[joe_lightspeed]

Hello Team-BHPians.

This is my first thread on Team-BHP so kindly excuse if any mistakes.

The story of my little Hatchback! Figo 1.5 TDCI

My search for a fun to drive car began right after my family car, the Honda City I-VTEC 2016 VMT (GM6) got affected by the flood in 2018 August. I was devastated after the flood affected my City as I had many good drives with the car. Even that was the first new car registered in my name. Its registration number is my birth date. The car has only clocked about 11k in its ODO and it’s been used rarely with family and not a daily. I been opting the company cab for my commute and the car mostly kept in my garage. Initial plan was to buy the car for scrap price from insurance and restore it but as per lot of discussion with automobile experts, finally decided not to go with it. The car was claimed as a total loss by Honda showroom and thankfully my insurance claim got settled in a few weeks. For some reason, my parents wanted the same car with an automatic transmission as its replacement.

The City was a very good car in terms of its ride quality, revving peppy petrol I-VTEC Engine and crisp gear shifts always made a pretty good combo which would always plaster a smile on my face. Still, there were some cost cutting factors from Honda which irritates me sometimes like no pad to cover the inside boot lid, lack of fenders at the rear wheel arches and 175 section tyres for a car that produces 120bhp. While checking with the dealer I came to know that the same trim which I bought 2 years back costs a lack more with an added DigiPad 1, fake vents at its rear bumper, diamond cut alloy wheels with same 175 section tires and a push button start and mostly because the facelift just didn’t look as good as the predecessor in my mind.

Discussing that with one of my friends, who is an automobile journalist I came to know that the next generation of the Honda City will be launching soon. Upon checking all earlier generations I’ve observed that Honda have updated the city generations in 4-5 Years duration. Hence the GM6 launched in early 2014 and there’s nothing more exciting in the facelift model and I decided to wait for the next generation to come up. Even my parents agreed on the decision and we settled with a pre-owned Celerio ZXI+ AMT for Rs.400000 considering its resale value. The car was single owned and clocked around 10k kilometres in its ODO.

At the same time, I started using the Celerio as my daily commute to work which is about 60 kilometres in a day which I hated to do with my Honda City as I had to park the car on the Side of Road and the bad FE because of the Heavy Traffic during my office hours meant that hit my mind and my wallet most of time. The Celerio turned into a daily driver and I liked the car in terms of its FE, perfectly mated AMT gearbox and cheaper maintenance. Parking the car was a breeze thanks to its small dimension. I’ve had couple of long drives with the car and it offers a comfy ride between 50-80 kmph. Considering the money I spent, there was no better option.

[joe_lightspeed]

During the wait for the updated Honda City, we shortlisted some cars around Rs.12-13 Lacks and did a couple of test-drives as well.

Below observations are my personal opinion, no offence to the respective owners.

My requirements

• A fun to drive car with a capable engine
• Manual, and more engaging to drive

VW Polo GT Twins (TSI,TDI)

Likes,

• A decade old, still looks better than its rivals
• Fun to drive cars, Still 1.2 TSI is my pick as there's no 1.6 GT TDI on sale
• Lightning fast shifting DSG gearbox makes the car really quick in city drives
• Up to 7 years of extended warranty
• Sturdy build, German precision can be witnessed all over the car

Dislikes,

• Rear seat is too tight
• No Manual Gearbox option and Heavy steering for the TSI
• The new 1.5 GT TDI is not refined or fun to drive than its predecessor 1.6
• Annual maintenance cost is high compared to all cars I've shortlisted

On Road Price Quote – Rs.1140000

Mahindra XUV-300 W8 1.5 Diesel

Likes

• Getting into a comfortable driving posture was an easy job with height adjustable driver seat and tilt-steering
• Sharp gear slotting, light clutch for the diesel variant
• More refined diesel motor, NVH levels are high
• Mild-hybrid engine, first in the segment. which turns off and on quietly
• Seat-belt warning is a command instead of chimes
• Infotainment system is responsive, quick and has got all the essentials, even smartwatch connectivity
• feather light steering wheel wrapped in perforated leather, can adjust the lightness with different steering modes, which is first in its segment
• Sharp looking from front and side's and I feel it’s more curvy when it comes to the rear end
• I feel that W8 variant is more VFM

Dislikes

• 2k clocked car had some rattling noise from dashboard and sunroof during my test drive. Had to think twice regarding its long-term reliability
• boot space is low in volume compared to rivals. and the lid is placed too high
• The doors don't close easily and need to be pushed hard at times
• doors and plastics feel good in quality, but not as solid as the EcoSport's
• rear seats lack under-thigh support
• Some basic features such as Dead-pedal, rear parcel tray are missing

On Road Price Quote – Rs.1220000

Ford Ecosport Titanium Plus 1.5 Diesel

Likes

• Finding a comfortable driving position wasn’t hard
• S Trim is the best looking CSUV in the segment
• Not just a facelift and the car has got a lot of improvements in the interior as well as the exterior
• New petrol engine options, still the 1.5L TDCi remains my preferred choice of engine
• Black interior is more practical and looks neat
• Safety features such as 6 airbags on the top variant, ABS + EBD and reverse parking sensors
• SYNC 3 – Infotainment system
• A fun to drive CSUV in terms of handling and the car is stable at high-speeds

Dislikes

• Narrow rear seats
• Cheap looking instrument cluster and MID for a 12 Lack car
• The vibration of the diesel engine can be felt inside the car. NVH is not as good as the XUV 300
• High amount of body-roll while braking and taking corners

On Road Price Quote – Rs.1235000

Hyundai Verna 1.6 CRDI

Likes,

• Good looking car among its rivals
• 1.6 diesel motor is refined
• Ventilated seats are first in its segment
• Quality of its interior is premium and loaded with many features
• Premium ride quality and sturdy build quality

Dislikes,

• Rear seat isn't as spacious compared to the City
• Car is too light in terms of driving and felt not that exciting to drive
• The trim i preferred was the SX which was costly among the compared cars
• Not going to fit as a daily car for me

On Road Price Quote – Rs.1410000

Ford EcoSport was my pick from the above-mentioned cars. Powerful, practical and more efficient. Luckily Ford updated its instrument cluster to the Ecosport S cluster. Booking period was around 1 month for the Titanium Plus Variant Black color. Black EcoSport looked stunning to me. Thus we decided to sell the Celerio on Olx as they only offered Rs.3.5 lacks as exchange value.

Attention towards the little hatch from Ford started when one of my senior colleagues who is very close to me purchased a Low Mileage Figo Sports Edition, Petrol in Black colour with white roof. Clocked nearly 14k in ODO and it was a well-maintained single owned car. Figo S is a car that came along with a hot hatch tag from the factory and I’ve read many reviews about the car. We had a couple of drives with the car and I was instantly impressed with its solid ride quality. The handling of the Sport edition is one step ahead and the I liked the mesh grille and 15-inch alloys that came as standard. in the meantime, Celerio had already covered nearly 8k kilometres and I came to know that Honda has no plan to replace the existing generation of the City.

Thus I had the realization that what I needed was a peppy little hatch and since the Figo had the same 1.5 TDCI engine as the EcoSport, was fun to drive and served to all my needs minus the extra weight and body-roll. Since it felt like a downgrade from the cars I've shortlisted I thought of having a test drive. I checked with Ford for any Figo S available but sadly there was none left and the facelift version of the Figo was on the way.

Photo of the Figo S mentioned above

[joe_lightspeed]

Initial test-drive impression!

During one of those days, I made my second visit to a Ford dealer and did a test-drive in the facelift version of the Figo with my dad.

• What made me happy is that minimal turbo lag and the push when the turbo kicks in. also, the low-end torque made the car pretty enjoyable in city traffic
• The steering feedback is impressive
• Stick shift and powerful diesel 1.5 TDCI, none of the other engines impressed me
• Slotting of the new gearbox from Freestyle has improved
• NVH levels are way better than the pre-facelift and its way ahead from the VW GT TDI 1.5
• The plush feeling and features like Cruise control, Smart Infotainment system are missing compared to the cars i've shortlisted
• Spending an extra 4 lacks for a few features which i can live without and i enjoyed it way more than a CSUV
• It was also the better option from a drivers point of view
• My dad liked Freestyle in black color more than the Figo. its a practical car for our roads with loaded features like Sync3, ARP and TCS. but its not planted or fun to drive compared to a Figo S

Test-drive car was a Figo Blu

Booking and Delivery Experience

Didn’t have any thoughts on buying the car till the sales advisor offered me an attractive price quote adding corporate bonus, flood loss discount of my City, Some other discounts and 5 years of extended warranty as an added benefit. Also, the Sales Advisor have agreed to buy-back the Celerio for the same rate I purchased it. Fair-enough! Titanium trim was my pick the on-road price quoted for the car was 7.84 lacks. That was the deal breaker and the most satisfactory feeling about all this was that I can afford this upgrade on my own without depending on my parents.

• Model : Figo
• Variant : Titanium 1.5 TDCI
• Fuel: Diesel
• Booking Date :22- April 2019 (Monday)
• Color : Moondust Silver
• Expected Delivery Date : 26 April 2019 (Friday)

Price quote split

• Ex-showroom – 689900
• Road Tax – 64200
• Basic Accessories – 8000 (Floor mats, Spoiler, Window shades for rear doors and boot)
• Insurance – 22000 (1 Year B2B, 3 Year – TP)

Seeing my car for the first time!

I would have considered the Titanium Blu if it was equipped with the Sync 3 from the Aspire or Freestyle. Titanium Blu had a price difference of Rs-70000 and the only feature I liked about the car was it’s full black interior (Pillars & Roof). 6 airbags are an added safety for the Blu trim. There are some cosmetic changes I didn’t like such as the blue coloured accents on the front bumper. Blackened grill looks huge compared to the chrome one. the decals on the side didn’t match the design of the car. 15-inch black coloured wheels from the aspire looked good, but I still wanted the wheels from the Figo S or the Aspire S.

My parents and some of my close friends weren’t happy with my decision, they didn’t feel comfortable inside the car with the obvious roaring diesel note and vibrations compared to other petrol cars. My father always prefers Petrol cars mainly because of its refinement and he is least bothered about the performance. As I’m paying myself for this car, the convincing part wasn’t tough as expected.

For me there were several reasons to stick with the car:

• My daily commute is through dense traffic of 60 kilometres
• Fuel efficiency mentioned in the brochure is 24.4 kmpl
• 1.5 diesel engine from the EcoSport in same state of tune, which is a fine pick in that price range
• I always prefer to drive a manual car, new gearbox is more smooth and sharp
• Fit and finish inside is fair. Extended warranty for 5 years is an added peace of mind reason
• A fair upgrade from the Celerio
• Moreover, it’s a value for money warm hatchback which can tweaked easily to make it more enjoyable

Took delivery of the car from Kairali Ford, Edappilly – Cochin. Received the car within 5 days from the booking date. Delivery experience was favourable and professionally done. Delivered the car on the agreed time and Sales Advisor aided me to do the paperwork’s without much delay. Car was with the PDI department and ready for delivery when I reached there. Received the key along with sweets and chocolates. Car had only clocked 7 kilometres in its ODO. Getting in the car for the first time made me really happy and I felt the car is solid in my first impression. Crushed lemons and started my first drive with my little hatch to my home!

Few shots before delivery

[joe_lightspeed]

Exterior and its Styling

Styling of the Figo isn’t that pretty, and a 10-year-old Polo looks good to me. The reason why I chose silver colour is to see the character lines of the car more clearly. Thick application of chrome inserts at front, luckily it matches with the silver colour. The paint job quality is fine. Rubber lip at its front adds a lowered look. Fit and finish of exterior parts are decent. Exposed wiper blades looks ugly to me, replacing them with flat blades are already on the list. Wiper washers are still exposed and placed on the hood which looks outdated. More curvy lines at the front. Redesigned front bumper looks good, i still wanted the design from the S trim. Long antenna at the roof looks aged. Panel gaps are not as precise as VW's, but it looks even.

With Polo GT

Heavier doors compared to a Maruti, Smaller door handles compared to the same model (Ford KA+) on sale in Europe. Turn indicator provision for lower trim covered with plastic in the higher trim on front fenders. Thanks to ford for the inner fenders for all wheel arches. (Which I sorely missed on the City) Pillars are blacked out using stickers. Turn indicators are integrated with ORVM's. Simple and clean character lines at the side. From the side profile, wheel arches look small with the cars overall size and 14-inch wheels that came with the Titanium trim are even smaller among its rivals. Design of the 14 inch wheel looks better than the previous model on sale.

Coming to its rear, the design is more sharp. It has an oversized rear bumper compared to the Pre-facelift, the first thing I always notice were the fake vents. It looked too weird and the slight change in its size changed the overall look of the car. Boot lid has couple of badges on it. initially I had plans to de-badge the rear, but it's too common but might be done in the future. Ford could have removed the keyhole on the boot of a car with remote and electronic boot-release. The added spoiler makes the rear look more sportier. Clean looking rear wiper and the wiper washer are neatly integrated with the high mounted stop lamp. High amount of dust deposit is observed at the rear windshield and below the boot door after long rides.

14-inch Wheels

[joe_lightspeed]

Interior

Plastic quality and fit and finish of the interior is decent and liked its ergonomics. It cannot be compared with the plastic quality of a VW, but its good enough for the money I spent. Cyan themed interior lighting looks cool at night. Car has more storage space inside such as 2 bottle holders in a single door which turned out to be extremely useful for me. Lengthy dashboard, Touchscreen, Gloss black accents around the infotainment system which makes it look premium. It still lacked a chilled glovebox but I can live with that. Steering is bulky in terms of its design, would love to wrap it with perforated leather. Bulky stacks for controlling wiper, indicators and MID. Headlight control is a separate knob like the German cars.

Wide angle view of the interior


View from the passenger side

Black themed interior looks attractive as well as easy to maintain. White stitching used for the Fabric seats. Front seats are pretty supportive. Rear seat is a comfortable space to sit on as the bench provides great cushioning and there is great leg space (even with a taller passenger sitting in the front). Adjustable rear headrests but it lacks 60:40 split rear seats. Folding the rear backrests can create good amount luggage space inside (Easily enough to fit my Bicycle). The quality of the Rear parcel Tray is questionable.

Window shades from Ford


Scooped out front seats offer more leg room for rear passengers


Decent amount of boot space

Finding a comfortable driving position is always an easy task with height adjustable driver seat and tilt-steering. Gear lever placing is perfect and easy to reach. It lacks height adjustable seatbelts. The new gearbox Is crisp smooth and engaging reverse gear requires lifting a collar. The updated instrument cluster with MID is also shared by the Freestyle.

Visibility of outside from the car is sufficient and the ORVM's are not too wide. I had to install set of blind sport mirrors to manage parking inside my office premises.

Silicon key cover


Dash cam i use is - Xiaomi Mijia Car DVR Price - Rs.6000

A/C chills in seconds like all other cars from Ford. There's a Max A/C mode on the climate control which is useful when the car is parked under direct sunlight for hours. The car instantly chills within a push of a button and it goes back to the same old temperature with another click.

Updated MID shows the live FE, Avg FE, Distance to Empty, Avg Speed and other warnings

Improved NVH level than its predecessor. Still, Vibration of diesel mill noticed inside, but it is lesser compared to Maruti’s and VW’s diesel cars.

The infotainment system AKA Fly Audio is not as good as the Sync 3 that comes with the Aspire and Freestyle. The audio output quality is not up to the mark. It plays video files in High-Resolution without any flaws, and it stops when the car starts moving but it's fine to use all other functions while driving, even the dial pad. The screen comes with 2 colour themes light for the day and dark for night. I prefer to use the Dark mode as default. It lacks Apple Android Auto Carplay! but have seen people do activate Carplay in Flyaudio with the help of an External Dongle, will give it a try soon and update further.

Dark Mode in the daylight


Boots up with FORD-GO FURTHER


SAT-NAV is slow but acceptable


Door warnings are helpful. Yes, its shows a silver color figo!


Home screen is simple in interface


Reverse camera view - Parking sensors are displayed at the right corner

Driving and Ride Quality (Stock)

Sadly, it does not get an engine cover for the 1.5 diesel. Car starts with a shake and the clatter is audible inside the car. Light clutch, steering feedback is impressive. Steering weighs up nicely at higher speeds and cruising in the car between 70-80 km/h in 5th gear is a minimum effort. The drivability of the car in the city is excellent. Push the Accelerator and the car can do 100 km/h with no real effort. Didn’t rev the engine high till its first 1000kms and only floored the car once the engine reached optimum temperature. The strong midrange of the engine ensures that overtaking is an easy job.

No Engine cover, but the hood gets decent insulation

The car doesn’t feel planted in corners with the tiny tires. Huge amounts of black smoke pushed out through the exhaust is also a point of concern. The car is having body roll while taking hard corners in its stock set-up. and the MRF screeches in hard braking.

Average Fuel Efficiency in City – 16.5 Avg. Highway – 21.0 Avg. (Kmpl).

Titanium trim is equipped with 14" wheels with 175/65/r14 MRF ZVTV's which makes bad road noise at higher speeds.

Suspension is solid, provides great comfort. Being an upgrade from the Celerio, the car felt very solid and the ride quality is acceptable. Braking isn’t as good as what I expected at high speeds.

[joe_lightspeed]

Tweaking the car to my needs

New tires and wheels!

Stock 14-inch wheels looked too small for the car and I have been searching for new wheels and tires to upgrade to from the day I bought the car, as my stock tires (MRF ZVTV 175/65 r14) had heavy road noise above 100kmph. Initial plan was to upgrade the tires to 16-inches, but it will increase the car’s ride height so i decided to stick with the 15 inches. On the first week of July 2019 I found some less driven sets of stock wheels which belonged to a Freestyle and Figo Blu in the nearby town. I chose the freestyle rims with the tires from the Figo Blu. Why I chose the freestyle's rim was because it is .5J wider than the Figo Blu's wheel and its gun-metal gloss finish goes well with my car's silver colour. I had to give my 2k clocked wheels to them along with MRF tires and another additional 8k. That was a good bargain because I got almost new Apollo Alnac 195/55/r15 tires and wheels which matched the colour of my car. Also, the tire noise was now minimal. These tires are not made for performance, it screeches and are prone to losing traction while hard braking or taking a corner above 80 kmph.

With my Colleague's Figo S

Pre-face-lifting!

Around in the mid of July, my car was hit by a fellow car while parked in a pay and park. A girl who was learning to drive bumped into my car with her alto at the rear corner bumper. No major impacts, left side bumper clip was damaged. Decided to claim the damage with my insurance company to get my rear bumper replaced. The facelift Figo’s length has been increased from its pre-facelift. Before starting the work, I checked with Service Advisor about the possibility of replacing the bumper with a pre-facelift one. For me, the old design had much more character compared to the bulky facelift version. The older one makes the car short in length (3cm to be precise) and doesn’t have any fake vents on it.

• Service Advisor and the Supervisor at Ford Bodyshop tried their best to pull me back from this plan stating that the car will look old and it might affect its resale value, moreover the area above the license plate is compact in the pre-facelift model and they’re not sure whether they can mount the camera which came along with the facelift
• There are holes in the rear bumper of the facelift to mount the parking sensors which we drilled for the pre-facelift bumper
• The lights for the licence plates were purchased separately, which were not included in the claim, Costing around Rs.300 each
• Internal impact resisting components were replaced to accommodate the short bumper. There is an impact resisting beam in the middle and pads at both sides, Which I had to buy separately
• The real challenge comes in to picture when we fixed the non-painted bumper to the rear to check if the mountings are correct. The tail lights present in the facelift car stands out just about 1 cm. Upon checking in the stock, the previous generation tail lights were available as a pair for Rs.2500. Had no other option but replace the taillights. They started working on it and Service Advisor promised me that they can paint the bumper on the same day and deliver the car by next day evening. As promised, I received my car the next day in its half pre-facelift look!
• Cost occurred around Rs.8000 including labour excluding the price of rear bumper and its painting

Performance Remap

After 7 months of ownership, the only problem I faced was the black smoke coming out from the engine at high Revs. The amount of smoke was thick, and I’ve approached ford’s service centre to check if it’s an issue and I came to know that black smoke is common for all diesel engines.
Also discussing this issue with a friend of mine, who is an expert with cars taught me that the reason for said black smoke was that with more throttle, more fuel than needed is dumped. Unlike petrol engines it doesn’t have any throttle body to control the air and fuel, The imbalance in this air to fuel ratio results in black smoke. A carefully calibrated remap can reduce this issue. He also advised me to close the EGR valve as well.
I Have approached Code-6 and Wolf Moto about the map and EGR delete.

• Code – 6
  • Price – Rs.20000 including map updates and mechanical support
  • Power figures – 132hp/287 nm
  • EGR Delete – Hard Close
• Wolf Moto
  • Price – Rs.25500 Inclusive of future maps and updates
  • Power figures – 123hp / 260 nm
  • EGR Delete – Soft Close

After having multiple discussions considering the price and performance factors, I decided to go with Code-6’s remap. At the same time one of my best friends joined the code-6 as the CRM and he is also in charge of taking the read and installing configured maps. Without having a second thought, i finalized on having the car mapped and taken care by him.

I’d say that the car feels more alive and was amazed by the change said Remap did to the car. The car is seriously quick now, and its drivability has improved a lot. The diesel engine has become more silent, they completely closed the EGR valve with a metal plate and updated the combustion ratio. The amount of engine clatter felt inside has come to its least. Black smoke produced when accelerating to its potential is not there anymore. The car smokes very less upon flooring the pedal unlike before. Throttle response has improved with the map. There is no drastic change in the FE, still I’m getting around 16.5 kmpl as average. It’s hard to drive the car like a normal person now.

He also recommended me to change the engine oil with Addinol Premium C3 fully synthetic when it crosses the 10,000KM mark.

Better Audio!

Replaced the OEM speakers with Focal Integration ISC 165 Coaxial speakers for all doors. Clarity of the audio is way better now. The reason why I didn’t go for the component speakers was because there’s no provision for mounting tweeters within the door panel.

Lowered the car

Lowering the car was already there in my mind. In order to have a better handling quick hatch, Replaced the OE springs with Eibach pro kit lowering springs. I received the springs from Code-6 and I received the springs for Rs.22000 including free installation. That was the deal breaker. I appreciate the technician who completed the work within Half an Hour without a helping pair of hands. Car now sits with better stance and didn’t scrape anywhere till date, touchwood. Ride quality is not too bumpy and handling is a dream in the corners. Currently in search for a set of rear spacers to align the rear wheels along the rear fenders.

First Mechanical Issue

Around November 2019, while vacuum cleaning the car I’ve noticed that the carpet under the left rear floormat was wet. Later, I checked with ford and came to know that the AC drain hose has a block and the excess amount of water was the reason for the wet carpet. Service Advisor informed me that they will require the car for a minimum of 2 days to find the block and fix it. Also drying the carpet required another day. Thankfully they did the job neatly and I received the car on agreed date. They didn’t charge me as well as its covered under warranty.

First Service

Car clocked 10k kilometres around mid of January 2020 and I made a slot for the first service appointment with the Ford service centre. On the provided date I reached the showroom around 9 o clock in the morning. The Service Advisor inspected the car and took the vehicle to the service bay professionally and without any delay. I could watch the entire process of the service from the customer lounge. They checked the brakes, rotated the tyres and did a top up on all fluids. Already had a plan to replace the engine oil with Addinol Premium C3 as recommended by Code-6. thus, I bought the engine oil and its filter separately. The service at ford took only about 3 hours and i received the car before their lunch break. Service centre experience and the quality of the service is fair. The cost of first service including engine oil was less than Rs.2000. That was a surprise for me, as I never paid so less for any of my previously owned cars.

Later at code-6, they drained the engine oil and flushed the engine with air and mineral oil. Flushed it twice and replaced the oil filter before adding the synthetic oil. It did cost Rs.4000 including the labour charge.

[joe_lightspeed]

Ride Quality And Drivability (After Mods)

The couple of mods i have done on the figo has seriously impacted the way it drives and handles. The Remap from Code-6 made changes more than my expectations, Engine clatter has reduced to its minimum and the car felt more eager to rev up and push forward. Which any person who wants to drive flat out would love. The car also feels more refined compared to it's Factory tune. City driving along side slow moving Traffic is a much more easier task now. The remap really did transform my car to my cravings.

The Freestyle's 15" Rims and the 195/55/R15 tires were more appealing to the cars design in my opinion, helped reduce the irritating tire noise and also helped the car survive better with corners.

The set of Eibach ProKit Springs helped the car very much. It did give the car a better drop and also stiffened the ride to a certain degree. Which although i thought would be a headache for my family, It didn't affect the ride comfort as much as i feared. So in short i now got a better handling car with very low body-roll. Ground clearance is an issue, still its manageable and i can live with it.

These mods work together in perfect harmony to create a really fun to drive daily driven Hatchback.

Few exterior shots of the car

As of now the car has clocked 13k kilometres till date. No rattling sounds so far, thanks to Ford for the solid build quality. it’s being used as a daily. 16-inch wheels, Tire upgrade to Michelin ps4's, Custom down-pipe, Stage 2 remap from Code-6, Upgrading the brake pads to EBC are in the list. It's been a year with this car. As Fords have really low re-sale value in the pre-owned car market, the plan is to keep this car with me as a long-term Project car/Daily if everything goes well.

During this lockdown, the car is not being used as a daily as i'm working from home. Car is safely kept inside my garage attached to my home. Eagerly waiting to go for a night drive with my close friends after this lock-down.

Future updates will be added to this Thread.

Thanks everyone for reading the review. Please let me know any questions on my car and I'll be happy to answer. Drive Safe

Thank you
Joe

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

What a sexy little hatch! Love your modifications. Would suggest a blackened roof to complete the aesthetics. Your car is going to our homepage .

[Thanos-VV]

That is a Real Beauty!! Wishing you many many years of association with it! You have turned it into a real stunner on road. Neat and well executed modifications! Job well done Joe!!!

[BZ25]

Congratulations sir, what a lovely review! The Figo screams value & has a good amount of safety features too. But I wonder why Ford didn't include the Sync 3 system in the facelifted Figo, as it would have become the near-perfect package for any buyer looking for a fun to drive hatchback. Ford has made and continues to make goof-ups like this. This is why many of its offerings, that were pretty good, never sold the way they should've.

The Figo may not be the prettiest hatchback out there, but it is one of the most sensible ones to buy. And it's pretty low cost in terms of maintenance too. Hope you have some wonderful miles with this beast.

Take care & do keep updating the thread.

[Gannu_1]

Lovely report and some great modifications Joe!

C'mon now, where did that pic of the parking space (with the dining table view) go? Dude, that looked wicked! But how do you ensure that the tires are clean everytime the car enters the tiled space? Or do you simply clean it later on?

[vivekji05]

Joseph, that's a lovely review you have compiled. I know how much you love your cars having seen your Polo, Civic, City etc and good to see the Figo is getting the same love.

Have to give it to you for your attention to detail and using OE parts like the Freestyle rims and the older rear bumper. That bumper gives it such a clean look to the rear.

[skanchan95]

Congratulations. Fabulous and crisp review for a fabulous looking car, Joe!!!

Silver suits the Figo very well. Some very tasteful mods have done, especially liked the spoiler and Freestyle alloys. I had got the same Figo S spoiler installed on on my 2016 1.2 Titanium+ as well. It adds to the looks greatly.

One little addition I would suggest is to get an armrest- the snugfit type( not the one where you need to drill holes to fit it). Arm rest in my Figo (Storm Shadow: 2016 Ford Figo 1.2L Ti-VCT Titanium+. EDIT: Now Sold)

One of the reasons I did not consider the Figo F/L as my next was the lack of Sync in in the car. The Sync1 in my Figo was a bit laggy but I had enjoyed every bit of it. Sync3 system was probably the most capable and feature rich system in the segment, yet Ford chose to delete it and replaced it with the laggy Fly audio system.

Wish you many happy & safe miles with you Figo.

[Reinhard]

Fabulous thread & equally good mods there. Loved them. Congratulations on acquiring one of the most capable & most underrated cars around. Wish you unlimited safe, happy & adrenaline packed miles with it!
Especially loved your taste while changing the rear bumper. I also like the subtle pre-facelift bumper compared to the awkwardly protruding new one that has too much bling for my taste.
Thanks for the write up. Loved reading it. Rated it 5 Stars. Stay safe. Cheers!

[hydraulicsteer]

Great Post. Freestyle alloys are a good choice and transforms the character very well. One suggestion on aesthetics: see if you can replace the current long antenna with a micro roof one.