Does the turbo-diesel motor give the Ford EcoSport the grunt it needs? We find out first hand.
Small is now the new big. Time and space are of the essence as are the needs of the people, and to find a balance between the two takes quite a bit of effort and a severe rethink. Or maybe, it just needs to merge the ideas of two different concepts into one which satisfies both sides. This was probably the base of the argument when the first little off-road ready car for the city was created. Over the past few years, the compact crossover segment has been heating up globally and everyone’s gunning for a piece of the pie. In India, the segment only began taking off with the Renault Duster and more expensive Skoda Yeti and Honda CR-V, but there has been no real competition for either because of their pricing points. Now however, Ford aim to make their presence felt in the front-driven crossover SUV space with their exciting new EcoSport.
Over the past month or so, Ford India have given many a city a tease of the car, showing it off in shopping malls and giving away juicy tit-bits online. Now with the impending launch, more details are available about engine choices and features, but Ford India has been silent about pricing. Given that the EcoSport sticks to the 4-metre length and engine capacity limits required for extracting some more cost benefits, it will be interesting to see how Ford actually manage to price their new baby SUV.
As far as looks are concerned, Ford seem to have got it spot on. The EcoSport looks exciting with a rather aggressive front end, complete with a gaping air intake finished in chrome. The sharp lines on the side profile carry the look towards the rear which ends in the mounted spare wheel flanked by the angled tail-lamp clusters.
Inside, the interiors, like the Fiesta, look quite futuristic with the styling of the centre console reminiscent of a mobile phone keypad. Its layout and aqua-blue back-lighting are pleasant to look at while it also makes everything from the buttons to the dials easy to read. The steering wheel features chunky grips although I wonder if it will be to everyone’s liking. But overall quality and levels of fit and finish are good. The seats are nicely trimmed and offer good support as well. Long distance comfort is also good. What is apparent of the interior design is the availability of storage space. There are several slots, nooks and crannies to store things of almost all shapes and sizes. The door pockets are large and can hold a decent-sized water bottle with ease.
The entertainment system also has a USB and Aux-in port, as is convention these days. The front is spacious, but yet, the dark interiors make you believe you’re in a tighter spot. The rear, on the other hand, is a bit tight, but for those of average height, space should not be an issue. The boot opens like a door, and that is something which will be disputed for reasons of practicality. The door handle is cleverly concealed in the right tail-lamp cluster and the soft-touch button shows that they’ve spent time on ironing out the design.
Another big plus for the EcoSport is handling. Being a Ford, we expect it to inherently offer good performance dynamics and their new baby doesn’t disappoint one bit. It feels sure-footed and stable at all speeds and, given an empty stretch of road, will hit an uneventful 165+ km/h with relative ease. The gearbox is slick and shifts always found their ratios when we drove it. The response from the steering and suspension setup are confidence-inspiring and at no point does it feel out of hand. At slow speeds with the clutch pedal pressed, you can also feel the steering rod moving under your foot; something that a few may find to be a bit of a bother. The rear parking sensors are a necessary addition as well, considering that rear visibility could be better. Being a top-end model also means that the onboard safety systems step in to ensure that anything out of hand is nipped in the bud. Except for our hard braking tests, the stability program, ABS and EBD didn’t really need to step in, but their presence, and those of the airbags, are reassuring indeed. The Emergency Assistance feature too is extremely useful if the need does arise. If the air-bags are deployed or if the fuel pump shuts off, the system automatically calls an emergency assistance line, even giving the location if the phone in use has GPS enabled. One downside is the front quarter-glass, which is actually a major blind spot. But that is, by far, the only real issue on the move.
The 1.5-litre TDCi diesel engine from the Fiesta puts out the same 91 PS and 204 Nm of torque, but the numbers actually look lower than what the performance delivery feels like. There isn’t much turbo-lag, and even if there is, it’s only because of some early shifts which drop engine speed to below 1500 rpm, above which, the turbo is on song. The gear ratios too are good and allow consistent acceleration and let you maintain momentum while ekeing out the most from your fuel as well. On the highway, the EcoSport delivered a real-world figure of 17.5 km/l. That’s not bad for a car of its size.
Overall, the EcoSport has managed to silence many critics and prove that it is indeed a worthy offering in a market new to compact, off-road-ready cars. It really is in a segment of its own, with the pricier Renault Duster being the only competition as far as concept is concerned. However, with the aggressive price point that Ford has launched it at, with the base petrol model starting from just Rs 5.69 lakh (ex-showroom, Pune), the EcoSport becomes a viable option for not just those looking for a compact SUV, but also those planning to buy a top-end hatchback. The Titanium (O) diesel model we drove costs Rs 9.17 lakh (ex-showroom, Pune), but the base diesel model, the Ambiente, costs Rs 6.82 lakh, or just under Rs 8 lakh on road Pune, and includes a good amount of equipment. With this sort of pricing, Ford has given their credible new offering the wings it needs.
