[saisrujan]

It's not often that one gets to buy a car, and that too a car that has generated unprecedented interest in an industry that's going through one of its worst doldrums ever.

Ford has packaged this car brilliantly and has all the underpinnings to be the "iPhone" of the car industry. It's a great opportunity to be an early adopter for this product, and it's an honor to share my experiences with you all. Team-BHP has thousands of responsible drivers who take great care for their cars, and if I have their blessings and wishes, I'm sure I'll have a great time owning and caring for this car for many years to come.

Background
I've been driving a black i10 for the past 5 years. It's my first car and I confess was quite rusty when I bought it. I essentially learnt my driving on this car and ended up scratching and denting the car in several places. I've been wanting a better car ever since I began enjoying my driving for the following two main reasons:

• Lack of seat-height adjustment - I'm very short (5'1") and have been driving my i10 propped up with a cushion-type contraption, which never felt comfortable to me.
• Lack of power on highways. The 1.1 Liter engine is brilliant in the city - can get usable torque at as low as 800 rpm. But at higher speeds, I wasn't happy with how the i10 behaved.

Requirements
Here are the requirements with which I began looking around:

• Good seat-height adjustment
• Preferably high seating position
• Flexible with petrol / diesel, driving distances too low to warrant a diesel
• As compact as possible, 90% of the time, we'll only have less than 3 people in the car
• Sufficient power for good city / highway drivability, good handling
• Good creature comforts
• Budget < 10L

The search
I've tested several cars, but most of them failed my first requirement - good seat height adjustment. To my frustration, I discovered that seat height adjustment is meant to accommodate tall drivers, who prefer sitting lower for want of more headroom.

Here's a one-liner on each car that made it to my final list, but got dropped off along the way.

Hyundai i20 - Good overall package, diesel engine was quite enjoyable, but had to drop it because it didn't emotionally feel like an upgrade to my i10. The seat-height was good, but the car didn't score enough in steering and handling.

Skoda Yeti - Brilliant car. Great driving position, good power, nimble handling. I fell in love with this car. But clearly was out of my budget. Had decided I'll save money and wait for another year if I don't find any other car in my budget.

Special mention - Volkswagen GT-TSI - This car is nothing short of pure thrill on the road - but I wasn't happy with the seating position.

Ford Ecosport - Journey with Ecosport began in Feb/March.

The Ecosport Journey
Can't remember when I bumped into this car on the internet. But I've been following the car regularly since March 2013. I was skeptical about seat height and seating position and wanted to see the car in person before getting too excited.

First encounter at the mall
Went to the local mall in April. Looked stunning from outside, but considerably claustrophobic on the inside. Seating position was an immediate plus, but the dash is high and deep, and this was worried me. I came back with mixed feelings. Decided to wait for test-drives, but noted that just the looks of the car has been generating huge interest among those visiting the mall.

Media Splash and reviews
Reviews started pouring in right after the Goa media event. The wait for the baap of all reviews was painful but worth it. GTO and Vidyut left no stone unturned and covered every little detail about the car. The review clearly talked about the massive range for seat-height adjustment and the commanding driving position, and that brought me back into the chase and I had to test-drive this car before proceeding with my car-hunt.

Pre-Booking without Test-drives! What am I doing?
We all received feelers in early June that pre-booking will commence shortly. I didn't want to fall into the trap of plonking down my money without test-driving the car, but was also considering the amount of interest this car has been generating. Eventually, bit the bullet as soon as bookings were announced, and cut the 50k cheque for the AT model (based on the impression the DSG gearbox of the Volkswagen GT-TSI created), with a promise that I can change variants / colors after test-drives and pricing were out.

Test-Drives
So I got to drive the diesel vehicle on the first day it came to the showroom. Wasn't very impressed. I never felt comfortable while test-driving any diesel engines, except for the Yeti of-course. Soon after, got to TD the Ecoboost version, and this time I felt right at home. Didn't perceive much of turbo-lag and the engine was responsive and enthusiastic. I didn't feel I'd miss out too much if I opted out of the automatic. Ecoboost seemed like a better proposition.

Price Annoucement
Was expecting the Ecoboost to be priced higher than diesel, and was expecting the Ecoboost Titanium(o) to be priced at 11L ex-shorwoom, and a part of me felt that I should just save more money and get the AT a year down the line. The price announcement was a pleasant surprise and I figured I'm getting almost everything I wanted for less than 10L, and the brilliant Yeti started fading away from my list.

Final Decision on the variant
After the price decision and the favorable experience with the ecoboost, decided to switch to ecoboost titanium(o) and opted for the diamond white.

More test-drives
Had a back-to-back test-drive of the Ecoboost and Diesel, and I felt way more comfortable driving the Ecoboost. Re-confirmed that I'm on the right path.

Continuous follow-up
The wait has been tough. Balancing a demanding work schedule and hours reading up all the articles that are posted on team-bhp, twitter articles etc. has been tough and exciting at the same time. I continued following up with the SA regularly and all I got from them was a request to be patient. While doing my research, one issue that came up was the MRF vs GoodYear. I've had a bad experience with the stock MRFs on my i10 (I had to change them very early) and most reviews reconfirmed they're not worth it. Began researching the options I have in finding a good replacement, if my car ends up laden with those MRFs.

Allocation
The SA called back on July 4 with the sweet news that my car will soon be on its way. I asked the SA if we can ensure that the car I get will have GoodYears, but he said he can't help me with that. Eventually, the car came down to the local stock-yard and the SA confirmed it had the GoodYears.

Delivery
The car finally got delivered. Well, the delivery experience could be better. The showroom was still under renovation, there was no service manager available, accessories were hard to find etc.

The Car

Looks
People who talk to me tell me that the diamond white is by far the most appealing. I've thanked them for their compliments, but I don't disagree. The car looks elegant and the least aggressive in white. Yet, the car gets too much attention on the road and that always makes me feel uncomfortable.

Much has been written about Ford's design language, the aggressive front grill, headlights and the controversial tail-gate mounted spare wheel. All I can add to that are pictures of my car.









Interiors
I was quite happy with the interiors - It's busy and cluttered though, and resembles a cockpit. It's daunting at first, but geek-freaks are sure to have a field day trying out all the features out and giggling with happiness. The first thing that gets you when the Sun goes down is how everything is back-lit - every switch - the steering mounted controls, controls on the door, climate-controls, everything.







I like the leather / leatherette seats. I still can't figure out if it's indeed real leather, but I don't think it's that important, because the seats indeed feel snug and comfortable. The red stitch line and red breathing holes give the seats, and the whole interior, a sporty look. The texture feels good to touch.





Ecoboost Engine
The reason I chose Ecoboost Engine is because:

1. My daily driving distances are quite small - surely < 10000 KM a year
2. I have never felt comfortable with turbo-diesel engines, and the same uneasiness was experienced when I test-drove the diesel ecosport, while the ecoboost felt more driveable
3. I'm a techie, and anything technologically advanced will attract my attention

Here's a picture of the Ecoboost badging.



Initial Ownership

Accessories
So far, I've only opted for the essential accessories - mats and contoured mud-flaps. Haven't got any other accessories yet, but I have plans to buy the following:

1. Front and rear bumper appliques
2. Sporty pedals
3. Non-illuminated scuff plates
4. The spare wheel looks classy, but is drawing too much attention. I plan to cover it up with an after-market contraption (a black leatherette spare wheel cover like the CR-V has)

3M Car-Care
I've got the "under-body anti-rust coating" and "paint-protection essential" done at 3M Madhapur. I must mention they have done a great job. The owners Vijay and Vinod are passionate about the work they do, and are supported by a good team. But they have charged me at par with "big cars" - so the Ecosport is being charged the same money as the range rovers of the world. This is what prevented me from taking a yearly package with them.

Overall Impressions

What I like

• High Driving position
• Plenty of power available right from 1800 RPM all the way to the red-line (I only touched 5000 RPM once just to see, I'll refrain from higher RPMs until I get 1500 km under my belt) - 2500 RPM in 5th geat at 120kmph - you just need to press down on the accelerator a little harder, and the speedo will quickly climb - much needed for a quick overtaking manoeuvre.
• Immediate throttle response when you are at the right RPM
• Excellent handling and ride at highway speeds - takes on broken roads without much fanfare
• Stunning Looks - outside and inside
• Well insulated cabin
• Comfortable and supportive leather seats - leather feels good to touch, breathes well
• Clutch has the right amout of play. Brakes have a good feel and have a good bite
• GoodYears are good enough for me - good dry and wet grip. No screaming.
• I actually like the steering wheel - small and chunky, light in the city and weighs up decently well at speeds. Not as bad as the vague Hyundai i20 steering. But I have never driven a Fiesta so I can't compare.
• Dead pedal is a plus.
• Sync actually works.
• Great sounding audio system

What I need to get used to

• Deep dashboard
• Thick A-Pillar
• Noticeable turbo-lag (delayed throttle response at lower RPMs). Need to re-learn my gear shifting speeds
• Harsh ride for rear-seat passengers
• Sync doesn't support artist / album voice-request over bluetooth (at least with my phone)
• The tail-gate is quite heavy, so I'm not using it as often as I should. I dump little bags near the rear seat area.
• Expensive accessories
• Extremely attention-grabbing (at least in the short term)

Suggestions to prospective buyers

• Go for lighter colors unless you have a good idea on how tough it is to maintain darker colors in good condition. Also, going for a lighter color creates a contrast with the black cladding - darker colors seem to give the car a tall-boy look, especially in side profile.
• When getting cars washed, ask them to use less pressure near the lights. I have instances of moisture seeping into the light assembly.
• Doors are vulnerable to damage from neighboring cars because of the way the ridges are shaped - paint protection film on door edges recommended (unfortunately film is not recommended on white cars, because of the yellow tint they tend to acquire)
• If you prefer performance over economy, go for the ecoboost, even if the wait times seem longer. I feel the engine's worth the wait.

Vote of Thanks
I wouldn't have had the pleasure of welcoming this car to my life without the "baap of all reviews" from GTO and Vidyut, and the stream of inputs from the Team-BHP family. Special thanks go to "ecosport rules", another proud owner of Ecosport from Hyderabad - for getting in touch with me and for sharing his inputs (credits to some of this ownership review should ideally go to him).

Ford has hit a jackpot with this car and I'd like to thank the entire team at Ford for not just designing such a brilliant car, but also for bringing this car to Indian market. I wish Ford India all the very best.

[mobike008]

Note from Mod : Thread moved to Initial Owners Section. Thanks for sharing it

[DRIVE_ADDICT]

I keeping F5-ing T-BHP to check for the ownership review of Ecosport and i finaly got yours. Great.! and Let me be the first one to congratulate you on owning the Urban SUV.

Happy motoring..

[Batfreak]

Congrats on the buy! Love the detailed write up and the photographs. Do take her for a full photo-shoot some time soon. Personally I think the Mars Red is a color to die for but your clicks made me reconsider. Please keep us posted about the FE figures and service updates.
Cheers!

[maverick145]

Congrats mate. I would like to know if you tried the normal 1.5 petrol engine? How is it as compared to the Ecoboost?

By the way, the white colour sure looks good

[kvish]

Great car! Congratulations on your purchase. You did not answer the customary question: Fuel efficiency?

[johy]

Hey mate, thanks for the review. I like your narrative and the pictures quite a lot. Straight to the point. No fuss.

And am sure glad to see the EcoBoost review. Much awaited. And the variant does exist!

Wish you many kilometers of happy and safe driving.

[4nd3r50n]

Congratulations on owning the first EcoBoost on team-BHP! I feel that most early adopters usually turn out to be the guiding light for the later buyers and I hope you will keep this thread updated with your experiences to serve that purpose. Wishing you many, many happy miles with a probable Car of the Year 2013!

[sbala]

Congratulations !!!

Looking forward to hear on the mileage that ecoboost engine provides. I believe most of us here are waiting for the real world figure.

Please do post about it

[anandpadhye]

Congratulations.

I will look forward to your detailed experience - primarily about the engine.
So you are saying there isn't much torque below 1800 RPM?

[ndinesh]

Hi,

Congratulations on your new ride and being the first ownership report in our forum.
Can you elaborate more on the turbo lag at lower rpms? And how the vehicle pulls when fully loaded at lower rpm?
You had mentioned about the harsh ride for rear seat passengers. Is it always or only over broken roads? And the same question on fuel efficiency which many others are also eager to know.

Regards,
Dinesh

[coolboy007]

Congrats on your Ecosport and for also starting the first ecosport ownership thread on your team bhp. Well detailed and to the point review, agree with all your observations, the night shot looks awesome.

Am a dieselite , did have a td of the ecoboost but preferred the tdci and waiting for the same, ecoboost does have some lag below 1800-1900 and the heavy kerb weight doesnt help. After 1900 rpm till 5500 was a different story though

[Aston.Martin]

@saisrujan, Congrats on your Ecoboost and thank you so much for putting up the ownership review. She looks awesome. Probably this is the first Ecoboost online review in India. Keep us updated more about the engine performance. Please confirm if you have got tweeters in Tit+.

For me its long time to go before I get my Ecoboost...I booked it on 6th July and only god knows when my wait will end.

[naveen.raju]

Congrats on bringing the first Ecosport on TBHP. Excellent pics and narration. Please put more interior pics. Rated 5/5 and now it's time to stare at your pics everyday.

[crazydave]

Congrats on the buy, look forward to reading more updates in the future!