Ford Figo Titanium TDCi : Initial ownership report Finally took delivery of my white Figo. Ford wanted to make it a major event so around 31 cars were delivered by Nigel Wark, executive director, Marketing, Sales & Service, Ford India. My lucky number was 13. As soon as I got the keys I went looking for my car. There were only two whilte Titanium TDCis so it wasn't difficult finding my car: I chose the ugly red dash. I'm not too sure why I chose it and luckily no one in the family seemed to mind the color either.
The pressure of delivering 31 cars were showing on everyone's face. I wanted to get the fog lamps but nobody had a clue where it's available. I felt sorry for the guys and decided to get it later.
The car was spotless clean on the outside. The interior seemed fine too. But they conveniently forgot to vacuum the interior. The carpet below the driver side mat was soiled. The sales guy said he 'forgot' to tell me that. Except for that the car was pretty neat.
The odo read 24 kms. And there was around 10+ litres of fuel in the tank. That was a pleasant surprise. I drove around 150+ kilometers before the low fuel warning came on.
The first thing I tried after turning on the key was to try pairing the audio system with my phone (Nokia E71).
I am not into instruction manuals so I jumped right in. The phone asked for a pin. The sales guys didn't have a clue what that was so I took a guess and keyed in 1234. The key worked! When the audio system prompted me to allow pairing with the phone, I accidentally switched it off. When I turned it back on, it was displaying 'connecting' and it was stuck there. Tried turning it off and then back on several times but nothing happened. Called up the service and they said they haven't reached that level yet!! Looked up the manual of the audio system but couldn't find anything on a system reset. So removed the system's fuse and reinserted it after 10 seconds and everything was fine. Keyed in the security code and the phone paired. Best of all, everything just worked. It synced all my contacts, received calls, dialled calls etc. It even displays the coverage and battery levels. Audio streaming worked fine too. Loved it. The system sounds pretty good too for an OEM unit. I would say it sounds way better than the one that came on my Civic.
I straightaway went to new Bharath Pitstop (after making sure that the wipers worked fine at the u turn ) to get the tyres changed. The car came with Goodyear 175/65 R14 tyres. Most of the cars were shod with Appollos. The car was begging for a decent set of alloys and tyres. I tried Global tyres as well as the newly opened Tyrex but they didn't have many with 108 PCB. I settled on 185/60 R14 Michelin XM1+ and a set of league alloys.
I preferred 185/65 but they didn't have it in stock. They tried their best to convince me to buy Bridgestones but I was already sold on the Michelins. My Civic's running on the second set of Michelins.
I also opted for garware Icecool Grand sunfilms. It cost me around 6000 Rs. (or was it 6500? I'm not sure) I know garware is not the most popular brand on team-bhp but I was pretty happy with it on my Civic. Also, it was the only brand available at Pitstop.
By the time I got the car it was 9pm and home was 60 kms away. The road was deserted and I enjoyed the drive. I have a few fiestas in the family and have driven them quite a lot. I found the noise levels quite similar to that. My brother in law owns one and he also confirmed it. He felt the Figo is more sportier than the Fiesta! I'm not too sure about that though. Maybe it's the better visibility and the lower profile of the tyres. The ride is a bit on the stiffer side but it becomes better when you pick up speed. I found it hard to keep the speedo below 80kmph. The engine felt a little sluggish below 1500-2000 RPM. It's no trouble keeping it above it but I think I'll be a little gentle till the first service, which is at 2500kms/3 months. Subsequent services are at 10,000kms/12 months. That's a big relief. I'm not sure if the fiesta's service schedule is revised too. I have a habit of shifting early into second when I'm not in a hurry. It doesn't work too well in the Figo. Maybe there's too much gap between the 1st and 2nd gear ratios.
I got a few calls and the audio system handled them beautifully. The music automatically pauses on incoming call and resumes when the call ends. The only problem I found was, even when the system is off (standby?) and when I receive a call and hangup, it starts playing!
I'm very happy with the car so far. I wish the driver seat had a little more lumbar support. Wish it was a little bigger too. Maybe I'm spoilt by the Civic's. |