[Doge]

Originally Posted by coolboy007

Brilliant review, beautifully crafted and the attention to detail is amazing, you have keen eyes buddy. I have never seen this horn pad gap in my car in these 2 years. The plastics are cheap but they are well put together, our Ecosport traverse the pathetic Himachal roads every month and dad has a rough driving style, barring the tailgate rattle.

Do you have the spare wheel cover on? Or is the spare wheel rattling?

[Wanderers]

Hi Doge,

Thanks for your ownership report. You have detailed it nicely and I liked the color choice even though it may not suit the taste of every Indian.

Regarding folding mirror, are they only absent in Ecoboost or totally absent in Ecosports models/trims.
Please also share the highway driving experience, specially overtaking.

[arunphilip]

Originally Posted by Wanderers

Regarding folding mirror, are they only absent in Ecoboost or totally absent in Ecosports models/trims.

No variant of the EcoSport has auto-folding mirrors, both before and after the facelift :(

[outofthebox]

Thank you for this carefully compiled and detailed purchase experience. Hats off for the effort alone!

Congrats on your purchase, the Blue looks awesome. Am a fellow EcoBoost owner too and after 1.5 year of ownership couldn't be happier.

A couple of pointers from my end:
1)Since most people in Delhi have no sense of personal space, this translates to the driving experience too. I would advise you to buy those transparent anti-bump stickers for all the crucial zones. In terms of build quality, the front wheel well arches and also the front below the grill are built of putty and will dent & scratch with the lightest touch.

2)The audio unit in EcoSport is really kick ass and all it needs to shine is a speaker upgrade. Just in case if you are a music buff - have also discovered some undocumented audio features of the Sync software related to Hi-res music playback which are really awesome and even Ford Support here was clueless about them. PM me if you want to know more.

3.

Originally Posted by Doge

Second issue is the way it climbs steep small inclines like a flat milestone or a small ramp. The car just vibrates and almost stalls! As a result one has to slip clutch a bit to get moving. This car then is not suitable for any kind of soft roading which involves crawling speed inclines.

On this topic specifically, you will have to adjust your driving style a bit. Happens with many turbo charged cars but is not a flaw.

For smaller slopes, you can just release the clutch & the brake slowly, without any accelerator inputs, the car will move forward.

For steeper ones or with heavy loads, revert to the tried & tested half clutch control method (youtube it) which is a driving school basic ( I nearly failed my driving license test because of this one). Has worked well over the ownership period, tried and tested in McLeodganj and elsewhere during my Himachal trips with family.

I don't find the turbo lag bothersome. If after the warranty you still find it bothering you, there is a workshop in Delhi which does EcoBoost ECU remaps.

Last but not the least, feel proud & thankful to be living in India, people in other countries have to pay anywhere between INR18L to INR24L for this model!

Here's wishing you miles of happiness with your Blue beauty!

[Doge]

Originally Posted by Wanderers

Hi Doge,
Please also share the highway driving experience, specially overtaking.

Highway performance is good if you're in the right RPM band. The car pulls really well from 90-140 in fifth. Beyond that, I haven't tried because of Indian road conditions and that its not run in yet.

Originally Posted by outofthebox

A couple of pointers from my end:
1)Since most people in Delhi have no sense of personal space, this translates to the driving experience too. I would advise you to buy those transparent anti-bump stickers for all the crucial zones. In terms of build quality, the front wheel well arches and also the front below the grill are built of putty and will dent & scratch with the lightest touch.

I've also thought that these flared wheel arches are quite vulnerable in Delhi traffic.

2)The audio unit in EcoSport is really kick ass and all it needs to shine is a speaker upgrade. Just in case if you are a music buff - have also discovered some undocumented audio features of the Sync software related to Hi-res music playback which are really awesome and even Ford Support here was clueless about them. PM me if you want to know more.

Interesting! Should try this out.

3.

On this topic specifically, you will have to adjust your driving style a bit. Happens with many turbo charged cars but is not a flaw.

For smaller slopes, you can just release the clutch & the brake slowly, without any accelerator inputs, the car will move forward.

For steeper ones or with heavy loads, revert to the tried & tested half clutch control method (Youtube it) which is a driving school basic ( I nearly failed my driving license test because of this one). Has worked well over the ownership period, tried and tested in McLeodganj and elsewhere during my Himachal trips with family.

I don't find the turbo lag bothersome. If after the warranty you still find it bothering you, there is a workshop in Delhi which does EcoBoost ECU remaps.

Last but not the least, feel proud & thankful to be living in India, people in other countries have to pay anywhere between INR18L to INR24L for this model!

Here's wishing you miles of happiness with your Blue beauty!

I actually never used the handbrake technique so half clutch isn't new to me. And driving an Ivtec( torque less at lower revs) meant that slopes weren't a worry. The Ecoboost actually does better than the Ivtec when it comes to stop start traffic in south Delhi's flyovers.
But in some scenarios, especially in reverse, the car does struggle to climb over small but steep inclines like a stone. Clutch slipping is required. The reverse does seem to be taller than what I am used to.
The car creeping forward with just clutch is quite nifty.

[Desmosedici]

Originally Posted by outofthebox

2)The audio unit in EcoSport is really kick ass and all it needs to shine is a speaker upgrade. Just in case if you are a music buff - have also discovered some undocumented audio features of the Sync software related to Hi-res music playback which are really awesome and even Ford Support here was clueless about them. PM me if you want to know more.

Why dont you share it here for the benefit of all Ecosport owners. I too am a recent Ecoboost owner so would definitely want to know.

[outofthebox]

Originally Posted by Desmosedici

Why dont you share it here for the benefit of all Ecosport owners. I too am a recent Ecoboost owner so would definitely want to know.

For starters, few pointers to note about the Sync software:

1) The Ford synch system can play hi-res music files of up to 24bit/96KHz through the USB input in WMA lossless format. Sweet spot is 24bit/48Khz which sounds best. CD quality resolution, i.e. 16bit/44.1KHz also sounds great. There is a huge quality upgrade from MP3 of any resolution.

Disclaimer: the original recording quality & type of music plays its part too. Don't expect too much from heavily compressed Bollywood or EDM type of recordings (with a few notable exceptions like Rahman, Mithoon, Shankar Ehsaan Loy etc). These quality improvements are more applicable to Western Classical, Acoustics & Vocals, Pop, Rock, Jazz & even some recent Lounge & Electro recordings like Buddha Bar etc.

2)There is a grammar limit of 15000 entries which determines the maximum number of music files before the infamous 'indexing error' creeps in. e.g. if the metadata in one song file is album, artist, track name, genre then the total number of grammar items for this song is 4. Do the math accordingly.

3) The sync s/w runs on Win CE operating system & does not like folders or files prepared on a Mac. Prepare & store your music on Windows PC. It also doesn't like special characters in file names. There is a free utility called 'Sync my iTunes' available on US Ford site which helps in stripping special characters and inserting blank metadata in place. This can also be done with ID3 tagging software like MP3tag etc.

4)If you hit an indexing error and the system refuses to read your music USB HDD or flash drive, then the ONLY way to reset this error is to disconnect your car's battery, wait for a few minutes, reconnect and start over again.

Hope this is useful. If there is sufficient interest, in next instalment, I can share about simple speaker & subwoofer upgrades, tweeter placement positions etc specific to the EcoSport.

[Desmosedici]

Originally Posted by outofthebox

For starters, few pointers to note about the Sync software:

Hope this is useful. If there is sufficient interest, in next instalment, I can share about simple speaker & subwoofer upgrades, tweeter placement positions etc specific to the EcoSport.

Thats a good amount of information. Thanks for sharing and eagerly awaiting your next update on the ICE upgrade. Even though the stock system is pretty decent, i felt that it can still be tweaked and was thinking of pairing the stock speakers with a basic amp for better clarity. Not sure if this is the right approach. I also have a Blaupunkt Bass Tube at home but not really sure if that would be required.

[hemant.kamat]

Originally Posted by outofthebox

If you hit an indexing error and the system refuses to read your music USB HDD or flash drive, then the ONLY way to reset this error is to disconnect your car's battery, wait for a few minutes, reconnect and start over again.

This will reset the entire ECU, not just Sync. One drawback of this is that the ECU creates a profile based upon your driving habits and tweaks the vehicle performance accordingly. This profile is erased if the battery is disconnected, so your vehicle behaves like 'stock' until you have run it for a few hundred km again and the driver profile can be recreated. That is also why your vehicle behaves differently when someone else takes it out on a long drive and return it back to you.

[outofthebox]

Originally Posted by hemant.kamat

This will reset the entire ECU, not just Sync.

I agree, this is an incredibly stupid way to reset the Sync system but what to do, this is the only method which seems to work. Some Ford users in US had created a Sync Reboot bootable USB utility but it doesn't work on the Indian version.

Coming to some simple speaker upgrade options:

First about the OEM 4 channel amps and the stock speakers -

The Ecosport system deploys a Sony Class D 4 channel amp and delivered approx 18W / channel in my setup. The chip set used is a fairly decent one and can be found in some of Sony's Class D based HT A/V receivers.

The only issue which this amp has is that it is highly dependent on a high rail voltage to deliver its best and the current delivery is average at best. (yes I actually took measurements and had opened up the system - blame it on an itchy DIY mindset )

What this means is that one should take efforts to keep the battery fully charged up in order for this system to sound its best. Road tested over 1000Kms by me.

Another issue with stock speakers is the issue of a non existent sound stage (its near the knees) which causes recordings to sound weird, although there is a DSP which alleviates this problem to some extent.

Once tweeters are added in the position provided in the front doors, the soundstage improves massively and one can immediately notice the real sound quality these Sony amps deliver.

Adding just a pair of tweeters is therefore the simplest speaker upgrade. Suitable 0.75" and 1" options are available from Hertz and Polk Audio and the estimated spend is around INR4k. I have a slight personal preference for the Polk Audio tweeters.

Second upgrade option is adding a set of 2-way and co-axial aftermarket speakers.

The Sony amps are inherently bright so they mate well with a slightly darker or warmer set of speakers. The poor current delivery issue can be mitigated by choosing a high efficiency set of speakers, ideally above 90dB/W/m sensitivity. This spec can be easily read off the speaker specs of most mainstream brands.

Based on the above, I had narrowed my choice to two specific 2way speaker systems which I could audition first hand, Morel Maximo 6 and Focal PS 165.

I found the Focals to be louder, brighter and a better soundstage than the Morels, but knowing my personal preferences and the fact that this kind of sound can cause listener fatigue over extended sessions, I went with the Morels.

For passenger doors, go with a matching co-axial speaker system.

There will of course be more choices in the market, just keep the above in the mind while choosing yours and make sure that the speakers are spec'd to be driven by factory/OEM amp systems.

With this upgrade, the system can go as loud as approx. 90dB in drivers seat at the 18 or 20 volume position which should be loud enough for most listeners but it is definitely not ear bleeding concert level loud. The bass frequency response is good to about 70Hz or so and then it starts dropping sharply.

One should definitely use a MDF baffle ring to mount the mid woofers and although the door is well damped, do go for additional damping from Focal or Dampmat etc. This will have some benefits in enhancing the mid range sound quality. Use of good quality speaker cable is also recommended. 16AWG is more than enough for this application although one can go as high as 14AWG. Try to use a thinner 22AWG for tweeter connections, this is to alleviate skin effect related performance issues.

I think this is a long enough post, in next instalment I can share about additional mid-range/tweeter install locations and active woofers etc.