Ford has updated the Aspire in the country with a mid-life refreshment. The compact sedan now comes with a new petrol heart and comprehensively revised cabin. The new and updated Aspire arrives just ahead of the festive season, undercutting its direct rivals. We have seen how it stacks up against its competition, you can read all about it over here. Here is how the new and updated Aspire goes up against the Xcent.
Looks and styling:
The new Aspire gets a new face similar to the Freestyle CUV. The large hexagonal grille in the front gets a stylish mesh design with chrome surrounds, making it appear premium. The C-shaped chrome trim on the bumper houses the front fog lamps while the headlamps unit remains unchanged. The profile and the tail are exactly the same as before but there is a new rear bumper to keep things fresh.
The Xcent is the quirky looking one, of the two here. There is a cascading grille up front with stylish front bumpers. The rear is now sleek owing to the newly designed tail lamps and the alloy wheels add to the upmarket appeal of the Xcent. Although the Xcent too has conventional bulb headlamps, it does come with LED DRLs on the front bumper which the Aspire misses out completely.
Interior and features:
The Ford’s cabin continues to take its inspiration from the Freestyle. So you get to see the new floating touchscreen display with SYNC3 atop the centre console. The compact sedan comes loaded with features like automatic headlamps, rain sensing wipers and a modern Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It also offers six-airbags, child-seat anchor points with parking sensors as standard across the variants.
The cabin of the Xcent is simple with a black and beige colour scheme. Being a Hyundai, it comes laden with many features. This includes a seven-inch touchscreen with smartphone connectivity including Mirror Link along with steering mounted audio controls. It also gets automatic climate control for the top-spec car along with rear AC vents. For safety, the Xcent gets ABS and EBD with dual front airbags along with features like central locking and engine immobiliser.
Engine and gearbox
The facelifted Aspire gets the new Dragon series of petrol engines, one of which is a 1.2-litre mill which develops 95bhp of power and 120Nm of torque. The trusted old 1.5-litre diesel develops 99bhp of power and 215Nm of torque. Both the engines are mated to five-speed manual gearboxes. The 1.5-litre Dragon petrol comes with an automatic transmission.
Hyundai offers two engine options with the Xcent. The petrol variant is powered by a 1.2-litre unit that generates 81bhp of power and 114Nm of torque. The compact sedan is also available with a 1.2-litre diesel engine that generates 75bhp of power and 190Nm of torque. The five-speed manual is standard, but the petrol also gets an automatic transmission.
Conclusion
The Ford Aspire and the Hyundai Xcent are evenly matched overall. However, the American compact sedan undercuts the Hyundai by a large margin, making it more value for money.
