Team-BHP - Review: 1st-gen Ford Figo (2010)

Took my figo diesel to spiti valley a month back. It gave great mileage (around 20+) and performed reasonably well. But on unmetalled roads with steep climb, it struggled very badly. Mainly due to it being diesel. I had to bring in the turbo kick before i could proceed. But then a diesel hatchback isn't made for these conditions. I am sure any other diesel hatchback would struggle.

Attaching some of the pics of the bad roads and the car itself!

Apart from that I am in love with the control of the car, can cut a turn at any speed I wish. Is very much fun to drive. The ground clearance is not that great and things do scrap the bottom on bad hilly roads.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivek_vt (Post 2477054)

Thanks for the pictures Vivek. The Silver Figo looks awesome in hostile background. That was quite a big challenge thrown at the little Figo, and good to hear that the car managed well :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by whitelion

Yesterday I found a minor inconvenience but was bit embarrassing one.

I have programmed FOB so that only Driver side door unlocks with single click and all with double click. Yesterday I started from office and midway saw some(3 persons) relatives walking. So I stopped, the engine was idling and lowered windows. I asked whether they want lift they agreed and since car was in mid traffic all three went to three doors to quickly hop in. They could not open door immediately since all of them were locked and I have to lean here and there to reach at unlock levers of each door and get them in. There was lot of honking going on from behind and could not dare to even look at the annoyed/angry faces of those who have suffered.

After reaching home I decided to experiment and my observations are as Follows.

A> FOB programmed to unlock all the door.
If car is locked and if Driver side Door is unlocked all doors get unlocked. No issues at all. When engine is Idling if Boot Unlock button on dash is pressed nothing happens but if Driver Door is Unlocked boot button unlocks Boot Door.

B> FOB programmed to Unlock Driver Door only.
If car is Locked and if Driver Door is Unlocked only Driver Door unlocks. All remaining door remain locked. If engine is idling or key is in slot then pressing unlock button twice wont unlock remaining doors. If engine is off and key is out of slot pressing unlock twice wont unlock other doors. One has to get out of car lock car then pressing twice unlocks all door.

So Figoians please guide me how to unlock all the doors in B situation when engine is idling or key is in slot. I stand corrected if some of the observations are wrong since I did the experiment quite hurriedly after returning from office and was bit tired too.

I faced the same issue as well. After all experimentation and not able to find a easy solution, i reverted back to the 'all door open' setting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by whitelion (Post 2475706)

A> FOB programmed to unlock all the door.
If car is locked and if Driver side Door is unlocked all doors get unlocked. No issues at all. When engine is Idling if Boot Unlock button on dash is pressed nothing happens but if Driver Door is Unlocked boot button unlocks Boot Door.

Boot door operates in spite of anything else for me. It does not open when the car is in motion (I observed, never tried this at higher speeds for obvious reasons, but at parking speeds, it did not)

B> FOB programmed to Unlock Driver Door only.
If car is Locked and if Driver Door is Unlocked only Driver Door unlocks. All remaining door remain locked. If engine is idling or key is in slot then pressing unlock button twice wont unlock remaining doors. If engine is off and key is out of slot pressing unlock twice wont unlock other doors. One has to get out of car lock car then pressing twice unlocks all door.

My reply in bold.

Quote:

Originally Posted by scanD (Post 2476977)

In my case, the above is FALSE. Everyday, I open the boot for security check while the engine is still idling. i am still using the default factory programming.

Neither did I!

Quote:

Originally Posted by rohing (Post 2477870)

I faced the same issue as well. After all experimentation and not able to find a easy solution, i reverted back to the 'all door open' setting.

I always operate with only driver side unlock, as the usage of rear side is pretty limited, never faced such issue. Mine is July '10 mfg.

It is better if only the driver door unlocks. In a typical "you are running flat / there is fire in exhaust" scams, you open the driver door to look and if all doors unlock, you lose what ever is left on the passengers side.

Very rarely you pick up friends on the road. It is always safe to move over the left side, stop and open the doors. For getting a lift, they can walk a few steps more

Quote:

Originally Posted by anilisanil (Post 2478089)

I always operate with only driver side unlock, as the usage of rear side is pretty limited, never faced such issue. Mine is July '10 mfg.

I too prefer only driver side unlock since Most of the time I drive alone.
Have you tried Unlocking Rear Door (Passenger not Boot) when car has autolocked after picking up from 0 and stopped midway & idling ?

If yes please tell me how you did that.

In case you turn ignition off all doors get unlocked automatically. I tried pressing unlock button on FOB twice but no use.

Since already you have required setting Will you please experiment and tell the findings ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by raju2512 (Post 2478426)

Yes I appreciate that Figo has this feature its nice. but "Yeh Dil Mange More" I was trying to explore whether unlocking of all doors is possible from inside or not. With this setting, Unlocking all doors from outside is possible with double clicking unlock button on FOB. Anyways to unlock all the doors there is a workaround, simply turnoff ignition all doors get unlocked.

I would like to confirm with others that whether double clicking FOB unlock button when key is in slot and engine is idling, unlocks all the doors or Not ?

As you have rightly put it, once in a while we pickup friends or relatives on route, so its not a day to day inconvenience so can live with it. But knowing all possible features is urge behind this post.

Quote:

Originally Posted by whitelion (Post 2478643)

I too prefer only driver side unlock since Most of the time I drive alone.

Good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by whitelion (Post 2478643)

Have you tried Unlocking Rear Door (Passenger not Boot) when car has autolocked after picking up from 0 and stopped midway & idling ?

No, I did not. But I do not think it is possible.

Quote:

Originally Posted by whitelion (Post 2478643)

In case you turn ignition off all doors get unlocked automatically. I tried pressing unlock button on FOB twice but no use.

Since already you have required setting Will you please experiment and tell the findings ?

It is NOT possible to operate the central locking from FOB if the Engine is running.

If you want to open all the doors while in driver side unlock mode then, just turn off the ignition.

If you want only the driver side door to unlock after turning off the ignition, then unlock the driver's door before turning off the ignition.

If you want to operate the central locking from key when the key is slotted in, then you will have to turn off the ignition.

boot door button on dash can be operated while ignition on or off, key in or out.

If you have any specific requirement, please let us know.

Just came back from a short trip to Chikmagalur from Bangalore in a Ford Figo Diesel and I'm totally impressed by the character of the car. It never felt underpowered even in the highways and was easily cruising at speeds around 140kph with 5 people on board and their luggages. Even in the pathetic stretches around Chikmagalur, the car handled brilliantly. The chassis is a gem and cornering the car at 120kph is just so delightful. The only fly in the ointment is the poor ground clearance. The Figo did scrap its belly at a few places but overall the car has great control and is a delight to drive in ghat roads.

Attaching some pics from the trip.

My Figo is about 14 months old. I have done about 38,000 Kms across all kinds of roads. A lot of highway trips.
The only area where I have faced problems is the A/C.
Earlier while on highways with a lot of heat A/C would just cut off. The blowere would be blowing but only air will come in, no cooling. It will not work for a day or two after that and then start working suddenly by itself.
The same thing happened last rainy season also. Remember this was when the car was less than 6-8 months old.
Twice I tookl it to A.S.S and twice they changed the thermistor. The second time they said even kept the car for three days to observe.
In May this year the problem happened again. It disappeared after 2 days.
They changed the thermistor again.

About a couple of days ago, I was on a trip when on a the highway the blower started acting as if it is clogged or something. The air flow gradually reduced and when i increased fan speed sounded like it was clogged accomponied by a whining sound.After a couple of minutes, white smoke started pouring out of the blower. It was more like condensation smoke for want of other word and vents had moisture on them. I turned the A/C off opened the bonnet and checked and everything fine.
I turned off the A/C for a couple of hours tried again and it worked fine. Then the problem reappeared after another hour. It is like every one hour the problem shows up and disappears if switch it off for a couple of hours. Very frustrating.
A friend of mine says this is because of a problem with the blower coil. I'm planning to ask them to change the whole damn A/C unit.
Anyone had the same experience?

Quote:

Originally Posted by fiery enzyme (Post 2479280)

My Figo is about 14 months old. I have done about 38,000 Kms across all kinds of roads. A lot of highway trips.
The only area where I have faced problems is the A/C.

Oops, thats bad.
AC is one thing I really like in the figo.
I did have problems with it though. It stopped working altogether and would just blow air.
It was apparently detected as an evaporator leak and the evaporator was replaced under warranty. Working fine since then.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fiery enzyme (Post 2479280)

A friend of mine says this is because of a problem with the blower coil. I'm planning to ask them to change the whole damn A/C unit.
Anyone had the same experience?

No, I drove my 14 month old Figo for 20K Kms, but never faced any issue with the A/C. It used to stink oil when I did not keep it at max cooling position, but it was later diagnosed as paint deposited while at the body shop.

Coming to your problem, did you check the air filter for a/c? It looks like something is clogging the way of the air flow and over the time it is clearing itself. BTW why did you allow them to change the Thermistor so many times? By thumb rule, if it did not solve the issue twice, then it could not have been the issue. I suspect blower and or the air passage to the blower.

Which mode do you use? Recirculating or closed?

@Anil - Is it not Recirculating or Open. Recirculating cools better.
A/C is the top selling point of Figo. I got my condenser changed in warranty. Now it is OK.
@Bala - where did you service your car - My A/c was well attended by MPL ford at Perungudi. I think you can give a try and tell them not to replace anything if they are not 100% sure.

@Vivek: Chill figo looks nice. Is it advisable to do a ghat road trip during the run-in period.

OT: Today I saw one White Figo (regn no: 8094) with lot of Tbphp stickers pasted around the car in the OMR road toll. My lane moved fast so did not get a chance to speak.