16 months of the Figo 1.2

Hello T-Bhpians, This is my first post on the forum after more than a year of only reading threads and not being able to post. Thanks you Mods for approving. One of the reviews I wanted to always post as soon as I became a member is that of my 2010 Figo 1.2 named 'Red Rascal'. I purchased the car in Aug 2011 and started adding accessories and changing stock parts within a couple of weeks. >From the time I bought the car, I had no complaints what so ever since the car was all that I paid for, nothing more ,nothing less. It is occupied most of the times by me alone or at the most another person at the front passenger seat, so no complaints of the read windows rolling down themselves , which it hardly does anyway, nor the lack of rear power windows. The car was a delight to drive , enough power in the city but inadequate on the highways. I compare it with my cast iron Bullet 350. Takes a long while to reach a good operating temperature after which it is in its own element and good speeds are reached on its own accord. No complaints since I am not a power freak and enjoy the torque and handling of a car more. It has been a year 4 months and 11500kms of ownership and I had no complaints so far. The mileage is nothing to write home about but something that I can live with since I use the car a couple of times a week. I was getting a consistent 11-11.5 kmpl with A/C in city and on highway the best was 17 kmpl with AC at speeds around 110. The two free services that are done with went on smoothly which was done at Metro Ford, Lingrajapuram. Well, I had no complaints so only the basics were done at both the services. Ofcourse, the known issue of rear brakes sticking when handbrake is engaged for many days together and the front discs making a rubbing noise persists, but I did not follow up with it since it did not hamper the braking. My father has a 2005 Swift Lxi which is off the first batch of Swifts that rolled out which I have driven around quite a bit and if I compare both, they are actually quite similar, that is in the handling department and nothing else. All I wanted was that extra little power when the car was loaded, with the A/C on. With the A/C , it is severely underpowered. What baffled me the most was why couldn't Ford do a bit more R&D on this engine and could have released it with atleast a minimum of 75-80bhp instead of the 71 which made it made feel even less powered because the car itself is on the heavier side which is actually good becuase it helps a lot in handling. Mine is a Exi version and the first stock part I replaced were the rims for alloys after which I realized the stock MRF tires were as good as bullock cart wheels and swapped them for bigger Continental 185/65 r14 tires which I got to test soon after on a drive back from Chennai in contineous downpour all the way. Amazing it was. The car was rock solid at speeds north of 100 wet roads and standing water at some stretches. No complains there. Next I wanted some kind of extra power and since the car was below 10000kms mark, I did not have plans on any major modifications so I went in for the Cosworth stock replacement air filter. I still am mot sure if it made a difference since I was to drive another Figo with the stock filter but never got around to doing it. I am an exhaust freak and love experimenting with different sounds and both my Bullets have gone through countless muffler changes( for which I am sure they would be cursing me for ) and I was in for a treat when I heard the note of the stock muffler of the Figo 1.2. A nice bassy hum on idle and a very light racy note post 2700rpm which I hardly heard because I am not in the habit of revving the engine. All that was to go since the car was Power Drived by RRP Blore! the RRP experience and pictures To be cont'd ..

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