[shashi792]

Figo S itself was a fun car to drive. With Punto Abarth gone now, Ford can capture some slice of the hot-hatch market share. Just need to repackage the Figo. (Ford have neways mastered the idea of repackaging/shuffling their variants features :P). Last year, during my new car scouting phase (Finally bought Ecosport S), we enquired if they had any Figo S, in any variant (MT/AT) to test drive. To this, his answer was more like, 'Ford is manufacturing Figo AT only against an order from the dealer'.

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by sooshan

Hey, a nice review, well put together.
Happy mile munching on this beauty!!!
Cheers..

Thanks! Hope we have a Figo owners meetup soon.

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

At 9 Lakhs on road this makes a really good alternate to the more expensive (but better) Polo GT TSI.

I test drove one last year and it was a decent performer. The gear shifts were not very quick but manageable.

Congratulations on owning such a rare yet worthy car. Keep updating the thread.

Nice of colour too. I did not have that option when I bought my Figo Sports.

TC do seem to have some limitations in terms of shift speed, thankfully lack of any lag and massive low end torque makes up for the time lost during shifting Will keep this thread alive as long as possible. Thanks!

Originally Posted by Sankar

Congrats!
This is an underrated car, just imagine the old Fiesta S 1.6 Duratec which was considered to be a proper enthusiasts car had fewer number of horses than this Figo.

4 years ago if Ford had this powertrain combo on sale I would have bought this. I am anti dual clutch, anti AMT AGS and anti clutch based CVT when it comes to vehicle purchase decisions. Fluid coupling for the win!

Have enjoyed all kinds of transmissions, but Manual and TC are hard to beat for sure. Dual clutch is the best one to drive, as long as the car belongs to someone else Hopefully they get much more reliable as I wish to own one someday.

Originally Posted by snan

Congrats for the prize catch. I have been calling up bunch of dealers with no luck with some saying it will only be available next FY. Not that I definitely need the car but I felt its worthwhile to buy one till stocks last ! Will continue paining the dealers since it looks like this endangered species is still available !

Ford might not phase this car out so early, my dealer told me that Ford didn't want to sit with lot of 2019 stock, hence production will resume from Jan 2020. Wishing you best of luck for your hunt.

Originally Posted by sgmuser

I have never seen this particular variant! Solid looking Ford Figo. I always liked the Figo. With 1.5 liter on tap, this is a hoot to drive with the capable AT. Just take it for a long drive in a open highway. You will be surprised at the confidence it provides especially in 3 digit speeds. The car is well composed for its size. Congrats!

Have already taken her for a short spin on the highway and came back impressed. Great little package.

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Congratulations on the new car. Wishing you the very best. 10-12 kmpl on a 1.5 AT is commendable.

A great marketing failure by Ford- a spruced up sporty Figo AT could have brought some healthy sales numbers in. the Baleno RS and Abarth don't have ATs, the GT TSI is not the most reliable. I thought the AT was mated to the 1.2 dragon engine.

The car is a sleeper from factory. Your car doesn't need a sticker, badging or a fancy bumper. All it needs is you to floor the pedal on the highways and leave the crowd behind.

Mass market audience do love stuff like sports edition, might help Ford sell couple of more of this variant, personally I love the S variant that the Figo had.

Will keep the mileage part updated!

Originally Posted by jithin23

Congratulations on acquiring an underrated gem! The figo is a capable car yet it has very few takers especially the AT. 1.5L in a hatch is an absolute blast in terms of performance. Only problem with Ford cars are variants are messed up big time and are not mod-friendly unlike VW. Regarding the tyres, why you didn't consider 195/55/R15 as they would grip the car better??

Not being mod friendly is a big minus indeed. Coming to the alloy wheel part, Blu variant seem to get the suspension setup from the previous S variant, this helps to keep the car low even with larger tyres.

Will wait for sometime before making any drastic changes.

Originally Posted by arindambasu13

Congrats on the lovely sleeper. Most people do not even know that this variant exists, thanks to the lackluster marketing efforts from Ford. This is truly a pocket rocket, added with the convenience of a sturdy auto box. Put on some bigger alloys coupled with fatter rubber, and this will look even better than it goes !

Even I came to know about this one through Team bhp post. This truly is a good performer with stress free, solid auto-box.

Originally Posted by shashi792

Figo S itself was a fun car to drive. With Punto Abarth gone now, Ford can capture some slice of the hot-hatch market share. Just need to repackage the Figo. (Ford have neways mastered the idea of repackaging/shuffling their variants features :P). Last year, during my new car scouting phase (Finally bought Ecosport S), we enquired if they had any Figo S, in any variant (MT/AT) to test drive. To this, his answer was more like, 'Ford is manufacturing Figo AT only against an order from the dealer'.

With the Punto gone, this 121Bhp machine is probably the most powerful mass market hatch back, says a lot about lack of performance cars in our market!

Dealers rarely have stock of this variant, mine came straight from the factory. Weird strategy indeed.

[srinath34]

Congrats on acquiring a rare car. Figo AT is a limited edition of sorts. This is such a practical car for our ever deteriorating traffic conditions. Good drive-ability, No DSG worries, decent cost of maintenance, acceptable FE and all this in a package sub 10 lakhs INR.

Wish you many more kilometers with the hot hatch. Just so wish Ford sells more of this (more like S variant or so to add value to the specs this machine has).

Hope this will be a detailed ownership report of the Figo AT as there are not many on the whole worldwide web.

Cheers

[ts1506]

Congratulations on this beauty.

I had enquired about the Figo AT when buying my Ecosport. Unfortunately, the same reasons played against my purchase as well.

The dealer had no idea if and when the car might be available, and was not willing to take a booking either. I would have preferred a Figo AT in Titanium Blu version ideally, but Titanium would have worked too.

Finally had to pay up and get the Ecosport, just for the bigger Dragon.

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by srinath34

Wish you many more kilometers with the hot hatch. Just so wish Ford sells more of this (more like S variant or so to add value to the specs this machine has).

Hope this will be a detailed ownership report of the Figo AT as there are not many on the whole worldwide web.

Cheers

Thanks. I am already here with my first update!

Originally Posted by ts1506

Congratulations on this beauty.

I had enquired about the Figo AT when buying my Ecosport. Unfortunately, the same reasons played against my purchase as well.

The dealer had no idea if and when the car might be available, and was not willing to take a booking either. I would have preferred a Figo AT in Titanium Blu version ideally, but Titanium would have worked too.

Finally had to pay up and get the Ecosport, just for the bigger Dragon.

Thanks!

Any reason for not going for Aspire AT? It was readily available with few dealers in Chennai!


First update:

FE numbers from the MID for the past 250km. Split of 50% highways 50% moderate city traffic. Driving with light foot as the car is in run-in period.

[sooshan]

Originally Posted by giri1.8

Thanks! Hope we have a Figo owners meetup soon.

Ford might not phase this car out so early, my dealer told me that Ford didn't want to sit with lot of 2019 stock, hence production will resume from Jan 2020. Wishing you best of luck for your hunt.

A meetup sure sounds interesting. Btw, I took delivery of my Figo 1.2 Titanium yesterday!!

[prajakt_23]

Great choice!!
I had been to all dealers in Pune to get a test drive of it. And surprisingly, no one has a single unit which you can drive and feel for yourself :-(
Please keep this thread updated with your ownership experience!

[Maverick Avi]

Congratulations on your new purchase! I had test driven Aspire AT and came back mighty impressed. Contrary to most people's belief around VFM product I found AT version overpriced and hence settled for Aspire MT. During my car search I was quoted 7.65 lakhs on road for Dzire Vxi AMT. Even if I factored in TQ technology and added 50k along with another 50k for a more powerful engine, Aspire AT being offered at 9.5 lakhs OTR felt overpriced. Maybe an AT version from Trend variant onwards would have bridged that gap.

Nonetheless, nothing makes me happy than people buying Ford. I want the company to flourish in India atleast for next 8-10 years. Selfish me.

[ask_017]

Originally Posted by Maverick Avi

Nonetheless, nothing makes me happy than people buying Ford. I want the company to flourish in India atleast for next 8-10 years. Selfish me.

You are not alone sir. Count me also in. But the guys who are at the leadership level, I do not know why they are not showing any enthusiasm for their own products. In the other Skoda related threads, I was reading the tweets by their country head detailing out plans for 2020 and I wonder when would we see something similar from Ford's leadership in India. Personally for me, it is my 2012 Figo Diesel Titanium that opened my eyes towards what driving dynamics really is. A great sedan like Fiesta would have been the natural choice for upgrade if there was one. But sadly our options are very limited with Aspire/EcoSport for now.

[tharian]

Congratulations on the rare 'find'

Would love to see more updates on the engine characteristics in different scenarios.
Good decision on upgrading the tyres as soon as you took delivery, 185 sized tyres are perfect for this car and makes a good difference.

How good is the 1.5 engine in the Figo with a full load out on the highway? Do update whenever you do that.

Count me in for the meet as well. I visit Chennai frequently and the next one is around this month end or Feb first week.

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by sooshan

A meetup sure sounds interesting. Btw, I took delivery of my Figo 1.2 Titanium yesterday!!

Congrats on your new ride! Do post a pic here if possible. Lets have a small owners group if possible.

Originally Posted by prajakt_23

Great choice!!
I had been to all dealers in Pune to get a test drive of it. And surprisingly, no one has a single unit which you can drive and feel for yourself :-(
Please keep this thread updated with your ownership experience!

Thanks!

You can ask for Aspire TD if you wish to experience this car. Will keep this updated as I clock more miles.

Originally Posted by Maverick Avi

During my car search I was quoted 7.65 lakhs on road for Dzire Vxi AMT. Even if I factored in TQ technology and added 50k along with another 50k for a more powerful engine, Aspire AT being offered at 9.5 lakhs OTR felt overpriced. Maybe an AT version from Trend variant onwards would have bridged that gap.

Aspire was on the expensive side for sure, but one does get a lot in comparison to the Dzire. Aspire gets better build quality, AT comes in Titanium trim which is equivalent to the ZXi trim and gets touchscreen too! In safety department it gets hill-hold assist, traction control and ESP and one more star in crash test rating. Dzire gets tax benefits due to the 1.2 engine, Ford needs to pay more tax!

In the gearbox department, AMT usually carry around 35K premium over manual, TC usually has 1L premium.

Glad you have chosen the Aspire manual

Originally Posted by ask_017

You are not alone sir. Count me also in. But the guys who are at the leadership level, I do not know why they are not showing any enthusiasm for their own products. In the other Skoda related threads, I was reading the tweets by their country head detailing out plans for 2020 and I wonder when would we see something similar from Ford's leadership in India. Personally for me, it is my 2012 Figo Diesel Titanium that opened my eyes towards what driving dynamics really is. A great sedan like Fiesta would have been the natural choice for upgrade if there was one. But sadly our options are very limited with Aspire/EcoSport for now.

Good sedans and a dying breed, sedan with good dynamics are even much more difficult to find.

Originally Posted by tharian

Congratulations on the rare 'find'

Would love to see more updates on the engine characteristics in different scenarios.
Good decision on upgrading the tyres as soon as you took delivery, 185 sized tyres are perfect for this car and makes a good difference.

How good is the 1.5 engine in the Figo with a full load out on the highway? Do update whenever you do that.

Count me in for the meet as well. I visit Chennai frequently and the next one is around this month end or Feb first week.

Thanks

Have done one more small ride with 4 people onboard, will update once I clock even more miles. Meetup would be awesome! we can plan for a small Figo/Aspire owners club if possible.

[sooshan]

Will definitely post pictures soon. And, a meet up sure sounds exciting..! Want to know who all are in!

[giri1.8]

Have been on few trips and will update them soon! Meanwhile I have finally found performance data from the video below!

https://youtu.be/jMd4ACF05I4

0-10km/h: 0,54 seconds
0-20km/h: 1,15 seconds
0-30km/h: 1,88 seconds
0-40km/h: 2,66 seconds
0-50km/h: 3,46 seconds
0-60km/h: 4,45 seconds
0-70km/h: 5,59 seconds
0-80km/h: 6,99 seconds
0-90km/h: 8,51 seconds
0-100km/h: 10,14 seconds
0-110km/h: 12,27 seconds
0-120km/h: 14,71 seconds
0-130km/h: 17,48 seconds
0-140km/h: 21,50 seconds
0-150km/h: 26,89 seconds

0-100m: 7,36 seconds @ 81,31km/h
0-200m: 11,19 seconds @ 104,25km/h
0-300m: 14,40 seconds @ 118,78km/h
0-400m: 17,30 seconds @ 129,40km/h

100-0km/h: 3,09 seconds @ 42,66 metres (once-off)
Maximum deceleration G-force: 0,99G

Topspeed is 180+ according to different sources. Real world performance is on par with the numbers, but its hard to explain how it actually feels! Will post in detail after clocking more miles.

[pratim]

Originally Posted by giri1.8

You can ask for Aspire TD if you wish to experience this car. Will keep this updated as I clock more miles.

Hearty congratulations for your new car! It's your review that prompted me to take a TD of Figo AT.

So, I took a TD of the Aspire AT TD a while back, since there were no Figo AT for TD.
Accleration sure is very impressive. Braking is very good, handling broken roads also is good.
I found build qulity have gone down a bit ompared to old Figo, door closing is sounding a bit tinny than it should have been.
Found the steering to be light, even lighter than my 2009 City V-AT. This was a surprise.
Another point: I heard engine noise and felt vibrations of the engine. Is this expected or, is it due to a not-so-well-maintained TD car? Or is it due to the 3 cylinder Dragon engine? What's your feel?

Thumbs up for Cauvery Ford guys to come to my home for TD crossing the entire breadth of the city and that too at 4:02 pm sharp. I had asked them to come at 4 PM. Impressive!!

Cheers
Pratim

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by pratim

Hearty congratulations for your new car! It's your review that prompted me to take a TD of Figo AT.

Thanks mate

So, I took a TD of the Aspire AT TD a while back, since there were no Figo AT for TD.
Accleration sure is very impressive. Braking is very good, handling broken roads also is good.

True, driving dynamics and acceleration seems to be this car's strong points.

I found build qulity have gone down a bit ompared to old Figo, door closing is sounding a bit tinny than it should have been.

Build quality is surely not as good as Gen 1 figo or even Fiesta, but its not tinny as some of the others cars in the segment.

Found the steering to be light, even lighter than my 2009 City V-AT. This was a surprise.
Another point: I heard engine noise and felt vibrations of the engine. Is this expected or, is it due to a not-so-well-maintained TD car? Or is it due to the 3 cylinder Dragon engine? What's your feel?

Steering is surely light, but doesn't lack any feel. It feels communicative at all time. Will discuss the only negative with the steering in my impressions below.

There is almost no engine noise in normal traffic, even on the highway there is barely minimum noise. Its only when one guns the throttle there is ample amount of engine noise inside the cabin. There is slight vibration at idle as mentioned by me before. Once the car starts moving, there is no vibration bad enough to be irritated. Might have been the TD car's condition.

Then again, there is no comparison to Honda's 4 cylinder petrol's smoothness.

3,500km update:

Last month's running was more than usual, hence have covered decent miles to gauge car's overall character.

Biggest plus has been the engine as expected, car performed extremely well in all scenarios, be in city roads, highways and on ghats. We had a trip to Kolli hills with 4 people and luggage on-board, car had no issues on any part and did the hill climb with ease. On the downhill part, I had to take manual control of gears in sports mode to have decent amount of engine braking.

Part where car performed better than expected is in city traffic, being a TC unit, I expected few flat spots in acceleration which I have experienced on few small cars. Even from stand still the acceleration is strong and one can dart into gaps with ease This combined with light steering and good GC makes it a good city car.

On the highway, the car performs well above 3k rpm, acceleration is strong and overtakes are a breeze! One weird thing about power delivery is that one doesn't feel the phase at which the car is accelerating, TC box and flat torque nature of the engine might be the reason. Down side to this is that there is no sense of urgency that once expects from a performance car. Plus side to this is, one car smoke every single car coming out of toll gates, while passengers have no idea about it

Where does the car lag?

Acceleration below 3k rpm seems to be dull, might have been done in the interest of fuel-efficiency or might the engine's nature of power delivery, but this does have a impact on overall experience when the gearbox is in "Drive mode". While the box is eager to downshift from 6th of 5th gear, same cannot be said for other gears! When the car is in say 4th gear, and you press the accelerator more, there is no downshift! instead the box holds the gear and acceleration remains dull till 3k rpm.

Solution to this? Slot the gearbox into sports mode and the car performs the way 1.5L hatch should perform! Anyone who TD one of the cars with this engine/gearbox should surely try it out in sports mode.