Dec 09, 2005 04:48 PM
14926 Views
(Updated Feb 21, 2006 10:58 AM)
Impressions
When you first see the car, you notice that it has a very muscular look from the front, with flaring wheel arches. Unfortunately, these arches make the 14-inch wheels look puny. Beats me why companies in India dont offer mix-and-match, to suit customer interests. For example, they should allow different wheel sizes, ABS, trim levels etc as options for all their engine variants.
The headlight surround, which is part of the headlight module is black in the base version, and looks bad compared to the other versions in which this is chromed. The 1.6 litre version as well as the diesel engined model sport a chrome lining around the side beadings, and both of them have chrome around the front grille, fog lamps etc. The trouble is, if you scratch your rubber beadings, you will have to fork out a fortune to get them replaced!
Interiors
The interiors are welcoming, with good colour combinations, and the top end version that I saw had beige seat covers and floor mats. The dashboard, however, continued to be black. Whether these light colours will last in our dusty and/or muddy conditions is a moot question. The top end variants also have leather upholstery. Will they collect fungus come monsoon? Only time will tell! The AC vents look very upmarket, and also have chrome rings around them in the higher variants. The airconditioning itself is quite powerful, but cannot be compared to that of the Accent. While the base version has only a slot for a music system, the 1.6 litre engined car has a single CD player in the lower variant and the higher version comes with a 6 CD changer.
The switches, dashboard and other paraphernalia are borrowed from the Mondeo/Fusion and give the car an pricey look. In the base version, the steering and gear knob lack the aluminium touches that give it a classy finish. A striking feature that is not seen on any other car at this price range is the Distance to Emptymonitor on the dashboard, which tells you how many kilometres the car will run before the fuel tank goes dry.
The car is a little easier to get in and out of, compared to other sedans like the Accent, but not as inviting as the Fusion for anyone over 6 feet. Two of my pet grouses with other Fords pertain to this one as well-there is no dead pedal to put your left foot on, once it is off the clutch pedal. And the switches for the wipers and indicators are opposite to that found in all other Indian cars (they have not made any change to these while converting the car from left to right hand drive!).
The heart of the matter
I test drove the version with the 1.6 L petrol engine. This is the same engine that powers the Fusion, and the quality is the same. Smooth power delivery, waiting on the wings to be beckoned by your right foot on the electronically controlled (and extremely enjoyable) accelerator pedal, makes this car a joy to drive both in the city and the highway. Overtaking is a snap, as the acceleration is superb, but not as good as the Fusion. Perhaps the company has re-mapped the ECU to give better fuel efficiency than the Fusion. I guess that the engine should give similar mileage as the Fusion (or slightly better if the ECU has been remapped), about 10kpl in the city and 13-15 in the highway. The power-steering, however, is a tad too sensitive. Apparently Ford is claiming that the diesel version will get you 20kpl.
Ford however, would have done better to bring out two trim levels for each engine and also to have offered ABS as an option for every variant! Just because you cant afford the 1.6 litre version does not mean that you should be deprived of a safer driving experience. Similarly, the fact that the indicator switches are on the left and wiper switch is on the right (opposite to that on most other cars in India) is a big irritant, especially if you have to switch between two vehicles frequently.
The Verdict
For all that, I think this is a sure-fire success formula for Ford, and things can only get better as time goes by! Go for it if you want a peppy car with reasonable mileage or if you want to glide through the miles in comfort while using an oil (diesel) burner.
