[1100D]

Originally Posted by Samba

The 1L EcoBoost could have been given on the Figo sports to take on the Polo GT TSI or imagine this EcoBoost engine with the 140 Bhp tune on the Figo Sports with no competitors right now! Assuming the Abarth is now dead!

An Ecosport AWD + Figo sport with the EcoBoost engine

While that makes some point, the problem is, the Ecoboost is not packaged into the Figo shell internationally (Ford Ka/Ka+ cars)

[kiku007]

Originally Posted by Samba

Ecosport is a practical car. Its designed to take bad roads with aplomb. It cant match the handling of a sedan/hatchback though its the best handler in its segment. So regarding the purpose this car was made, i guess giving an AWD as an option rather than putting the EcoBoost would have made a better sense, specially when the Duster AWD is at the end of its life cycle.
Ecosport AWD practically have no competitors at this moment.

The 1L EcoBoost could have been given on the Figo sports to take on the Polo GT TSI or imagine this EcoBoost engine with the 140 Bhp tune on the Figo Sports with no competitors right now! Assuming the Abarth is now dead!

An Ecosport AWD + Figo sport with the EcoBoost engine could add on at-least 100-200 extra cars per month, whereas i doubt how many cars per month will increase with the EcoBoost in Ecosport? May be 50?

Ain't a hatch/sedan with a fun to drive engine and a wannabe suv/crossover with an AWD make more sense?

Brilliant post

The Figo twins would need improvements to Safety and Handling areas before plonking 120+BHP in them.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

I have driven both. So, let me try.

Originally Posted by GTO

Having driven all the EcoSport engines, I wouldn't get too excited about the 1.0L EcoBoost coming back.

Thanks guys. Sums it up pretty nicely.

So, we have two editions coming out, of which my pick would be the Signature edition because -
1. Less chrome
2. Dragon petrol and TDCi options instead of Ecoboost.
3. Ecosport already rides stiff. Not sure how a stiffer 'S' variant would ride our roads.

Originally Posted by Samba

Ain't a hatch/sedan with a fun to drive engine and a wannabe suv/crossover with an AWD make more sense?

Someday if our market was mature enough -



Storm edition from Brazil -

1. 2.0 petrol (170hp), 2.0 Diesel (176hp).
2. 6 speed AT
3. 4WD

[arunphilip]

As an EcoBoost owner, I'd say the news of an EcoBoost variant doesn't enthuse me all that much.

As others have already alluded to, the EcoBoost fulfils such a narrow niche of satisfaction for a motorhead, that it makes little sense.

The turbolag in cities has been spoken about. This might improve both with the 6-speed MT and by finally abandoning the slightly annoying old IB5 gearbox, but it is something to be seen. Ford have a tendency not to alter the gearbox ratios for different engines in the same model, but only tweak the final drive ratio, so how its drivability turns out is important.

The performance on highways is amazing. No two ways about it. Better than the TDCi as well. However, the moment you start exploiting that performance, the mileage will tank.

So, if you're a city slicker, the EcoBoost will annoy you in most of our cities, as they're congested. If you're a frequent highway warrior, the mileage will eat you away. You can get good mileage on the highway by carefully feathering the throttle, but your TDCi brethren won't be as constrained!

You need to be a person willing to put up with its city deficiencies for those occasional highway blasts for the EcoBoost to be a right fit.

I think part of the issue is the fact that with just a 1L engine, one needs the turbo working for the engine to put out useful power. Unlike a higher capacity engine where its natural displacement itself is decent enough, and is augmented by a turbo. Sadly, I don't think we'll ever see Ford's higher-capacity turbo petrols in India.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

..... Sadly, I don't think we'll ever see Ford's higher-capacity turbo petrols in India.

Sad indeed, because the 2L Ecoboost is a hoot and a half to drive.

[penpavan]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

As an EcoBoost owner, I'd say the news of an EcoBoost variant doesn't enthuse me all that much.

So, if you're a city slicker, the EcoBoost will annoy you in most of our cities, as they're congested. If you're a frequent highway warrior, the mileage will eat you away. You can get good mileage on the highway by carefully feathering the throttle, but your TDCi brethren won't be as constrained!

You need to be a person willing to put up with its city deficiencies for those occasional highway blasts for the EcoBoost to be a right fit.

I think part of the issue is the fact that with just a 1L engine, one needs the turbo working for the engine to put out useful power. Unlike a higher capacity engine where its natural displacement itself is decent enough, and is augmented by a turbo. Sadly, I don't think we'll ever see Ford's higher-capacity turbo petrols in India.

Agree with each word said here. I have owned ecoboost and it really blossoms on the highway but at the cost of the fuel.
However, Arun, I think the models that came later, (we bought in first batch 2013) I had noticed low end torque was improved. Not sure if it was really true but I drove friend's EcoBoost (manuf 2014) and I did feel the difference. And he used to get lesser mileage than mine.
So with all the hi tech behind its shell, I must agree, its a overhyped engine, delivering good mileage only when you use it as a pure 1L engine and not as 120BHP powerhouse.

[VKumar]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

More powerful by 2 bhp?

I haven't driven the petrols - 1.0 and 1.5 dragon. But there's not much to be had as per the paper specs. Would be great if someone who has driven these cars back to back can confirm what exactly is the solid advantage of the Ecoboost version over the Dragon?

I am owning the dragon, have an experience of thousands of kilometers with TDCi and have driven the Ecoboost too quite enough. What I know is that when it comes to driveability:
1) TDCi
2) Dragon
3) Ecoboost

Ecoboost is an engine that is good only and only for highways and expressways, driving it in city or on a proper hilly road of say Mussoorie, Manali etc is an experience that is anything but good. You just need to keep it on boil throughout, hence drive in a lower gear and take a wonderful hit on FE. I drove Ecoboost to Hemkunt Saheb and I was really annoyed at times on the hilly terrain as the traffic was dense and road was narrow.

When it comes to flat out performance:
1) Dragon or Ecoboost, I am confused over which one is quicker to tonne (My bet is Dragon)
2) TDCi

Originally Posted by kiku007

I haven't driven the 1.5L Dragon. IMHO the 1L Ecoboost is overrated, especially in the Ecosport.

Originally Posted by anachronix

My only problem was the 1L EB offered in the wrong car.

Originally Posted by GTO

The engine has serious lag - it would be a pain to drive it in the city on a daily basis.

Indeed, the 1.0l block IMO is too small for a car like Ecosport. I agree it's turbocharged, but it isn't supercharged! Better get us a block with bigger displacement and lower boost, that will work better with exactly same figures.

there's only so much lag that a gearbox can hide (unless we're talking about torque-converter ATs)

Exactly, get an automatic box with some aggression when it comes to downshifting and the Ecoboost can do well, rest if it's manual then even a 6 speed won't help considerably. Tighter ratios will help, yes for sure, but at the same time it means a higher number of gearshifts too.

And it wasn't exactly a fuel-efficiency topper either, going by our ownership reports.

Like any other low displacement turbo petrol (Barring Maruti Balloon..err.. Baleno RS), it also has only two modes:
1) Sipping
2) Drinking

Mode 1 = Stressed driver
Mode 2 = Stressed wallet

[aabhimanyu04]

I am excited about the rumoured launch of the 6speed, 3 pot ecoboost engine. Having driven both I feel long term success of this engine will depend on the following:
1. Cost of maintenance (their service is dearer than the TDCi)
2. Fuel efficiency ( bumper to bumper and you will see the FE drop to single digits, TDCi does well here)

I also noticed a lighter front end on an ecoboost compared to the TDCi, this can mean a lot when you are enthusiastically driving ( this is my feel and may not be true).

[Varun_HexaGuy]

The Ecoboost engine doesn't entuse me for some reason. Of which one of them being that it's a 3-cylinder drivetrain. Add to that the turbo lag makes the overall urban drivability a pain. I know the lag can be controlled with a great driver behind the wheel but it's a concern nonetheless.

On top of it, I don't know if Ford will able to price it rightly. Pricing is gonna be a challenge because the engine is an import and the facelift too isn't exactly VFM. Would be great to watch as to how Ford is gonna tackle this. But, if the price hits the sweet spot, then it'd be an interesting proposition. Wish this power train was a 4-cylinder.

Varun

[PrideRed]

More the merrier, as long as the TDCi and Dragon petrol is sold alongside, I see this as a welcome move by Ford. While some prefer lag free linear characteristics, huge number of DDiS fans has convinced that there are quite a chunk of people who like the turbo kick. Ford is just trying to appease both sect, want a smooth liner engine get the the Dragon, want a turbo kick-Ecoboost is the one for you.

[Geo_Ipe]

I whole heartedly welcome the Ecoboost 1.0 back to Indian shores!

As majority of the TBHP brethren have already mentioned, it might not be the best engine offered on the Ecosport, however it does fit into a niche. I suggest Ford do the following to help that niche grow a little:

1. Product nomenclature - Call it the Ecosport RS! (Globally Ford does use the RS monicker, don't they?)
2. Body kit - New bumpers, spoilers, airdams (even fake ones will do), alloys etc etc.
3. New shades - exclusive to the RS! A fiery red, maybe yellow/orange, blue (we all remember the Fiesta 1.6 in that gorgeous blue shade, don't we!?)
4. SUNROOF!

The 1.0L motor alone is not going to help Ford set sales charts on fire. Make it a unique spectacle and that will catch the Indian public eye! Throw in some aggressive marketing and we could see a little bit of commercial success for the Ecoboost!

[arindambasu13]

I don't see this as a move which will set any sales charts on fire for Ford. The 1.0 later Ecoboost has been a failure in the indian market, period. While Ford is being brave by giving the engine a second chance to garner some numbers in the market (and need to be commended for this move), all that will happen is it will repeat its poor sales numbers a second time. At least, that is how it appears to me.

There will be a relatively minuscule number of people (petrol enthusiasts) who would purchase the car with this engine. Further, given the fact that it performs well on expressways, there is no logic to purchasing this over the TDCI which will do equally well on the expressway and throw up way better efficiency numbers to boot.

I may be sounding pessimistic here, and while I personally welcome the move to bring in a powerful turbo charged small capacity petrol, I am certainly not hopeful that it will do any reasonable numbers- at least, reasonable enough for Ford to continue offering it for any extended duration.

[sandeepmohan]

While the 1l Ecoboost did not excite me, I will give Ford another stab at it. Maybe they have improved the tuning to get rid of that dead bottom end. 3 cylinders by design should have a strong bottom end so it is a bit of a mystery as to why this modern, direct injection petrol engine was not as good as Ford claimed it to be.

I did not expect the Dragon engine to deliver what Ford claimed. Sounds like it is the best Ford NA engine on sale at the moment. This means it is possible to improve on a design.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by Geo_Ipe

Product nomenclature - Call it the Ecosport RS!

Yes, globally Ford does release ST and RS-badged variants of their cars like the Fiesta and Focus.

A key difference is that internationally, the ST and RS badged variants of Ford cars come with the next larger EcoBoost engine. So when a Fiesta sells with this 1.0L EcoBoost, the Fiesta ST is offered with a 1.5L EcoBoost.

It would be great to have an EcoSport ST/RS with a larger EcoBoost engine, particularly since that will address the low-end torque issue we have with the smaller EcoBoost. However, I'm pretty certain that Ford will never do in India, due to their conservative approach. Can't blame them as they probably make it hard to make a case for a special edition like this, with all the associated hassles around the maintenance logistics, particularly when it will find appeal only with a small number of enthusiasts.

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

3 cylinders by design should have a strong bottom end so it is a bit of a mystery as to why this modern, direct injection petrol engine was not as good as Ford claimed it to be.

There's a couple of factors at play here. Firstly, it's plugged into the heavier EcoSport rather than a lighter Fiesta that it normally finds applications in internationally.
Secondly, the moment you add a turbo, you lose a bit of torque below the turbo's active range. This is because the added work of the exhaust gases having to go through the turbo reduces the torque (since the turbo acts as an impediment to the exhaust gases). At slow engine rpms, this impediment is greater than the benefit the turbo offers, so net torque is reduced.
Thirdly, international traffic patterns tend to be better, so even reviewers have barely noted this absence of torque, whereas in India our traffic makes it more pronounced.

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

As others have already alluded to, the EcoBoost fulfils such a narrow niche of satisfaction for a motorhead, that it makes little sense.

Well said. The Fiesta was always the better candidate for the EcoBoost. Too bad we never got that combination. It weighs much lesser compared to the EcoSport and the drag coefficient should also be much much better at higher speeds, due to the slippery shape (wedge vs. a block, sedan vs. hatchback) together with the car sitting closer to the road. Add to that a lighter front end on that sweet chassis. Would have worked wonders on open roads.

Originally Posted by arunphilip

It would be great to have an EcoSport ST/RS with a larger EcoBoost engine, particularly since that will address the low-end torque issue we have with the smaller EcoBoost.

The biggest problem is our stupid small car rule which requires the petrol to be less than 1200 cc for excise benefits. A higher displacement EcoBoost will make it too expensive. The price was anyways almost comparable with the Diesel even for the 1.0 L.

I think the Dragon can get away with it since there is no turbo and other ancillaries.