[Ragul]

OMG!! The last few snaps are so inspiring, I planned my trip in the next second!! The only question is when ...

[goldie_malhotra]

Originally Posted by GeekSrik

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.

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.

Havent taken the car to any hills so far, but climbing out of some of the mall parking lots with 4 people leaves the engine gasping for torque. Combine that with no grip from most of the last-mile hill roads (or resort approach roads) that I have been on, I can imagine how bad it must have been.

[GeekSrik]

Originally Posted by shk 8896

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

I use a Canon Rebel XTI EOS 400D with multiple lenses - tamron 18-200mm, canon 1.8 aperture, 50mm fixed and 18-55mm default lens. 2GB CF card.

Originally Posted by 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.

I could not visit the zoo anand since kiddo was sleeping in the evening.

Originally Posted by 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!

deetjohn, thanks very much for the suggestion, i will look into this.

Originally Posted by Ragul

OMG!! The last few snaps are so inspiring, I planned my trip in the next second!! The only question is when ...

Nice to see you are inspired ragul, i ll continue the story with more snaps shortly.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by goldie_malhotra

Havent taken the car to any hills so far, but climbing out of some of the mall parking lots with 4 people leaves the engine gasping for torque. Combine that with no grip from most of the last-mile hill roads (or resort approach roads) that I have been on, I can imagine how bad it must have been.

Seems like a good area to take it for the TD. where else can I have a steep incline within city limits to test this! thanks dude

[GeekSrik]

So its now time to then talk about the resort itself. The reception is somewhat small but cozy. Stairs lead to the rooms directly. Each room is valley facing which and the balconies are blocked from each other. which means TOTAL privacy in biting cold :-)

They are called valley view rooms. There are also panorama room with bigger lawn areas and some even have glass floors looking directly into the valley below for those not scared. Foodstuff is neatly arranged in the room, but you better be aware before you touch anything that each item costs a little over fifty bucks including the minibar stuff. Got to pay a lot. There is television, phone and some superb wifi access. mobile signals are either zero or minimal. so dont expect mobile connectivity which also means keep your herd together else if they get lost you pretty much cant contact them.

The restaurant is located at a vantage point from where you can see the entire salem city below and the night views are good. The restaurant itself lacks any good food and ala carte is too costly. the breakfast is the only thing which is good. Other than this, there is the skywalk which has glass floors showing the valley below. there is also a view point again with glass floor which is at the tip of a valley which is quite scary but good.

Rooms are about 3500 bucks + taxes excluding anything else you touch to eat. and nope it doesnt include travel costs as well. also these are the cheapest rooms and there are few rooms only. Best to travel over weekdays atleast you will get the rooms!

Let some more photos do the talking! And the highway between Bangalore to Salem and further to Yercaud is brilliant !!

[theoriginal9321]

Originally Posted by GeekSrik

This was pretty lousy in my opinion as kids in front on passenger side can be easily fiddling with this latch. The door latches themselves are pretty cheap looking and cheap in function too. In the sense that children in the front can easily pull the door latch when least expected.

Children are not suppose to sit in front in this car (atleast in titanium) as you cant disable the passenger side airbag and therefore it can be very risky for children.

This car is designed so that two adults sit in the front and children sit at the back (hence the 60-70% window opening). Children also tend to fiddle with the power window switches damaging them therefore it doesnt have them.

These are all my opinions,
as soon as I saw this car I knew exactly what ford has designed it for, A family of four to five, 2 adults, one teenage boy/girl and possibly 1 or 2 under 12's.

[GeekSrik]

thanks for that clarity the original, however i feel that if that is not the kind of crowd then, people would be disappointed without power windows at rear.

[anilisanil]

Originally Posted by theoriginal9321

Children are not suppose to sit in front in this car (atleast in titanium) as you cant disable the passenger side airbag and therefore it can be very risky for children.

This car is designed so that two adults sit in the front and children sit at the back (hence the 60-70% window opening). Children also tend to fiddle with the power window switches damaging them therefore it doesnt have them.

These are all my opinions,
as soon as I saw this car I knew exactly what ford has designed it for, A family of four to five, 2 adults, one teenage boy/girl and possibly 1 or 2 under 12's.

No offence meant, but your reply reminded me of the way I used to answer those tough Maths theory questions by adding at the end "hence proved".


The passenger side vanity mirror and the user manual have clear instructions on what has to be done for seating in the front passenger side.

The rear windows not sliding down completely is not a "safety feature" for children, it is a design limitation. If you observe carefully the rear door does not have any more space than 60% of the total glass used so only that much will go down and rear power windows are absent because of cost cutting but not to make it more children "friendly".

[theoriginal9321]

^^^
none taken,

Well i actually am a science + maths student in my 11th grade!!

Yes, the rear power window is actually due to cost cutting, but i actually felt that it was better for kids (taking my 7yr old brother as an ideal kiddo) to have manual windows than power.
You see these under 10's can break pretty much anything you throw in there way!! So, absence of power windows didnt seem like much of an issue to me considering the type of family it is aimed at, maybe thats why ford didnt think it as important as lets say the bluetooth connectivity or some other feature.

BUT!!, I do remember in London several cars (like even sedans) had this feature in which you can set it so the windows dont go down fully (for safety purposes), or am I just jumbling my memory up? This is why I considered it as a safety precaution just as much if not more than design limitation.

TOTALLY

However, I do have this "weakness" due to which I tend to defend things(may it be anything from movies to cars!) first for its +'s before realizing I just made a complete fool of myself, I dont like criticizing anything unless its absolutely necessary !!

[Reinhard]

@Anilisanil, +1 to that.
In fact the rear window not rolling down fully, is a common design in all EU / American cars. The reason - if you observe carefully, these cars have a single piece glass window pane in the rear door. So it rolls down till it's bottom reaches the wheel curve as Anilisanil pointed out (remember the good old Fiat based Premier Padmini?? Even her rear windows went down incomplete...I used to hate that in childhood). Our Indo-Japanese cars are made with our expectations in mind. We love our windows to go down as much as we want. Right to the end . Just observe an Indica / Swift. There is a little quarter glass even in the window frame. Only a rectangular piece of the window glass that is ahead of the wheel well, goes down, while the rear quarter glass remains as it is. Its not a safety feature...Just a way people think of designing their windows thats all.

And yes, most cars come with a master control and lock for power windows at the driver's hands. This is child safety. Lack of rear power windows, is a cost cutting measure, which I can bet, has turned around plenty potential buyers away from this great car. Its not like we can't live with rear manual windows. But then, when other cars have it, its odd that even the Titanium doesn't get them. Come on FORD! Ask for some more money for RPW, and we'll pay! But at least have an option?!

[anilisanil]

Originally Posted by theoriginal9321

^^^
none taken,

Well i actually am a science + maths student in my 11th grade!!

Yes, the rear power window is actually due to cost cutting, but i actually felt that it was better for kids (taking my 7yr old brother as an ideal kiddo) to have manual windows than power.
You see these under 10's can break pretty much anything you throw in there way!! So, absence of power windows didnt seem like much of an issue to me considering the type of family it is aimed at, maybe thats why ford didnt think it as important as lets say the bluetooth connectivity or some other feature.

BUT!!, I do remember in London several cars (like even sedans) had this feature in which you can set it so the windows dont go down fully (for safety purposes), or am I just jumbling my memory up? This is why I considered it as a safety precaution just as much if not more than design limitation.

TOTALLY

However, I do have this "weakness" due to which I tend to defend things(may it be anything from movies to cars!) first for its +'s before realizing I just made a complete fool of myself, I dont like criticizing anything unless its absolutely necessary !!

never mind my sarcasm, yet times I just love to reply certain things!!

As you said, "the safety feature" may be just a myth in Europe a sad marketing gimmick to sell the more compact cars. Actually the manufacturers either have to make claustrophobic designs or partial rolling windows

[GeekSrik]

There were some more photos from the resort which i kept for later. Its that of the inifinity pool. So enjoy the view! :-)

The last one is the salem highway. Absolutely stunning!

[thedreamcatcher]

Nice pics and nice ride. Lets enjoy the pics, and leave the topic of why the rear window doesnt go down all the way.

No idea if they designed it with kids in mind, they designed it with moolah in mind ;-). As for not going down fullt, it is to do with limitations in the size of the glass and the curve of the rear dear, preventing it going down fully. Anyway, it is a case of half full half empty, start a seperate thread to debate on that

Nice pics of YCD. When I went some time back i was highly disappointed, as it was the so called season, where the sky is clear and the stub of a hill station made me want to come back to bangalore desperately, as it was raining and cooler in bangalore at the time. But looks good now

[btirthankar]

Originally Posted by GeekSrik

i see that tirthankar has 195/60 and yet he doesnt speak of many undulations. might give lesser mileage though.

Its a trade-off. With stock tyres I was not confident of cornering and C-Curves, not that it would veer.

I get to enjoy excellent cornering albeit hard ride because of the soft compound material of Yokohama ES100. Had it been same profile Pirelli or Michelin, it would have been more comfortable.

I have been recommended 28psi pressure all around. My FIGO with 195/60R15 returns excellent mileage.

Yes my vehicle does scrape on bumpers etc, but only when I go over them a bit too fast. a 45 Degree approach angle helps. I dont complain as the vehicle underbody has been engineered to be 'Flat' and nothing gets damaged.

I in fact drove it all the way to Tawang resulting in minor underbody scrapes and yes a Oil Pan puncture due to an extraordinary incident due to my own fault.

So next time: Pirelli or Michelin for me.

[Fordmanchau]

Originally Posted by thedreamcatcher

No idea if they designed it with kids in mind, they designed it with moolah in mind ;-). As for not going down fullt, it is to do with limitations in the size of the glass and the curve of the rear dear, preventing it going down fully. Anyway, it is a case of half full half empty, start a seperate thread to debate on that

last saturday I went to the ford service station here in hyderabad to fix a little issue with my Ikon, as we were waiting, wife wanted to see the figo. She had a long discussion with the Sales guy, who told her, why there is no rear power window in Figo.
It seems the design on the rear door which has a bump from inside whic protrudes out of the door is the reason, due to which the glasses won't roll down fully and therefore fitting power windows switch will not work. Seems they had a slot marked for the power window switch inside of the door handle but then couldn't get around fitting it.
I feel it's a lack of little foresight may be, or a design flaw.
Not able to fix rear power window must not be a great design.