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-   -   Would you buy the Ford Figo / Aspire Sports Edition? (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/what-car/187082-would-you-buy-ford-figo-aspire-sports-edition-3.html)

I voted No but with a great dilemma. This is a car that checks most of the boxes in the hot hatch category for the Indian market but with the build quality and few other enticing features the Polo GT TDI offers, I would go for it assuming I'd be able to afford the extra moolah it demands.

No.
While I think the new Figo is the best looking hatch in India the interior just doesn't do it for me. I got to look and feel the car last weekend (mall), I didnt do an extensive analysis though. No 60:40 split seats, fixed heat rest (rear seat), light parcel tray, very prominent keyhole in the hatch, uneven panel gaps, smallish boot. Do I have to move up to get these features?
But boy what a looker!
I drive a Jazz X, and I think a good replacement is going to be hard to find. May be another Jazz?

I stand corrected. It appears old Figo was more sound.

New Figo removed from my recommendation list to anyone and everyone considering its now joined the league of extraordinary tin leaders such as Maruti.

Only worthy AT hatch less than 10L is Polo TSI.

While I agree that safety is an important parameter when buying any car but is it the only parameter when looking out for a fun to drive budget hatch?

Yes the Polo is safer but it's also a good 2.5 lakhs more than the Figo S. And you have to remember the Figo competes with the likes of Swift, Ignis, Grand i10, liva and others. Compared to these I would rate the Figo the safest of them all.

It's like the old Honda city Vtec, it was light weight flimsy but didn't stop people from lapping one up.

My vote is Yes. There's no other fun to drive hatch you can buy today under 9 lakhs which is back to basics with a strong motor and a slick 5 speed manual box with dynamics setup perfectly for daily use as well as for the occasional dash into the winding roads outside town.

I haven't voted yet, but do wish this Sports variant was based on Titanium+ variant as well!! I do miss 6 airbags & the larger MID. It would have been a no non-sense option then. The MID would have upped the ambiance a bit more.

Now, considering what other offerings do we have for a similar price, I think Figo S is a great package. I just got to drive a 1.5 AT for 2-3 kms and I loved it. There are few cars which makes you smile as soon as you get in the driver's seat and touch the steering - Figo did that to me.

For anyone who says Figo is a tin metal, what do you call a Swift / Baleno / Grand i10 - onion peel?? It definitely is not as heavy as the Fiesta / Ecosport, its not as bad as its made out in some of the posts. When I closed the door, it felt much better than the above cars, so I don't buy those arguments.

And with respect to safety - wasn't the Swift rated 0?

An enthusiast usually looks at performance, handling and appearance (in that order) while making a decision about a car. The other fringe areas such as the finish of the paint, interiors (which are actually quite good for a car at this price point), sound while closing a door etc are not points that should make a car a non starter for consideration.

I've known people who wanted to buy an Accent because it came with an antenna on the boot but we've matured as a car buying market from those times. It's not also as if all the competitors to the Figo (at this price and reliability level) have all the bells and whistles, are built like tanks, have superlative safety and the performance to match.

Sure, if performance and handling are not your primary parameters, the Figo S isn't for you as nothing else in the Figo will make it appeal to you like these two parameters do.

The sad bit is that performance and handling never sold a car in India and at the most it would get a lot of enthusiast attention.

I hope history doesn't repeat itself with the Figo S as it's probably the closest we'll ever get to having a performance hatch that doesn't cost much, is reliable, fun to drive and economical to maintain.

Voted Yes but actually it is a 'maybe' and this coming from an owner of 2 Fords.

The 'S', 'RS', 'GT' monikers are used deliberately by most Indian manufacturers, the actual product may have nothing more than a "go faster" sticker job. Ford took the 'S' moniker to a whole new level with the Fiesta and it is for all the good reasons that it enjoys the cult status now! Then came VW with the GT twins which blew everything around it including some from a couple of segments above it! So, when Ford finally decided to bring the 'S' back, I was excited. But to me, it feels like a half hearted attempt.

The 1.6S had everything that a top end Fiesta had at that time and then some. What they did was take an already good car and make it better. It is not the same with the Figo/Aspire though, for reasons below -

- For starters, why have the S version for Titanium and not Titanium+? I mean, it would be more expensive by 50-70k? At that price, it would still undercut the GTs by a considerable margin.

- A DCT option would go well with the TDCi mill. For me, I will choose a manual over an AT any day but the thing is, I do 70% of my driving in mad rush hour traffic so it makes more sense to me to buy an AT. GT TSi is the perfect tool for the 70% City, 30% highway routine.

- Build quality. Honestly, I wouldn't care much about the quality of plastics used. As long as they do not rattle, I'm good. Ford uses hard plastics yes, but they do last the lifetime of the car and do not break apart. I haven't sat in or driven the Figo twins but going by the reviews, compromising on the steel quality is not something that I associate with a Ford product. A big negative because the GTs have a vault like build quality.

- Go faster stripes along the doors and rear bumper. Really? :Frustrati

I think the Figo twins at the sub 9L prices is a brilliant VFM option as it offers significantly more than the norm in that price range. But yes, Ford have cut corners and have become greedy in the sense that they want to compete with the i10 Grands, the Ignis etc. (you have the normal Figo/Aspire for that!) as well as the GTs, Abarths.

My vote is Yes. I have driven the Aspire (for a very short stint) and visited the showroom a couple of times to get a feel of the Figo twins. Yes, there is no doubt that the build quality is not great, in terms of the lightness of the doors etc. This, coming from the owner of a 5 year old Swift, which itself is not famed for build quality. However, this apart, I find very little wrong with the Figo, with my only personal gripe being the small instrument console. Kind of takes away from the overall feel when driving.

Otherwise, whats not to like in a stonking engine, truckload of torque, meaty steering wheel, a fairly slick shifting gearbox, and very importantly, a compact footprint? My driving, like most others, consist of the regular 25-30 km office commute 5 days a week, and weekend outings, with maybe 3 to 5 outstation trips a year. This seems perfectly catered for by the Figo/Aspire. The car is certainly in my sights for my next change, which is perhaps a year, year and a half away.

The only vehicle with similar/slightly better performance that otherwise catches my fancy is the S-Cross 1.6, but that is of course in a difference price bracket altogether. The GT TDI does the trick as well, but Volkswagen horror stories have kind of left an indelible negative mark in my mind, and as much as I love the vehicle overall, I don't see myself plonking down 12 big ones for it.

This statement does not apply to the Aspire - can be reaffirmed from the Aspire official review.


And I voted YES

If I were in the market to buy a car now I would go for the Aspire Sport - and change the tyres right out of the showroom. The reason I say that is because I'm already very satisfied with my Aspire Ambiente and this would add the missing things - abs, alloys, MyFord Dock, sporty suspension, leather wrapped steering and a better looking front grill.

I would probably choose the Petrol engine again because it really is fun to drive on the highways. It takes off like a rocket from dead stops and the in-gear acceleration in 5th is awesome. The exhaust note as you readline is what draws you out for the next drive. I should know - I've been living with it for over a year. It now behaves very differently from a new car as I believe the ECU adapts to your driving style. I say all this because 90% of my drives are on the highways.

But in stop-and-go traffic, this engine is crappy.
I have read that the Sport is tuned a bit differently to address this weakness (don't know by how much). That and the secondary clutch switch might resolve the low end torque issue to some extent.

Otherwise, if you are not that worried about the environment, that diesel engine is a no-brainer ;)

In that set, the Liva has better safety ratings than the Figo with a stable crash structure. I'm okay in compromising a bit on safety for a bit of fun. However there are limits to that.

The crash structure of a car has to be stable. If its not, like the case here, I'd not touch it with a bargepole. Also think about it - is 2.5L extra worth more than one's life?

At least for me, I'd rather put down 2.5L extra over having potentially serious injury due to an unsafe crash structure.

I don't think safety is a factor in this segment is what I said and 2.5L for you might not be much but that's pretty much another segment jump.

Secondly, for you it might be the top requirement but then you have to see Maruti sells more Baleno and ignis in a day than VW sells Polo in a month.

The Figo S is not trying to say it's the safest car in the segment. It's the most fun to drive VFM hatch back under 10 lakhs period.

Now if your criteria is safety then in India the best bet is to look at 30+ which you did with a Volvo or get a Polo TDI which may have a good engine but in terms of steering feel was more dead than the Figo, suspension was not as pliant in ride and has more understeery feel and rear space is nowhere close to the Figo for a family plus it has the weakest AC in that segment. To top it off you have VW aftersales.

Looking at the above, it's clear to see why the Polo's numbers are nowhere close to what Maruti and Hyundai manage.

Personal preferences so I don't think we should drag this thread about safety cause it's about a fun to drive hatch not which is the safest hatchback.

Ford offers the regular Figo with 6 airbags but it was sad when they told me that there is absolutely no demand for the 6 airbags model and it's almost made to order with dealers having unsold inventory in some cases for months. Shows how much a buyer values safety here.

We members don't rate these. :D NCAP does. And the verdict is clear. Stating only the facts below -

Liva is safe. Swift, Figo and Grand i10 have no structural integrity. Ignis is yet to be tested. However-
Because the base version of the Swift and Grand i10 was without airbags and scored a zero due to the impact on the head. Wheras the Figo base version had airbags and managed a 3, even though the protection of the chest is classified "poor". All these three fall in similar brackets. All are "made for India". :Frustrati

+1.

For those who are buying their first car, and could only afford something near the range of the Figo - the Figo S makes a good enthusiast's choice. For someone looking to buy a second one and are not in a hurry - would suggest to wait for better options to come by, since it looks like legislation will soon make safety standards mandatory for our market as well.

Edit:
No. Its about "Would you buy a Figo Sports Edition?". And everyone can have their own reasons not to!

+1. The segment does not care about safety, if it was we would never the see likes of Swifts, Figos on the roads at all. When people prefer buying the lowest variant with no safety kit to speak of and soup it up with stickers and alloys what else can be expected.

No other manufacturer comes close Maruti and Hyundai in numbers including VW and Ford. So no point bringing the sales into picture at all and comparing Baleno or Ignis. Even with the things going for the Figo, it has failed to set the sales chart on fire.

My choice, though the car may be quick, with a balanced ride and handling, I would not end up buying it for the build and the paint quality. I dont want my car to look aged within a year of purchase.

PS: This is solely my opinion, no need to flame me for this.

Unfortunately yes safety is not a factor in this segment but it should be. Unless us folks who are the enthusiasts vote with our wallet, manufacturers will not listen. Look at what Ford did here - the older figo had a stable crash structure with much better build. Someone would have a far better chance of survival in that old car if it had airbags than the current figo which is a cost cut tin can in comparison.

Also sales hardly matters. Maruti will sell ten thousand of their junk boxes simply because they can due to their reach. Polo+Ameo+Vento still sells more than the figo twins so it is obvious that the market still considers the ten year old Polo with poor VW service and excessive cost as a better buy than the newer Figo. Adding some stiffer springs and dampers don't make a car better when inherently the platform is compromised and made unsafe to meet a price point. Yes the PQ25 platform has lots of issues and problems which you have listed and no one is denying that but sales numbers speak something else.

I think you misread the thread. The thread is about whether you would buy the figo sports or not and I'm simply justifying why I won't buy it with perfectly valid reasons. It is not about whether it is fun to drive or whether it is safe. I'm not surprised that people didn't fall for the 6 airbag gimmick. People who care about safety will probably not buy the figo in the first place. They will look elsewhere.

I voted yes. But I, like many, would have preferred the S to be in the Titanium+ trim. But considering the price factor and with a wonderful 1.5 diesel engine, it is a no-brainer for anyone to go for it. Why spend that much of money on a Polo GT or Baleno RS when you can get similar or better performance from a much cheaper car?

For people who say that the car is built poorly, just see some of the accident pictures of the new Figo/Aspire posted in the Accident thread. Looking the pics, it is hard to believe that the occupants got out without a scratch. Sure the plastics look a bit cheap and the cabin is prone to rattles compared to other cars in the segment. Other than the so called light weight doors, the body shell is strong and can take an impact well, far better than its segment competitors.

Samaspire had a bad accident in his Aspire and there is no one better to vouch for the build quality of the Aspire.