter. But needed it to be hatchback
Budget - 8 lakhs OTR
Variant - Top or mid any that came under the budget

The Nominees
1. Ford Figo/Aspire - (yes it was my first choice)
2. Hyundai Elite i20
4. Honda Jazz
5. Volkswagen Polo
6. Maruti Suzuki Swift
7. Maruti Suzuki Baleno

Contentders That made it to the top 3
1. Maruti Baleno petrol 1.2 k12
2. Hyundai elite i20 1.4 crdi
3. Ford figo 1.5 tdci

The winner...

Well! More on that later

And yeah it was the Ford Figo that actually made it to my stable in the end.

Breaking down the experience

First driven on
17th December 2016

Experience rating on the odo
18,000 kms

What makes me smile ?
1. The brilliant torque loaded, punchy and efficient 1.5 diesel mill - a blast in the highway and very kind on your pockets(Now Reampped )
2. Petrol like linear acceleration - excellent drivability in the city
3. Comfort oriented balanced ride quality - Rear passengers wont complain neither will you.
4. Pretty good and sorted handling and dynamics - Those corners are gonna go unnoticed.
5. Very spacious and roomy interiors with generous rear legroom - Those long legged people wont be fussy.
6. Build quality - Though debatable i still feel its in par for the segment and not bad.
7. A Chiller AC - cools the cabin very quickly
8. Well calibrated EPAS

What lets me down ?
1. Door pad flexing when windows roll up - A clear mess up by ford.
2. Gear box Clutch combo - its good but definitely not the best
3. Bad headlamps - The high beam throw is very bad for a long highway night drive.
4. Noisy Goodyear GT3 tyres that i received
5. Some recurrent niggles that occured once or twice though now sorted.

The Caretakers and relationship with them so far.
Cauvery Ford, Padil, Mangalore
Rating: 9/10 Excellent

A Few Introductory Shots of the poser


Black bandit draped in its blanket safe from the cold and merciless environment


Unmasked!! definitely a poser from this angle. The front is extremely aggressive and love its imposing looks.


O, Sunlight! The most precious gold to be found on earth and of course BlackBandit


A shot from its first long drive beside the infamous maravanthe beach

[blackbandit]

Index

A short index if you want to skip the stories and get to the required details quicker

1. Prologue (A skippable story )
2. What Car and Why?
3. Mangalore Dealerships and first hand experience with the cars
4. Booking the Figo and its delivery.
5. An outlook of the exteriors
6. An outlook of the interiors
7. All about the wonderful 1.5 TDCI Mill
6. Niggles and issues

[blackbandit]

Prologue

The search begins...
Flashback to May 2015, it had been quite a while since i had taken over the job as the family driver and our humble old 95 model maruti 800 couldn't take it anymore. It had served us pretty well being a 20 year old car and was still running decently and was good enough for rough use. But we all knew that it was just not worth keeping it anymore. Hence the usual procedure of parting away from it began. Hoping to get a buyer and good price i posted an ad in olx. And was i surprised with the tremendous response, the car was sold within two days . Now this was totally unexpected and now we were left without a drive. So the quest to search for a new car began. Since the car would be driven by me and it would be used as my daily drive i took the leadership in the quest. So as usual the first dilemma that comes to the mind in this quest is What Car?.

So the key points that help solving this dilemma would be the segment, performance, budget. We being a middle class family and my dad being very particular about accounts and savings was pretty conservative on spending huge amounts on a new car that would depreciate pretty profusely on a year to year basis and he is also an advocate of buying preowned vehicles. So it was clear to me that our next vehicle would also be preowned. So i had to begin searching for the right vehicle and after repeated search and research I came across the notorious Ford Ikon and it appeared to be well within reach of the small budget that I had possessed. Checked up a few cars in the city and boy was i impressed. Now you all can guess what my dads reaction would be for this. The moment i told Ford ikon to my dad his expression was a clear sign that it wouldn't go any further. Being a notorious car for its service issues and the main cause of ford losing its customers dad made it clear that it would not make its way into our stable. Disappointment struck again and i din't want to make an alto or 800 my daily drive for the next 4-5 years and I was hell bent on fords after experiencing them. Since dad would be the chief financier, had a discussion and managed to get him convinced and the budget raised. Now i had a better range to search and being a sucker for ford handling after driving the ikon i shortlisted the fiesta classic and old ford figo and me and my dad jointly started searching for a car that is less run and in pretty good condition.

Did it go well ? Did i get what i wanted?
The answer is definitely a big NO!! Finding a car in Good condition and run to my expectations was not at all easy and yes we were unsuccessful in the end. Now it had been quite long since we sold the old 800 and living without a car started getting difficult since being a family of 5 moving around together to any place started getting tedious. My mom suggested that we get a temporary car for the time being which would sell easily and we could search for the required car in a steady pace. We all agreed to this and to our luck we found the perfect contender. One of our relatives an old lady had kept a 2011 model maruti 800std locked up for quite a long time and she was willing to sell it off. Dad and me went to the spot and what we saw was really amazing. The car was in its pristine condition looked as if it had just come down the trailer from the factory. Slight Dust was all that was accumulated. The car had just 4k kms on the ODO. There was absolutely no need to check the car one could buy it on a blind eye, heck it even had the plastic covers. And yes this car did make it its way to our garage in a few weeks,that would be in the month of may 2015 after a general service and a wash. The car still felt new at the time i drove it first and felt it needed to be run in a little more. And yes the search for the fords continued but in a rather slower relaxed pace.

The unexpected entrant - figo/Aspire and the rise of yet another Maruti 800
Fast forward to june 2015 the 800 had become my daily drive and then i came across scoops and news about the new twins that are gonna enter the market, Ford figo and the aspire. Now this was really interesting and i started following up. Then came august when the aspire was launched. 100ps of power and 215nm of torque - Those were some drool worthy figures on the sheet for a compact sedan or a hatch. I came across the car on display during those family mall visits and somewhere in the middle i decided to get check it out at the showroom and have a TD. Visited Cauvery Ford and i was greeted by a enthusiastic personality-Mr Rivan Colaco of Cauvery Ford. His hospitality is really worth mentioning. Mr Rivan made sure i had a decently long TD.

So now comes the question was i impressed?... OH YESSS I WAS!! This car was unlike anything i've driven before. The 100 ps mill was an absolute blast to drive. This was my first encounter with the figo. But yeah i was not looking towards buying it anytime soon and the quest to search for the preowned car continued. But I had a small set back in middle and everything was put to a long halt. Now i knew the 800 was here to stay with me for some time and i had to accept it whether i liked it or not. The humble 2011 model silk silver Maruti 800 std became my daily drive and as expected it did serve me very well. i drove it for one and half years from may 2015 - November 2016 and covered about 25k kms. On a side note this was a car that was pretty much tested to the limits and abused by me in all aspects yet maintained in a good condition.

This ends the prologue. The following posts will be the complete Story of Black bandit and my experiences with it. A few pictures to end the post.


My Maruti 800 proudly slapped with the Team bhp Live to Drive sticker

Few of the last of pics taken before parting away

[blackbandit]

The journey begins again.. Search for a new car.

Now after a long run with the maruti 800 i begin to realize that it is not the car meant for me. The absence of AC and the blistering heat of Mangalore made daily communicating to be hectic and tiring. So a need for upgrade was greatly felt. After a decently long while and everything in my family had settled down for good, the discussion of the car creeped up again. Now my dad as usual went down the preowned route. But i wasn't keen on it. Since the vehicle would be driven on a daily basis and used extensively i thought that it would be wise to buy a new car that could be kept for a long time with the added reliability and peace of mind. So i put forth the proposal to my family and dad though skeptical at first agreed to it later and the quest to search for a new car began on June 2016.

The biggest dilemma in every new car buyers mind...What Car?
Now that i ventured into the quest of buying a new car, the very usual dilemma, What Car? Which Variant? Which Manufacturer? Which segment ?etc etc crept up. But i wasnt really sceptical on this matter and my thoughts were clear. It had to be a hatchback, a good performer and definitely not a slouch. Regarding equipements coming from a bare bone vehicle i wasnt really expecting any bells or wistles except for the standard comfort features like AC, Power Windows, A decent ICE with bluetooth and a basic MID. It dint matter for the vehicle to be a diesel or petrol but at least 15 kmpl efficiency was a must on the highway. But i did prefer to buy diesel considering amount i would spend on fuel on a day to day basis and increasing fuel rates but i was fine with a petrol as well as long as it dint provided mediocre figures. The next and final question is the budget, again after discussion with the family set it at 8 Lakhs OTR. So keeping all this in mind i narrowed down on the following cars and began my journey towards searching the right match.

Ford Figo/Aspire
Why?
In short just for the amazing 100ps engine thats loaded with power for a hatch and extremely good experience i had in the previous TD and yes i was always a sucker for ford cars. I was not keen on the Aspire since the premium for the extra boot made no sense to me.

Official review(Figo)
Official review(Aspire)

Hyundai Elite i20 crdi
Why?
I guess there is no reason for this vehicle in its diesel avatar to not be in the list. Having experienced my friends hyundai i20 asta vtvt i was impressed with the quality of interiors and the upmarket feel the car provided. Kudos to hyundai on this and i am pretty sure they are unbeatable in this regard as of now. But yeah the petrol engine was definetely a downer and the mileage figures my friend used to receive were no good either. But hearing and reading a lot of positives about the amazing 1.4 crdi i had to check it out

Official Review

Honda Jazz
Why?
Even i donno Why Was never really personally interested in this vehicle but had to experience it. But sadly the mediocre dealership and its attitude made sure i remain uninterested and away from this vehicle.

Official review

Volkswagen Polo
Why?
Though not very keen on german cars for their notorierty in the service and spares department i thought why not? Having never experienced a volkswagen i had to make sure i see the infamous build quality that its owners brag about and if it the vehicle would really impress me.

Official review

Maruti Suzuki Baleno
Why?
To be frank it was never actually there. I for some reason hated its styling at first and i was really not keep on getting a maruti home. But gradually it started growing on me and repeated suggestions by my family to go for a maruti and friends to check the car out, added it to the list in the end and went to experience it and had actually booked it.

Official Review

Maruti Suzuki Swift
Why?
This car was not among the contenders, however a small queer incident(explained in next post) bought it to the lists and i had my fare share of TD and dealership experience. You can call it a wildcard entry. On a side note i got pretty good experience with the swift for two whole months when my friend bought a preowned one for him and i had undertaken the job of teaching him to drive and it had become my ride to college as well since we used to go together and i had already sold my car. So i played the part of being its driver for about two months. Hence i would make comparison with the swift in a few areas of the report.

Official Review

[blackbandit]

Circa June 2016, Now that i knew what i wanted it was time to meet the cars and their caretakers in person. Now if you are car hunting in Mangalore you are provided with a great blessing. So What is it? Most of the above car dealerships lie in the same straight stretch road of 2-3 kms. So set out on a holiday morning to evaluate the contenders and possibly have a brief idea of the going to be winner. Here goes my interactions with the dealerships and the first hand experience with the contenders.

Peninsular Honda, Mangalore
Being the first dealership in the stretch i decided to visit them first. Though i was actually not keen i did want to experience the vehicle and hoped the my opinion would change. But did it change? No. As soon as i entered the dealership it was plain empty and deserted with just one lady on the desk. I inform her that i was here to check out the jazz and she directs me towards the car and says a rep would attend to me in sometime. Well he did take a lot of time and by the time he reached i had already finished looking most of the car. Was the rep a pleasing personality? Definitely No!! He dint seem interested at all to describe the car or anything related to the car to me. Heck i myself had to ask him the pricing chart and he just handed it over to it. He dint even bother to explain it to me or discuss anything related to the car. He was just standing at a distance all the while when i was looking at the display car. I was very dissatisfied and wanted to leave but however i request him for a TD. And yeah to add to the bad experience he says that the TD vehicle was up for service and not available. The Rep says hell follow and call me once the vehicle is available. I provide him the details and leave hoping not to return any time soon and not expecting any follow up. Did i get a follow up Call? As expected No.

What I liked?
I am really not in a position to comment but based on my short experience with the display car it has definitely got the most well spaced cabin among the other contenders and a pretty big boot for a hatch.

What I disliked?
Overall styling of the car is not to my tastes for a hatch. It does feel as if the jazz borrows its styling cues from an MPV.

Overall dealership Experience : 0/10

Cauvery ford, Kottara, Mangalore
After a horrible start the next stop was ford. Cauvery ford has two branches in Mangalore. One in Padil and another in Kottara. Both operate together but they are just separate experience zones as i would say. So i stop by and as usual enquire about the ford figo at the desk. Now this was the place where dull start took a completely opposite turn. The experience I had in Cauvery ford was totally the opposite of what i had in Honda. Here I was greeted by Mr Karthik Hegde - The most enthusiastic and knowledgeable Sales rep i have ever met. Now this person was the type of guy who knew what he was selling. Just as my previous experience with Cauvery ford padil, Here too i was made sure i felt at home by Karthik. He made sure i was explained every single detail. Even though i knew most of the stuff i just went with the flow.

I was taken for a TD (yes i was taken i dint have to ask) and all Mr karthik was asking me to do was go further. I guess Karthik knew how to stand by to his companies tagline as well Well i was impressed. I wont comment on the TD as i have already written a fair amount in prologue and the report covers the vehicle in detail. Collected the brochures and documents and set off providing a hint to karthik that i might return.

And yes even though I wasn't associated with Mr Karthik Hegde during the booking process and delivery he made sure that we maintain a healthy relationship with casual call ups and he has become a very good friend.

Overall experience: 10/10

Advaith Hyundai, Mangalore
After a bad start and a great turn of events the next stop was Hyundai to experience the i20 crdi. Advaith Hyundai being under the same parent as Cauvery Ford i expected good response here too. And yes as expected i received tremendous response. The sales rep was a young lady and she was enthusiastic as well. Very sad that i don't recall her name. Though she seemed new and possessed considerably less knowledge her efforts are worth mentioning and she dint make me feel left out. Here too i was offered a TD.

Now coming to the TD experience. Yes the car was a hoot to drive. Whats really worth mentioning was the refinement levels that the Hyundai engineers have managed to attain in the vehicle and the car dint feel like a diesel at all in standstill and low speeds. But having driven the figo just a few minutes back i did feel the i20 to be short on breadth in the lower end and missed the initial pep. But once the turbo kicked in a fairly linear manner, it was not at all short on power infact it was amazing and the overdrive 6th gear did add to a lot of comfort for cruising on the highway. However the steering and handling was definitely not to my liking. It felt so artificial and disconnected and hardly had any lively feel to it. After a wonderful TD i was provided with the details and i set off.

What i liked ?
1. The most proportionate and neatly styled hatch IMO bound to impress anyone
2. Extremely well done interiors that provide a very upmarket rich feel - definitely feels segments above
3. Wonderfully refined and powerful 1.4 ltr diesel mill.
4. Spacious cabin
5. Very Good build
6. Comfort oriented ride setup
7. A very smooth gear box compared to one i have in my figo.

What i dint like ?
1. Extremely light, disconnected steering and handling package.
2. Poorly equipped lower variants for the premium paid.
3. Decently heavy clutch.

Overall experience: 10/10

Having enough for the day and extremely exhausted i put a halt and decided to get back home and i visited the next set of dealerships in odd days whenever i was free and had time to spare.

Volkswagen, Mangalore.
I was never really keen on a German car for their notoriety in the service and spares sector and for me it would be nightmare if the overall running costs go high. But i decided to give it a try anyways. Visited the showroom to enquire about the Polo tdi and i was greeted by Mr Amith. He too was a really active person and briefed me all details of the car. He did demonstrate the german build by various acts like showing how the heavy doors shut with a assuring thud, making me lift the heavy bonnet that required some muscle action etc etc. And yes the build quality is actually something worth bragging. Among all the cars that i experienced so far it was the polo that felt amazingly solid and secure. To be frank i was seriously least bothered when people used to comment on this door shutting phenomenon but the way the door of the German car shuts actually says it all. The interiors of the polo are simple yet elegant, nothing too fancy or flashy but its very pleasing and i really loved it.

The TD experience went well as well. The car had sufficient pep and did feel short on power. But I did feel the engine to be too low on refinement. It was the noisiest diesel that i experienced and it wasn't pleasant either. But the way the car drove i dint give much heed towards the noise. The stability and handling offered were also pretty good and upto satisfaction. Finished off the experience smoothly without any issues.

And lastly Volkswagen had the highest dealership offers and discounts and they even provided a very good rate along with exchange bonus for my 800. Guess the sales were not going that well for the dealership.

What I liked ?
1. A powerful diesel, with sufficient pep
2. The infamous German build.
3. Simple yet elegant interiors were indeed impressive to me
4. Comfort oriented balanced ride
5. Huge customization opportunities with VCDS to play around.

What i dint like?
1. Refinement levels of the engine.
2. Volkswagen's weird pricing difference for metallic and non metallic colors. Like what era is Volkswagen seriously in?
3. Lack of legroom and space in the rear.
4. Scary parts pricing and service concerns.

Overall experience: 8/10

Bharath Nexa, Bunts Hostel Road, Mangalore
Now experience at this place actually bought a twist to almost the entire journey. I had actually narrowed it down on the figo as it suited my needs well and i thought my search had ended. But it was not so. My family was still suggesting to go for any maruti vehicle considering the low maintenance costs(which i believe is a myth now) and extremely good resale that the vehicle would fetch. But i wasnt really keen cause maruti had only the swift to offer and for some reason initially i hated the baleno. But after repeated thoughts and seeing the vehicle in multiple occations, (yes the amount of balenos steadily started increasing on the road to an extent that i am exhausted of seeing the same car everywhere as of now) the looks actually grew on me and i felt - damn this car does seem competent. Started researching on the car and found that the car was indeed upto my expectations. Visited the showroom on a fine morning and damn was i impressed. This was a showroom that actually looked pretty premium with those shiny polished display cars under spotlight, extremely wonderful ambiance and professional looking sales reps well dressed in suits, Relationship Managers as they would like to call themselves. And yeah the showroom is premium in matters of only looks and presentation. The overall experience is no different than a regular dealership.

I was greeted by Mr Ram Prasad Poojary and he was my RM. A special mention to him. He is indeed a very competent and humble person and i would recommend him. So Mr Ram briefs me on the baleno well and puts forth the pricing schemes and the interaction with him was indeed excellent. I was keen on the petrol variant as i was never a fan of the national diesel MJD. The first look of the car indeed impressed me. It was indeed a shocker to me to see so many features packed into the mid delta variant and it was priced comparatively low and extremely VFM. However the car did feel pretty short in matters of build quality that i experienced in the previous cars. The baleno felt extremely light in all aspects and the panels did feel flimsy. But yeah i was not too bothered about it. The interiors and its quality were decent nothing to write home about, it dint feel much different from the other maruti cars. Here i TD'd all the versions of the car.

The petrol was a real good performer aided by the light weight. The diesel was not impressive felt it to be rough and overall feel was not good. The cvt petrol was very smooth and good for A-B commuting and regular joes, Definitely not to my tastes and i was not keen on an AT as well, took the TD for just checking it out.

The stability and handling was decently good and i was satisfied. However the suspension did feel particularly stiff and thuds were evident but i was least bothered in this aspect. Finished off the experience with a particular smile on face and i thought that this car ticked all the boxes well and might beat the figo and make its way to my stable but yeah the 33 weeks waiting was indeed a let down and i had a bag of mixed opinions in the start.

What i liked?
1. Extremely peppy 1.2 K12 vvt petrol, a hoot to drive.
2. The sweet loud petrol engine yes i loved the fact that NVH levels and insultion inside the cabin were not great. The engine sound was indeed music to my ears.
3. extremely VFM pricing of the delta variant - lots of features packed. you wouldnt need anything more than whats offered here generally.
4. Excellant amount of legroom and space for rear passengers.
5. Generous width of the car provided the big car feel.
6. A very good gearbox and clutch combo.
7. Stylish rear end.
8. Good resale value can be expected since it is a pretty big hit in the market
9. Amazing FE figures for a petrol.

What i dint like?
1. Poor build. door, fenders and panels felt extremely flimsy
2. Extremely light weight for such a huge car left me with a mixed bag of opinions regarding long term reliability of the body frame.(Can trust maruti on its tect body or whatever they claim it to be)
3. NVH levels of the diesel are definitely not pleasant.
4. Budget grade typical maruti interiors in a car termed premium. Compare it with the i20 against which it competes the interiors are no were close.
5. A lot of part sharing with the cheaper marutis. Eg. You get the same basic remote key of the celerio or wagonr in the delta variant. A flip key would be preferred in an offering termed premium. Damn those power window switches and ORVM controls of the nizams era. Same ones seen in all marutis. Maruti ought to change atleast this.
6. The rear seat is not one of the comfortable ones since it is a flat bench and reports and experience from others do suggest that the rear seat does fatigue the passengers.
7. 33 weeks waiting for the baleno is definitely not worth it.

Overall Experience: 10/10

Bharath Auto, Mangalore
Now this is a maruti suzuki dealership and yes i checked out the swift here. This car was not even in my mind for a start. I knew it was not worth seeing the swift considering the baleno was already there. So the question here is How Come then? Well this particular choice leads to a quite queer and funny incident that took place. Let me brief the incident. By Now i had already narrowed down on the baleno (Yes, you read it right the baleno). It was a rainy day and bharath auto a Maruthi dealership puts up an ad on the newspaper about a free checkup camp. That day being a holiday for me i took my 800 to the camp. There was a huge line reaching the road and we had to wait for our car to be driven away in the queue.

Now one of the sales rep comes to me and asks if i had any plans on exchanging the 800 with any new car. Since i had narrowed down on a maruti i happily say "yeah!! i do have plans and am gonna exchange it with your baleno". Now comes the shocker. This guys frowns and his expression turns digusted and he says "Why baleno sir? have you even checked the build quality? its made out of a tin can, there's absoultely no security and zero highspeed stability, Go for the swift its solidly built" and he invites me in to check it out. I honestly dint know how to react to this!! i was unsure whether to laugh or pity maruti for having such badly trained sales reps, one who puts down his own home made product. Still I have nothing against him and would recommend him, hes indeed a very responsive and enthusiastic chap and did brief me well, its just that the sales pitch he employed was bad. So yeah having a lot of spare time untill i got my car back I do check it out. I asked him for a TD but he says due to rush he wont be able to provide but he would call and get the vehicle wherever i wanted for a TD. And yeah he did call multiple times and i finally told him to get the car to my office and he did. Gotta say he was very punctual and made it on time. TD'd the swift diesel and again even this was nothing special. Few points to mention would be it does have a tight chassis setup and is pretty agile compared to the baleno. And the car did feel better built than the baleno atleast IMO.

What i Liked?
1.A tight chassis setup with good handling characteristics
2.Decently powered Diesel - though i have mixed opinions regarding this will list it in the likes. Its not something to hate.
3.Good FE figures.
4.Comparatively a better build to the baleno.

What i disliked?
1. Cramped interiors
2. Rear seat Comfort is noting to write home about. The legroom is mediocre.
3. Interior fit and finish is definetely not good. Having experienced the swift for two whole months the rattles are pretty evident and the entire car feels flimsy.
4. Part Sharing with cheaper vehicles (This is something i hate in maruti vehicles)

Overall Dealership experience: 8/10

Well this completes my dealership experiences and i had a rough idea on how the cars would perform and could take the next step i.e Choosing the right car and getting it home and the journey here had its own twists.

On a side note: I did TD many other cars in almost all segments and have visited almost every single showroom but it would be tedious task to list them all and would make no sense as half of them were done just for the sake of checking the cars out, its been quite a hobby now.

[blackbandit]

Booking and delivery

The Baleno
Now that i had finished evaluating the contenders the next tough task of choosing the clear winner was in. Armed with 100 brochures, price charts and a laptop with teambhp in one of the tabs i began researching all the positives and negatives and ownership experiences of all the contenders.

And finally after a particularly long duration i was able to narrow the list down to two contenders. The ford Figo trend 1.5, the Hyundai elite i20 magna crdi, The baleno delta 1.2. The i20 was the first one to be out since the lower variants felt short on essential features and it was well out of the budget. The final contenders were The ford Figo and Baleno 1.2 Delta. I still had my edge towards the figo but the baleno felt like a better practical choice. In short Figo was a choice of the heart and Baleno was a choice of the mind. And yes relative pressure from my family and thinking logically and choosing the mind over the heart i went ahead and booked the Maruti Suzuki Baleno 1.2 delta in its granite grey avatar on 13th October 2016 at Bharath Nexa, Mangalore paying Rs 11,000/- (fully refundable and refunded) and the infamous nexa wait began.

In the mean time i sold my maruti 800 for a extremely good price and a profit - Yes i did sell it for a profit and i guess it was the first and last car that i will ever sell at a profit margin after extensively using it. Hoping to get my waiting reduced, through some contacts I managed to reach out to Mr Anil - The store manager of Bharath Nexa. But he clearly mentioned that he is helpless considering the allotment method of nexa but i would have a chance in december considering many people drop and go for the newer model. I agreed and my days continued without a car. It was 2015 all over again but this time my friends swift greatly compensated for the trouble and the swift acted as a substitute and became my daily drive.

But fate had different plans.. The figo is Back
Fast foward to December 2016, the wait was just not acceptable and after multiple calls to and from Nexa i realized that there were hardly any people dropping off and that nexa had no allotment for a granite grey delta baleno to the dealership for the month and it was clear that i was not getting my car. And by this time i had also received multiple inputs from owners that the car does feel nervous on the highway, Build issues as expected, suspension issues and ofcourse the main one fatigue of rear passengers on a long trip - this particular issue was pointed out by every owner i had spoken to. After hearing all this and feeling the need to get a car, it did start getting tedious in time, i decided to go for the Figo. At first family was not completely okay with the decision because they felt baleno was more competent,(their opinion was purely subjective to "big car better car" and nothing technical) but i went ahead and now my family is greatly satisfied with the decision undertaken by me.

The booking process and Delivery.
Visited Cauvery Ford, Padil branch with my dad, since it was quite close to my residence and was more convenient for us. Yet again i was greeted by Mr. Rivan Colaco whom i had met almost a year and half back. What's surprising is that He knew every single detail about me from my previous visit and he remembered me very well. I seriously dint expect this provided it had been quite long, kudos to him for this. He provided us with the latest pricing and now there were two trend variants. The normal trend without ABS with an OTR of 7.95 lakhs and the trend ABS variant with an OTR of 8.04 lakhs.

But on enquiring about the available stock I am informed that there are just two diesel cars. Now I was really keen on getting a black figo and i guess luck was with me this time. I am told one of the cars in stock was a Tuxedo black ford Figo Trend(non ABS) and the other was a white Titanium plus. Now i was really really glad to hear this and a part of me knew it that the trend would make its way home. But however considering that the titanium was just about 20k away from the figo my dad suggested i go for the titanium itself. But rivan informs me that they have no titanium in stock and it would be taken as a booking.

Now i wasnt really keen on waiting and news came about on the 3% increase across all manufactures. So i decided to go for the trend. And i did take another TD in the mean time just to confirm if i was making the right decision. We do a formal booking of the car on 13th december 2016 by paying mere Rs.5000/-. I did a formal non paranoid PDI as the car was lying at the dealership itself and provided the green flag.

Breaking up the costs as on December 2016
Ex-Showroom: Rs. 6,44,732/-
Ford Preferred Insaurance(comprehensive): Rs. 25,221/-
Optional Bumper to Bumber 0 dep insaurance: Rs. 4,307/-
Road tax and registration(Mangalore Karnataka): Rs. 1,01,870/-
Essential kit: Rs. 3,700/-
optional 3rd and 4th year warranty with RSA(1 lakh kms): 15,488/-
Total On road price: Rs. 7,95,238/-

Freebies Installed
Essenital kit, Front fog lamps, Titanium badge.

Being a bank holiday in the consecutive days and lot of confusions involved relating to the holidays pertaining to eid milad in Karnataka the payments could be processed on 15th December 2016 and the delivery was scheduled to happen on 17th December 2016.

The D-Day!! Black Bandit finally Comes Home
So after the payments being done it was time for the winner to make its way to my stable. We opted to get the car registered in 2017 and the car was sent for temporary registration on 16th december. Now comes the D-Day. And my excitement levels were above limits. The delivery was scheduled to happen in morning. Sadly my mom couldn't attend as she was held back with her commitments. I really wanted her to be there. Myself and my dad got ready and we set off to Cauvery Ford in his brand new Bajaj Platina to bring black bandit home. And yes there it was, My first new car draped in a blue cover in the delivery bay. We enter the showroom, finish all the formalities and paper work and we were taken to the delivery bay for the unveiling ceremony by Mr Umesh Moolya, Store Manager, Mr Prakash, Team leader and Mr Rivan. We were asked to unveil the car and then a huge key was handed over by Mr Umesh to me. Photos were clicked, Some claps from Cauvery ford Team, handshakes exchanged and the usual congratulations, It was indeed a wonderful experience. A Framed photo was instantly provided and a box of chocolates were given. Mr Rivan proceeded with a short demo of the car and after handing over some gifts to Mr Rivan we set off. My Dad in his platina and me in my newly Acquired Beast, The Blackbandit...

A few Shots from Day 1 to end this post.


In the frame from left to right the one and only Mr Rivan Colaco, Mr Prakash, Mr Umesh Moolya, Your's truely Prithvi Raj(me), And Mr Sathish Kumar(my dad) and blackbandit behind







Please Excuse the Bad quality photos. It was clicked from my age old Xperia L and I couldn't find any better photos from day 1

[blackbandit]

A Technical Overview

How blackbandit manages to pose himself for a photograph

Looks
Coming to the exteriors, The car definitely is an eye turner. Being less in number in the streets and mine being a rare black colour it does catch the attention of few people. Well this seems to be a plus point for me as it definitely kicks in a feel good factor in me. Of the entire design the front is the best angle for the car IMO. The aston Martin grill and the aggressive front makes the car have a imposing look on the road and the other drivers are rest assured that its a 99bhp pocket rocket behind them ready to overtake when they look in their IVRMS To the heavy aggressiveness of the front, However the rear end of the car is the complete opposite. It is quite neutral. There is no quirky styling. Just plane ol play safe design. Now this adds confusion to the side view. Having an aggressive front and a neutral back makes the side view a miss. The car is definitely not an impressive looker when looked from the complete side view. However the car definitely doesn't look out of place and the overall design is definitely a hit to me.

Build
The build quality of the figo twins is definitely a debated topic. But IMO the build quality is actually good. It is not rock solid like the ol fords and ecosport but it definitely isn't a Maruti/baleno either. The quality of sheet metal is strong and thick in comparison with the other vehicles in the market. The doors do feel quite heavy and close with a decent thud. Even the bonnet is quite heavy and made of thick sheet metal. The panel gaps are quite consistent throughout except for the gap that is excessive in the shut line of the bonnet in the front(Now Sorted after a bumper replacement). If anything is to complain its the rear door that has a slight clunk action while closing and the hatch does take some effort to get it shut perfectly. Overall the build quality of the vehicle is quite good in comparison with the other players in the market. Being black, the paint quality is also really good and the orange peel texture hardly visible only in the rear quarter panel and few other places with bends and curves. However the paint in the bumpers does feel thin cause it gets scratched easily. Being black the minute of the minute imperfections are perfectly visible and it does get painful at times when i see the swirls and minor scratches everywhere under the sun.

A few pictures to do more of the talking






Got Featured in Ford India Instagram page twice

[blackbandit]

How black bandit manages to keep his occupants contented

General Overview
The interiors of the fords always grab mixed opinions. However i always liked the odd design and so as to go with the flow, the interiors of the figo too always impressed me. It is not completely all black but rather a shade of light grey and this does make the interior to be quite roomy and not claustrophobic.

From a drivers perspective
The cabin feels very spacious. Me being 5'8ish, I was at home the moment i sat in the cabin and it dint take much adjustments to reach a comfortable position. The seats are quite comfortable and are bolstered quite well IMO. The front seats offer very good support and has healthy adjustment range, and it does give a low seating feel which i like. Being a trend model the height adjustment of the seat is not available however it is not missed.

The same steering of the other fords is carried to the figo and theres nothing to complain here. The steering is quite thick and has thumb contours. It is tilt adjustable, though i felt the range to be quite short but adequate for me. The steering grips well and feels good to hold and i never felt the need of a steering cover.

The hard plastics used in the entire cabin are of very good quality and they feel good too. They are not as good as the i20 to speak of but definitely just a tad below it. The fit and finish is really good and nothing looks out of place. Everything seems to be built to last. However the bonnet release button does feel feeble and of poor quality and it definitely gives a nervous feel of it snapping off whenever i pull it to open the bonnet.

Another really good thing about the cabin is the humongous number of cubby holes and storage space provided. Ford has been really generous here. The one thing i specially like here is the storage provided in the hand brake area. This has been a boon for me, who carries three phones and numerous other junks and everything can be placed well at my reach. However i feel a centre armrest is solely missed in the vehicle. The car being a wonderful cruiser and having very less amount of gear shifts on a long drive i definitely felt the need of a arm rest, would be great if it gets released in the future facelifts and we can grab it as an accessory.

Rear Seat Comfort
Coming to the back seat, I am not someone who sits in the backseat so i really can't comment here. But as per reviews from my family and friends the backseat is amazing. The seat seems to offer great support and comfort and one does not feel fatigued on a long journey. I have received a lot of positives regarding this matter. The legroom is also very good and generous and the back does feel very spacious. My parents always complimented the back seat comfort of the vehicle. The back can fit in 3 passengers and we never had an issue with the floor hump (considering all the passengers were medium build).

The instrument cluster ICE, AC and MID
To begin with the ICE of the ford is quite a very basic unit but it is quite efficient in doing its job well. The acoustics to speak of is really good for an OEM System. It sounds really good and the bass and treble is just perfect for almost all the general users. It has healthy volume and the the sound is pretty crisp and clear. One would not feel the need to upgrade unless he is some crazy audiophile. The audio unit has fade, bass and treble adjustments.

The bluetooth connects seamlessly. But one thing to not like in the bluetooth system is i have to reconnect the device every time i switch off or on the engine. Another thing to not like is the browsing of files and folders in USB. The screen being small it does get very cumbersome. The radio reception is also very good and the sound quality of the radio is pretty crisp and clear. Overall the ICE is very good and does it job well and a regular person would be quite satisfied and i felt it to be quite user friendly too.

Coming to AC unit in figo, if you are not satisfied here i donno where you will be. The AC is among the best and it definitely is a chiller. Even on a hot sunny afternoon set the AC to Max AC and blower speed to 3 it hardly takes a few minutes to cool the entire cabin. And yes even the trend with its HVAC system has the Max AC feature. All one has to do is turn the dial to the lowest temperature and turn it for that extra springy action that activates the Max AC.

The AC gets bone chilling cold especially at nights and i always find the need to increase the temperate. The dial is usually kept half way in the blue range or a little above the half to keep the entire cabin comfortable. The rear AC vents are definitely not missed. The AC Knobs feel great and premium to use and they have knurled chrome finish which looks and feels great.

The MID of the ford is also just a practical basic unit without any flashy fancy stuff. It displays Distance to empty, Average Fuel Economy, Instantaneous fuel economy, Average speed, And a menu Econo On/off to switch on or off the gear shift indicator. However the mid has a single trip meter. I would have preferred to have another one.

On a side note A small party trick as shown in one of the team bhp posts one can enter the test mode and unlock a wide range of other information in the mid. The instrument cluster is also quite basic and practical nothing flashy like the other fords. The tachometer is on the smaller side but it definitely doesn't pose an aesthetic issue of any sorts.

[blackbandit]

Engine and performance

So now we've reached the section where i describe as to what makes the Figo stand out among the rest of the contenders. The one unique factor that makes the ford figo diesel best in class and a deal setter for most of its owners is of course the powerful, torque beast of a engine that it houses.

The heart of the figo is a 1.5 litre 99bhp(100ps) diesel engine that generates 215nm of torque at a very low 1500rpm and maintains the peak torque all the way upto 3000rpm as per the spec sheet. As impressive as the specs sound on sheet its behaviour on road is as impressive as well. One word to describe the engine is torque. Yes, it packs in a lot of torque and this makes the vehicle effortless to drive. This is the same engine thats is housed in the previously updated ecosport. But the figo is a lot more peppier being a small car and light. Its an old school SOHC unit like the one seen in the previous ford but here it gets employed with an intercooler and its tweaked up for better performance. It employees a FGT turbo. It is a small turbo unit hence the turbo kick is barely felt.

The engine accelerates very linearly and the throttle is very crisp. It feels very petrol like in nature. The engine is very rev happy. Though during the initial 300 kms the car did feel strained and not eager to rev but it has opened up well and now the car revs clean all the way to 5k rpm. But as it goes for all diesels its quite pointless revving it up all the way to red line. At best the engine demands an upshift ideally at the 3500-4000rpm range.

The turbo kicks in at roughly around 1500-1700rpm but its hardly felt and the engine feels like a NA petrol and the lag before the turbo kick is absolutely negligible, infact you wont even notice it. Though the peak torque is generated at 1700rpm there is sufficient amount of torque available from as low as 1200rpm itself. So what does this translate to? An effortless city drive. The figo is a breeze to drive in the city. Considering the healthy amount of torque in mind one barely has to keep his foot on the A pedal to potter around the city. Slot into 5th and leave the accelerator the vehicle potters around at a healthy 50-55kph at rpm as low as 1200. The second gear is good enough for all those speed breakers and the car definitely doesn't feel short on breadth in low rpms. So the car shines during the city drive now what about open road performance? Now this is where i feel that the ford engineers have got the engine tuned perfectly.

As good as the car is in the city is a huge monster on the highway as well. The engine is an absolute stunner on the open road. Triple digits are attained really quick and the car can maintain it all day without any effort. Considering the torquey engine overtaking on the highway is also a breeze. Even on fifth gear when cruising on highway a tap on the accelerator pedal is enough to send it shooting off like a rocket to get that overtaking manoeuvre completed. The mid range is very strong and the rev happy engine enables tremendous performance on an empty stretch. This is an engine that makes me smile whenever i take out on the highway and believe me its not easy to keep the vehicle tamed at low speeds on an open road. The crisp throttle will unknowingly set you up at a decently high speed.

NVH levels and refinements
I must say i am quite impressed with the refinement levels and NVH levels in the figo. To begin with the diesel motor is not as refined as the benchmark crdi of the hyundai. The ford tdci does make its presence felt on switch on and off the ignition and there is mild clatter on idle. But the clatter doesn't not intrude into the cabin. Except for times during a cold start the clatter is slightly heard but this settles down. However It is nowhere intrusive like the other diesels.

Inside the cabin it feels quite petrol like there are no vibrations as such to add if theres some music running you wont even know that the engine is running. Even when revving on the open road the engine doesnt make any coarse intrusive sounds. It definitely isn't music to the ears neither is it intrusive and harsh. It makes a decent zoom sound as the revs build up and the vibrations are also well controlled. However the wonderful ICE and the good NVH levels makes sure that none of the sounds actually intrude into the cabin and cause disturbance to the passengers.

A thing to note about the NVH levels is that when cruising at 80-100kph the engine is dead silent inside the cabin even with the music off. If any sound is actually heard its post 100kph but again its not intrusive. The engine sounds comparatively sweet for a diesel while revving from 1500rpm to 3000rpm.

Ride Handling and braking.
Now when the car is powered with such a strong mill its evident that it has to able to handle well keeping in mind the comfort of the passengers as well as the confidence of the driver. Now does the figo satisfy this? IMO absolutely it does. When it comes to the ride quality the figo offers a balanced setup. Its neither too hard for the passengers to complain of a bone jarring ride and its neither too soft for the driver to complain of a bouncy unstable setup at speeds. The suspension set up is just rite and provides a perfect balance. Though the enthusiast in me would prefer a stiff setup but we all know that wouldn't be a practical one in the long run. So yes ford has managed to provide a good setup according to me and i am deeply satisfied. The body roll is controlled very well as well.

Coming to the handling the steering is an EPAS unit and yes since the previous figo was employed with the HPAS it did handle slightly better and the feedback was evident. But since technology is evolving at a good pace it was obvious that ford could not stick with HPAS unit. Though HPAS is a better unit for handling its obvious that the light EPAS does flare well in terms of practicality. Now the question is the ford EPAS disappointing in the handling department? Definitely no. I actually love the setup. Its farely light at parking and low speeds and weighs up just perfectly to my likings on the highway. The steering is very sharp and efficient too. Its definitely not like the Hyundai or even the maruti EPAS units to speak of. The maruti steering does have a tendency to suddenly go slightly light at high speeds which i noticed in my experience of the swift as well as baleno. The ford EPAS unit is quite good and personally i feel its the best. Though road feedback is solely missed in the EPAS but its nothing that raises any concern. Advantages of the EPAS are quite plenty and it does fare well especially during those quick city turns and overtaking manoeuvres.

Even the grip levels of the car are worth mentioning. Though the car is equipped with 175/65 tyres they do their job decently well. However an upsize needs to be considered to improve and get that extra grip level, ride quality and ofcourse the remap . My car is shod with goodyear GT3 tyres and the grip levels are quite decent. But however the tyres are quite noisy and the road noise especially on concrete roads is quite evident.

Coming to the braking i feel the brakes do their job really well. Theres plenty of bite and the cars comes to a halt without any drama. My car is not equipped with the ABS but i dont miss its absence. My experience with the swifts braking was really horrid and they were so unpredictable and i can rightfully say that the brakes in the figo are excellent.

Gearbox and clutch.
If theres anything that isn't complimenting the powerful diesel and the good handling package in the car, it definitely has to be the gearbox and clutch combo that is being offered. I wouldn't term it as bad but neither would i term it as best. Its somewhere in the middle.

The clutch was initially heavy but it is quite light as of now but it does have a long travel range. But i have got used to it pretty well and it doesn't seem to pose an issue. The gears do slot in decently. Something i found difficult getting used to was the 1st gear ratio. The 1st gear in this car is strictly meant for crawling through B2B traffic and yeah it does that job pretty well and of course for lifting off the car from a stand still. However its quite pointless revving in this gear. You get that sudden urge to upshift to the second. And if you are in higher gear and you downshift to first at a speed which would normally be rite for 1st gear in other cars you are greeted with the sudden engine braking jerk. It took quite some time to get used to it. The first gear is to be employed only after a complete halt or once you bring the car to a very very slow speed. All the other needs are taken care of by the other gears itself. However the ratio of the next gears that follow are good especially the third.

The gearbox is not meant for aggressive quick shifting but this doesn't pose an issue since the engine that it is mated to makes up for the issue pretty well and you will have nothing to complain at the end of the day.

Fuel efficiency
Being a powerful diesel the next question that comes to the mind is "Kitna Degi?". Well ford claims a mileage of 25.8kmpl and i wouldn't be surprised if someone gets a figure close to this mark. The car is extremely fuel efficient and I've been receiving pretty good figures so far. Have received figures ranging from 15 - 18kmpl on a mix of city and higway runs and I am not that gentle on the throttle. The car is my daily drive and i hardly keep track of the figures. Out on the highway during the long runs i have received as high as 21 - 22kmpl.

Now Wolfd!!
Well with all that in place was i satisfied? Nope General Human tendency and the itch to have more struck me as time passed. Hence got my car remapped by Wolfmoto and it surely was a wonderful experience. My car has transformed its character. More on this in the subsequent posts after having a detailed experience.

[blackbandit]

Issues and recurrent niggles faced so far

Headlamp cluster Burn!!
A manufacturing defect and definitely a quality issue. Being faced by almost all the cars. More to this here. Faced this issue and got the clusters replaced Under Warranty. But it has returned in the new set of headlamp clusters as well.

Soution
No solution. Replacement under warranty is a temporary fix but the issue is sure to resurface in the new clusters as well

Horn Issues
Again heard its a common issue faced by many figos as per the SA. The figo comes with a decently loud and irritating (to the person outside the car ) dual horn set up, on situated at the bottom and one below the LH headlamp cluster. The LH horn went kaput during the last monsoons in 2017, it was replaced under warranty. After about exactly a month the horn at the bottom also went kaput. Got that replaced under warranty as well.

Solution:
1. Horn tuning(this is generally the first approach to fixing it)
2. Replacement under warranty.

Door Squeak when moving on rough patches
Again quite a common issue faced by many figos. I was victim to this twice. The doors start making a weird rubber component rubbing sound when moving on rough patches of road. Learnt that this occurs due to alignment issues in the door catcher mechanism. Fixable at the service center. Got it sorted twice and the issue has not resurfaced since a long time after the last fix.

Solution:
Quick fix at the service center by readjusting the door catcher. Sometimes it is padded with tape to prevent further rattles.

Headlamps
The headlamps of the figo are quite decent. For an average joe they are sufficient and do the job. Well however i felt them to be inadeqaute especially during the rains and highway runs. Hence upgraded the bulbs to OSRAM nightbreakers unlimited. They have been serving well and there has been an improvement.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[tharian]

Originally Posted by blackbandit

Now Wolfd!!
Well with all that in place was i satisfied? Nope General Human tendency and the itch to have more struck me as time passed. Hence got my car remapped by Wolfmoto and it surely was a wonderful experience. My car has transformed its character. More on this in the subsequent posts after having a detailed experience.

Congratulations and nice to see that this car has a small fan following going.

More interested in knowing the details of the Wolf remap and your experience and comparison before and after.
I guess this will be the first TDCi remapped by Wolf , review on the forum.

I would strongly suggest upsizing the tyres at the earliest since the car does not have ABS , with the uprated power.

[sandeepmohan]

The Ford Figo, atleast in this iteration is hands down the best bang for the buck you can get. Nothing betters it in power to weight ratio and when you throw in the mix of price, there is little else to look at.

When it comes to drivers cars from the Suzuki stable, it really is the Swift that is the best. Then again, with an outdated (Now) diesel, makes no sense.

Your 800 is immaculate. My uncle in Puttur picked up a new one, from the last lot that was manufactured in 2014. That 3 pot engine is almost 4 decades old in design but I bet it has refinement levels that surpass even a modern day diesel like the one found in your Ford. When you are out cruising at 80-90kmph, you cannot feel or hear a thing from that Suzuki motor.

Your father was right about avoiding a Ford Ikon. As a past owner, I can tell you that it was unreliable as a model . The thing is, nothing fell apart with regard to the engine. It is everything around it that caused problems. Niggling issues. What made matters worse was the exorbitant price for parts and labor. It has taken Ford India two decades to correct mistakes from the old Escort/Ikon/Fiesta days. Too long if you ask me and you can see the effects of it even today. The concern your folks showed towards buying a Ford (even new) was indeed around all those past incidents. You can't ignore it.

Congratulations on your new ride.

[Dr.Naren]

Nicely written ownership review .

You have got one fast hatch man! I struggled keeping up with your Wolf tuned Figo even at unmentionable speeds in my Wolfed SX4 yesterday. Next time we will compare with my S-Cross 1.6 .

Also get better rubber soon, I had tough time doing 0-100 of your car. There was lot of wheel spin, even in 2nd gear!

[ChiragM]

A well-written ownership review. You have covered every single point there. Good pictures as well.

Congrats on the new car. It's good to see a review of a lower variant of the car.

Your pictures of the 800 reminded me of my old car. My green 2000 800 was replaced by a Ritz back in 2010.

Originally Posted by blackbandit

Now Wolfd!!
Well with all that in place was i satisfied? Nope General Human tendency and the itch to have more struck me as time passed. Hence got my car remapped by Wolfmoto and it surely was a wonderful experience. My car has transformed its character. More on this in the subsequent posts after having a detailed experience.

This should be interesting! Awaiting your review of the Wolf remap on the Figo.