[GeekSrik]

vid, please enlighten me further. by what you are telling me then i can go all the way upto 185, 85 can i not? can you point to some drawing based explanations of how tyres look like with different sidewall measurements please? i checked the tire bible but was not able to easily understand this stuff.

additionally i got this information as well : (so now this is a bit easier to understand) AR (%) = H/W x 100

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by GeekSrik

vid, please enlighten me further. by what you are telling me then i can go all the way upto 185, 85 can i not? can you point to some drawing based explanations of how tyres look like with different sidewall measurements please? i checked the tire bible but was not able to easily understand this stuff.

additionally i got this information as well : (so now this is a bit easier to understand) AR (%) = H/W x 100

Tire bible will not tell you much. Just search around the forum and you will find in depth details.

175/65 means the sidewall height is 113.75mm.
185/65 means the sidewall height is 120.25mm.
195/60 means the sidewall height is 117mm.
185/60 means the sidewall height is 108mm.
185/70 means the sidewall height is 129.25mm.

So best ride comfort is the one which has the tallest aspect ratio i.e. 185/70. It has the tallest sidewall height resulting in max cushioning.

Please remember that just blindly changing the tyre size is not advisable. When upgrading the tire you have to keep in mind that the overall diameter does not change.

Overall diameter (OD) = sidewall height * 2 + Rim dia in mm(14")

By keeping the OD the same you ensure there is no speedo error and less chances of the tyre fouling with suspension and body.

From the above the best size to go for is 185/65-14.

[valhallen.282]

Slightly OT:

Originally Posted by GeekSrik

i somehow am not akin to the idea of driving oblique on road humps. its a pretty strange sight. as though we lift the car with two pairs of wheels one at a time first front the back. i think all the car owners have to pressurize the governement to first set right these crazy humps. they have to understand we are participating in the economy by buying these cars that sell for this much and they need to give something as basic as a good road hump to achieve its purpose instead of destroying the car all the time. :-(

They CAN'T. Why? Very simple! They run around in amby's and innovas and larger SUV's they wouldn't know the underside of the hump.

[blorebuddy]

GeekSrik - I do not think Figo is worser than Swift. Since you have managed the humps with Swift you should be able to handle Figo also. I do not see any difference between these 2 in sharp humps.

Only way I manage is by going diagonal in the sharp humps as someone else suggested.

[GeekSrik]

Figo and swift feel different. Figo is definitely lower than swift. Swift's suspension is real hard so it wont come down on backside loading. Figo is soft so it will bounce and scrape more often than not.

Also with 32 psi tyre pressure, car is a bit bouncy and does not feel as good as it does with 30 psi recommended pressure.

[gemithomas]

With those 14-20mm extra you mentioned you would take your GC to around 182 to 188mm which is very close to the softroader territory. I really dont know if you got your calculations correct here. I think you should be comparing the radius of both tyres to see how much increase in GC you would get.

If my way of calculating is right
195/60 would have an increase radius of around 3mm only.
185/60 would have a reduced radius than what you have now.
185/65 would give an increase of around 6mm.


I think the last one would be the best choice if you realy want an increased G.C. 195/60 would be better in looks/handling department though.


Yes. Tyre choices are so irritatingly confusing

[GeekSrik]

@gemithomas, thanks for the tips. i ll look into this shortly.

i had a chance to go over the same humps i scraped real badly again yesterday with full load. however when i went diagonally i did not scrape them! i guess the weight distribution was not right last time. the car was pretty loaded last time. even though i had four adults this time again. much depends on how one drives agreed, but then i am still to understand the suspension on ford!

meanwhile my co tenant has also purchased petrol figo titanium and now going through some parking hassles with both these cars. it would take 3-4 months more this way. then i am shifting home.

my long trips have been put off due to incessant rains in tamilnadu making matters worse for the health if i do opt to go. hopefully after sometime things will settle down making it better for me to try again.

[GeekSrik]

Time for a small update again. I've reached 1500+ kms now. Booked for first service two weeks down the line, during christmas. Also have planned a reasonably long trip to Yercaud and Salem. Plus a few other places nearby. Close to 500 kms drive. And a stay at the GRT Nature Trails at yercaud over this weekend. Photos to follow. Get. Set. FIGO!

[abhinav.s]

Originally Posted by GeekSrik

And a stay at the GRT Nature Trails at yercaud over this weekend. Photos to follow. Get. Set. FIGO!

Have a safe journey and enjoy the drive on the NH7!

And yes waiting for the photos of the stay at Yercaud GRT Nature Trails. Looks good on their website. Wanted to stay there when I went biking a few months ago. But they were booked and ended up staying in Lake Forest. It was paisa vasool in Lake Forest and did not miss GRT stay. But will try and stay at GRT the next time i visit.

[deetjohn]

Hi GeekSrik,

Did you upgrade the tyres? The longer wheelbase of the Figo makes it vulnerable to some speed breakers when the car is loaded. I did a research on the same and found the following 3 upgrade options for the Figo.

1. 185/60/R14 which reduces the GC by 2.7mm
2. 185/65/R14 which increases the GC by 6.5mm
3. 195/60/R14 which increases the GC by 3.25mm

And for some strange reason 185/65/R14 seems to be cheaper than the 185/60/R14 and it can be fitted to the stock steel wheels as well. Moreover the 185/65/R14 (and even the 185/60/R14) is available in Yoko C drive which will be cheaper than the excellent Michelin Energy XM1+. I love the way the C drive looks but have no firsthand experience on the performance of the tyre though. And somehow, I feel the wide 195/60/R14 will be overkill for the Figo even though it will boost the car' appeal by many bounds. So all that makes the 185/65/R14, the ideal upgrade like vid6639 mentioned.

Happy motoring!

[GeekSrik]

I am not sure where I must start. But lets try. There was this eagerness about making a trip to some far off land over a weekend. My dad still works and on saturdays too so its difficult for him to get leave. Wifey bored at home with one kid and expecting another so this would be a cherished trip for some more time to come if we made it. i have all the leave necessary and my mom is also able to make it.

the only spoilsport is the incessant rainy weather in tamilnadu. each time the trip was getting put off. this happened for weeks together all the way from mid november until now. and i thought enough was enough. so I booked GRT Nature trails resort for a monday morning @ Yercaud. It so happens my uncle's house is right below yercaud hill at a place called Kannankurichi which has a nice lake in the area. So Saturday and Sunday were planned at his house, monday at resort and tuesday back to his house and back home.

Attached is the map of kannankuruchi for those who know salem well. you can see how big a lake it is. There are a few ground rules of traveling outside with a kid or kids. Never wake up the kid at a time other than his normal wake up time. this makes the kid super cranky and spoils your trip totally. So we decided to leave at a time when he usually goes to school ~ 9am. with a half hour delay, I started off on my Figo on the NH7. I already had some diesel left, and I filled up another 500 bucks worth if not more. The NH7 I must say is one heck of a highway. Its brilliantly executed making the total travel time to Salem utmost 3 hours with adults on board and a little more with kids.

On the way we stopped at Krishnagiri Adyar Ananda Bhavan. Let me tell you that though I am accustomed to Adyar and this hotel, the one at this location was useless to say the least. It was self service, no airconditioner around for cooling and exactly TWO dishes on that day for whoever went in. Absolutely crap. and unacceptable. On a slightly different note, this also points at the population explosion which has led to every hotel getting its due over weekends leading them to unmanageable proportions of customers. We just had some fill of dosa and pongal and my son did not eat anything though it was 11am already. Since we again know his exact lunch time as 12:30 we knew we had enough buffer. We fed him some raisins and other stuff to keep him going for some time and made it to Omalur and further Salem by about 1pm. After having some grub at a local hotel, we landed up at my uncle's home. Somewhere along the journey my son grabbed his sleep a bit.

I must say my uncle's house is at a beautiful location. His street ends right into the lake mentioned in the map and when I say that I mean it literally - no barricades, nothing, if I drive any further, I would jump into the lake with my car. Needless to say this also means some beautiful sunrise scenes which is soothing to the eye for great mornings. See for yourselves! And I will continue this post shortly with more info.

[GeekSrik]

Here are my pics of the figo at the lake before I talk further about yercaud! enjoy

[Anandg]

Hey GeekSrk,
Nice details esp abt kids on travel as they are silent for one second and can turn little monsters if their routine is disturbed. However I observed that they are at their peek energy levels when you travel so it is better to always keep them occupied in some activity before they become your only activity you are engaged with. I hope you had / plan to visit the zoo in center of the yercaud lake. It is must for kids as it have wide variety of marsupials and hamsters for kids to watch.

[shk 8896]

Srikant,Nice pics and how was the trip ?enjoyed a lot?
Hungry for more snaps.Which camera do you use ?

[GeekSrik]

Its time for resort stay. We decided to leave around 10am after my son's morning duties were over where he felt comfortable again. Yercaud is some 30kms from Salem. And the climb started. For a long distance it was pretty much in the plains, and the FIGO drove smoothly. The we reached hairpin bend 1/22. From there i expected a hairpin bend every turn, but upto HB 2/22, there was again some plain road and hairpin bend 2 approached after quite a long drive.

This is when I chanced upon the road leading into bamboo thickets and scores of monkeys on the way. at one point i heard some small water streams and stopped by. Showed my son the stream, and made him play in the water a bit. After that back into car and climbed further up again. From HPB 2/22 upto 20/22 I did not stop but went pathetically slowly. Almost 10-20kmph. Since I did not want to make anyone puke, went real slowly up the hill. Roads were narrow only at some points not all so it was fairly straightforward.

However this is where I felt that the FIGO could have done with some more torque and power. And this is where I feel Figo 1.6 petrol if launched would bridge that gap. There were no unruly speed breakers so god saved me there. As we went further up, weather was cooler, couds were descending on us, and the bends got a bit unforgiving. But the FIGO slowly but steadily climbed with 5 of us and all that luggage. Here is where I had to downshift to gear 1 all the time. Loads of torque could have helped much.

The huge bamboo trees slowly gave way to coffee estates and plantations and I was heaving a sigh of relief at the breath of fresh air available at tap. I never used the AC here at all, all windows were open mostly and the cool breeze sifted through my hair as I drove slowly. The best way to enjoy Yercaud drive is to give way to vehicles behind you and go real slowly uphill. Slow down as much as you can appreciate things around you, enjoy the breeze and go about with happiness. I must say the amount of monkeys until the HPB starts are quite a lot so be careful and keep your windows in the car shut when you stop to avoid monkey tricks. If you are driving however, feel free to open the windows.

The FIGO would have performed really pathetically with AC on I swear and this is definitely not a mountain climb vehicle. For that look elsewhere. Our car here or the car of the year here is more of a performer on the plains, not the mountains. Finally we reached the GRT Nature trails Skyrocca resort with the attached Salem Heights restaurant. And the entrance was to my right side after HPB 20. When I took the right turn to enter the resort since the resort is constructed below road level, the road leading to the resort was outright ridiculous. Anyone not careful with their car can crash easily if you let go of the car at these decline levels of the road. Pretty bad and not thought about entry i would say. Keep your hands on handbrake, leg on brakes and dont use clutch to reach entry. this also means while exiting the resort its a stupid, unscientific uphill climb to reach the mainroad again outside the resort. The FIGO stopped three times before I finally managed to get onto the road. In my 10 years of driving this is the first time car has stopped three freaking times in one go. Bad torque and power. Bad design of the road itself.

Have a look at some snaps of the roads, they are absolute delight to drive on and absolutely zero potholes. Great work from government. I ll speak about the resort itself shortly.