[Arch-Angel]

Youtube Video

This youtube video confirms my suspicion that there are two variants of the celebration edition: A lxi based one and a titanium based one.

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by Arch-Angel

Sadly, figo will not have power windows due to a design limitation . The rear arch will interfere with the rear window going down. There is a discussion regarding the quarter panel glass in figo on our forum.

Mate,
How sure you are that the rear arch will interfere with the rear window going down? if that was to be the case then even the regular winding mechanism will have issues rolling down. Has anybody tried to install after market power windows for Figo? Can they share their experiences?

[Arch-Angel]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

Mate,
How sure ... power windows for Figo?

Hi Ku69rd,
There was a discussion about the same in our very own forum. Actually the issue with the platform itself, since the figo was based on the coupe styled mark-v fiesta and the rear doors and seats were Indian market "jugaad" done by ford India to appease the masses. That is the reason you will notice that rear windows will go down by only 50% , the reason being the wheel arch/body style at the rear.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

Mate,
How sure you are that the rear arch will interfere with the rear window going down? if that was to be the case then even the regular winding mechanism will have issues rolling down. Has anybody tried to install after market power windows for Figo? Can they share their experiences?

This was discussed umpteen times and beaten to death. The door and window design does not allow the rear window to roll down completely. Infact only a little below 50%. Because it goes down only half, Ford decided not to add power windows. A cost cutting measure in a way.

You will notice that the rear window does not have a quarter glass also.

Not having rear power windows in the Figo is not that big a deal. It anyways goes half way down and is used very rarely. Only irritant is that over time it keeps going down by a few mm.

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

This was discussed umpteen times and beaten to death. The door and window design does not allow the rear window to roll down completely. Infact only a little below 50%. Because it goes down only half, Ford decided not to add power windows. A cost cutting measure in a way.

My Apologies Vidyut, Figo was never within sights for me or my immediate family. But now it is increasingly apparent that Dad might finalize on Figo and was doing a few basic checks. Should read one of the ownership thread to help me better understand the car.
Comes to me as a surpriser that even in these days Ford could manage to launch a car with a basic feature. Probably they could have worked on the gear travel and still provided with those power windows. Apart from that have heard that car does bottom out on a full capacity is that true?

Sorry if am asking for repetitive questions, rest of the package looks convincing and considering the service intervals felt that its light on the pocket as well.

[kpzen]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

Apart from that have heard that car does bottom out on a full capacity is that true?
.

Upgrade the stock tires with 185/65-14 tires.

So far, i have bottomed only once. My daily office route has more than 20 speedbreakers.

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

......rest of the package looks convincing and considering the service intervals felt that its light on the pocket as well.

cost, cost, cost
hot-dusty-country => rear window stays up most of the time => dont waste money for complicated design change
most manufacturers do that , for eg: the single wiper in etios, centre meter console in etios/vista/nano etc etc

[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Guys

I seem to be hearing some mild humming sound at around 60 kmph speed on my Figo that has only 5000 kms on the odo. I am not sure if it is coming from the wheels or from the engine. It comes only sometimes.

I don't use the Figo often, so am not sure when that sound started. Thinking it was from the wheels, I accelerated to around 100 kmph and let the car roll in neutral, but I could not hear that sound. But when I slotted it into 4th and accelerated again, even then it did not come. Strange indeed.

Any clues? It is not high enough to warrant a visit to the Ford workshop though, but wanted to know if it portends something cooking.

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Since it's NOT always, I doubt it's the bearings. And 5000 kms is too low for your bearing to go kaput.

I thought wheels bearings are NOT covered under warranty!

Originally Posted by dhinchak

Mine were replaced at 16K. But, yes - I had that sound always (in the range of 60-70 Kmph)
They did replace it for me.

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Thanks guys for your prompt response. I'm not sure if it is a bearing sound, as I don't regularly use the Figo. I'll check and report again in a week.

Guys here's an update. I used the car again for a few kms on Sunday, with full family. The humming sound was coming at above 40 kmph (could not drive faster than 50). People at the rear felt it was coming from the rear, while we at the front felt it was from the front.

I took the car again to work on Monday, and this time, the sound was pronounced. Even after accelerating to 80 and letting the car glide in neutral, the sound was audible, confirming my suspicion of the wheel bearing.

So I took it for a spin to Mody Ford today. They took me on a small TD and immediately identified it as a noise from the left rear wheel bearing. When I asked how could this issue crop up at 5200 kms on the odo, the S.A. said it is possible that the car was driven at a high speed over a pothole or scraped against something.

This seems plausible, as I had to change the left rear tyre that developed a bubble at 3600 kms of the odo. On inspection by the tyre dealer, even the inside of the sidewall was cut, apart from a minor dent on the alloy, and the rear mudflap was missing. All this pointed to my son's driving style. As the tyre was not covered under warranty, I made my son shell out money for a new tyre, so that he is careful in future. But I did not part with this info to the SA, for obvious reasons.

They said they would replace it free of charge under warranty--costs around 5 k for the rear and a lot less if it were the front one. I will be getting it done this weekend.

[Warwithwheels]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

You will notice that the rear window does not have a quarter glass also.

True. But the quarter glass in the C pillar takes care of it


@ku89rd

I honestly don't find the lack of power windows or the power windows going down only half way as an issue at all.

The glass area in the Figo is more than adequate and does not cause the claustrophobic effect at all.

[dhinchak]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

...
They said they would replace it free of charge under warranty--costs around 5 k for the rear and a lot less if it were the front one. I will be getting it done this weekend.

5K

The front were just a little over 1K.

On a separate note - I had the Link Rod replaced, and it cost me 1300/- (not under warranty, Link rod warranty is only till 20K according to the SA). The price of some parts seems quite steep to me.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

Comes to me as a surpriser that even in these days Ford could manage to launch a car with a basic feature. Probably they could have worked on the gear travel and still provided with those power windows. Apart from that have heard that car does bottom out on a full capacity is that true?

Sorry if am asking for repetitive questions, rest of the package looks convincing and considering the service intervals felt that its light on the pocket as well.

They can still add the power windows but their argument is why do you need power windows when the window goes down only half way. Instead of adding power window switches with all the electronics for a window that doesnt even go down all the way they opted for hand winding. It's really not that big a deal and noone in my car has ever complained on missing out on this feature. Infact my mom prefers it in the Figo. Many times when we go for an errand, mom prefers to stay in the car. If I take the keys with me rear power windows will not work for ventilation. In Figo she can wind the glass down manually even without key. In my Altis she always complains that we take the key and she cant roll down the windows.

It's definitely a good feature to have but by no means it's a deal breaker.

Look at the other features that the Figo has and you will appreciate those more than the lack of power windows.

Features that I love in the Figo:

- If your in a call and you turn off the key, the head unit remains connected till you disconnect the call. Many times I have reached my destination and forget I was on a call and remove the key. The head unit stays on till i finish the call and will turn off automatically after a few mins.
- low fuel warning at 79kms, 39kms, 19kms. Very useful. Also as soon as you step into the car and insert key it will show you the range (distance to empty) for a few secs before going back to trip or odo.
- 6 speed intermittent wiper and courtesy wipe after few secs. Only i20 and Micra have this but no courtesy wipe.
- boot unlock from remote itself. Not all cars have this and it's an awesome feature.
- If you forget to turn off headlights or fog lights and remove the key, all lights turn off as well except for parking lights.
- lane change indicator. useful when quickly changing lanes.
- door locking at 15kmph and it relocks if you stop at a light for someone to get off.

Till date I have scraped the figo under side twice. It's definitely low GC but not unmanageable. But I have scraped the front mudflaps around 200 times. They give the impression that the clearance is lower than it really is.

Also, I believe that the GC has improved with the facelifted Figo. I sat with Kpzen in his new Figo and was surprised that he could go over speedbreakers easier than my car. He also had upsized tyres which help immensely.

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Till date I have scraped the figo under side twice. It's definitely low GC but not unmanageable. But I have scraped the front mudflaps around 200 times. They give the impression that the clearance is lower than it really is.

Thanks Vidyut that was quite a power packed statements about the car. Will stop moaning about the lack of power windows and get into the "so be it" mould rather than anything else. One Keeda finally done away with and dusted.

On the GC, the stock tirewall measures 113.75 mm compared to the 120.25 mm which means that the car will gain an additional 7.5 mm which would matter a lot. Especially when you get those highway surprisers. Will have to check with a few people for a good exchange rate and procrastinate if it really makes sense. Since this car would be for Dad am sure he is all the more careful and the figo might never see full occupancy save for a few occasions when sissy comes visiting.

Anything else that should be looked into before clinching the deal?

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by ku69rd

On the GC, the stock tirewall measures 113.75 mm compared to the 120.25 mm which means that the car will gain an additional 7.5 mm which would matter a lot. Especially when you get those highway surprisers. Will have to check with a few people for a good exchange rate and procrastinate if it really makes sense. Since this car would be for Dad am sure he is all the more careful and the figo might never see full occupancy save for a few occasions when sissy comes visiting.

Anything else that should be looked into before clinching the deal?

The right size to upsize is 185/65-14 from 175/65-14.

I am assuming you are getting Titanium.

There's not much else to look into. The car is pretty well loaded and the handling, steering are brilliant.

My car is now at 28,500kms and so far the only issues I had were the stalling one and the rear beam recall. The stalling was fixed by a software upgrade in November 2011 and has never happened after that.

[ku69rd]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

The right size to upsize is 185/65-14 from 175/65-14.

I am assuming you are getting Titanium.

There's not much else to look into. The car is pretty well loaded and the handling, steering are brilliant.

Vidyut,
Titanium is the version that am keen on getting as this would be in for a long time. So spending that extra lil 50K felt it as justified considering the safety features it incorporates (ABS w EBD & Airbags).

Regarding the tire size, yep the upsize 185/65 would give a 7.5 mm advantage over the stock one as it stands taller.

Am deliberating if the 3rd year coverage is actually necessary because of the following 2 reasons
a) Car would be primarily be limited to city usage, decision to go for diesel car is because of its drivability and driving in bumper-bumper traffic
b) After reading through many threads and one of my friend's car felt its not absolutely needed. (to be read as reliability)

Flick-ability a term generally reserved for motorcycles, can be considered for Figo because of its steering response and chassis handling.

Thanks Vidyut for your kind help and also would there be a thread where we can identify the VIN Number Vis a Vis its manufacturing date?

[Mik]

Vid6639 created quite a nice "other points" list.
Two from my side
1. Rapid deceleration warning. If you are at high speeds and brake suddenly, the hazard lights will start flashing to let the car behind know.
2. Volume of stock head unit increases as the speed increases beyond a certain point. Helps curtail the noisiness at higher revs.