SA Roadtests
South Africa
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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here probably applies to the models you can get at home.
*To read one of our road tests, just select from the menu on the left.
*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the stories.
Published in The Witness Motoring on Wednesday September 15, 2010
When VWSA retained its already amortised Golf 1 as an entry-level price leader, only two or three competitors followed. Introduce Polo Vivo to carry on the good work after CitiGolf is finally pensioned off, though, and everybody wants a piece of the action. This is good, because Joe and Joanne Average simply can't afford the stratospheric prices demanded for new cars today. The cynic in me also suspects an admission on the part of manufacturers and importers that something has gone skull-shaped in the state of Mzansi.
Be that as it may, Ford took its previous-generation Fiesta, moved production to India and released it both there and in SA as a cool little price leader named Figo. Fomoco SA does not approve of any attempt to describe Figo as cute, cuddly, funky, or anything else that detracts from the serious business of moving people, but "cool" is fine, because that's what "figo" means in colloquial Italian.
Moving on, Figo is available here with two engines and two levels of trim, for a total of three models. Confused? Choose between 1,4 litre Duratec petrol engine or 1,4 litre Duratorq turbodiesel in basic Ambiente trim, or a petrol version in Trend guise. There are only two prices; R110 000 for Ambiente petrol or R125 000 for either of the others.
A turbodiesel car from a major manufacturer at only R125 000 is quite an achievement nowadays, so obviously some toys had to be sacrificed. The windows wind manually, one adjusts the outside mirrors with little stalks inside the doors, central locking is by means of the ignition key, the driver's seat does not move up and down and the wheels are plain steel. What hardship, hey? Practical folk might be pleased with fewer electronic gubbinses begging to fail and cost money, but if you really must have bling, buy the Trend model.
You still get air conditioning, a nice little radio/CD with auxiliary input, autolocking on the move, two airbags and a trip meter that includes a display for distance to empty. The diesel version includes a light to warn you should you get water in your fuel. If you don't think you'll ever need it, you haven't been long at the school of hard knocks, have you? The motor is not the quietest on the market, either, but there is something reassuring about its gentle tock-tocking sound. Besides, what could be cooler than an environmentally friendly baby diesel?
The Figo may be a budget car, but that doesn't mean it's cheap and nasty. ''Creating appeal and communicating value to the customer starts with good design," says Emily Lai, colour and materials Design Manager for Figo. "You want a car that reflects and makes a statement about you."
According to Lai, lowering the cost of a vehicle doesn't mean quality, luxury and character have to be excluded. "You start with a quality baseline and build from there," she explains.
Solid design, good stance and contemporary silhouette were all built in. "These features graduate Figo into the next class of vehicles, making it look like more car than you would expect for the money. Small doesn't have to be boring," says Scott Strong, Ford Asia Pacific and Africa (APA) Design Director.
Precise and responsive steering with a fine balance between ride comfort and control is ensured through optimised suspension design. Power assistance is hydraulic. Old fashioned, perhaps, but those who know insist that it's still the best way to go. What it means to you is easy driving, both on the freeway and in city traffic. With generous glass area giving excellent all-round visibility, Figo is both easy to park and to manoeuvre.
Small it may be, but this little car actually makes good on its boast of having plenty of room inside. It is short at 3 795 mm, but a tall design with upright seating allows adequate head- and legroom for six-footers seated behind equally tall front seat occupants. The boot measures 284 litres, effectively doubled when the single piece seat back is folded down.
On the road, the little diesel is not a ball of fire, getting up to 100 km/h in a shade over 15 seconds, but its generous torque makes up for that, maintaining speed up hills and keeping up with traffic quite comfortably. The ratios in the easy shifting five-speed 'box are nicely spaced, cruising at 120 at 3 000 rpm but still providing good roll-on acceleration from about 90 km/h in fifth.
Unusually for a city car, Ford brags about ground clearance of 168 mm and approach and departure angles of 21,6 degrees and 32,5 degrees. No, the company is not suggesting you go off-road - Figo is good at negotiating those steep driveways with nasty gutters at the bottom.
Spacious, comfortable, manoeuvrable, economical and green - it's Figo, indeed!
The numbers
Price: R125 000
Engine: 1 398 cc SOHC common rail turbodiesel
Power: 51 kW at 4 000 rpm
Torque: 160 Nm at 2 000 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 15,8 seconds
Maximum speed: 163 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: about 6,0 l/100 km
Tank: 45 litres
Warranty: 4 years/120 000 km
Service plan: Optional
Intervals: 15 000 km
Our review of a 2016 Ford Figo sedan is here
This is a one-man show, which means that road test cars entrusted to me are driven only by me. Some reviewers hand test cars over to their partners to use as day-to-day transport and barely experience them for themselves.
What this means to you is that every car reviewed is given my own personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every car goes through real world testing; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.
I am based in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa. This is the central hub of the KZN Midlands farming community; the place farmers go to to buy their supplies and equipment, truck their goods to market, send their kids to school and go to kick back and relax.
So occasionally a cow, a goat or a horse may add a little local colour by finding its way into the story or one of the pictures. It's all part of the ambience!
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8