Ford Classic 1.4 Duratorq LXI

Founded in 1995 as Mahindra Ford India Limited, this company has been going strongly in the Indian automobile market. And this trend is sure to follow with all new Ford Classic 1.4 Duratorq CLXI which is basically a type of Ford Figo subcompact but has some new striking features. This 5 door hatchback car has a 1.4 liter diesel engine which will certainly be in the talks. Some may even find the name Duratorq funny and weird but the performance and power it generates will shut every mouth. With an unbelievable fuel economy and fully equipped features, Ford has certainly done wonders to this car. The overall look is very swanky and presents a bold statement to everyone. It is quite spacious and comes with good colors which give a unique sensation to our eyes. Don’t get too excited yet, there is one thing that needs to be looked upon is that this is the basic model of the Duratorq series which means that it will fall short on features and equipments that are present on high end models. But it does come with some essential as well as important safety features.        

Exteriors

Ford Classic Duratorq LXI mainly comes in 6 exciting and striking colors namely, Chill Metallic, Diamond White, Panther Black, Paprika Red, Moon Dust Silver and Sea Gray. The headlamps are adjustable and crystal barreled with black color surrounding them. The driver and passenger mirrors are black colored and so are the tailgate handle and the radiator grille. The front and rear as well as the outside door handles are colored to match the color of the car. The outer dimensions have very carefully designated so to give a sedan look to this car. The overall length, width and height measures out to be 4282mm, 1686mm and 1468mm. The 14" wheel size provides a good ground clearance of 168mm. Also there has been usage of tinted glass which is very common in every car nowadays. Fog lights are available on the rear side only and the exterior rear view mirror is power adjustable. The alloy wheel hasn’t been used rather the steel has been used as wheel type which provide a decent turning radius of about 4.9m.          

Interiors

A two tone color combination of Ebony and Camel has been used which has been coordinated very well by ford which by the way do look good when compared to the overall look of the car. The Ford Classic Duratorq LXI also has trimmed seats with full fabric used on the seats which just increases the level of impressiveness. Also the fabric upholstery has been done too. There is just one bottle holder in the front of car, that’s disappointing. The features such are adjustable driver seat, map lamps; foldable rear seats are missing which is kind of dissatisfaction. But the adjustable steering column, tachometer, anti glare IRVM (Inside Rear View Mirror) does give some heads up. The presence of both front as well as rear head restraint is a good addition to the car.       

Engine and Performance

Now coming to the most important component of the Ford Classic Duratorq LXI, that is the engine. It is powerfully packed with 1.4L Duratorq(exclusively in range of Ford diesel engines) engine. Also it possesses a total of 4 cylinders and 8 valves . It is an all aluminum alloy built engine to bear any shocks and crashes. The SOHC (Single Overhead Camshaft) also proves to be good choice for this car. The engine displacement comes out to be 1399cc . All things aside, this powerful engine can produce a maximum power of 67bhp at the rate of 4000rpm and the maximum torque comes out to be 160Nm at the rate of 2000rpm. The fuel system that operates in this engine is advanced common rail type. The acceleration and drivability are great with low inertia turbocharger with TDCi. Now over to the most important and certainly the best part of the car which might prove to be the topmost factor in purchasing this vehicle is that it has a mind blowing fuel economy of 32.38kmpl . The top speed measures out to be 173kmph .           

Braking and Handling

Both petrol and diesel variants comes with Ventilated disc brakes as front brakes and self adjusting drum brakes as rear ones. The suspension system is quite amazing with independent McPherson struts with offset coil spring as front suspension and semi independent heavy duty twist beam with twin tube dampers as rear suspension. The gas filled shock absorbers are made available to both front as well as rear absorbers. The tyre type is 175/65 R14 tubeless tyres. Also the power assisted steering wheel combines everything above to close to perfection.     

Safety features

One can say that this car is not the proper definition of the safety because there are no airbags whatsoever, ABS (Anti Lock Breaking System) with EBD present. Yet there are some features which do offer a lot of safety to the driver as well as the passengers such as collapsible steering column, central locking system, and dual rear fog lamps with halogen headlamps. The PATS (Passive Anti Theft System) protects against the theft of car by the use of electronically coded key which is programmed to the car. There is a fuel cut off line too available in Ford Classic Duratorq LX

Comfort features

It seems as if Ford India has left out some of the major features in this LXI model as the absence of every infotainment and connectivity features is not there. There is no MP3 player or any speakers and neither is the Bluetooth phone interface. But there are some things that go in favor of this car such as the air conditioner cum heater which has electric re circulation which consumes less power and efficiently utilizes the air circulation. Power windows, electric boot release, cup holders, parking sensors and seat lumbar support are present to add some comfort and convenience to the journey.   

Pros

·Best in class fuel economy.

·Rich in features.

Cons

·Less noise insulation.

· Absence of some basic utilities.Ford Classic 1.4 Duratorq LXI