Modifying my Ford Figo: Need advice on suspension upgrade

The stock setup of the car is finding it hard to handle 120 BHP. I am also planning to get anti-roll bars and 15-inch wheels with 195 section tyres.

BHPian giri1.8 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Guys, need your expert opinion to mod my Figo 1.5 AT's suspension setup. The stock setup is finding it hard to handle 120 bhp.

Upgrades planned

• 15-inch wheels with 195 section tyres.
• Suspension parts from Figo Blu edition.
• Anti-roll bars, if any is available for the model.

Need inputs on both second and third points, while Blu specs parts will improve handling, many have pointed out that it's not going to be a day and night difference. Have read somewhere on team-bhp that Fiesta's parts might be a direct fit, but I am unable to locate them. Any clarification on the same will be much appreciated.

Antiroll bars might be a tough find I guess. Not going overboard with mods as I need to tackle under construction areas on a daily basis.

Here's what BHPian bhphog had to say about the matter:

Hey, great to have someone on the same boat as me.

So, a lot of different ways you can go about achieving this. It completely depends on your budget and ability to compromise on reliability.

• Go for a lowering kit, many in the market, Eibachs, MTS Technik, Cobra, etc. This would lower the CG and body roll is well contained. I am running a set of Eibach Springs. The negative aspect is that if you aren't going for a good brand, it could create a very hard unstable ride.
• Go for the complete set of shocks and springs from the Figo S and not Figo Blu. This seems to be the most cost-effective option.
• Go for a complete set of coil overs and springs. This should cost you above a lakh but will give you a lot of freedom to play around, especially if this is a height-adjustable set.
• Go for a stiffened set of shocks. Any good motorsport shop should be able to custom create it for you. All that matters here is what type, thickness and density of the hydraulic fluid is used in the shocks.

As for me, this is a daily driver with occasional participation in autocross events. I am in talks to go for the route 3, just adding on kms to exhaust the current set of shocks and springs as I got them just 20k kms back.

Tyres, now depend on which way you go forward. Tyre size and profile will vary and it isn't advisable to select tyres and alloys first and then decide the route. I am still running stock alloys with S-Drives.

Anti-Roll bars, the only compatible ones are from the Figo S. Again, a lot of hits and tries can be done on various generic anti-roll bars. I have spoken about this in detail even with a motorsport team in Estonia that is running Ka+ in the WRX autocross-es and even they don't have a roll bar for sale.

Hope this helps.

Here's what BHPian abhinav.s had to say about the matter:

Thought I would give you a first-hand review as I owned the Tdci Figo from 2017 to 2019 which was used for 50k kms. I had 2 of the 3 mods you have planned, done on it. I got 15-inch alloys with 195 section tyres on day 1. I was lucky to land a Momo set with the same PCD and 4 hole variant. (Got lucky as I got it from the then tyre store person, now a dear friend who had ordered it for his Figo but was willing to let it go for a slightly lower price). I also got the front and rear suspension springs changed to Figo S springs.

The change to the 15-inch rims and wider section tyres helped a bit. But the big change I noticed was after changing the springs to the Figo S ones. It did not lower the car by much but the handling difference was palpable by the seat of the pants feel as well as by the tyre store friend I spoke about above who was on the fence on whether to change the springs or not. So both these should really make it worthy of the change.

The ride on bad roads was not as bad as, say a fully stiffened set of shock and spring change etc. There was a wee bit more of the road surface felt but nothing too drastic. The big change was the much better-contained body roll compared to the stock setup.

For the anti-roll bar, the news from the media during the time of the review of the Figo S was that there was a beefier anti-roll bar compared to the normal Figo. So you can certainly try out the Figo S anti-roll bar. All the best with the mods and do keep us posted on how it feels post the mods.

PS: I have updated the part numbers for the Figo S springs, if it helps you to order them, in one of the Figo threads (mostly the plain vanilla Figo thread).

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