[danlalan]

Nice review. I would have gone in for this with my eyes closed. Refreshing new looks. New Front end. Love the Crystal clear tail lights. Iam sure its got a revamped suspension. And a few more goodies.

BUT.

ITS NOT A 1.6
I LOVE MY 1.6 and only if FORD's coming out with a 1.6 Ikon iam reading. Otherwise...Old is gold.

[kailashnj]

Hi Guys,

I had been to the Ford Showroom today at Thane (one opp wonder mall).

To my surprise they had the demo car available and the guy out there was ready to give a TD. I took this opportunity to check out the vehicle.

Exteriors

The car exteriors are very similar to the old Ikon with minimal changes given to the rear end. Major changes are given to the front end and the looks kind of reminds me of the old Josh mixed with the Fiesta. From the front end looks, the car looks like Poor Man's Fiesta. The design has no grill in the front. I surely missed the spoiler at the rear. Also as very rightly pointed out - the sides needs some cladding. The car looks too empty from the sides.

The blue emblem of Ford stands out pretty nicely and so do the fog lamps. Tubeless are not an option on the car and this is really sad. Ford should atleast provide an option of choosing Tubeless Tyres if a customer needs them.

Interiors

Open the door and you are greated with biege interiors which provide the cabin a classy look. The steering wheel is soft touch. Quality of plastics looks better than the older Ikon, but no where in the league of Fiesta. The front dashboard on the passenger side has been reduced in breath to provide more legroom in the front. This kind of give the centre console a wierd look. It makes you feel that the centre console has come been pushed out. The reduction in the breadth of the dash has also reduced the size of the glove box. (Something which is more the better). Air conditioner is good but the afternoon heat did not allow the cabin to come at a desirable climate easily. Also the A/c out lets were kind of flimsy and did not provide a satisfying feeling.

Trim Level:- Ikon comes with only one trim level in the diesel version and the same is true also for the petrol version. For the amount that you are paying you get :-Power Steering, All four power windows, internally adjustably side view mirrors and ofcourse the biege interiors.

Engine

This is a really good engine to go with. The fiesta engine is tried and tested and is a very good mile cruncher. The power is adequate and the power can be felt right from 1800rpm. The cabin is well insulated from the engine noise. The engine, only has 68 horses, still seemed that the power delivery is very linear but I missed the punch or the push that you get with the 110 horses of Verna. Overall the car is really good to drive in your day to day commute. When asked for the fuel efficiency, the sales guy told me that in the city commute with AC you should be getting a FE of 20kpl and on highways you can stretch to 23KPL. I felt that this was far fetched and can't be true. But you never know, as fiesta has returned 33 kpl for the Banglore to Mumbai drive (as per the Road Test done by Autocar).

Price

Ford has pull out the bunny from the Magic hat with the pricing on Ikon diesel.

The on road price Mumbai for Ikon TDCi is 612800, which is straight away in the sweet spot. There is also no waiting period for the car 10 to 15 days from the time of booking. (including the paper work if purchased on finance). I think this is the best bet for anyone looking to upgrade from a hatch to a sedan. The prices of the new Ikon are in the range of Swift D minus the waiting period of the same.

Another thing that surprised me at the Ford was their Service Contract. There is a TMP available for an additional payment of 10k. This is a 2 year plan where in all the cost for the car repair would be borne by Ford and you just need to pay for the fuel. TMP or the Total Maintenance Plan is available for 2yrs or 40000 kms which ever is earlier. This gives me a feeling of the GM plan. Warranty is also for 2 years or 1,00,000 kms. Now with this Ford is showing lot of faith in their product which has a very bad reputation of being a high maintenance car.

My Verdict

Very good no nosense car and good for first time buyers or for buyers who want to buy a Sedan at the price of a hatch back. Age of the design is catching up with the car which can be clearly seen in its design lines and some face lifting here and there might not help the car set the sales registers on fire, but with the kind of love that we Indians have for the Oil burners, I think this car will certainly give some dents in the Swift Desire's armour.

[theMAG]

Ben -whats the OTR ?

[govigov]

Does the digital meter have other features like in the fusion where it reads out tank to empty or just a odo and trip?

[zzzehar]

I kind of like it. But absence of basics like tubeless tyres, front grill, side cladding upsets me.
Considering the under powered Fiesta engine, this would make a good buy with Petes Tuning Box. Comparing this with Swift Dezire, I guess I would prefer Ikon TDCi for it's butch looks. Let's see how the TD shows up.

I checked on the website and there seems to be only one variant.

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by theMAG

Ben -whats the OTR ?

Mahesh, the TDCi works out to 6.15 lakhs OTR - Bangalore. On this, there is a 10k discount if your company is listed among the corporates to whom Ford India offers a discount. This is a standard affair, and is available on all Ford offerrings.

Of the OTR price, 74k is road tax! Insurance works out to apprx 17k, and 5k for miscellaneous expenses. Our man Condor has the detailed price list.

Originally Posted by govigov

Does the digital meter have other features like in the fusion where it reads out tank to empty or just a odo and trip?

Govi, i believe this is similar to the digital odo seen on cars like the Swift, which displays odo and trip meter readings. I dont think it has DTE.

Originally Posted by zzzehar

I kind of like it. But absence of basics like tubeless tyres, front grill, side cladding upsets me.
Considering the under powered Fiesta engine, this would make a good buy with Petes Tuning Box. Comparing this with Swift Dezire, I guess I would prefer Ikon TDCi for it's butch looks. Let's see how the TD shows up.

I checked on the website and there seems to be only one variant.

zzzehar, you are right. There is just one variant, both for the petrol as well as diesel. Side claddings can be fixed later, omission of tubeless tyres has been my grouse as well, even when i bought my car. As for front grill, do you really miss it?

Between, does Pete offer a tuning kit on the TDCi? I think not.

[HappyWheels]

Expect for the design being truly outdated, this is indeed a good deal. OTR of 6.15laks and the TMP are sure sweet to have. And add the waiting period (or lack of) for this one! A true winner in this bracket.

Would be interesting to watch how the market reacts, especially Maruti.

Thanks for sharing the details, guys!

[tez]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

zzzehar, you are right. There is just one variant, both for the petrol as well as diesel. Side claddings can be fixed later, omission of tubeless tyres has been my grouse as well, even when i bought my car. As for front grill, do you really miss it?

Between, does Pete offer a tuning kit on the TDCi? I think not.

Is it possible to have tubeless tyres of the same size fitted. Would that void the warranty?
and benny, yes Petes is available for TDCi. Checked the website. It makes 68bhp go to 83 bhp with 190Nm torque.

[esteem_lover]

I like the front of this new Ikon. It is a welcome change from the big mouth with wide eyes design. And the best part is the pricing. I hope we will see less of the monstrous back sided dzire on our roads now.

[condor]

kailashnj : .. dashboard on the passenger side has been reduced in breath to provide more legroom in the front. This kind of give the centre console a wierd look.

Anybody else noticed this ?

kailashnj : There is also no waiting period for the car 10 to 15 days from the time of booking. (including the paper work if purchased on finance).

Waiting period is apparently 10-15 days - After receiving full payment. Not after we give the booking amount.

kailashnj : TMP or the Total Maintenance Plan is available for 2yrs or 40000 kms which ever is earlier.

I am not sure if the TMP makes sense. The base wty is for 2 yrs /1L km. During this time, if you were to run even 40k, your labor + consumables should be close to the price of the TMP. Why pay extra, esp with that kind of wty ?

benbsb29 : The doors appear quite bland without the door strips, and IMO they should be purchased as an accessory, and body color would be good.

Condor and myself were trying to figure out if the door strips from the Fiesta would be a good choice here.

The Fiesta door strips will possibly be a good fit on the Ikon - esp the body colored ones with the chrome insert, since the bumpers now donot have the black strip. The rear door is long enough to take the corresponding piece of the Fiesta's door strip set.

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by condor

Anybody else noticed this ?

I guess Kailash was referring to the added leg space on the passenger side of the dashboard. But wasnt it always that way, Kailash?

[kailashnj]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

I guess Kailash was referring to the added leg space on the passenger side of the dashboard. But wasnt it always that way, Kailash?

Hi Guys,

I am talking about the added leg space at the passenger side as mentioned. But that was not the same way in the old Ikons. I even clarified the same with the sales person and he accepted that the dashboard's breadth has been reduced a bit to accomodate more leg room up front.

The TMP makes sense just like the Cheverolet Plan as everything is covered in the TMP including the Oil change, filter change or any other consumables due to normal wear and tear including the brake pads. I tried to calculate the cost of Oil changes - Per oil change you will pay approximately 1250 for the Oil and another 250 to 300 for the Oil and diesel filters. In a span of 40k Kilometers that change would be approx 6 times or more. Hence it does make sense. This means that in the first 40000 kms you only need to fill up the diesel and tyres if they are damaged.

Waiting period is 15 days after booking and the sales guy confirmed that with me again today.

Hope this will help guys.

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by kailashnj

Hi Guys,

I am talking about the added leg space at the passenger side as mentioned. But that was not the same way in the old Ikons. I even clarified the same with the sales person and he accepted that the dashboard's breadth has been reduced a bit to accomodate more leg room up front.

Kailash, i believe this was how it has been since quite some time. A pic of how it was in 2006, and now. I dont see any change.

OLD :



NEW :

[Eddy]

The salesman will say anything. Do not believe him.
This has been the same in the Ikon from donkeys years, and a very thoughtful design too.

[iconic]

It is not simple to change the width or any other dimensions of the dashboard. The same contours with different dimensions can be made only with a new tool. If FORD has decided to go for a new one, I am sure they will not go for the same design.