Had quite a long test drive of the new Freestyle Petrol today and here's my feedback on the same.
° In first look the Freestyle does looks quite good in the beefed up Crossover avatar and that wider tracks adds a lot of character to the vehicle. Infact with the Ecosport standing just beside it, both the car's width felt the same and tbh, the Freestyle felt way more smarter.
° The raised ground clearance along with claddings and roof rails with those smoked headlamps along with C Shaped Bumpers all along are another plus further enhancing the stance of the Crossover and if I may say this Crossover looks way better than the competition including the WR-V.
° I did miss the Projector or DRL element and feel it would have made the car more appealing overall. I guess it could've added the oomph factor. Look at a WR-V during the day and you would relate to what I mean.
° The Crossover I drove had 15 inches 185/60 Section Goodyear Assurance wheels, the Alloys looked sweet with that gun metal finish and gives it that much needed rugged feel though I wish Ford used some other tyres something like the Yokohama maybe?
° The one thing I couldn't understand properly was how are the tail lamps reprofiled?
Both felt same to me.
° Step into the cabin and the first thing you would notice are the Chocolate interiors aka Sienna interior as per Ford. I felt like home in it after driving the first generation i20 for so many years. The color looks quite decent overall and until you park it under the sun, outlook of the interiors seems quite premium. I didn't feel the plastic quality to be on the average side, in fact it felt way better than cars like Ignis, Liva Cross and the likes though definitely not in the league of i20 Active & Cross Polo but then again you're paying almost a couple of lakhs lesser for it too when compared to the Active.
° Not sure about the touchscreen size though the sales executive said its a 7 inch System with the Ford Sync 3 and it felt absolutely brilliant to use. The touch was super responsive, had a lot of options though it did lag a little in between but hey! It's a car's touchscreen so works for me. The sound quality felt superb in the Bluetooth Audio and I feel one should definitely tune the same before playing the music. The Bass was great with pretty decent mid range but Yes! Tweeters would've enhanced the experience further. I wonder why Ford skipped giving two Tweeters on the top end. One funny moment was the sales executive telling me that the Bluetooth Mic is actually a Tweeter.
° Did anyone of you felt the side mirrors to be smaller in size and not good enough? I don't know why but I feel it could've been a little bigger. Also the placement of the knob on the door would have been better atleast for me.
° One thing that appealed me the most about the Freestyle was Ford's new keys. After seeing the kind of keys the old generation Fords had this felt leaps and bounds ahead. It also felt so much nicer to hold and had that perfect weight.
° I knew there were no dead pedals in this but well it didn't bother me much as I was busy enjoying driving this handsome rugged machine on the streets of Kolkata zig zagging through traffic and I'm in love with it. The steering is sharp and direct with enough weight as per my liking, the turning radius felt small and this thing is a hoot around the city. Overtaking cars in the urban traffic felt Super easy, Acceleration is quick and you won't even feel that you're driving a 3 Cylinder motor. Infact in one of the signals a Honda Jazz and I started pulling together and within seconds he was in my rear view mirror. The handling is typical Ford DNA. I know a lot of consumers still prefer the old Figo steering but this one is not at all behind.
° Speaking of performance, One thing I didn't like were the brakes. Even though they're quick and effective it doesn't has that sharp bite or the progressiveness that I like, would call it a little spongy.
° Everyone said that the 1.2K Series engine is peppier but I wouldn't agree with it. The Freestyle may not have that initial grunt until say 1400 - 1500 rpm but the way it picks up from there all the way to 5000 rpm is definitely going to plant a smile on your face. There is plenty of power throughout the rev band and you can keep it pushing all the way to the limiter at around 7000 rpm. Also, do notice the engine note. I wasn't expecting that to be soo nice!
° The clutch on the other hand is light, new getrag gearbox is slick and it's indeed a big step up from the old box. I remember driving the Aspire petrol and I actually had to play with the gear in order to keep that power coming in but this one is brilliantly calibrated. Also, I'm glad that it has the Grand i10 like placement of gears improving the space in the central console drastically.
° There is an extremely rough patch just after my office and asking my sales executive I pushed the car on that patch and my re-action instant was "Arre bhai Bhai Bhai Bhai" the way it swallowed all the bumps and potholes without filtering any of them into the cabin made me super impressed. Infact I purposely took it to every pothole just to be sure if what I felt in the beginning was really this? This car is meant to be driven on bad patches. Keep your SUVs at home folks this would do the job well enough. I drove a friend's Active and even that didn't swallow bumps the way this kid does let's leave the other Cross hatches out of the list itself including the WR-V.
° The sales executive claimed that the annual servicing cost would be around INR 3800 which is super cheap! The company is also giving in the 3rd & 4th year extended warranty right with the car now for just Rs. 7,000 which seems extremely reasonable to me.
Hence, to sum it all up my verdict is I'm buying one! I guess nothing else needs to be said anymore. For 7.8 Lakhs on-road Kolkata, the Titanium+ feels an excellent value for money seeing the specification and equipment on offer, special highlight to the safety features and that thud further re-assuring the decision.
I sold my i20 a year back and from then I have been looking for a replacement. I had tried numerous vehicles including Volkswagen Ameo, Ford Aspire, Verna 4S 1.4, Elite i20, New Jazz, the Nexon etc. but couldn't connect with anyone. Finally the perfect replacement has been found, for me the Freestyle is a Jack of All and meets all my requirements which includes Fun to drive, fully loaded cabin, safety features and a rare design. Being a Crossover & a Ford, I feel it won't sell in huge numbers adding that exclusivity to it. Moreover I'm planning to opt for the Black color and as per my dealer the maximum bookings he has received are for Canyon Ridge and I would be the first customer in Eastern India to book a black Freestyle hence I would get that exclusivity their too.
Now, I just have one dilemma, should I check out the new Honda Amaze too as both are almost priced the same. As per my known Sales executive in Honda Amaze 1.2 V is 7.7 and VX is 8.2 on road which is quite close to each other hence ought I consider it?