| Re: frankmehta tinkers again: Smoke Grey Ford Aspire TDCI Titanium+
Hi Guys!
Sorry for the delayed and infrequent updates.
The Figo Aspire Titanium Plus is going great guns! The pandemic meant that we had to depend more on the car and less on public transport. Both of us, being Dentists, meant that we did have a lot of travelling to do, even during the pandemic.
The car has hit the 25000 km mark and is going from strength to strength, proving her prowess over good conditions and bad.
We have made many small trips with her and every single time, she returns a fuel efficiency figure of over 20 km to the litre. Shockingly good, considering even her fuel has crossed the 100 rupee mark in Mumbai (Turbojet diesel). She is the ONLY car where I have NEVER changed my Diesel Bunk and have always filled her up at only ONE place that I trust. Such is her efficiency! I have done 2 trips to Mahabaleshwar, 3 trips to Lonavala and Pune respectively and never have I once had to refuel until I have reached home. Such is her efficiency!
Good efficiency doesn't make her a slouch, let me be honest! She's a pocket rocket! Small enough to fit into small gaps in traffic and powerful enough to make boy racers cry at signals. Over these months, the following mods are nicely running on the car:
1. PedalTune for crisp throttle response
2. Wolf Moto Stage 2 map (got an update in the last year, and this has transformed her into an absolute beast)
3. Closed Ram intake (covered and in the stock position to suck air at the same velocity and temperature as the original intake would) Only, the intake is larger and has made a huge difference to mid range and a little bit at the top end
4. Custom Tornado Intercooler with 40% higher surface area, but exact same size as the original, as well as seated in stock mounts
5. DECAT, running an Automech Exhaust downpipe and a custom end can (replaced the BBK varitune with a freer flowing endcan has made sound and performance much better than it used to be)
6. Morimoto D2S Stage 4 bixenon retrofit with Osram Xenarc Laser Nightbreaker Xenon bulbs
7. Fog Lamp projectors with LED bulbs with high beam facility
8. Stock Alnac 4G tires with Onyx Alloy wheels
9. Stock head unit with a miniDSP c-DSP 6x8, powered by a Stetsom 400x4 Amp running Peerless Midwoofers and Illusion CH-1 horns, alongwith a Clarion DPX11551 running a Custom CF Top LBM subwoofer.
We had a small incident where the front windshield broke last week, and as is the case with EVERYTHING FORD, no Glass Vendor, including Windshield Experts knew that an Aspire comes with Rain and Light sensors stuck to the glass. I registered a request with Ford, and got the glass changed at Bhavna Ford, Kalina, for a whopping 14000 rupees (all covered in my Zero Dep insurance, but expensive, still)
The Ford brand needs resurrection and the sales figures of their current crop of cars just can't do it for them. Which also brings us to the point where we don't know about their future in India. I would be very happy to buy another Ford, if I was assured that I would get support for the car for at least 7 years. But as of now, it feels like our next car won't be a Ford, for ONLY these reasons.
Because the reasons to own this car are MANY!
Great Suspension (for passengers, not as much for the driver)
Safety (decent build quality and 6 airbags. Both the primary reason for my purchase of a Ford)
Super efficient, yet enthusiast-pleasing 1.5 l diesel, which just doesn't relent, serving OODLES AND OODLES of torque and driveability that someone like a Hyundai or a Maruti or even a Skoda/VW in this segment would dream to have.
Long term reliability of spares and low cost of servicing and consumables, still the lowest, despite being reasonably modernly specced
Spot-On driving position and ergonomics
the list goes on and on........
Let's just say, that if this was Maruti's DZire, there would be over a Million of these on the road and the public would be lapping them up.
This was the short, but decently comprehensive update of how my dear 2996 has been doing in the past couple of years.
Any further queries can be entertained on this thread. | 
17th July 2021, 20:22
(1)
Thanks
