Cabin comfort and ride quality
The Micra offers a brand new interior design which is quite a departure from the conventional interiors we’ve been witnessing on small cars in India. Just like the exterior, a curvy, curly theme has been extended into the cabin and everything from the dashboard, to the centre console, to even the door handles is a concoction of circles and round elements. As we mentioned earlier, all this put together makes for a rather feminine environment, but the good thing is, that it’s all been very well executed. The design may be different, but unlike some other similar attempts, it has not ended up looking confused. The design and layout of the interior looks tasteful, although there is a tad too much tough plastic inside the cabin for my liking. The 4-speaker music system sounds decent and has an aux-in point. There isn’t a USB connectivity feature though. The roofline is quite high, making for generous headroom, thus creating an airy and spacious cabin. The huge rear window, as we mentioned earlier, further adds to the airy feel on the back bench.
The seats of the Micra are nice and supportive – they cannot be termed class leading in terms of comfort though – the Figo being the reigning king in that department with much better seats. The Micra, with a pair of McPherson struts up front and torsion beam suspension at the rear has been set up for a soft, supple ride and this reflects in the way it absorbs bumps. I found the ride quality a little too squishy for my liking and would have wanted it to be slightly more firm and better damped. With the current setup, the car feels quite wallow-y at the rear. With plenty of room available at the back seat, however, space is not something that the passengers are ever going to complain about.
The Figo’s interior has an element of quality that’ll surprise you, especially when you come to know the price at which it offered. Not only is the overall quality of plastics and the materials used better than the Micra, the ergonomics too are spot on. We don’t like the plastic used on the music system and other elements on the centre console, but the quality of materials on the dashboard, door panels, and even the seats is very good for the class. We didn’t particularly like the red treatment to the dashboard, but thankfully it’s an option so you may go for a regulation black trim if you so wish. The aluminium finish bezels for the A/C vents, with the fake leather finish dashboard look nice. The instrument cluster too has been done nicely and features the Distance to Empty readout, which is a great value add. Figo’s steering wheel feels better to hold, and being in the overall seating position in the Fiogo somehow feels more correct.
The Figo is a revelation in the ride quality department. Ford has managed to make the Figo accomplished enough to glide over even the worst surfaces, without making the suspension overly soft. The result is a comfy ride that’s one of the best in this segment of cars. Even the legroom at the backseat is slightly more than the Micra, and probably the best in class.
Another area where the Figo scores heavily is its cavernous boot for a hatchback. It’s not too far away from being termed as a sedan’s boot. Much, much more capacious than any other hatch in its segment, the Figo’s boot would swallow all the luggage of a family of four for a weekend, and then some. The Micra’s boot in comparison is much smaller and won’t allow for much luggage.
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