By Otsile Kadiage

We spent a week behind the wheel of Ford’s limited edition Oxford White Figo Blu. Only 360-units were built. Lookswise, the Blu adds cosmetic upgrades to the exterior and interior of Ford’s Figo. This is critical in setting the Figo apart from a very busy segment.

Exterior

Exterior upgrades include the following:

• Black mirror caps;
• Black roof;
• Blu decals;
• Black 15″ alloy wheels;
• Black mesh grille; and
• Blue bezels surrounding the fog lamps.

You can also have your Figo Blu in the Moondust Silver and Smoke Grey hues.

Interior

Interior upgrades include the following:

• Blue trims on the door panels;
• Blu inscription on the front seats;
• Blue stitching on the front and rear cloth seats;
• Leather steering wheel; and
• Gearshift – gaiter stitching.

Although dominated by hard plastics, the interior is well-built and logically laid out. The cloth seats feel comfortable even on long trips. The absence of the Sync 3 infotainment system was not missed too much as traditional stereo system was easy and refreshing to use. Adding to the connectivity party is Bluetooth connectivity for calls and media streaming as well as a USB port. At over R200,000, you do feel that an infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Andrioid Auto should be there. Ford does not have to offer Sync 3 but source something from Asian partners.

In terms of practicality, the Ford Figo Blu has generous space for rear passengers. The position of front seats gave taller rear-passengers enough room to slide in their feet under the front seats. Luggage capacity is 256-litres which can be extended by folding the rear seats giving you more room for wider and/or longer objects.

Engine and drive

The “Blu” does not mean increased efficiency nor does it mean better performance. The same 1.5L 3-cylinder engine mated to a five-speed manual transmission found in the Trend powers the Figo Blu. It produces a healthy 88 kW and 150 Nm of torque and has a top speed of 175 km/h.

Initially I was put-off by the thought of having to drive a manual transmission budget car for a week, but that quickly changed after spending a few hours behind the wheel of “Baby Blu”. The Figo Blu felt nippy and handled steep inclines of Theresa Park rather well. It is comfortable and refined, especially on the highway. Driving it in Tshwane CBD was tiring, as expected with manual cars. It handled road imperfections well. Travelling at higher non-law-breaking speeds, there was quite a noticeable amount of wind noise coming in the cabin.

Ford SA claims it will do 6.5l/100 km. With a bit of spirited driving and using Tshwane CBD and N1/N4 highway route daily, we averaged 6.9L/100 km which is really not bad against, especially when compared to the claimed fuel consumption.

Pricing

The Blu bits add R8,000 bringing the vehicle total price to R203,800. If you’re looking for a unique Figo with sporty upgrades then the Blu is what you should get otherwise other Figo trim packages will do just fine.