Ford finally understood the Indian market & launched an accomplished global product, The Ford Ecosport. This pseudo SUV comes with 3 engine options(two petrols & one Diesel) & 10 variants covering every vehicle in range of 5.59 lacs to 8.99 lacs. I test drove the 1.5 litre diesel Ambiente variant, which I booked for myself. The Ecosport looks striking in flesh aping SUV profile with plastic cladding, 200 mm wheelbase, 16 inch high profile tyres & even rear mounted spare tyre. Rest of the bits like sleek headlamps, big & wide grill, barrel shaped fog lamps, LED integrated side mirrors, Toyota fortuner like wrap around rear glass area give it a stand out of crowd look. The doors are heavy & well built & need a firm push to close them. The rear door operates with a touch button which is easy to open which is innovative. Interiors though remind of new Fiesta which is though slightly short of space but many features are standard electric mirrors, central locking, Bluetooth connectivity(easy to use), USB stereo with four speakers etc. It comes with front powered windows which is OK for me as I usually travel alone. The blue lighting in the cabin looks cool. The speedometer with blue lighted needles & real time mileage indicator is classy but sadly no tachometer. There are lots of storage spaces in the ecosport, front doors have big bottle holders. The trunk space in rear is average but good enough for a weekend for four. The seats are comfortable which is complimented by a powerful & quick cooling AC. The diesel engine which again from fiesta is smooth & responsive. Though there is some clatter present at initial. for numbers it is 1.5 litre or 1498cc producing 89bhp/90ps with 20.8kgm/204Nm of torque available at 200rpm. It hardly bogs down in second & third gears which we Indians usually love & are forced to engage due to traffic. The steering is simply amazing with great feel perhaps the best I have driven after Ford Ikon 1.6. it is light when speed is slow & weighs up accordingly while driving faster. Ecosport goes well on bad roads & handling is good. Cabin is silent no harsh noise from outside comes in. Gearshift is average with light clutch though heavier than say a Suzuki Swift. the breaking all around is good & reassuring. Some bad bits though like the front or A pillars create a blind spot so one has to be cautious on the sides. The rear wind screen tends to get dirty quickly & so rear visibility gets poorer so a rear wiper is a must feature. With a fuel tank of 52 litres the Ford is claiming fuel consumption of 22 kmpl but that looks hypothetical for such a heavy vehicle. I think 17-18 kmpl would be achievable via sensible driving.
Overall it's a good everyday product with fresh approach. Yes we Indians are loving it!
