Team-BHP - Ford EcoSport : Official Review

We require a better background of the incident to arrive at any conclusions about the EcoSport Stability or absence of the same. It can just be a coincidence but surely does not inspire confidence. Yes the first incident seemed to be a one off case of rash driving, but this one needs to be studied better. But really speaking without a background this will remain a puzzle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by shipnil (Post 3162944)

Any particular reason to sell Polo but not Figo? How do you compare these two hatches, since you owned both at the same time?

First I also drive a skoda octy. I bought Polo (D) about two years back based on octy's performance (it had a waiting period of 4 months then!). Being my first car, I used to attach a lot of emotions to it. However, if given a chance to buy a Diesel hatch again, I would go for either Swift or Figo.

Polo has a weak heart (the engine, not literally though). But the usual lag below 2000rpm is terrible. I wasn't able to adjust to it till the time I owned it. Polo has a sweet spot between 70-110kmph where it is THE HATCH to drive. However, for a car that you will drive everyday in Delhi, I will choose the Figo again.

Simple stuff like rear windshield, C pillars, rear view mirrors, ground clearance and front seating are perfect in Figo. This is realised only when you drive Polo and Figo regularly in city.

Polo has its strengths in design- to me it is the best looking car in India right now. The quality of plastics, perfection in seams, super A/C and ride quality at high speeds is just brilliant. Give Polo a 1.6TDi and remove the turbo lag, give it better GC and suddenly you have a very very good car.

BTW Swift gets my vote only because its a Maruti! :)

When you look at the last pic, its as though the car was hit on the front right side while turning left, which could have cause the car to drift towards left. this when combined with the rear right wheel missing, probably because the wheel hit hard on a foot high barrier could have caused the car to topple.

Iam considering drivers fault here. Just my thoughts.

The Center of Gravity on the car is high, but not high enough to make the car topple that easily. The car does feel well planted on roads and there isn't much body roll as well.

It looks as if the driver was really rash when this incident happened. I guess, such cases usually happen if a tire bursts but in this case I am pretty sure the driver drove the car beyond its limits.

FORD India, if you are reading this please answer and clear our doubts!

Since the airbags of the demo car are inflated in the pic, in most probability there has been some sort of frontal or offset collision before the vehicle toppled over. Being a demo car, even if we assume that it was being driven by a novice, completely toppling over like this will require very special circumstances (they use a ramp in movies) for an inherently stable vehicle. The red ecosport in the journo test drive in Goa had simply rolled on its side on an incline. The 200 mm ground clearance is clearly coming into play here. :Frustrati Two similar incidents (akin to the Nano serial fire incidents) are hardly confidence inspiring for prospective buyers. Guess the waiting period will enable other customers to get actual feedback from the fast movers. in the meantime, SAFE DRIVING !! :)

One more topple during a test drive :Shockked:, the centre of gravity is high but not high enough to topple it during a test drive inside city. The car felt pretty stable during the test drives but then its still a jacked up car with a massive 200mm clearance, it can not and should not be driven like a low hatch or sedan, doing it is inviting trouble.

I still cant understand how the driver managed to topple it, it shouldnt be easy, even the official review on team bhp states the car is pretty stable for a mini suv. Wonder why test drives are taken just to max out the car and test it on its limits, people need to understand that this car has a pretty high centre of gravity and it wont be as tolerant as sedans to do cornering and drifting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dkaile (Post 3163071)

This is 2nd Ecosport toppling. 1st I heard was during the media campaign.

Is it so easy to topple a Eco-Sport? Maybe due to higher centre of gravity on a low length vehicle?

Quote:

Originally Posted by vasanthn21 (Post 3163098)

Yes, the 2nd topple reported during test drive. I had the same question as you "Is it so easy to topple an ecosport"?

In case of the first topple, it looked like the car went off the road and the road sloped down off the road, I thought the slope might have caused the topple.

This looks like a topple on a flat road!
Experts, is this dangerous?

It is very easy to topple any car forget tall boy. Even a Figo or a Dzire will topple. Bangalore had a toppled Duster during TD outside the showroom.

Rather than blame the car for no reason, we should be blaming the drivers.

For the amount GTO, myself and the other reviewer pushed the Eco-Sport through the hills of Goa, only a very very noob driver can topple the car. The dynamics are super solid and it is almost impossible to get it messed up.

Ofcourse, like I mentioned if you try to jump over a divider or do something stupid, even a Porsche Cayenne will flip over.

I feel that for certain things we are over analyzing , take this crash for example.

I had a query , I didn't notice the conventional key hole either on the doors/boot or steering column from where you start/stop/unlock a conventional vehicle. The SA told me that it wasn't there for variants with keyless entry. If its true , how does one lock the steering , the way its done conventionally?

Quote:

Originally Posted by nofear5611 (Post 3163166)

Does the SYNC system come on all variants of the Ecosport ?
Also, i read a query above which was not answered so just wanted clarification, can the EPAS be recalibrated at a later stage? These are kinda important questions for me to make a decision. Thanks in Advance.

The SYNC system is only on Titanium and above. (But the bluetooth connection for musicis available in all variants)

No, Ford won't allow you to recalibrate the Power Steering. Also, they spend millions just to get the tuning correct. I suggest you don't try to mess with it.

I contacted Ford customer care over the dealer malpractice at Elite Ford in Bangalore:

Hi

I booked a Diesel Trend Ecosport today at Elite Ford in Bangalore. They are insisting that insurance has to be done through them. They are threatening that they would not allocate the car to me if I did not get the insurance through them.

Also they have released a price list with accessories worth 25000 as compulsory. This too is not legal.

If these issues are not addressed, I plan to take both Ford and the dealer to consumer court. So, please make sure such a situation does not arise.

Thanks

This is the reply I got:
Dear Sir,

Thank you for contacting Ford India.

We appreciate the time you have taken to write to us. We have noted down the contents of your mail and have taken up the issue with the dealership concerned.

We would revert to you after we receive relevant information from our dealership. Your concern number is 800036807.

Assuring you of our best services and continuous support at all times.

Let us hope something concrete comes out of it.

EcoSport crosses 10,000 bookings today :)

Nothing compared to the long list of bookings when the New Swift was launched, but this is a new milestone for Ford in India!

EDIT: On the 2nd EcoSport accident, the front has taken lot of impact and the rear wheels are ripped off too. Looks like some adventurous soul has taken it over a median.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AWD (Post 3163016)

As a conscious decision, I've decided not to book the EcoSport till greedy Ford dealers show signs of improvement. Will book once they assure:

1) No 30k accessories with the vehicle,

2) Free to choose insurance,

3) No mandatory extended warranty

4) No 3K Booking cancellation charges.

If the dealers don't change their attitude, I will not buy the vehicle because dealers are the contact point for the customer, we don't get to deal with the Company.

+1 to that. This whole mandatory insurance and accessories is quite unnecessary. There have been a few instances of potential customers holding off their booking on this thread alone. Word gets around fast. Ford India - you do not want to be stuck with that label. Put it right.

Quote:

Originally Posted by xuv2390 (Post 3163059)

I was browsing through car insurance websites and found out that HDFC ERGO charges Rs. 14,000 (approx.) for the ECOSPORT TITANIUM TDCi MT and Rs. 21,000 (approx) with Zero Depreciation.

I am attaching the detailed quote having Zero Depreciation.

I urge everyone to generate an online quote and then ask your dealers to match up to the same! They even offer an age discount if you are 45+ and a professional discount if you are a CA, Doctor and another 2 categories. Visit their website for further details.

clap:

This is a good find. I tried it for Ecoboost Titanium in Mumbai and quote was 12K less than what dealers are offering. This makes it just below 9 lacs on road price for Titanium Ecoboost.