[asr245]

Originally Posted by needforspeed88

Brezza is a very good product in its own right but Ecosport looks, drives and feels better not to forget is a lot more safer too.

Would like to know about the safer part there. How is it more safe? any crash ratings of India Ecosport Vs Brezza? or is it just the "looks" thing or kerb weight thing (heavier is safer theory)?

As far as looks go, I wouldn't look at an Ecosport over a Brezza.

[coolboy007]

Originally Posted by asr245

Would like to know about the safer part there. How is it more safe? any crash ratings of India Ecosport Vs Brezza?

If you compare both Brezza and Ecosport's top spec variants, the Ford comes with 6 airbags v/s just 2 in the Maruti and the extra side airbags do help a lot when it comes to a crash. This is the statistical part, for those who opt for the AT ecosport, it comes with ESP, TC, 6 airbags and it is one of the safest cars below 12 lakhs.

For those who believe in feel, the Ecosport has a much better built outside, the doors are heavy and is solidly built, some believe in the heavy door theory, some do not, so for each his own. Maruti's past reputation in the crash tests is not great as well, when the India Swift was crash tested against other hatch backs, it had fared very poorly compared to Figo/Polo which had a stable body shell.

I hope Indian Baleno and Brezza pass crash tests with a stable structure, the Liva has got great safety rating recently so all flimsy cars do not fare poorly in crash tests, it is more to do with company ethics and what they offer to Indian customers.

[balajisv]

Originally Posted by coolboy007

it is more to do with company ethics and what they offer to Indian customers.

Maruti will be quite happy to compare the safety levels offered in their cars to the ones riding bikes!
And their never ending quest to increase the FE offered by their cars, always result in compromise in their build quality.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by manishkapadia

High Seating agreed. But how does an Suv with a 200 mm ground clearance handle better than a Sedan. A Sedan will beat an high GC vehicle hands down any day in the handling department. High GC vehicles will naturally roll more and not stick to road as well as a sedan does.

Well, that's a general way of putting it across but "handling" in real world is not based on GC alone. Duster is a classic example. There are some drift videos (of Duster) which you can browse for to check it's capability; simply stunning for a vehicle with that kind of a GC.

However, the "handling" part was not supposed to come in the same line I wrote with the rest of the parameters. Ecosport has been rated well in the handling department (with a stiff suspension), while Ciaz & City have comfort oriented suspension. I wouldn't be surprised if Ecosport handled pretty well and comes close to these sedans in spite of the high GC (as I wrote, am yet to TD an Ecosport).

[manishkapadia]

The Duster is a vehicle that Rides exceptionally well . I am not sure about handling but since you say I will see the videos. However having driven a brand new 1.0 Ecosport as well as City ( G3 ) on same set of roads even on say western express highway, my personal feeling is that the City handles noticeably better .

At the cost of being unpopular I would say that we were considering buying an Ecosport but knocked it off for this reason. Note that this is just my family opinion. A high Ground clearance vehicle suits a lot of people and view of road is very commanding as compared to a sedan. I however am not going to be convinced that it can match a low slung sedan in handling department.

[shamanth]

Originally Posted by manishkapadia

However having driven a brand new 1.0 Ecosport as well as City ( G3 ) on same set of roads even on say western express highway, my personal feeling is that the City handles noticeably better

NO WAY! I own both Ecosport TDCI and City(G3 with bigger 195mm tyres), Ecosport gives greater confidence in high speed and also very stable compared to City. With city it becomes bouncy and confidence starts to drift as the speed increases.

[kkat]

Originally Posted by shamanth

NO WAY! I own both Ecosport TDCI and City(G3 with bigger 195mm tyres), Ecosport gives greater confidence in high speed and also very stable compared to City. With city it becomes bouncy and confidence starts to drift as the speed increases.

Hi Shamanth ;

This thread is about brezza affect on Ecosports , this car will destroy whatever is left of Maruti's puny engines with and good overall mileage figures I am getting a consistent mileage of @18kmpl and I overtake cars without any issues , the ride and handling is simply superb after overall kms of 2.5k though not sure of FASS reliability , I bought this car for pure fun to drive factor and it just amazes me with the drivability given the low end torque and Ford's fantastic DNA for handling and overall refinement inside the cabin

[vinit.merchant]

The price what shows on the Ford website for Ecosport base variant is 6.93L Ex showroom Delhi.

Any idea when & why they increased the prices by 25k? since they had reduced it only in March.

[JediKnight]

Originally Posted by shamanth

NO WAY! I own both Ecosport TDCI and City(G3 with bigger 195mm tyres), Ecosport gives greater confidence in high speed and also very stable compared to City. With city it becomes bouncy and confidence starts to drift as the speed increases.

You may be conflating a flat ride with handling. Something like a moose test will be a better indicator of handling. Generally vehicles with high center of gravity will handle poorer than a low slung vehicle.

[komalthecoolk]

Originally Posted by vinit.merchant

The price what shows on the Ford website for Ecosport base variant is 6.93L Ex showroom Delhi.

Any idea when & why they increased the prices by 25k? since they had reduced it only in March.

Most likely because they noticed that the Ecosport sales are still going steady in spite of the new contenders. They don't really need to keep their prices low I guess.

[vinit.merchant]

Originally Posted by vinit.merchant

Any idea when & why they increased the prices by 25k? since they had reduced it only in March.

Originally Posted by komalthecoolk

Most likely because they noticed that the Ecosport sales are still going steady in spite of the new contenders. They don't really need to keep their prices low I guess.

Researched it out.
Driver and passenger airbags have been made standard now across all variants. The brochure I have, collected around June along with the old price list, has airbags only from trend plus variant.

So that 25k increase is justified.

[AutoNoob]

Originally Posted by vinit.merchant

Researched it out.
Driver and passenger airbags have been made standard now across all variants. The brochure I have, collected around June along with the old price list, has airbags only from trend plus variant.

So that 25k increase is justified.

Hike of 25k just for addition of two Airbags (Driver & passenger) is daylight robbery. If there is no other reason then it is bad on part of Ford.

I have done some calculations for the cost of providing basic safety features. This may help in understanding the scenario :

Originally Posted by AutoNoob

I have given some thought over this highly-publicized affordability aspect and done some back-of-the-hand calculations. I found that if someone says that the cost of vehicle due to added safety systems will increase significantly, they are mistaken. If manufacturers say the same, then they are lying through their teeth.

The cost of providing these features can be split as follows :
1. Design & Development cost
2. Cost for added / stiffened structure to make it stable
3. Cost of components (Airbags, ABS Modulator, Sensors, Controllers, wire harness etc.)

Almost all OEMs provide these features as standard / optional on some or other variants for domestic or export market, so no additional D&D cost is needed. Now, considering the example of Vitara Brezza, the Optional pack comes at a price of only Rs. 13,000 and consists of :
a) Co-Driver Airbag
b) Front Seat Pre-tensioner & Force Limiter
c) ABS with EBD.

Based on my experience, I estimate the cost of following remaining components as Rs. 7000 :
d) Driver Airbag
e) Airbag controller
f) Crash G-Sensors (sometimes not inbuilt in airbag controller)
g) Wiring Harness
h) Body Structure

Safety Pack Total cost-up : Rs. 20,000
Final cost : Rs. 18,000 (assuming 10% cost down due to economies of scale when every car adopts these safety components)

So, is Rs. 18,000 really so unaffordable for added safety ?? Importantly, since most of the entry and mid segment customers buy the cars on loans, this additional cost per EMI will be minimal and worth to pay.

[vinit.merchant]

Originally Posted by AutoNoob

Hike of 25k just for addition of two Airbags (Driver & passenger) is daylight robbery. If there is no other reason then it is bad on part of Ford.

I have done some calculations for the cost of providing basic safety features. This may help in understanding the scenario :

The same Maruti charges a good 37k for the option pack on an Ertiga. I am not sure but this 37k is only for airbags and does not include ABS. This I need to confirm.

Hence it would be wrong on our part to pick 13k as additional cost of airbags and abs.

[AutoNoob]

Originally Posted by vinit.merchant

The same Maruti charges a good 37k for the option pack on an Ertiga. I am not sure but this 37k is only for airbags and does not include ABS. This I need to confirm.

Hence it would be wrong on our part to pick 13k as additional cost of airbags and abs.

Thanks for pointing out. I just checked Maruti webpage and found the following :

The LXi(O) variant of Ertiga has following add-ons for Rs. 40k approx. :
a) Co-Driver Airbag
b) Front Seat Pre-tensioner & Force Limiter
c) ABS

The LDi(O) variant of Ertiga has following add-ons for Rs. 6.5k approx. :
a) Co-Driver Airbag
b) Front Seat Pre-tensioner & Force Limiter

I couldn't find any other difference from the brochure. Now, considering above two situations, the cost of ABS comes close to Rs. 33.5k . Am I missing something ?

And based on my experience in the domain, I can say that the amount charged by Maruti for Brezza optional variants is in the ball-park range considering the actual costs. So, why Ertiga LXi(O) has such a huge cost impact, I can't think of any plausible reason. Something definitely not adding up.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by AutoNoob

And based on my experience in the domain, I can say that the amount charged by Maruti for Brezza optional variants is in the ball-park range considering the actual costs. So, why Ertiga LXi(O) has such a huge cost impact, I can't think of any plausible reason. Something definitely not adding up.

Depends upon how many parts should be changed/upgraded to add ABS. And that difference will be bigger for lower end variants compared to the mid level variants. The Ertiga will require a different harness, brake booster etc for the ABS version compared to the non-ABS version. And some of these components may not be localised due to less demand. Hence you will find higher price difference.

Just to give another example the safety pack for the Celerio costs 20k in addition to the variant. Whereas for WagonR, the difference is 34k since the number of components replaced and the number of imported components required is higher compared to the Celerio. Thats the reason for different costs.