Ford Figo facelift 1.4 Duratorq Titanium - User Experience Review

Remember the gaudy, red dashboard plastics of the old Figo? Some liked them, but most people stayed away from them. Ford has addressed the concern and has given the newer Figo a navy-blue dash. It does look a lot more sober than the earlier one; does not reflect in the windshield during daytime driving and looks as good as black, at night. The design of the dashboard remains unchanged.

Matching the navy-blue scheme of the dashboard in the new fabric upholstery. It looks more stylish than the older design with its ‘colour block’ design theme. Colour-block seems to be in the in-thing in fashion and simply means placing blocks of different colours next to each other to create a flow or contrast. The Figo’s upholstery and door-inserts use a combination of grey and blue and lend the Figo a sportier yet soothing ambience. Being largely grey, the interiors won’t get soiled easily either – unlike other ‘beige’ loving cars in India.

Comfortable seating has always been the Figo’s forte and it has no reason to change in the facelift either. The front seats are adequately large for a hatchback and the rear bench can seat two adults and a kid in comfort. The rear seats are also contoured like the buckets up-front, unlike the flat bench you see in rival cars like the Etios Liva and the Chevrolet Sail. The backrest of the rear bench though is slightly more upright for my liking and long distance travel could hence be cumbersome. This angle of the backrest frees up more cargo space, summing up to a 294 litres of boot space.

The instrumentation and the centre console are exactly similar to the outgoing model of the Figo. You still have the amber backlight for the clocks that further adds to the Figo’s sporty ambience. The centre console has a bottle holder and cubbyholes for knick-knacks but the 12V socket next to the gear shifter feels like an afterthought. Portable chargers with a longer stalk can intrude while shifting into fifth.

The facelift Figo also gets some new creature comforts. While the steering height adjustment was always there, the steering column now gets a stalk that controls audio functions. Note that these are not steering mounted controls, but mounted on a unit that is similar to a conventional cruise-control stalk. Phone controls are still on the audio head-unit itself, which is a downer since it needs you to take your eyes off the road to respond to a phone call. The audio system also gets a speed-sensing volume adjustment function which filters down from the Fiesta / Classic-Titanium range.

With the new Fiesta, Ford India had made clear that they are stressing on technology and gadgets with their new cars. It is nice to see their most basic offering get a similar treatment too and could go a long way in giving the consumer an added ‘feel-good’ factor. Read to know how the Figo performs on the road…