[ampere]

Originally Posted by Samfromindia

A lot of Ecoboost reviews are also there. Please search properly. Whats rare is the 1.5 NA Petrol.

Thank you for the pointers. I did see them. My question was more with respect to long term usage. An Ecoboost which must have seen 30-40K kind of usage.

[naveen.raju]

Another interesting observation (might be there in other cars or have discussed here). We know that all power window buttons are illuminated. But if you lock this from the driver side, all the individual buttons will not be illuminated.

Originally Posted by Samfromindia

Where did the handy number buttons for making calls or choosing FM favorites go ?

It's still there although not handy or user friendly.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by ampere

Just a curious question for folks owning 1L Ecoboost. Ford had mentioned 20kmpl FE for this engine. Has anyone seen such mileage?

In my ownership thread, I had reported the following mileage for my most recent long drive. More details if you click through below.

Originally Posted by arunphilip

This time around, I got an overall trip mileage of 18.6 km/L for a distance of 415 km. More interestingly, I checked the MID after Mettupalayam, just before ascending the ghats to Kotagiri, and found that until there, I'd had a mileage of 19.9 km/L (i.e. highways, excluding the upcoming ghats). Yes, that's with the EcoBoost engine.

So yes, that mileage is achievable, just that you need to have a very light right foot while driving, and traffic/road conditions should be in your favour.

[Thad E Ginathom]

just that you need to have a very light right foot while driving

Some of the people who make a great fuss about fuel "efficiency" are also people who accelerate towards a red signal, braking hard as they reach it.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Some of the people who make a great fuss about fuel "efficiency" are also people who accelerate towards a red signal, braking hard as they reach it.

Ha ha, I see that far too often I've been overtaken by people who want to reach a red light first!

For my mileage, I used a lot of in-gear coasting (not neutral, that's dangerous and stupid), and the EcoSport also seems happy to roll along comfortably - it also has a neat anti-stall that kicks in if I've slowed down too much in a higher gear.

I also use tons of anticipation, so that throttle input is fed in only when its meaningful. No point blasting past another car if I'm immediately going to be bottlenecked behind two trucks spending an eternity overtaking one another.

But yes, that style of driving does a serious disservice to the sparkling performance of the EcoBoost on the highway. So maybe every hour or so, I just let rip safely on an open stretch of road to satisfy that part of me. After that roar, I switch back to making the engine purr.

[hemant.kamat]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

What's that yellow illuminated button below the AC console?

[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by hemant.kamat

What's that yellow illuminated button below the AC console?

That's the passenger side airbag indicator. You can switch it off and this console will show it's status.

[roy_libran]

Quick Update on 1.5 P AT:

We completed a weekend trip of 760 km on Sunday, with five adults (all XL sized) and one (4 yr. old) child on board. Yes, we were over-loaded!
The drive involved mountain driving as well, between Ramnagar and Ranikhet, as well as some off-roading on a couple of river-beds (Kosi and Ramganga), again Fully Loaded.
Climate Control was ON, for almost 70-80% of the duration.
We also had to negotiate horrendous roads for 40 km, in the vicinity of Thakurdwara.

The car behaved adequately on all fronts. It climbed all inclines with ease in 'S' mode. It tackled the Bad Roads with aplomb.

We had the Traction Control kicking in twice, when going over small boulders through the shallow streams, but we didn't get stuck.

Maximum speed hit on Hapur Bypass 135 kmph, but I mostly drove at 90-100 kmph.

It took us over 3 hours to get from Pilkhuwa to Masuri (15 km) on NH-24, due to a massive traffic jam.
Rear passengers complained a lot during this jam!

Overall Fuel Efficiency for the trip - 12.3 kmpl.
Maximum Fuel Efficiency on Highway - 14.4 kmpl over first 190 km.

P.S. One obvious question - Why I didn't take the Gurkha (considering the number of passengers)?
1. The 2 door format means trouble for my old parents for ingress/egress.
2. The suspension, right now, needs a bit of TLC (Bush changes, adjustments and the like), and I was worried about the comfort factor for my parents.

Was it the right decision? Yes, for the most part, except those 15 km/3+ hours, where the Gurkha would have made a huge difference by being able to bypass the stranded traffic by using the mud banks / farm tracks, along the clogged highway.

[wilful]

Originally Posted by roy_libran

Quick Update on 1.5 P AT:

We completed a weekend trip of 760 km on Sunday, with five adults (all XL sized) and one (4 yr. old) child on board. Yes, we were over-loaded!
The drive involved mountain driving as well, between Ramnagar and Ranikhet, as well as some off-roading on a couple of river-beds (Kosi and Ramganga), again Fully Loaded.
Climate Control was ON, for almost 70-80% of the duration.
We also had to negotiate horrendous roads for 40 km, in the vicinity of Thakurdwara.

The car behaved adequately on all fronts. It climbed all inclines with ease in 'S' mode. It tackled the Bad Roads with aplomb.

We had the Traction Control kicking in twice, when going over small boulders through the shallow streams, but we didn't get stuck.
[/i]

I'm sure you've taken pics during your trip. How about sharing some here? Would love to see them.
So the only real minus was the absense of the AWD? I hope Ford is listening.

[risga]

How did you know that Traction Control has kicked in? Does the console light blink or is there an alert beep?

Originally Posted by roy_libran

Quick Update on 1.5 P AT:

We had the Traction Control kicking in twice, when going over small boulders through the shallow streams, but we didn't get stuck.

[roy_libran]

Originally Posted by risga

How did you know that Traction Control has kicked in? Does the console light blink or is there an alert beep?

The console light of course.. All my audible warnings are disabled, by choice. Apart from that, I could sense the tyres slipping and then gripping.

[roy_libran]

Originally Posted by wilful

I'm sure you've taken pics during your trip. How about sharing some here? Would love to see them.
So the only real minus was the absense of the AWD? I hope Ford is listening.

The only two pictures, my wife took, of our steed, on this trip. This is on the Kosi River bed near Kumerai.

[wilful]

Originally Posted by roy_libran

The only two pictures, my wife took, of our steed, on this trip. This is on the Kosi River bed near Kumerai.

Wow!! Nice pics (pity there are only 2).
It gives me an ego boost to see the Ecosport in such rocky terrain!

[roy_libran]

Originally Posted by wilful

Wow!! Nice pics (pity there are only 2).
It gives me an ego boost to see the Ecosport in such rocky terrain!

Thanks. I was in a "relaxing" mode myself, and wasn't bothering myself to click many pics on this trip.

A note of caution though, Gentlemen, if I may -
It's very easy to misjudge Ground Clearance in such terrains, because 1 wheel in a small rut or depression, might make one of the rocks, hit your vehicle from below.
This is especially so for people with Diesel engine, who need to be more careful, because of the larger Sump. I think the Petrol has better clearance below the engine, and I also have the Plastic guard installed.
My past experience with Off-Roading helps me carefully plan the wheel placement and trajectory while driving through such terrain, but some of the rocks were big enough to damage the car, had I made a mistake.
So, please exercise caution. Ecosport is not a Truck!

[ramzsys]

The last full tank of diesel seems to have given me excellent FE. I have crossed about 1100 km and still some diesel left to reach the mark.

In the traditional tankful method, this arrives to 21.56 kmpl.

I live in a town and commute to a nearby city, so not exactly a highway driving FE this is.