Team-BHP - Ford EcoSport : Official Review

Quote:

Originally Posted by ampere (Post 3160039)

Renault would take at least a generation or two to get that guy in here!

I agree. Not just Renault, almost all the key players in India have cars in their arsenal (in international space) to fight in the space of Ecosport. They just need to get a bit more positive in their thinking. If the Ecosport clicks, that (along with the already established Duster) could spark a new trend in this segment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ampere (Post 3160039)

Have the Yeti prices gone up? Exactly one year back, when I was looking around, the pricing with a discount of a lakh touched just above 16 all inclusive. Has it gone up to 19 now? Wow!

For Active 2.0 4X2 ex-showroom price in Gurgaon is a tad below 15 lakhs without discounts. I wish Skoda India re-alligns the variants and the pricing of Yeti too when they launch Octavia at competitive prices.

We have examples like Jazz and Fabia where just to be competitive the companies have sold cars at losses.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ndinesh (Post 3159900)

Hi, Since you mentioned that you drove ecoboost in slow traffic, can you explain about the lag you felt in lower rpms? Were you mostly in first gear? Please explain more about your experience on ecoboost.

@ndinesh, i drove ecoboost mostly on lower RPMs. I have been a petrol user always and i did not find any difference driving ecoboost in terms of turbo lag and stuff.
However, considering the official review by Vid, i did park the car on a steep slope, stopped and started again and i had to really burn the clutch to get it upslope. I felt the effort was much more than what i do in my petrol Zen..

Test Drove the Ecosport Diesel yesterday. Here's my report:

1) Took a road that covers all condiotions - 50% highway, 50% city, huge humps, big potholes, downhill and uphill.
2) Pick up good and turbo kicks in early when compared to Swift but that turbo kick isnt all that exciting when compared to Swift. Not that it's bad, but expected a lot more punch.
3) AC - Excellent
4) GC - Excellent
5) Driver seat position was good and seating was comfortable.
6) Gives a SUV feel (when compared to Swift)
7) Wife was happy with the front seats.
8) Cabin noise was minimal
9) Adjusted my seat for my height (5.11) and the SA was seating right behind me and he had enough space.
10) Steering is very light. I didnt like it.
11) Steering is good to hold but I always loved the Ikon steering (limited edition)
12) Audio controls on the steering worked well.
13) SYNC worked fine
14) Took potholes really well
15) Lights pretty OK.
16) Armrest position and width could have better.
17) The TD had the wheel cover on the spare wheel. Looked good but wife liked the exposed look.
18) Glove box cools all the time. Docs will have to be placed below the front seat tray.

This sure does turn heads. I could see many people pointing their hand towards this car and many cars overtook me and was looking at the car.

200 bookings placed here and 220 cars for the first slot. Since demand is more, Ford would dispatch more cars to all major dealers.

All colors were there except for the Chill Metallic. I expected the Kinetic Blue to be a lot darker. Black looks really good thanks to the excess chrome. White looks cute and resembles a scale model.

Launch party starts at around 10.30am here. Got invited.

Now waiting for his call regarding the price. Some pics:

Quote:

Originally Posted by sharninder (Post 3160128)

Thanks for the pics. This is the first time I've seen the Blue color and I think it looks quite nice. Not sure if I like the car enough, but if I have to, I'd go for either the blue or the Red. Any pics of the Mars red ?

Here are the pics of the Mars red which I took couple of weeks back.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...ml#post3150130

Quote:

Originally Posted by shankar.balan (Post 3160028)

Agambhandari: Early on, the Forester and the Fusion actually tried to address this segment, but the market was not evolved sufficiently to appreciate either. The unsung Yeti actually opened up a new 'need state' for the evolved Indian consumer whose primary need was not space or size but functionality and quality and safety. I that sense the Yeti broke the ground for this mew segment. As is typical, the second comer, the Duster, captured this segment brilliantly on account of sharp pricing and perceived solidity, value for money etc. However, while the Duster is a great vehicle in many ways, it still does feel engineered to a cost. Now the little EcoSport is poised to eat up market share so rapidly that everyone, me included are going to be left standing, mouths agape in wonderment! It is going to be the absolute best vehicle for the smart young urban yuppie as well as the sophisticated rural 'country gent'. The only anticipatory bail I will take on this statement is that the pricing will be the decider, though from all accounts, they will not disappoint!

But all the options prior to the Duster were priced way off the budget of the majority of the market (The Yeti, Forester) or didn't seem aspirational enough , or not as much as an SUV (C'mon the Fusion looked just like a jacked up hatch, nowhere near as good as the EcoSport).
Hence, I wouldn't consider those early attempts, since most of them did little to sway away the Safari/Scorpio buyers.

I have a media friend who will be covering the launch and he is of the opinion that the launch Q & A will mostly focus on (this is based on his telephonic discussions with other media guys covering the event)

- What other cars are lined up for India?

- Pricing justification (off course - how good or bad it may be, Ford will get questions on that)

- Comparison with Figo in terms of cost of maintenance for Ecosport, as Ford is known to be relatively costly to maintain against other players barring the Figo which has been cheaper to maintain.

- Delivery schedule and availability of all trims and engines across India specially the Ecoboost (being imported).

- What will be the fate of Feista, which is a dud because of pricing and can RIP after Ecosport, no point of it blocking the premium showroom space.