City Usage - Omkar Thakur

The B-segment is slowly becoming the best-seller with the increasing purchasing power and the changing choice of the Indian automotive consumer. Since 2010, the Figo stands here, as a formidable competitor for those who want to think beyond Maruti Suzuki. Ford had worked big time upon reducing its maintenance costs over the years with the Fiesta and the Classic, and has reinforced it with the Figo. This pocket tank has been our daily driver for just over two months now, and we already feel like never letting this car go!

The Figo is based on the European Mk-5 Fiesta hatchback and after the minor facelift in 2012, the car now looks cute. It appears small due to its low slung structure and rather straight body-lines. The slightly flared wheel arches give it a muscular look. The interiors can be termed as basic with the lack of extravagant gadgetry like the Hyundai’s, but the top-end Titanium has all features that are considered as a benchmark for the segment. It has steering column mounted audio controls, front and rear fog lamps, front and rear wiper and washer, 2-Din audio system with USB, AUX as well as Bluetooth connectivity and a number of cup and bottle holders. The AC is effective – cooling you off within a minute during day-time. After sundown, you have to move the thermostat off max cooling to avoid freezing!

The seats are well contoured and provide enough lumbar, side and thigh support keeping you comfortable in those massive traffic snarls. The thigh support comes to the rescue when you are constantly using the clutch, giving that additional comfort, which is more than welcome. We didn’t really use the rear seats during our everyday commutes, but they are quite spacious and comfortable. It has a huge and usable boot space that can be multiplied by folding the rear seat and is more than enough for the extensive equipment we have to carry sometimes. I am sure it must be the same for today’s nuclear families that go out for the weekend shopping at malls. If there are only two occupants in the car, to a level, we would opt for the Figo over many bigger hatchbacks and compact sedans purely for space. We would certainly want automatic climate control and leather seats on the top-end. It would give the Figo that premium feel, something that we feel it is missing on.

Did I say ‘pocket tank’ before? Yes – it is true! This car carries the solid build quality of the Ford brand and the typical thud of closing doors. Since the car is low slung, you have to be cautious on every badly built speed hump you come across for the fear of bottoming out. Getting in and out of the car is also a little tedious due to the same low stance but the comfortable seats make it up for you.

The hatchbacks are mostly bought for traveling small distances, through heavy clogged traffic or narrow lanes which is where the car excels. The 68bhp 1.4 litre turbocharged diesel mill develops a peak of 160Nm torque starting from as low as 1,750rpm. The turbo spool in is early and smooth giving the car almost a petrol like drive feel except for the engine noise and a slightly sluggish clutch. The low-end torque makes driving in bumper to bumper traffic as well as those quick low-speed overtaking maneouvers easy.

The hydraulic power steering weighs up well and gives precise feedback when you turn in – a treat for the enthusiast on the highways and twisty roads. The downside is, for everyday commute, it is a little heavy and needs extra effort to maneouver in traffic or in your parking space. Now this might be a big issue for many, but our team is all smiles about it. The suspension setup is also nice with low-speed bump cushioning and high speed stability blended together. We had an interesting find though - the Figo creaked over bumps on winter mornings and after a few minutes of driving, the creaks vanished. Our in-house experts attribute it to worn out spring mounts. This may be due to the media car abuse or probably the mount material composition needs a second look.

The Figo is a highly fuel efficient car and when driven sedately gives a fuel efficiency of about 16kmpl in slow moving city traffic and upwards of 19kmpl on highways with the air-conditioning switched on. There are times when even we manage to be on desk for all five days of the week covering close 275km in diesel worth Rs 1000. The maintenance costs are also quite competitive while the mileage is on the higher side. We serviced the car a couple of weeks ago and the bill was about Rs 5,000 – not bad at all - considering that we rolled the odometer from 14000 to 28000 in just over two months!