Ford Figo Titanium 1.5 Ti-VCT AT Long Term Review

Since Vikrant was going to get busy for a week, I decided to borrow his Figo for a bit. Compact dimensions, a dual clutch automatic transmission and a brilliant 1.5 litre petrol motor to boot, I was a happy man indeed. The Figo was used mainly for commuting which is like almost 80km daily and involves highways and city confines. I managed to log almost a 1000km in the two weeks that I had the car. Here two good and two bad things that I observed.

The Good

Stonker of a 1.5 litre engine

The 1.5 litre Ti-VCT petrol engine takes you back to the days of the original Ikon 1.6 Rocam. The engine has the eagerness of a sprightly puppyevery time you nail that throttle. It’s got a soundtrack to match too. All this despite the engine being mated to an automatic transmission. The twin clutch DCT gearbox isn’t exactly on the money but is still way better than the torque converters and the CVT’s. Overtaking is an extremely easy affair thanks to the engines strong drivability in gears. We just wish Ford had lunched a manual version of this engine in the Figo Sports Edition.

Handling

Now when you say that a car has good handling it can have more than one meaning. For the normal commuter it would mean the car being safe and predictable with ample grip when going into high and low speed corners. The Figo’s got that covered. But what about enthusiastic stuff where people like us push it hard into the corners and really like to push the car to its limits? Now Ford have always made cars that like to be driven and the Figo’s no different. The steering feels communicative and quick turn in’s mean you can really push the car hard. And even if you manage to overdo it, the ESC kicks in putting an end to any naughty antics you were up to.

The Bad

Not the most comfortable driving seats

The front seats on the Figo are more weird than uncomfortable. It takes quite a while before you find the perfect driving position and you keep adjusting for height and reach and the right steering wheel setting. Even when you do manage to find it, the seats don’t envelop you well enough. It feels like sitting on an inflated bubble seat. On long drives, it isn’t particularly uncomfortable but then you never feel at home on the seats no matter how much you try to adjust it.

Fussy multimedia unit

Connectivity is an extremely important factor when it comes to cars these days. Now Ford has provided some interesting bits like the MyDock feature but when it comes to using the multimedia unit, it’s not the friendliest unit to work with. After getting used to colourful touch screens, the small digital display feels like a thing of the past. It’s also cluttered with buttons which makes its operation a little irritating at times.

Vehicle Stats

Variant – Titanium

Odometer reading – 12,905 km

Positives of the report – delightful handling, peppy engine

Negatives of the report – Seats could have been better, needs a more user-friendly multimedia unit

Fuel Efficiency – 10.9kmpl