Team-BHP - Ford EcoSport : Official Review

Hi guys!
I got my Orange Baby Beast (1.5P Titamium) on Saturday :) will post pics soon.
Still cant get over the beauty. Infact I don't feel like parking the car and going home also !!

A couple of doubts which I would appreciate if you guys could answer:
1. The car revs up automatically to about 2.5 RPM when i put it in reverse gear and give a very slight acceleration. your experience in this ? Is it because of a brand new engine ?

2. In the 2nd gear, the car hardly has any pickup till 2 RPM. Your views on this?

3. Huge 'thuds' are faced on potholes / uneven road surface. Any chance of making the suspension more comfortable ?

4. While playing songs through the bluetooth (of the iphone), the screen only shows "connected to my iphone", any chance of removing that text and seeing the name of the song on the display ?

5. Any way to keep the Ecosport lady mum as soon as we connect the phone to the bluetooth? Everytime I connect the phone, she says "Phone connected via BT and emergency assist is set to off/on"

6. If the car switches off on the road, do we always have to turn the ignition fully off and then start again ? This takes time and the impatient population of India cannot control their horns.

Would really appreciate your help on these issues.

Cheers!

Quote:

Originally Posted by penpavan (Post 3271270)

Until around 1000KMS I did not cross 2500 RPM but from 1000 to 1500 I drove at around 3000-3200 RPM.

You limited yourself to 3000 rpm until 1500 kms? You must have the patience of a saint! I'm following the approach of max 3000 rpm, but allow occasional 4000 rpm in lower gears (1st - 3rd) - my rationale being that the torque multiplication through gearing in those gears ensures that the engine is not strained. The surge of acceleration in those gears - addictive, especially when combined with a muted engine sound, when compared to diesels!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ecosport (Post 3271475)

The MID is pretty distracting. The moment it falls below 10 kmpl, I start panicking. BTW, I reset it for every trip.

I reset the MID for fuel consumption/average speed during every tankful, not each trip. With that approach, I've found the MID is very close to the tankful calculation... close enough within the margin of error. I'm a little irritated at Ford for not offering a 2nd trip meter - my dinky old low-end Getz has two trip meters!

Quote:

Originally Posted by roy_libran (Post 3271493)

It somehow tends to pull my eye towards it, even while I am driving to look at the real-time kmpl bars. I go gloomy when it momentarily goes as low as 5 kmpl and start smiling the next moment when it goes over 15!

I think you're referring to the instantaneous indicator (i.e. the bar chart at the top of the MID), while I was referring to the average mileage indicator (accessed through the TRIP button on the left stalk).

I actually like the instantaneous indicator - while it is scary to see it nearly disappear during hard acceleration, it did teach me the following points:

Shifting down at low engine speeds improves mileage
Coasting in gear gives 30+, but coasting with the clutch pressed gives lesser (the latter is dangerous, but people think it helps mileage)

Quote:

Originally Posted by avm (Post 3271742)

3. Huge 'thuds' are faced on potholes / uneven road surface. Any chance of making the suspension more comfortable?

Congratulations on your car, glad it was well worth the wait!

The huge thuds are scary - the first time I heard it I thought: "There go my alloys, there go my sidewalls". Turned out to be much ado about nothing. I get this sound despite running at the max recommended pressure (35 psi) at the front. I now try to brake before the bump/pothole to bleed speed, and release the brake just before the bump/pothole to unload the suspension and increase its travel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by avm (Post 3271742)

5. Any way to keep the Ecosport lady mum as soon as we connect the phone to the bluetooth? Everytime I connect the phone, she says "Phone connected via BT and emergency assist is set to off/on"

I don't recall the exact setting, but I fiddled around with the options in the Sync menu on the center console, and I've turned the voice announcement off. The screen still shows the text that I've connected my phone and have emergency assistance on.

Quote:

Originally Posted by arunphilip (Post 3271861)

I actually like the instantaneous indicator - while it is scary to see it nearly disappear during hard acceleration, it did teach me the following points:

Shifting down at low engine speeds improves mileage
Coasting in gear gives 30+, but coasting with the clutch pressed gives lesser (the latter is dangerous, but people think it helps mileage

It is safer to stay in gear, than glide in neutral or clutch. Modern engines cut off fuel supply while coasting, thereby improving mileage.

We had a little discussion on another thread. Your observation with the instantaneous indicator proves the point, as well.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post3260554

Quote:

Originally Posted by TSIched'Out (Post 3271334)

Whenever I park my EcoSport after driving, i see a small pool of some liquid (most likely water) under the car. Is it water coming out from AC and is it normal for EcoSport? Have checked the Owner manual but it is not covered anywhere. Also, I haven't seen this in any of my other cars or may be haven't noticed.

Dont worry it is definitely the condensation water from the airconditioner, it happens in all cars and you can see it depending on where the drain is located.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TSIched'Out (Post 3271386)

Actually, few drops are ok but I'm getting a small pool every time. Was wondering could this be because of leakage in cleaning water reservoir and also if any BHPian has experienced this kind of leakage? Will get it checked nevertheless and post if there are any issues with cleaning water reservoir.

It happens to my car also , it is completely normal

[quote=arunphilipThe huge thuds are scary - the first time I heard it I thought: "There go my alloys, there go my sidewalls". Turned out to be much ado about nothing. I get this sound despite running at the max recommended pressure (35 psi) at the front. I now try to brake before the bump/pothole to bleed speed, and release the brake just before the bump/pothole to unload the suspension and increase its travel.[/QUOTE]

The specific problem of thud was irritating me for a long time.I contacted ford and they couldnt even understand the problem.I had no choice but seek outside help, I called srinivas gopal from satya gopal auto and he send me these buffers I am attaching in the pictures below.

My problem got solved like magic.clap:

Quote:

Originally Posted by arunphilip (Post 3271861)

Now that you know that the MID is accurate, you just rendered it redundant if you plan to continue with checking the tank full method. Checking FE of different runs is fun. At least when you are still discovering. My office commutes give me 9.7. Ecity to Silk Board gives me 20. The drive back gives me 17. etc.

Quote:

Oh, if she could be silenced, it would be a huge relief. I don't use any voice commands, and don't plan to use it ever. I hate talking to machines, and don't want machines talking to me either.

Hope I can post this here. Just last week I was driving quite leisurely and as I crossed a speed bump and depressed the accelerator pedal, a sign pops up in the MID. "Engine Malfunction, Service Now!" I was shocked. I went to the service center next day itself and got it checked, indeed an error was visible in the error log, a throttle error. But the sign did not appear once i had shut the car off and restarted it again. Service center could not answer me properly and said there is nothing wrong, and I can come back when I see the error again. The same error popped up again yesterday. Went to service center and gave the car for a day for a thorough check up. I don't know what to expect from the service center tomorrow! Any one else with a similar error? Pardon my ignorance if I have not read the entire thread post by post.
The error in the MID:

Quote:

Originally Posted by ecosport rules (Post 3271917)

The specific problem of thud was irritating me for a long time.I contacted ford and they couldnt even understand the problem.I had no choice but seek outside help, I called srinivas gopal from satya gopal auto and he send me these buffers I am attaching in the pictures below. My problem got solved like magic.

Thank you, let me check into this.

OT: On the box, it says "tenacious", "and so on"... is this Chinglish or a good sense of humour on the manufacturer's part? Looking at the packaging, I suspect the former :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by johannskaria (Post 3272089)

Hey i'm a novice in the area.
could please tell me how does a buffer work? please:
I haven't faced a similar thud from my car when on puddled roads.

Buffers are flexible strips of rubber (or silicone, as it appears in ecosport rules' post) that are inserted into the coil spring in the suspension, to prevent the suspension bottoming out under load/compression.

Read this excellent thread by GTO: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...uspension.html

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTO (Post 2300023)

I'd heard about coil spring adjusters a short while back, and was willing to try, especially since it's a cheap mod widely used by Forum'ers across the globe. Cost = Rs. 4,000 - 4,500 for a set of 4, and 1/2 of that for only the rear (including installation charges)... This part is very popular in the UK, especially amongst station wagons without self-levelling rear suspensions.

You can install coil-spring adjusters at the top of the spring (working at all times), in the middle (effective under mild to full load) or at the bottom (comes into play only under full load).

Quote:

Originally Posted by adi_petrolhead (Post 3272076)

Dude, I got the same error yesterday. I had taken the car to a ghat section this weekend and while coming back I got this error. It's supposed to be a powertrain malfunction due to sudden acceleration and deceleration. I switched off the engine and everything went back to normal and didnt notice this error during the next 120 odd kms. My car will be up for service next week so will be reporting this error to them. Any news kindly keep me posted.

Quote:

Originally Posted by adi_petrolhead (Post 3272076)

Quote:

Originally Posted by naveen.raju (Post 3272193)

Kindly keep us posted too regarding this here. If its occurring with a few more people, maybe its an area which Ford needs to look at for all the Ecosports.