Team-BHP - Ford EcoSport : Official Review
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Quote:

Originally Posted by Samfromindia (Post 3892111)
One of the main selling points for this "Urban SUV" is undoubtedly it's huge ground clearance which is advertised as 200mm. When cars like Scorpio has only 180mm, 200mm seemed to more than enough to tackle bad indian road conditions and made Ecosport very practical for driving over broken tarmac. While GC was never a factor for me choosing this car, for many it was the main decision maker. However after owning this car i found that the ground clearance doesn't look that high in real life. Also in diesel cars they give a sump guard which tends to droop down after sometime. This is common in all the diesel Ecosport i noticed and its easy to spot one without the TDCI badge just by looking at the sump. So i finally decided to give the ground clearance a test and see if the car really holds up to what the specifications say.

Underbody from back. Notice the drooping sump guard.
Attachment 1461683

Underbody from front.
Attachment 1461684

Exhaust pipe clearance = 195mm
Attachment 1461685

Rear suspension clearance = 190mm
Attachment 1461686

Rear shocker clearance = 175mm
Attachment 1461687

Sump guard clearance = 135mm :eek: :Frustrati
Attachment 1461688

This test was carried with the car fully unloaded and tyre pressure at 32psi. While suspension components might not be considered for measuring ground clearance (which i am not sure) the stats are very alarming for what they claim to be a "very high ground clearance" vehicle ! Maybe the petrol owners can throw some light on the sump clearance without the guard or one with the plastic guard.

Unbelievable ? Believe it !

I always knew there is something wrong with the claimed ground clearance. Still the gc is enough is most of the cases. I have taken my car to worst road possible, where my EcoSport couldnt climb and I had to take the car back, but there was never any issue with ground clearance

Quote:

Originally Posted by girishglg (Post 3889633)
Absolutely agree, I have a EcoSport Titanium D MT for a year now and absolutely love its solid feel especially when you are cruising on the highway. This car does not ever sway or wobble due to wind speeds or oncoming traffic which gives a feel of a vehicle which is something bigger than its class, gives a huge confidence on road.

Very satisfied on this account and overall.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uprasenjit (Post 3889842)
I am just back from a 3500+ km road trip to Uttarakhand from Kolkata. I have to say EcoSport is a solid highway cruiser. It is so much planted to the ground that I could easily hold the car at 100+ for hours. Handling is brilliant again. I had a lot of fun driving this car in the kumaon region. I will share a travelogue shortly.

Exactly what I am loving in my Ecosport AT! The car has a brilliant ride. On the Rajasthan/Gujarat highways, the car brought a grin to our faces because it is so stable. The NVH levels are pretty good. It takes a lot of conscious effort to keep the car restricted to 80-90kph; the speed is masked incredibly. Drove 800+ kms in 14 hours, never felt even a bit of strain. We took multiple breaks during this - reached our target night halt without the family complaining even once. The front seats especially feel very comfortable. The rear seats are so far proving adequately comfortable for the family, I can't personally vouch as I only sit on the driver's seat stupid:


Quote:

Originally Posted by dpkbehera (Post 3888102)
Looking at the way the prices have been jacked up, it looks like the customers who brought the vehicles in the festive season i.e. September to December 2015 landed themselves a great DEAL.

It does exactly feel like that. I took the delivery on 29th Dec - got 22k discount + basic kit + 7.99% interest rate. So if I waited for 2016, I would need to spend a lot more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by iss1307 (Post 3891953)
We have had 2 Suzuki's till now!
So I am not even considering MSIL this time.
So buying the Ecosport does not make any sense now? :(
The City facelift will be a fresh one. So I guess I am back to square one. :|

I would suggest you identify what you want from your new car. Do listen to your heart as it needs to make you smile when you look at it / approach it. More importantly, it should bring a grin when you drive! That's what the Ecosport makes me feel lol:

I wanted a well built modern urban SUV / crossover with AT, I think my Silver Surfer is the perfect car for me from that perspective.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samfromindia (Post 3892111)
One of the main selling points for this "Urban SUV" is undoubtedly it's huge ground clearance which is advertised as 200mm.

Rear shocker clearance = 175mm
Attachment 1461687

Sump guard clearance = 135mm :eek: :Frustrati
Attachment 1461688

This test was carried with the car fully unloaded and tyre pressure at 32psi.

Unbelievable ? Believe it !

On the Wikipedia, the ground clearance has been defined as the "shortest distance between a flat, level surface, and any part of a vehicle other than those parts designed to contact the ground (such as tires, tracks, skis, etc.)."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ride_height

Going by this defination and the measurement taken by Samfromindia, the GC of Ecosport is only 135 mm.

Does Indian manufacturers have a different defination of GC?

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunilg33 (Post 3892148)
The fabric cover which comes with the tdci shouldn't be considered as a sump guard. It's more of a sound insulation. I have got a custom made metal engine guard and its clearance is definitely way above the fabric one .
If you ask real world performance - my tdci has never even once scraped the underbody in the 55k kms I have driven. I have driven it on very rough roads.
However the figures you have mentioned at few points is a bit of a concern.

And i hit my sump in first month itself while the car was not even 1k. There were some bolders strewn on the road due to some construction work and i noticed it very late while driving in high speed at night. However i never hit it again in all long distance trips including the climb to darjeeling or while negotiation bad patches of NH34 which is possibly the worst road in our state. Maybe a higher sump could have avoided the initial accident i had. The point is preventing underbody hits does not always depend on GC, but also on how cautiously you drive or the kind of terrain which is relative. There are many cars like Punto abarth or Octy Vrs which has very low GC but they never advertise it as 180 or more. Also specifications published are for stock cars and not something which you achieve after modifying. It will be very helpful if you post pictures and details of the aftermarket guard you made and the GC of the same after installing if possible. EcosportRules has made one and its certainly better than the plastic one which Ford sells as an accessory.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uprasenjit (Post 3892275)
I always knew there is something wrong with the claimed ground clearance.

Prasenjit i believe you have the plastic engine guard which Ford sells as an official accessory. Can you please post ground clearance of the same ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat (Post 3892427)
On the Wikipedia, the ground clearance has been defined as the "shortest distance between a flat, level surface, and any part of a vehicle other than those parts designed to contact the ground (such as tires, tracks, skis, etc.)."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ride_height

Going by this defination and the measurement taken by Samfromindia, the GC of Ecosport is only 135 mm.

Does Indian manufacturers have a different defination of GC?

The definition of GC must be same for all cars and even if Ford decides to use a engine cover for diesel model which lowers the GC, they must market the diesel variant with lower GC and not something without one. They were definitely dishonest with their marketing and have misled many customers this way. I hope other Bhpians post data of their car's GC and confirm this issue.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samfromindia (Post 3892513)
The definition of GC must be same for all cars and even if Ford decides to use a engine cover for diesel model which lowers the GC, they must market the diesel variant with lower GC and not something without one. They were definitely dishonest with their marketing and have misled many customers this way. I hope other Bhpians post data of their car's GC and confirm this issue.

Shall we suggest the moderators to mention 135 mm GC in the Ecosport official review?

Quote:

Originally Posted by vaeroon (Post 3892370)
Exactly what I am loving in my Ecosport AT! The car has a brilliant ride. On the Rajasthan/Gujarat highways, the car brought a grin to our faces because it is so stable. The NVH levels are pretty good. It takes a lot of conscious effort to keep the car restricted to 80-90kph; the speed is masked incredibly. Drove 800+ kms in 14 hours, never felt even a bit of strain. We took multiple breaks during this - reached our target night halt without the family complaining even once. The front seats especially feel very comfortable. The rear seats are so far proving adequately comfortable for the family, I can't personally vouch as I only sit on the driver's seat stupid:




It does exactly feel like that. I took the delivery on 29th Dec - got 22k discount + basic kit + 7.99% interest rate. So if I waited for 2016, I would need to spend a lot more.



I would suggest you identify what you want from your new car. Do listen to your heart as it needs to make you smile when you look at it / approach it. More importantly, it should bring a grin when you drive! That's what the Ecosport makes me feel lol:

I wanted a well built modern urban SUV / crossover with AT, I think my Silver Surfer is the perfect car for me from that perspective.

Guys what is the Top speed you have attained in the Ecosport AT, My Ecosport's steering started to shudder when I crossed 110 KMPH the car started shaking, Have you felt the same. Kindly update

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rahul Bhalgat (Post 3892801)
Shall we suggest the moderators to mention 135 mm GC in the Ecosport official review?

Ground clearance is calculated in many different ways. There is no standard that is followed in India.

Usual definition is lowest point between the front and rear wheels. There are variations of this definition.

This basically means anything ahead of the front wheels and behind the rear wheels is not considered when calculating GC.

The rear suspension is between the rear wheels and will never touch unless there's a rock sticking out of the road.

Same goes for the plastic sump protector. Being in between the front wheels it is not taken into consideration when calculating GC.

We have to go by what manufacturers say with no real way of knowing how they calculated.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KarNut (Post 3892843)
Guys what is the Top speed you have attained in the Ecosport AT, My Ecosport's steering started to shudder when I crossed 110 KMPH the car started shaking, Have you felt the same. Kindly update

We don't discuss top speeds on Team-BHP so it's unlikely anyone will reply to you.

That said if you are having vibration/shuddering when driving at high speeds, most likely it is the wheel balancing that is not in order. The weights might be wrong or fallen off.

Get the balancing done and then try it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KarNut (Post 3892843)
Guys what is the Top speed you have attained in the Ecosport AT, My Ecosport's steering started to shudder when I crossed 110 KMPH the car started shaking, Have you felt the same. Kindly update

110 kmph is actually the cruising speed for most people and my car feels very stable in this speed. If you are having shudder & shake first check your wheel balancing, just like Vid mentioned. Discussing top speed on public road is discouraged here, if you are interested just for knowledge you can search youtube/google for the same and get the timings performed by professionals in circuit.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vid6639 (Post 3892936)
This basically means anything ahead of the front wheels and behind the rear wheels is not considered when calculating GC.

The rear suspension is between the rear wheels and will never touch unless there's a rock sticking out of the road.

Well this explanation helps, but isnt GC important for this purpose also ie clearing obstacles on the path in between the wheels ? You have reviewed a lot of cars and have great experience in this field. Dont you honestly think the sump guard is precariously low for this car at least in diesel avatar ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samfromindia (Post 3893077)
110 kmph is actually the cruising speed for most people and my car feels very stable in this speed.

agree: Yep! I too can personally vouch for this. My Silver Surfer (AT) cruises at that speed around 2500 RPMs. Needless to say, the engine note is nowhere near disturbing at those RPMs. The car stays absolutely stable, the steering feels nicely weighed up - therefore no signs of Hyundai-esque nervousness.

As already suggested by experienced BHPians, we refrain from mentioning top speeds on the forum with a view to encourage responsible and safe driving.

Hi
Which brand of child seat is best fit for the ecosport ? I recently got a child seat , but have been unable to get a stable fit in the car.

Got my 3rd paid service at 20k kms at Tanish Ford Gurgaon. Overall not very happy as the center is new and ill experienced.

Strange thing, my booklet doesn't say anything about brakes. It just mentions that brake fluid should be changed every 40k or 2 years whichever is earlier but the guys are service center said system is showing brake fluid change. Anyway I went for it but to my horror they charged labour of 552 + 552 for front and back shoes cleaning which was not mentioned anywhere in the service booklet. I refused to pay the amount and they finally charged 552 just once.

Total bill stood at 4542/- which was with 20% labour discount and 50% on oil filter which was a part of an offer because it was a new service center.

I have often experienced this and not sure if anyone else has. At times the music volume automatically goes down and comes back in a few seconds. No, it does not mute, just lowers a couple of notches and then back. I have been experiencing this every day at various times. I have even set the speed sensing volume to zero, still the issue persists.

Any leads?

Cheers,
Raj

Quote:

Originally Posted by Desmosedici (Post 3899577)
I have often experienced this and not sure if anyone else has. At times the music volume automatically goes down and comes back in a few seconds. No, it does not mute, just lowers a couple of notches and then back. I have been experiencing this every day at various times. I have even set the speed sensing volume to zero, still the issue persists.

Any leads?

Cheers,
Raj

How do you set the speed sensing volume.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nik hill (Post 3899584)
How do you set the speed sensing volume.

You can do this under audio settings. Menu - Audio setting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Desmosedici (Post 3899577)
I have often experienced this and not sure if anyone else has. At times the music volume automatically goes down and comes back in a few seconds. No, it does not mute, just lowers a couple of notches and then back. I have been experiencing this every day at various times. I have even set the speed sensing volume to zero, still the issue persists.

Any leads?

Cheers,
Raj

I generally play music over bluetooth (paired with Sync), using Wynk app from my Nexus 5. I have noticed that the volume dips temporarily if any notification (new SMS, new WhatsApp message, any push notification) arrives. Its hardly a second (definitely not more than 2 seconds) before the volume comes back to original level.


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