Ford EcoSport long term review final report
India’s first compact SUV lives up to its billing as our Car of the Year. But there are things we’d change.
Published on Mar 14, 2015 07:00:00 AM
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The big tank of the EcoSport makes it a car to be taken on long drives.
Brakes lack bite under hard braking.
A bit slow at times, but the system has a myriad features, and it sounds really good.
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What we also didn’t like too much was the bit of turbo lag this engine suffers from. It’s all very well if you like to hum along at 3000 revs on the dial. But if you are a lazy driver and you let the revs fall, especially in traffic, you need to downshift as the engine goes off boost and lacks the cubic capacity to pull forward cleanly. Still, turbo lag isn’t that much of an issue.
What really is irritating is the fact that the engine has developed a transient on/off hesitation, encountered when the boost comes on and off in normal driving conditions. And this, at times, does make driving the car smoothly difficult. Other bits on the car we weren’t crazy about include the speed at which Ford Bluetooth-based Sync works (your first call seldom connects), the fit on the door at the rear on which the heavy spare wheel is mounted and, of course, the fact that visibility past the oddly positioned ‘A’ pillars is challenging. And surely, Ford could have calibrated the servo on the brakes better; they are fine at lower speeds, but seem to lack bite and stopping power when you hit them really hard. And to make matters worse, the ABS cuts in early if you are on a slightly bumpy road. Also Ford, can we please have a decent glovebox?
Still, there are plenty of things we’ll miss about our EcoSport. Fuel economy was quite decent for an over-1200kg car with a 123bhp motor under the hood, the build of the car is seriously robust, space and comfort is surprisingly good. And despite being a bit slow and having only a two-tone screen, the Sync system is a real boon. I used it to play all manner of audio off my phone — music, interviews, music off YouTube — and I even managed to fiddle a bit and get the quite brilliant Google Maps app to call out directions via the speakers. And does anyone manage factory-fitted audio better than Ford? No. One thing’s for sure, we’re going to miss our EcoSport; wish I’d taken the time to explore more of those seldom-used back roads and state highways.
Odometer: 27,000km
Price: Rs 12.39 lakh (on-road, Mumbai)
Test economy: 10.5kpl (overall)
Maintenance costs: None
Faults: None
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