[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Imagine a lady 5' height driving an Ecosport. Would her hand reach the 6 feet level. May be yes, but with great difficulty. Also door in this case would be held in upward position with 2 hydraulic telescopic shafts. Bringing down such a door from that height would require great effort, not at all ergonomic design. I am not aware of any MUV/SUV having an upward swinging tailgate, do you know of any such MUV/SUV?

Actually, I think it's more to do with the mounting of the spare-wheel on the tailgate, which is the reason for the side hinges for the tailgate. For a upward-swinging tailgate, the spare would need to be mounted or stored elsewhere. The hinges (at the top) wouldn't be able to support a tail-gate mounted spare-wheel.

I'm not completely sure of this though. This is what I'd read somewhere a long time ago, and it applies to all cars.

[AutoIndian]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Actually, I think it's more to do with the mounting of the spare-wheel on the tailgate, which is the reason for the side hinges for the tailgate. For a upward-swinging tailgate, the spare would need to be mounted or stored elsewhere. The hinges (at the top) wouldn't be able to support a tail-gate mounted spare-wheel.

You are probably right Suhas. It would be an uphill task to design an upward swinging tailgate when a heavy 16" spare wheel in mounted on the tailgate. Behemoth, where is the spare wheel stored in the Yeti?

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

You are probably right Suhas. It would be an uphill task to design an upward swinging tailgate when a heavy 16" spare wheel in mounted on the tailgate. Behemoth, where is the spare wheel stored in the Yeti?

The yeti spare sits in a recess within the boot itself.

[Fordmanchau]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

I am not aware of any MUV/SUV having an upward swinging tailgate, do you know of any such MUV/SUV?

While, I agree with your point, but I am doubtful if this thing will hold back the buyer from buying the Ecosport.
Yup, there are many infact, Qualis and Innova have top opening rear boot doors. Even Captiva has , I guess. Infact Captiva's rear door is in two parts, the lower portion extends the rear cargo area, while the upper one is upward swinging.

Originally Posted by Behemoth

Actually the Yeti has an upward swinging tailgate and it goes up well above 6 ft when open and my wife who is 5' 2" goes through the exact situation which you mentioned! There is a small tug handle on the door, but that is also just outside her reach and she has to jump to close the tailgate.

Behemoth, did you consider this factor while deciding on the Yeti ?

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by Fordmanchau

Behemoth, did you consider this factor while deciding on the Yeti ?

Yes, we were aware of this when we were making the buying decision and it was manageable and not really a deal breaker for us!
But Yes, a side swing tailgate would have been more convenient and actually would have released almost 100L more space inside the boot if the Yeti were to follow the same tailgate design of tailgate mounted spare. That is why the Ecosport manages almost 380~ L of boot space with a 4m length while the Yeti manages only 415L with 4.22m length. The Spare on tailgate design is a good element of the Ecosport and adds a little bit of the SUV element to an otherwise small car. If one were to take off the spare wheel, it would look no bigger than a Fabia/ i20 with bigger wheels.

Regards,
Behemoth

[shankar.balan]

Some of the better class SUVs in the world nowadays have this lovely split foldable tailgate. Renault Koleos etc. Really helpful indeed.
The Yeti has reasonable space inside but of course, it cannot carry as much as a Fortuner or Captiva or XUV or other, can.
A certain amount of space beneath the dicky floor is taken up by the spare tyre but this really doesnt create trouble per se. I am not sure that mounting the tyre on the tailgate would have been such a help after all. For one thing, it increases the length of the vehicle while giving it a more SUV ish look etc, but it also puts a lot of weight on the rear door hinges which I would like to avoid if possible.

[suhaas307]

Shankar

I'm given to understand that the EcoSport is a relatively small SUV. And it wears large 15" or 16" wheels (I'm not entirely sure)

Now the problem with storing a big'ish wheel in the boot is that whatever little space is on offer for luggage will be consumed by the spare. I don't think the boot's volume is more than 400 liters. In fact, it's just about as much as the old Fusion's and perhaps a little bigger than the Figo's.

The idea behind mounting the spare-wheel on the boot-lid would have been for the purpose of liberating as much boot space as possible.

Also, I think the spare-wheel on the boot-lid gives it a butch look and feel. After all, the EcoSport is in danger of being branded a soccer-mom's ride or a 'chick's car' or some such thing.

EDIT: We all know how important boot-space is, to us Indians.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Shankar

I'm given to understand that the EcoSport is a relatively small SUV. And it wears large 15" or 16" wheels (I'm not entirely sure)

Now the problem with storing a big'ish wheel in the boot is that whatever little space is on offer for luggage will be consumed by the spare. I don't think the boot's volume is more than 400 liters. In fact, it's just about as much as the old Fusion's and perhaps a little bigger than the Figo's.

The idea behind mounting the spare-wheel on the boot-lid would have been for the purpose of liberating as much boot space as possible.

Also, I think the spare-wheel on the boot-lid gives it a butch look and feel. After all, the EcoSport is in danger of being branded a soccer-mom's ride or a 'chick's car' or some such thing.

Eco Sport leads the way to the new breed of sub compact urban SUV! Yes it certainly will end up becoming a soccer mom waggon in India because it is a very ice alternative second car for the affluent family. The senior exec - husband or wife will drive off to work in their chauffeur driven high end sedan like a beemer or something. And the house wife/ husband will take the little EcoSport and drop the kids, do the groceries and so on.
There was a neighbour I had around 7 years back in HSR layout, who had mounted his Indica spare tyre on a bracket welded to his rear hatch tailgate!
Of course that car had those 13 inch wheels.
but effectively, the EcoSport will look like something on steroids, once it comes out. This is not to say it looks bad. in fact I quite like it. It is extremely practical in our scenario here and will effectively to some extent fill a huge void left by the Gypsy. If only the EcoSport came with 4WD now!

[Fordmanchau]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

.. if the Yeti were to follow the same tailgate design of tailgate mounted spare. That is why the Ecosport manages almost 380~ L of boot space with a 4m length while the Yeti manages only 415L with 4.22m length.

Originally Posted by suhaas307

The idea behind mounting the spare-wheel on the boot-lid would have been for the purpose of liberating as much boot space as possible.

That's a very good point you guys have made. Infact after reading your posts, I realised how true it actually is. Thank you!!

Just read the first drive report of Duster on ACI. The length mentioned in the specification say 4.315 meters. No rear mounted spare wheel but still the rear seating is comfortable and it possibly has a decent boot space of 475 litres.

The thing to note is the pricing. With 4.3 meters of length , if Duster is mangaging the starting price of 7.2 lakhs. My guess is for it's 4.0 meters length, the Ecosport might be priced around 6.5 to 6.8 for the lower variants unless Ford decides to charge the premium on for their award winning engine.

@AutoIndian : Even Duster now sports a upward swinging boot door. The height of 1695mm of Duster converts to 5.56 ft, and I am aure the bott won't swing above this height. Should be comfortable even for the ladies to pull and close.

Ertiga is going to have tough time after the Duster and Ecosport are launched.

[MAS]

More undisguised photos of Ecosport. This time it is a white full production model. The link is...

Ford EcoSport undisguised spy pics - News - Autocar India Mobile Edition

This looks like it was spotted at one if the toll booths after Ford's factory.

This is getting more and more confusing. Looking at the pictures in the past couple of days, it looks as if Ford will bring out the car by Diwali. They cannot wait for too long as Duster would play havoc.

[C300]

Originally Posted by MAS

More undisguised photos of Ecosport. This time it is a white full production model. The link is...

Ford EcoSport undisguised spy pics - News - Autocar India Mobile Edition

This looks like it was spotted at one if the toll booths after Ford's factory.

This is getting more and more confusing. Looking at the pictures in the past couple of days, it looks as if Ford will bring out the car by Diwali. They cannot wait for too long as Duster would play havoc.

Nice pictures by ACR. Its a well designed car. The TDCi engine is perfect for our cities. Looks like after all a Diwali launch is a possibility.

[bnzjon]

Originally Posted by MAS

More undisguised photos of Ecosport. This time it is a white full production model. The link is...

Ford EcoSport undisguised spy pics - News - Autocar India Mobile Edition

This looks like it was spotted at one if the toll booths after Ford's factory.

This is getting more and more confusing. Looking at the pictures in the past couple of days, it looks as if Ford will bring out the car by Diwali. They cannot wait for too long as Duster would play havoc.

The model is Titanium which going by the New Fiesta is the top end model.
The featured car had indicators on side mirrors and parking sensors but missing are the chrome on front grille and fog lights !

Also see colour mismatches in the fascia in one of the pictures.

[MAS]

There are actually two cars that have been spotted.

Petrol - TN-19-(TC)-0056
Diesel - TN-19-F-(TC)-0023

The Ecosport with Ecoboost heart

Note
- No TDCi badge on this car
- No uneven body panel colours








Diesel car

Note
- TDCi badge on this car
- Uneven body panel colours




Even though both the cars are Titanium versions, they do not sport the Chrome strips on the grill and do not have fog lamps. Does this mean Ford will have a Titanium + version?

Source:https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...5248964&type=1

[sbala]

Wow.. amazing pics. Nice Road presence. I am totally for this car.. i believe, this may not be the full production model considering some uneven things on the car.

[MAS]

I just noticed that the Titanium TDCi also does not have the reverse parking assits.

I seriously hope these are just test mules being taken for a joy rides and not the end product. Ford could be doing this to take away from shine from Duster's Launch in the next few weeks.