We’ve barely ever had a really good automatic hatchback in India until recently and that too has been quite a pricey affair. So, when Ford launched the Figo 1.5 Ti-VCT with 6-speed PowerShift at under Rs 7 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi), it got our full attention. And quite rightly so – ‘coz this little beauty has proven to be quite the package.
The Figo hatch descends straight from the philosophy of the Figo Aspire sedan which was launched just a few months ago as well. But thanks to the weight it has shed at the back, it’s about 20kg lighter than its sedan sibling.
With 112PS and 136Nm on tap from its 1.5-litre petrol mill, the Figo hatch combined with the 6-speed PowerShift dual-clutch automatic transmission has all the ingredients for the making of an epic success.
But will buyers bite?
Let me just go out on a limb right now and put it out there – the Figo AT has a lot going for it to entice both performance enthusiasts as well as the regular family-car shopper. The chunky torque figure and the big-ish engine capacity take care of driveability lower down in the rev-range – there is no replacement for displacement as they say.
Ford’s PowerShift autobox does well to keep the engine in the sweet spot regardless of the driving condition and this is what essentially gives the Figo AT its 17km/l tested efficiency.
Switch to Sport mode and things get a little peppier with the ‘box now shifting at slightly higher RPM. If you really want to have some fun though, switch it to manual mode using the +/- rocker on the side of the shift stick and take over complete control.
The engine revs really high till you decide to shift up and this is when the car truly shows its 112PS off beautifully – at the cost of slightly reduced fuel efficiency of course. It’s really two cars in one – a competent traffic buster with low fuel consumption in D and S modes and a sporty performance-oriented machine in manual mode.
Of course everything else just pieces together to heighten the experience around the Figo 1.5P AT – the suspension is well-tuned for our roads, there is loads of storage and gadgets abound, just like on the Aspire.
You will have to make do with just two airbags though, considering the AT is available only in the Titanium trim but it does come loaded with ABS, EBD, ESP, TCS (traction control) and HLA (hill launch assist).
You will also have to settle for the MyFord Dock fitment atop the dashboard to integrate your smartphone with the car instead of Sync with AppLink.
Just make sure you have a phone with the charging port either on the top or bottom edge of your phone and that it isn’t too big either.
The only competition to this car is the Polo GT TSi, but that will cost you Rs 2 lakh more than the Ford Figo.
In a nutshell, the Ford Figo 1.5 Ti-VCT is pretty much an all-rounder – the kind of car that keeps things stress-free through the week while you commute to the office and then is good enough to have some fun on the weekend.
This split personality is definitely in order.
(Muntaser Mirkar is one of India’s renowned automotive journalists. He is the Co-Founder of MotorScribes and can be reached on Twitter: @BullSpeech.)
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