Try as I may how can I announce without announcing that I won't be making an
announcement! BRO! We're back! Ooo What is this place? Why are we wearing the same outfit?
Does that seem a little familiar to you? Well of course, it's familiar, most certainly we were here
a couple of months ago some time back when... Baleno RS vs. Polo GT TSI!
That's right when he chose the RS over the TSI and created an unrest among
enthusiasts. Me!? You were the one who couldn't choose a winner and you kept
these wonderful people waiting on another car! Even worse, we pissed off our
Bossman, Ninad Mirajgaonkar!
What the hell is wrong with you guys?
Idiots! Nincompoops! You're supposed to drive cars! Not dance around them!
Be serious guys!
Everything we say here today will be either in black or white
and this time we'll get you the car that you have been waiting on - the Ford Figo S!
The petrol Figo S is the car you should just totally ignore. This! What a car!
This cabin, this great air-conditioner, the clutch is great, the steering rack, well even
though it's an electrically assisted rack
it is easily one of the best, if not the best in the segment. Changes on the
inside - red stitching on the steering, the seats, ooh! a bigger roof spoiler and how
can I forget, the suspension. But the Figo S what they've essentially done is fit
the UK spec suspension, stiffened up the anti-roll bars, drop the suspension a
little bit, put stiffer springs as well, they've accommodated bigger tires and
this makes all the difference!
With the gearbox throws are nice and short and with this engine you always
are in the sweet spot of the power band
With the added suspension and the added changes to the car, it weighs 14 kilos
more over the standard Figo but that added weight well, it really masks it well.
You don't really feel it in the corners. There's lot of great progression, lot of good feedback.
Such a great driving experience and as you can tell by the look on my face, I am
just having a blast. I guess it's time for us to summarize then folks for all
of us who had been complaining of the lack of good fun family cars, news flash!
Ford's still making them. Well I just hope they're not charging as a bomb for it
then. Not at all because at Rs 7.2 lakh the Ford Figo S diesel is cheaper
than the Ignis diesel and for all the things that you get new on the inside
the reworked suspension and all that jazz, well this one costs the same as, wait
for it, the standard Figo! What!? Well I guess you have a winner then! Yep, said in
black and white, if it were my white money, I would put it on this white car!
Pack up! Let's go! I'm hungry! Hey Ray, is the hot? Nevermind, let's go, I am hungry!
Wait a second, you said that the Figo has cost the same as the standard
Figo! How is that possible? Well they've taken off four airbags!
What? Four airbags
are important bro! Yeah but then it still gets 2 airbags, right? The Baleno RS and Polo
GT TSI also get two airbags. Yeah but it can't be the winner then! Oh dude come
on they're selling 500 of these cars Figo s don't you want them to be selling
more cars? It's a good car! Not a winner bro! Oh you want to see a winner? Yeah!
We're gonna go back! What?
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the most powerful hatch then manufactured in
India - the Abarth Punto! The Abarth Punto then is in a different league altogether
compared to its competition because it offers more, a lot more! By a lot more I
presume he means the 1.4 liter Tjet petrol engine. So if you have someone
telling you that this engine is the same from Fiat Linea, well not really because
it's in a different state of tune and comes equipped with a much larger
turbocharger. So in this configuration, the Abarth
Punto dishes out 145 horses and 212 Nme of torque which means that
this car is going to catapult itself to a 100 kmph mark in a mere
8.8 seconds and to extract that performance, we upsize to Michelin
performance rubber - Primacy 3 ST's. This car here ladies and gentlemen gives me the
joys and the charms of an old school hydraulic steering setup, now this car
also gets four disc brakes remember the Polo GT TSI or the Ford Figo S
get drum breaks at the back, not this one
so there's plenty of braking power, 16 inch scorpion rims which don't just
happen to be the largest but they also happen to be the best-looking of the lot
reworked suspension like the Ford Figo S totally irons of these small to medium
road undulations and keeps the car very composed, very planted, even at high speeds
While keeping this body rolls completely in check.
The nice suspension, the great steering and the braking should mean that overall
as a package the Abarth Punto is great but it isn't! Every single time you floor the throttle, it
struggles to put the power down, the A pillar is in the way of my vision, the
space down there at the pedals is really cramped up, this display screen looks
like calculator, I still have to figure out what these three buttons are the
climate controls mean, there are very few cubby holes and what about ESP or
traction control for small things like parking sensors? Getting into a good driving
position is quite a task
but will I buy the car? Yes! Should you buy the car?
Yes! Because this car needs you
So the Abarth is the winner then, huh? No one's winning Glen, because we're all
losing!
You see that's the point that I'm trying to make with the Ford Figo S!
The Figo S still has some time left but the Abarth Punto, its fate is nearly
sealed and that's because ever since the Punto Abarth has been launched in our
market, well, it hasn't really done well, and as we speak today, the production has
stopped. Sure, they say they'll be manufacturing the car again but then
there's no telling for how long, and the point I'm trying to make here is this, if
us enthusiasts want the Indian automotive market to usher itself into
the dawn of a new beginning then we've got to make the right choices and if you
don't show awareness and understanding for good cars, good cars will never be made
at all! Thank you for watching PowerDrift, folks do remember to subscribe to
PowerDrift if you want good videos made at all until next time! Ciao!
you