The Ford Figo is a very popular car indeed, but what Ford has done is dive straight into the Crossover market which has been growing very quickly as people want cars that are higher off the ground. Enter the Ford Figo Freestyle, this is a directly aimed at the Renault Sandero Stepway and Suzuki Ignis and personally, I enjoyed driving the Figo and it will probably be the car that dominates this segment.
With its jacked-up ride height, the car is significantly taller than the standard Figo giving it a lot more presence on the road, but a majority of the people that will drive this car probably will not take it off-road but the benefits of the 16mm increase of the ground are that if you mistakenly drive over the curb you don’t have to panic (which I did like twice). The feeling of not having to worry about things like that is certainly comforting.
The model we received is the Ford Figo Freestyle trend, in essence, the base model of the freestyle and I got to say I like the way it looks, it’s a happy car that just wants to have fun. That is very evident by the styling which sets this Figo Freestyle apart from the standard Figo, the chunky wheel, wheel arch mouldings and roof rails add to the Figo Freestyle charm. I received great comments while driving this car as well with people asking if it is a new Ford, and when I told them it’s a Figo they really couldn’t believe how good this version looked so I give full marks to the blue oval with the styling of this car.
The Figo Freestyle has a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated engine that produces 91kW and 150N.m the engine for me is the star of the show purely because it has no turbos, I miss driving a car with a smooth, linear performance. Turbos have greatly improved the economy and power of small cars but they have stripped away the fun, small turbocharged cars run out of puff at a certain RPM and it turns into a trolley whereas in this it just keeps going and you cant help but smile. As well, when you get to a speed-up in a Figo Freestyle and you drop to gear 2 you can safely make it out of that speed hump in gear 2, try that in a turbocharged car in this segment and I am pretty sure you will stall causing a whole traffic jam behind you.
Ford claims this car can achieve an average fuel consumption of 5.5 L/100 km. This is where I have an issue with this car, no matter how much i tried to drive a frugal as possible the best that could do was 6.9 L/100 km. With me driving normally I was easily averaging 7.5 L/100 km, I get that the downside of a non-turbocharged car would be that uses more fuel to generate its power but i thought it would be a tad bit better than this. You would think the ECO mode would do something but I didn’t see any real benefits to it. The Figo Freestyle has a 42-litre fuel tank and Ford says on a full tank the range is 764 km.
The Trend model in terms of spec doesn’t have all the nice bits you would find on the titanium model but it is still very decent. It has Rear PDC which some cars in this segment don’t have. The speakers in a Ford Figo have always been the best in its segment in my opinion and the freestyle is no exception. Seats are very comfortable and with the car being higher off the ground combined with the chunky tyres, the ride is smoother than you would think. All-in-all it is a nice place to be in there is plenty of room in the back seats and everyone can be comfortable in the Ford Figo Freestyle. The interior is very well thought-out with cup holders and storage compartments in abundance in the back or front seats.
The Figo Freestyle range starts from R241 100 for this trend model and the 1.5 Titanium costs R263 200, which includes a 4-year/60 000 km service plan and 4-year/120 000 km warranty.
My views on the Figo Freestyle, it’s a car for younger people or the young at heart. It has great looks, great engine, great space and most of all its an exciting car, Ford has always known how to make a small car and we see their experience in this field with the Figo Freestyle. It is an epic little car.
Specs
- Engine: 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol
- Power: 91kW @ 6500 rpm
- Torque: 150 Nm @ 4250 rpm
- Transmission: five-speed manaul
- Acceleration: 11.8 secinds (claimed)
- Top Speed: 175 km/h
- Fuel Consumption: 5.5 l/100 km (claimed)
- Price: R226 700
