| I purchased this vehicle (diesel Fusion+) inspite of all advice to the contrary. It is returning me a KPL of approx 25 with AC on good highways & 20+ on not so good highways. In city I do not take this veh to crowded areas because of the driving habits or lack of it of frllow drivers here but it return me 17-18+ in periphery. I feel that this veh has a habit of engine stall at times especially with ac on. Overall it is a very balanced vehicle to drive & a pleasure at that.
(a)In spite of a front diesel & the feeling of C.G. being slightly forward, the vehicle is extremely balanced transversely & longitudinally. It displays no signs of pitching or rolling during braking / accelerating & no swinging even on sharp turns. Of course it is due to careful & a good design.
(b)The power steering of the vehicle is sensitive yet has the requisite feedback to the driver. It is the best tuned power steering I have yet seen on the Indian market. No under or over steer is felt. The steer is precise, sharp, light to operate & responsive. In fact all other cars in the market in this sector (the Maruti Desire, swift etc, Hundai’s Verna, Opel’s Corsa/ sail) are nowhere in comparison in this respect. Even Skoda’s steering feels slightly heavy. The lateral stability is par excellence.
(c) The driver’s forward visibility is excellent. For lateral right oblique visibility one has to move his head a bit – probably unavoidable due to the position of ‘A’ beam.
(d) Though the vehicle accelerates well and returns a reasonably good speed within the diesel power band RPM there is a feeling of a slight under-power especially when one needs a surge (as in overtaking). At times the vehicle becomes slightly sluggish especially with AC switched on. If there is a step like a small breaker & one is taking off and is not conscious of the rmps the engine is sure to stall. Consequently there is a tendency of engine stall at slow speed if one is lax on accelerator or in not in ‘one down’ gear. However the limit of 1.4l engine is understood & considering the need of fuel economy some tradeoff is necessary. Some power could be boosted / squeezed out by a double / two stage turbo / or whatever your R&D decides, (a boost of another 15-20 bhp or a 1.6l engine would make wonders to the vehicle but pull down the economy).
(e) A small addition in the shape of a glove compartment light (as in ‘Fiesta’) would be a great help to the users & would cost the company little.
(f) Front Dual Airbags could be provided as an option. I know and realize the build quality of the vehicle – which is excellent & solid from all angles, I also realize that the fastest mode of transport in the world & consequently the most dangerous –‘the aircraft’ has no airbags; but on Indian roads we are pitted against blind tractor trolleys, overloaded projecting trucks driven by some drunken driver, unmarked wide loads, to name a few; and this option would add to the physical (we have to increase the level of safeties) & psychological safety of the vehicle & passenger. Fusin in USA has 8 of them including side hangars so why this frugality here when we are paying more than out US counterpart. |
