Dream sedan for medium budget
I had a Ford Ikon 1.3 petrol before this and was having trouble with it, so wanted to go for a new one. There were three options in front of me given that my budget was around 6.2 Lakhs max. I test drove Ritz (Diesel), Dzire (Diesel), Logan and the new Ikon 1.4 Dura torq .
TATA and Hyundai were excluded from the list for various reasons which I don't want to go into. When I went for the test drive I knew one thing for sure - the way my family travels with all that luggage I will definitely need elaborate boot space which means the hatchback models are ruled out. I did test drive the Ritz just to get a feel of the new car with the gear placed in a waterfall console. Now for the results of the test:
Rear Sitting Space: I found that Dzire and Ritz offered me much less space compared to Ikon while Logan was of course very very spacious.
Drive: The sheer joy of driving an Ikon was unbeatable. It had great power and excellent stability compared to the old Ikon 1.3. The suspension is very good . It was pretty silent for a diesel car but on the contrast the Ritz and Dzire were constantly making some sound which I found to be that of the belt. Just imagine a new car, a test drive car hardly driven for 2000 Kms and its belt makes so much noise! Of course this could be an one off case. Logan was as good but I found that I was only being offered a older make in Black colour only for the price I could afford. So that's bye bye to Logan.
Comfort: The seats in the new Ikon are cupping and they kind of hug you and gives you great ergonomics . Ritz and Dzire were pretty comfortable too.
Boot Space: The new Ikon's boot space is awesome . Dzire does well too in this segment but Ikon's boot looked more spacious! Ritz is pretty poor in providing space for luggage in spite of it rear seat folding option. Guess it is meant to be an urban car not for long distance travel!
My priorities were straight: A Sedan for 6.2 Lakhs which gives great mileage, goes really fast and is very stable. Not very particular about looks and interiors though should be decent n elegant and have basic minimum console properties. Given the budget, its generally Dzire Vs Ikon:
So I Finally bought the Ford Ikon 1.4 Duratorq TDCi (Platinum, looks cool n executive). I had booked the car on Vijayadasami day (dussera) 2009 and had got the car in good time. The car has done around 10, 000 Kms since then. It had been through some of the most unforgiving and grueling roads on the way to Bellary and Humpi from Andhra. The pits on the roads were such that literally a truck would vanish in front of our eyes and come out again and I am not joking! It took 1 hour for doing 6 kms and I am proud to say that the car was great even in these testing conditions. Though the ground clearance is not like that of SUV's there is ample protection given to the chassis at the bottom.
The car came through with just a few scratches on the bottom. Though on a personal note, I would advice you not to travel by sedans if you planning a trip to Humpi from AP During the entire trip I was the only one to know driving in my group of friends so did all the driving for a total of 26 hours over two days and had to drive around 15 hours continuously. Thanks to the comfort and ergonomically sound seat, I had not experienced any back pain at all !!!
Now about the performance of the car since I bought:
Mileage city/highway: 18/24 kmpL Top speed (I could manage on NH7): 180 kmph (Great Stability compared to Ikon 1.3, just make sure the air pressure in all tires is right) Pros: Great Price, Good mileage, Great Stability, Good ergonomics and comfort, Great boot space, nice beige interiors. Cons: Console pretty much the same except digital odometer and button provided in front of the gear for opening the boot.
I have rated the car excellent for given the constraints of budget, this car gives me more than what I can ask for. If you are looking for a sedan and don't have much cash to spare go for the Ford Ikon 1.4 TDCi.
Its awesome!!!
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