New Ford Figo Aspire – 5 Things we Like and Dislike

The Ford Figo Aspire is the newest car to hit the very competitive compact sedan segment. The new Ford Figo Aspire will go up against the highest selling car in India, the Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire. The Figo Aspire will also go up against the likes of the very capable and well equipped Hyundai Xcent, the Honda Amaze and the Tata Zest. So what do we like and dislike about this new car? Well, read on...

5 THINGS WE LIKE ABOUT THE NEW FORD FIGO ASPIRE

Price

The Ford Figo Aspire has been priced extremely competitively. With the petrol version with the manual gearbox starting at Rs 4.90 lakh, the diesel version with the manual gearbox starting at Rs 5.90 lakh and the petrol automatic variant priced at Rs 7.80 lakh, the Aspire is well priced versus its competition.

Exterior and Interior Design

We have written extensively about how the Aspire is a good-looking car. That said, apart from the large grille and impressive design, what really does manage to impress us though is how well proportioned the car actually is. In fact, when compared to the other compact sedans, the Ford Figo Aspire has the best boot integration.

Like most Ford vehicles recently, the Aspire has a very unique and appealing look that feels like it came straight out of a Transformers movie. We also like the general quality of the switchgear and how the gloss black, grey and beige seem to integrate seamlessly. We also like how there is no fake plasticy wood finishes here.

Interior Space

The Ford Figo Aspire is certainly the most spacious car in its category. With scooped out front seats, the rear passengers certainly have a lot of leg room, head room and most importantly, shoulder room. In fact, the rear is spacious enough to comfortable fit three full grown average Indian passengers with ease.

Diesel engine performance

The 1.5-litre diesel engine in the Ford Figo Aspire makes a healthy 100PS of peak power and 215Nm of peak torque and returns a mileage of 25.83kmpl. It is not only on paper that is impressive though, it is also on the road where It showcases great performance. Yes, it is slightly on the noisy side, but it does pull well from lower speeds and displays great drivability.

Ride and Handling

The Ford Figo Aspire is certainly the best handling car in its category. Although we would have preferred to see a set of 15-inch wheels and tyres that the Fiesta gets, the Asprie gets a set of 14-inch wheels with 175/65 R14 tyres. The Aspire also rides really well and does not showcase much bounciness on uneven surfaces although there is a hint of body roll at higher speeds.

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5 THINGS WE DISLIKE ABOUT THE NEW FORD FIGO ASPIRE

Petrol engine performance

The Ford Figo Aspire with the petrol engine does feel very underpowered and slow to respond to any sort of enthusiastic driving. The 1.2-litre petrol may have 88PS on paper but it does struggle to get up to speed. Strangely, the petrol does feel a little rougher and noisier than it should too, especially if compared to petrol engines from the likes of Maruti or Honda. Would we choose the diesel then? Yes, of course.

Lack of parking sensors or reversing camera

Everyone knows how parking is a genuine pain in the backside for most Indians. Not only is there a limited amount of space in our bigger cities and metros but there are also an array of obstructions that hinder parking. Although parking sensors and a reversing camera are available as official accessories, the standard car even in its top of the line version does not come with them. In a segment that offers this feature across most other cars, this cost saving measure from Ford is truly unacceptable.

No projector headlamps or daytime running lights

With the likes of the Tata Zest offering both Daytime running lights and projector headlamps in the top of the line version, the Ford Figo Aspire should have certainly integrated them. Sadly, the Aspire does not come with either. The Figo Aspire’s headlamps in fact are one of the more boring design elements on the car apart from the rear bootlid design.

Bootspace

Pretty much self explanatory, the Ford Figo Aspire’s boot is pretty small when compared to some of the other cars in its category. What makes it worse it the fact that a high loading lip and the smaller boot cavity make loading and unloading a slightly tedious task too.

No Diesel Automatic

It is high time manufacturers realize that there is a real market for a diesel automatic car in India. With only Tata offering an automatic option in the segment with the Zest AMT, the Figo Aspire would have had a great impact on the market as a slightly more premium product with an auto box. Sadly though, the Figo Aspire with an automatic gearbox is available only with a 1.5-petrol engine. Is this an opportunity missed for the American manufacturer? We think so.