Light the fuse… and off you Figo
It is a car that is greater than the sum of its parts and ticks all the right boxes Join The Independent Travel Club
WILLEM VAN DE PUTTE
DYNAMITE comes in small packages…
And if you’re going to be using a cliché, you may as well go the whole hog, I was once told sarcastically by one of my Journalism lecturers many years ago.
So in the interest of keeping Professor Claassen happy, I won’t be telling you how the little Ford Figo cuts through traffic like a knife through butter, ticks all the right boxes or is greater than the sum of its parts.
Which by the way, I suppose, could be used, having spent a week with the 1.5 TIVCT Trend hatch 5MT. The Figo can be driven either as a five-door hatch or four-door sedan.
As its name suggests, it’s a 1.5 litre petrol engine, but not the usual four cylinders, though. Ford has sneakily taken one away, cast an aluminium block and cylinder head to make it lighter, added twin independent variable camshaft timing (TIVCT) for the four valves per cylinder engine and got it to produce 88kw and 150Nm.
The Figo is Ford’s entry to the brand and with most entry-level vehicles, it’s not designed to be a robot to robot racer and neither is it stacked to the brim with technology. It’s ultimately solid and safe transport, which in the sub-b segment of the market will always be hotly contested.
Essentially Ford (and every manufacturer, for that matter) wants you to get behind the wheel of the Figo, progress through their offering and hopefully one day put down your money for a Ranger Wildtrak or the Raptor which was launched this week.
And even though the Figo may be a small car (dynamite…) don’t discount it when it comes to some nifty features. In the entry-level Ambiente, you get electric front windows, electric power-assisted steering, tilt adjustment for the steering column and headlight level adjustment.
Ford’s Audio unit is standard too with an integrated display and four speakers and a very cleverly designed Device Dock in the upper section of the centre console. Clever thinking, there, considering how many times you’ve tried to find a place for your phone which somehow always ends up being in an awkward space somewhere in the centre console or door panel. Driver and passenger airbags are standard as is ABS with electronic brakeforce distribution.
On the Trend, tested here, you get the addition of a belt minder for driver and passenger, power rear windows, rear window defroster and a gear shift indicator for manual models.
It’s fitted with 14-inch alloys, powered side mirrors, front fog lamps (it’s almost a cliché too that most South Africans have no idea why they are there) and full-colour coding for door were brisk and direct with a lovely long third gear; the clutch was almost effortless.
But because the car is probably going to be spending the majority of its time in the rough and tumble of the urban jungle, I would opt for the six- speed auto box, which is just so much easier when you’re crawling up William Nichol Drive playing Russian roulette with taxis.
But when you manage to get a bit of open road, the little Figo gets up to speed surprisingly quickly and handles the twists and turns with relative ease, but like I said, it isn’t a boy racer.
There was not much wind noise but road noise, although not intrusive, was certainly noticeable, which I suspect was more the fault of the tyres rather than the car itself. Oh well, one reason to play the music louder through Bluetooth I suppose.
Overall, the Figo remains a sensible purchase in the segment and should be on the have-a-look list, despite strong opposition from the Germans, Japanese and Koreans. So you see, it really is greater than the sum of its parts… sorry, Prof, had to get that in there. The Figo comes with a four-year/ 120 000km warranty, three-year/ unlimited distance roadside assistance and a four-year / 60 000km service plan.