[libranof1987]

Car buying:

I've been contemplating getting a car for a while now but put it off for some reason or the other. My work place is a godforsaken area in Pune (read: Hinjawadi) where I absolutely wouldn't want to drive to everyday. It's just not good for my health and sanity. Hence, the office shuttle. For city runs, Uber suffices and for quick outstation trips (non road trips), there's Zoomcar. What that meant was, there was no driving factor to get a car. However, come June, monsoons are around the corner and given my itch for road trips during the season, I made up my mind to get a car.

Now, what car? I think my parents and I deprived ourselves of some fun in the decision making process. Here's why.

As it has almost always turned out to be, car buying decisions in my family have been rather quick affairs. This has been either due to strong opinions, self-imposed constraints or specific needs.

* Given our Constitution and our Govt's mercy, I am entitled to an opinion and I'd like to exercise it. So, take it at your discretion

Opinion 1: No Honda or Maruti Suzuki. We've owned a 800, Alto and Zen in the past and have a City in the garage. The build quality, disinterest towards safety features and an overall aversion to the mentality that the Japanese have towards their cars (sasta, sundar, tikau, FE FTW), these were ruled out.
* This eliminated the Brezza and BRV

Opinion 2: No Indian manufacturers. The old man's directive. I didn't argue since I had no strong reason to.
* This eliminated the XUV

Opinion 3: No Skoda. Duh.

Constraint 1: No pre-owned. Has to be freshly minted. The parents.
* This eliminated so many, let's not go there

Constraint 2: No diesel. The lower cost of running (due to cheaper fuel and higher FE) over petrols was not priority. Other important factor was the overall situation towards diesels. My folks are in Delhi and they absolutely wouldn't consider a diesel in the possibility that the car may have to be used there (and hence, requiring a change in registration).
* This, unfortunately, played a factor in eliminating the Jetta (the car thoroughly impressed me)

Constraint 3: we have a City and an i20 in the family. The new car should be at least some sort of an upgrade to the City.

Specific need 1: A compact SUV/SUVish vehicle; we've had only hatchbacks or sedans so far so thought of unchartered territory.

Specific need 2: Has to be AT. Given how the traffic is in India, regardless of city or type of road. AT is God's gift to mankind.
* I would like to tell VW what spectacular idiots they are in not offering the AT on the petrol Jetta; else this was what I would have picked up

Specific need 3: loaded with safety features. Duh.

Specific need 4: Luggage space; since I intend to do road trips. The EcoSport can hold two big bags in the rear and maybe two small ones.

Now that you have an idea of how we work, you'll realize there aren't many cars left.

There's just the EcoSport and the Creta. Seriously.

We have an i20 at home and given that we have that, the Creta wasn't appealing. Nothing against the car; just that, there wasn't anything strong going for it.

So, I promptly looked the EcoSport up and hence, the Ford EcoSport 1.5 Petrol Titanium AT:

Petrol, check
AT, check
1.5, decent enough
Titanium AT variant: 6 airbags, ESP, ABS - safety features, check
Ford = good build quality, check

The, went about contacting dealers. I want the 1.5 Petrol Titanium AT, thank you very much.

Pune has three Ford dealers: Talera (I'd like to call them the Trump-esque rich old white man for their attitude), Planet Ford (has a rather gloomy showroom) and Sai Sakshi Ford.

Long story short, I went ahead with Sai Sakshi Ford. The sales guy was very courteous in his overall attitude, offered a TD when I went to the showroom; no questions or issues with the TD, came to pick me up at my residence a week later when I said I'd like to visit the stockyard to see the colours in person and then again when I had to go to the showroom to make the booking.

Saw most of the available colours on the EcoSport at the stockyard (except Mint, which he said was rather slow moving). Smoke Grey it was.

* The Mars Red (actually more Orange) is a good colour but I think Zoomcar messed it up for EcoSport. Way too many of that shade in town, lost the novelty.

Made the booking in the first week of June, was told that the exact car I wanted (variant, colour) was on order and scheduled to reach within a week. Car to be delivered mid-June.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/what-c...ml#post4003853

Yay!

There was an understandable delay of a couple of days and the car arrived at their stockyard.

Armed with the PDI list from Team-BHP and a friend (thank you, Asit!), I went to the yard to check it out. True to his word, the VIN on the car stated that it was fresh off the line.

All good, lock 'n load.

[libranof1987]

Car bought:

Accessories:

- The EcoSport comes with reverse sensors but I wanted a reverse camera as well. Ordered that at the dealer.

* Unfortunately, even the Titanium AT variant doesn't have auto-dimming electrochromic mirror.

When the reverse camera is fitted, they change the original manual mirror to an electrochromic mirror with integrated display. I thought I had played it smart since I got auto-dimming and reverse display. Hah! Apparently, Ford doesn't permit auto-dimming even on their authorized reverse camera fitment (Nippon).

Still thinking of a work around.

- Mud flaps and floor mats. Courtesy of the dealer. Although, I may have change the floor mats (fabric) to rubber ones to avoid soiling.

- Spare wheel cover: doesn't add much to the looks. And costs 12k. No, thank you.

Insurance : told the dealer I'd be getting this done on my own. He said Ford has a tie-up with Royal Sundaram, New India Assurance, Iffco Tokio and Tata AIG as their "preferred" vendor and advised me to stick to these. Neither he nor his boss gave me a satisfactory answer on what "preferred" vendors get you.

Any way, I looked around for quotes and got a fairly decent quote for a Zero-dep with add on: engine protection for New India. Done.

Extended Warranty for 3rd/4th year with RSA.

Eventually, the car was delivered within a fortnight of booking, although without the registration number.

Tanked up, air pressure checked and got the big boy home.

* Notice the white light strip at the bottom of the headlight assembly, serves as parking light. Wish that was a DRL.










* The ribbons and garland were provided by the dealership during the puja at the time of delivery. We got home right after and the ribbons were removed immediately after these pictures were taken. If only, I had removed them before clicking pictures.

[libranof1987]

Car have

Given how freely I have expressed my opinions earlier, let me also not spare the EcoSport.

Is it the best car out there? No.
Is it the best car in its segment? Maybe yes, maybe no. Subjective.
Is it the best version of what it can be? Nope.

But.

It is the best out there for what I was looking for and that is good enough for me. If wishes were horses, I'd have a stable.

Initial obvious impressions

- As explained earlier, the new mirror fitted as part of the reverse camera setup, although electrochromic, doesn't have auto-dimming. Need to figure it out

- The spare tyre protrudes out of the body chassis, while the reverse sensors are fitted on the rear bumper. So, that means what you see on the mirror isn't as far away as it shows up. As the SA said, use the mirror to watch for any dogs or pedestrians at the back but use the reverse sensors to estimate the distance.

- This is a big one: Did you know, the EcoSport has a seatbelt warning but it will only come on if you're not wearing the seatbelt and the car has exceeded "a safe speed". That, as I found out when I was testing, is 20 kmph. Also, the warning goes off if you keep driving like that for more than 5min. Not cool, Ford. Not cool. You sit in the car, seat belts have to be worn. If not, sound a damn warning!

- The AT: okay, I'll admit, this ain't the best out there. If you drive with a light foot, it can drive around like a grandmother out for a walk in the countryside. Gear shifts typically happen around 2k rpm when driven with a light foot. You have to rev up when you are on an incline or trying to overtake.

- FE: around 12kmpl with city driving, 100% a/c. Shot up to 15 kmpl on a 30km highway stretch

[libranof1987]

The Team-BHP official review has covered every possible aspect of the car so I'll dive straight in to my opinions and observations:

Exterior: For the most part, the EcoSport has a fairly safe and proportionate styling and makes for a good looking vehicle. There's nothing that can be said is "hit or miss".

All around the vehicle, there's a generous amount of cladding at the bottom. I'm hoping it doesn't fade with time, drastically that is. The cladding was a factor in the decision to get the smoke grey since a) it kind of blends in, and b) on a lighter shade, any amount of fade would be highlighted.

- The reverse camera fits in the same housing as the number plate lighting. Now as nifty and subtle as it may look, it has two problems:
a) Given that its placement is low, you have a skewed view of objects at a height, so depth perception can be a problem
b) I've explained this earlier regarding distance. The camera doesn't account for the mounted spare tyre; so the camera cannot be trusted to gauge distance

* Note how the feedback from the sensors and camera can tell a different story; the OVRM is more realistic



* Make sure you get rear mud-flaps, else all the splash from the rear tyres gets out of the reverse indicator assembly. And it looks ugly. I realized the value of the mud-flaps when I saw an EcoSport without one.





Interiors:

- The front console looks modern and elegant, unlike that of the Duster, its competitor



- I've never been a fan of leather seats and prefer fabric ones in my cars; however, the shade offered in EcoSport is going to be challenge to maintain.



- Tons of storage place, be it between the front row seats or doors. You can fit four half-litre bottles and a litre one. This is a good thing and a bad thing. Bad, because the driver arm rest is pretty lousy. The co-pilot doesn't get one.



- The glove box has two levels: at the top with a lesser depth for something like a notebook, car manual and bigger one at the bottom bigger. I'm not happy with the depth because I can't fit in an A4 size file either latitudinally or longitudinally. Same with the front seat pockets; not big enough.





* The Titanium AT variant, because it has six airbags, two each at front, side and curtain, doesn't get door handles. This was new to me because my earlier Accord did have them, despite the curtain airbag. Not sure why things change between a sedan and SUV.

- Seats:

a) This is a 4+1 kind of a vehicle; there is no way three adults can sit comfortably at the back.
b) The width of the front seats can be bit of a bother for those on the heavier side
* No 3-point seatbelt for the rear middle passenger

[libranof1987]

Ride quality:

- The Titanium AT variant comes with 205/60 R16 section tyres so the car feels fairly planted

- Having taken the EcoSport through a very abusive Mulshi - Lonavala mountain road, and a Duster through Tamhini ghat toward Kashid, I find the Duster better equipped to take abuse. The ride quality on bad roads is tad better on the Duster

Seating:

Apart from the fact that the EcoSport is a 4+1 vehicle, rather than a 5 seater, it is comfortable: both in the front and in the rear. There is a good amount of leg space for the rear benchers even when the front seats get themselves ample leg room.

If your build is on the heavier, the front seats might not be as cozy as you'd want them to be.

The rear middle passenger doesn't get a headrest; nor is there a rear parcel tray.

Comfort and Convenience:

- Given that I have taken the delivery at the onset of monsoon, I haven't really had the occasion to challenge the a/c. However, during the TD (which was in 38 deg C), the auto a/c did the job well. In comparison to the one on Duster, the a/c on the EcoSport is light years ahead.

- The Titanium AT comes with a rear defogger and rear wiper + washer. The rear washer + wiper comes in might handy given the spray on the rear windshield; big help during a recent highway drive

- Reverse sensors, feedback on the infotainment display. Very essential given the dimensions of the car (esp. with the protruding spare wheel) and high rear windshield

* A nice feature is having the rear wiper come on when R is engaged and the front wiper is in use.

- There's the usual mix of features such as front reading maps, rear courtesy lamps, cooled glove box

- The boot space is fairly lower than that in Duster but it can still manage two big + two small bags

Here are some misses:
a) Electrically folding OVRMs
b) one-touch up/down only on driver window; at least co-pilot should have been covered
* c) I've already explained this issue in an earlier post so will just highlight it here. This variant doesn't come with reverse camera or an auto-dimming electrochromic mirror. Even when you fit a Ford-authorized Nippon reverse camera, which comes with an electrochromic mirror, you don't get auto-dimming feature. You don't, and you can't. The SA has given up since Ford doesn't have/want a solution to this
d) No centre arm rest at the rear

- Electric boot gate: the boot gate is heavy so this comes in handy.
* However, there can be a drawback! If you are opening the boot in limited space and only want a small opening to avoid it from brushing, tough luck. The damn thing will keep trying to open completely

Safety and Security:

- The Titanium AT variant comes with six Airbags, ESP, ABS, EBD, Hill Launch Assist. Essentially, loaded.

- Emergency Phone Assist: if a phone is connected via Bluetooth, the car will dial 108 in case of an accident

- Speed-sensing door auto-lock: happens once you've crossed 20 kmph for a few seconds

- Rear seat is ISOFIX compatible

- Bluetooth connectivity for your phone

Entertainment:

- This variant has a USB slot, aux-in and the media centre that has CD, Radio, Bluetooth playback

- It can store your phonebook so you to find a contact to dial

- 12V socket in the front (along with the USB and aux-in slot, below the handbrake), and the back (edge of the rear right seat)

* The 3.5" Infotainment screen is disappointing; it is only useful to show you the name/album of a song

[libranof1987]

A recent trip to Goa through Chorla allows me to explain this in detail:

The 1.5 Petrol TiVCT engine:

The engine on the Titanium AT variant is a fairly capable machine for the intent it is built for: a compact SUV. I have driven the petrol manual and have the AT and realize that tuning of the AT aside, the engine serves well.

AT box:

Let me get this out of the way, the EcoSport AT is not even remotely an enthusiast's car. The AT box is best tuned for city driving; it will serve you well.

However, the moment you are out of city conditions, it is outside its comfort zone.

Gearshift from 1-5 typically happen around 2k rpm when driven on a light foot.

Driving in the city:

The EcoSport is at home in the city; each gear gives you enough power to keep cruising all day long without breaking a sweat.

If you are the kinds to drive very leisurely and let the AT box decide when to upshift (2k rpm), you won't be making any new friends at the traffic signal since the car takes a lazy stroll off. Things get much better with the 3/4th gear.

Driving on the highway :

During overtaking maneuvers, you need to force the accelerator and it's only then that the AT box wakes up and downshifts. And it takes its own sweet time for that. By then, you're panicking!

Driving in the hills:

This is where you'd rather take control of the AT box..

In D

When you're driving in the ghats, at constant or light accelerator input, the AT box will let engine rpm drop down to ~1.3k rpm before it suddenly wakes from slumber and plans to do something about it. But again, it generally takes it own sweet time and often downshifts 2, even 3 gears.

Things are definitely better when you drive in S mode since you essentially get the control of the gear shifts and are not left wanting for power. The gear shifts in S though, take wee bit longer.

Paddle shifters would have made a BIG difference in ease of driving in S.

-

The Titanium AT also comes with Hill Launch Assist; that makes life very easy in bumper to bumper traffic, or when parked on inclines.

The "hold" remains for 3 sec after which the car will roll if there's no brake/accelerator input.

Braking

EcoSport gets discs at the front and drums at the back. In normal conditions, the brakes have enough bite in them to keep you comfortable. It has been raining continuously everywhere I've been so far since I got the car, so my experience has largely been in wet conditions. Even in some tight conditions, the brakes responded well, at times I felt ABS kick in although I did not see a light on the console. Even under hard braking, you don't experience a lot of body roll.

Blind spot

This warrants its own entry because it is a problem; the combination of A pillar + the front quarter glass makes for a terrible blind spot on the front extreme left/right of the car.

When you about to enter a turn, esp. a right turn, you HAVE to bend forward from normal driving posture to get a good view of the road ahead and the road you are about to enter (to your right). If you focus on the right, you lose bearing on the left marking of the road; if you don't bend forward, you are in the blind to an incoming vehicle from the right.

Fuel Efficiency:

Bear in mind that the car is currently at 1200kms and hasn't gone through any oil change yet.

FE with 100% a/c and two people on board:

In city: 13 kmpl
On highway (NH4): 15 kmpl
On highway + ghat (Pune - Kolhapur - Chorla - Goa): 14 kmpl

[libranof1987]

Here's the Ford EcoSport 1.5 Petrol Titanium in a nutshell:

What you'll like:

- Fairly modern, elegant styling
- Solid build, planted ride gives you confidence
- Filled to the brim with safety and security features
- Loaded with comfort and convenience features (does miss a few though)
- All things considered, the better product at that price point

What you won't appreciate:

- 4+1 seater, the rear bench can best seat two adults and a child
- AT box is ideal for city driving only
- Infotainment system needs an upgrade



* Brochure attached

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[i74js]

Congratulations on buying the AT trim. Hope it serves you well for the years to come.

I need a small information, I am in the market for a AT hatch and Ecosport is also in my list, just that while taking the test drive, I found 2nd gear is very jerky when I moved the car in crowded market space. The sales guy said its normal and there is nothing wrong with the car; though I never had an AT with me but I am not convinced as the car dropped gear several times and launched ahead, there was a panic brake situation once else I would have banged the car ahead of me.

Did you notice anything like this?

Thanks

[sawnilrules]

Congratulations on the car mate. Lovely & honest review there. Its is good to see Ford has not skimped on the safety features of at-least the Ecosport in AT avatar, the way it has done for Figo.

It's good to see that we are slowly and steadily moving towards AT's, especially considering the maniacal traffic situation Meanwhile, I always thought, that the DCT is a lot quicker gear-box as compared to Torque Converter Units. I happened to TD Figo AT which I think has a same gear-box and the car felt good and the up-shifts were pretty quick when I had put her through paces, of-course, nothing closer to Polo GT Tsi though. So is the additional weight a reason for the difference in performance? Or is it in different state of tune here?

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by i74js

Congratulations on buying the AT trim. Hope it serves you well for the years to come.

I need a small information, I am in the market for a AT hatch and Ecosport is also in my list, just that while taking the test drive, I found 2nd gear is very jerky when I moved the car in crowded market space. The sales guy said its normal and there is nothing wrong with the car; though I never had an AT with me but I am not convinced as the car dropped gear several times and launched ahead, there was a panic brake situation once else I would have banged the car ahead of me.

Did you notice anything like this?

Thanks

Thank you!

Typically, gear shifts happen around 2k rpm (except 5 -> 6 at 2.5-3k rpm). With a light foot, one you'd expect when driving in the city, the gear shifts are rather smooth; you'd barely even notice them.

It's only when overtaking, steep climb, have I noticed the gear box to downshift two gears at once.

Perhaps you can try TD another vehicle?

Good luck!

Originally Posted by sawnilrules

Congratulations on the car mate. Lovely & honest review there. Its is good to see Ford has not skimped on the safety features of at-least the Ecosport in AT avatar, the way it has done for Figo.

It's good to see that we are slowly and steadily moving towards AT's, especially considering the maniacal traffic situation Meanwhile, I always thought, that the DCT is a lot quicker gear-box as compared to Torque Converter Units. I happened to TD Figo AT which I think has a same gear-box and the car felt good and the up-shifts were pretty quick when I had put her through paces, of-course, nothing closer to Polo GT Tsi though. So is the additional weight a reason for the difference in performance? Or is it in different state of tune here?

Thank you!

Could be both? Also, the car is fun to drive in S, boring in D *when* you drive with a light foot.

[arunphilip]

Very nice ownership thread . I think this will be one of those definitive ownership threads for future buyers, particularly those looking at the AT.

I wish you many happy years with the EcoSport. Nice colour too, and don't worry, the pink ribbons looked just fine on the Smoke Grey car (it would have been horrendous on the Mars Red!)

[asit.kulkarni93]

Finally, your Review is live. Congratulations on the Ecosport AT!

I personally feel the DCT isn't that bad when compared to the TC's, CVT's and AMT's which the competition offers. Yes the DSG is in a different league but City i-Vtec to Vento DSG wasn't really an upgrade from a family car's perspective. Surprisingly i found the rear legroom more than adequate as against mentioned in many reviews online. Considering your requirements (rather the restrictions that you had ) Ecosport fits in perfectly.

For a Ford Petrol AT you are getting terrific fuel efficiency. Just waiting to hear the increase in FE once your dad gets this car.

Drive Safe and Congratulations again

Asit

[narayans80]

Interesting to see there isnt much swing in FE figures between city and highway. Your city figures are also quite good, what are your city driving conditions?

Did you check the Aspire for comparison sake?

[Geo_Ipe]

Is there a "manual" mode where we can take control, if needed? I didn't see any +/- slots next to S or D positions.