technology FORD FIGO ASPIRE FORD FIGO ASPIRE – NEW YARDSTICK IN COMPACT SEDANS

First showcased ahead of the last Auto Expo in 2014, the Ford Figo Aspire is all set to be rolled-out in the Indian market shortly. The company has put to good use the feedback it has received in the 18-odd months since then. We recently drove the vehicle to get a first-hand experience of the newest offering in the fast-growing sub-four- metre compact segment. And we believe has a product that could dent the fortunes of the ex- isting vehicles in the segment. Read on to learn more.

46 www.autotechreview.com INTRODUCTION

Circa 2006: the then UPA government at the centre came up with a new legislation that seemed confounding at that time, but one that went to create a fairly successful vehicle segment in the Indian industry. Vehicles sub-four-metre in length with sub-1,200 cc petrol and sub 1,500 cc die- sel engines were eligible to benefit from lower excise duties. Tata Motors jumped in first with the launch of the Indigo CS in 2008, and in the last seven years, the seg- ment has seen the phenomenal success of 1.2 l Ti-VCT petrol engine 1.5 l TDCi diesel engine products like the Swift Dzire, and Hyundai Xcent. Add to that the success of the Ford EcoSport in the six-speed automatic dual-clutch transmis- those levels, the engine tends to get quite sub-four-metre SUV segment. sion (DCT). On the pre-launch drive, we noisy. The 98.6 hp of peak power and 215 The latest to enter this highly-competi- got to sample the first two engine options. Nm of torque results in a fuel economy of tive segment is the Ford Figo Aspire. Ford The 1,196 cc Ti-VCT petrol unit is the 25.8 km/l, based on ARAI tests. Our short had the advantage of benchmarking the same engine found on the outgoing Figo drive with the diesel indicated a mileage Figo Aspire against all its competitors in . The company has now modi- of 17.3 km/l on the meter console. Inter- the market, and naturally, one could fied the cylinder head intake ports and estingly, this same engine on the Fiesta expect it to score better on most counts. also optimised the cam timing to help and EcoSport delivers only about 90 hp of Ford officials we spoke to are supremely the engine deliver more power. Theoreti- power. The improved power on the Aspire confident that they have a winner in cally, the Twin independent Variable is due to the tweaks made to the ECU and hand. This is a product that has been Camshaft Timing allows for variable con- fixed-geometry turbocharger. engineered from scratch, unlike many of trol of valve overlap, which results in its predecessors that were adaptations. improved low speed torque and better Gearbox: So, just how good is the Figo Aspire? fuel efficiency. We found the engine to As mentioned earlier, the Aspire has two We were recently invited by the com- perform well within city limits, but on transmissions on offer: the five-speed pany to drive the vehicle around the highway the 86.8 hp of power and manual and a six-speed PowerShift auto- Udaipur. In this feature, we take a deep 112 Nm of torque doesn’t quite translate matic mated to the 1.5 l petrol engine. dive into the vehicle, its features and into an engaging drive. Once launched, the Aspire will be the the technology introductions that Ford On the other hand, the 1.5 l TDCi die- only compact sedan in the market with a has brought in; in addition to giving you sel engine is much more fun to be with, six-speed automatic transmission. the first drive impressions. and responds very well to throttle inputs. The turbo kicks in at about 1,400 rpm and Safety: there is ample power till 4,000 rpm, but at Ford India has put a lot of onus on mak- TECH ADVANTAGE

The Figo Aspire is a result of some very smart and thoughtful engineering from the American carmaker. To our mind, the vehicle appears to have a distinct advan- tage over competition in terms of how it looks both from the outside and inside. We are particularly impressed by the com- mitment the company is making towards safety, which we shall delve into a little later. Inside the vehicle, there are a few segment-first features that we think would get the consumers’ nod of appreciation.

Engine options: Ford is lining up three engines for the Figo Aspire – 1.2 l petrol, 1.5 l diesel and 1.5 l petrol that will be available only with a The Figo Aspire is the most appealing compact sedan currently in the market autotechreview August 2015 Volume 4 | Issue 8 47 technology FORD FIGO ASPIRE

especially be popular with parents letting their children take the wheel at times, or even with chauffeurs. The MyKey allows you to programme and set speed warn- ings and limits, or activate a seat belt reminder and set the volume levels of the audio system.

MyFord Dock: You must have seen mobile phone dock- ing solutions available in the aftermarket, or even the ones offered by some manu- facturers. The MyFord Dock comes with the same objective, but seems like a far more practical solution. Placed atop the centre console, the dock smartly holds a phone or any other device, be it for music or navigation.

MyFord Dock allows phones to be used for multiple applications, including music and navigation ROUND-UP

It is fairly clear that Ford wanted to build ing the Aspire a very safe car. The Figo a vehicle that addresses almost every Aspire is the first car in its segment to get demand of the targeted consumer – it dual front as standard on all trim offers safety, allows connectivity, has over levels – a move that deserves apprecia- 20 storage points inside the car, generous tion. The top trim level, in fact, gets six space even for more-than-average com- airbags including side and curtain airbags muters, efficient engines, comfort and – another segment-first. ABS with EBD overall decent ride and handling. The sus- will be available on the top two variants, pension of the Figo Aspire has been set- while an electronic stability programme up very well, and it makes driving with traction control and hill launch assist through bad patches of road fairly easy would be offered on the top Titanium pet- and comfortable. The 175/65 section tyres rol variant (with AT). An interesting secu- on 14-inch rims offers a fair amount of rity feature on the Aspire is the perimeter grip around corners to complement the alarm, which detects any unauthorised able chassis. However, braking around a attempt to enter the car. corner might lead to the tail moving about a bit. This was more prominent on the Ford MyKey: lighter petrol variant. This is an interesting new feature added Overall, Ford India has been able to Ford MyKey should be popular among parents to the Ford portfolio. We feel this would develop and design a vehicle that should set new benchmarks in the sub-four-metre segment. It looks smart and young, is good to drive, and packed with features both to aid convenience and safety. If it’s priced anywhere closer to the segment leader, there is no reason why Ford wouldn’t head the pack.

Text & Photo: Deepangshu Dev Sarmah

Read this article on SYNC in the Figo Aspire is similar to that found on the Fiesta and EcoSport www.autotechreview.com

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