[MaserQ]

Car of the year + review of the year. Probably the most detailed look at the EcoSport there is, online or offline. Many thanks Vidyut & GTO!

It ticks pretty much everything I was looking for, except for the steering. For those of us who had been waiting for the Fiesta hatchback with a certain 'S' badge, I think the 1.0 Ecoboost is just the answer!

Now come on Ford, shock the daylights out of us and do a Figo on the pricing!

[agambhandari]

Originally Posted by klassics45

I am curious to see how silver and metallic are different from each other? I wish they had regular red that we see in figo.

I have the photo of the chill metallic here

and the Silver is well.......Silver.

[Zenn]

Awesome review Vid6669. This will definitely give the Duster a run for the money. If Ford can price the 1.0L variant competitively, it will kill the competition.
Only flaw I see is the back-seat space. Indian's like myself might not be too happy with that.

[shijinpr]

Great review!! Seems like Ford has a winner in hand.

Side profile reminds me design cue of Evoque? Doe any one support this.

[damager21]

MotorBeam has also confirmed that EcoSport will be launched on 11th June and also that there are some dealers who have unofficially started taking bookings.

http://www.motorbeam.com/cars/ford-e...-unofficially/

[Esu Junior]

Nice review. really sad to see the light steering at high speeds which was not ford's DNA. now pricing is the key. When compared the localisation content of Ecosport (65%) with duster (60%),let's hope ford won't play the spoilsport here.

[AbelAFC]

I can't wait to TD the EcoBoost. I'm pretty sure it will blow away a lot of the engines in our market right now.

[k_ajay]

Nice review there Vidyut and GTO. More than the review itself, I was attracted to keep going back and looking at those photos. They looked wonderful, like the high quality photos in international auto magazines (without the jazzed photoshop-ing).

Definitely a car I'll consider when I'm in the market for a new 4 wheeler early next year (pricing will be key)..

[oxyzen]

I was expecting some rebuttal but I never expected it to be in such huge numbers.

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Ford products are fairly strong and feel durable from my experience.

Agree but then given between the choice between reliability and durability I would much prefer a reliable Civic than a Durable Octavia. - Performance aside.

Secondly thicker sheet medal does not necessarily mean more durable. It is also the shape of the panels, the cuts & creases, the reinforcements that gives it strength. Sure thicker metal does play a part but then it has its drawbacks.

Originally Posted by suhaas307

- Turbo lag is present in almost every turbocharged car.

It might be unfair to comment on ecosport's lag before driving but as per the review is is pretty prominent. My point was that high boost (125 BHP form a punny 1L) and tall gearing (100 kmpg in 2nd gear) will make the turbolag very prominent.

Originally Posted by C300

You missed one important bit thats 'Safety'. The heavier body of Ecosport can be a saviour in case of an accident.

Heavier body does not mean more safety. In that case Ambassador would be very safe. Ecosport is safe because of other aspects.

Originally Posted by ampere

No amount of Gadgets can be a compromise for space if that is what one needs.

Or performance or Handling or Reliability.
And with those toys, something is bound to get wonky. Ask XUV.

Originally Posted by nurni76

It does not spoil the excise benefit as in case of Diesel engine the limit of engine capacity is 1.5ltr and not 1.2

We were talking of the petrol only.

Originally Posted by anachronix

The Grande Punto was once weighing about 1190 before it went on a 60Kg diet!

And thank god they did it.

Originally Posted by anachronix

Kills Handling? Not really, the heavy Grande Punto, the Global Fiesta or any of the European cars are best when it comes to handling.

It does. Take 5 passengers on board and try taking some fast corners. Well never mind. Dont try! Ill explain.

Lighter cars are easier to change direction in.
Lighter cars are easier to pull back from a mistake.
Lighter cars experience less weight transition (Front-rear) during braking and acceleration.

It is a simple formula of Force = Mass X acceleration.
The more mass you have, the more force you need to achieve the same acceleration be it forward or lateral.

Bottomline - Heavier cars will roll, pitch more. It will have more angular moment of inertia which means it will be reluctant to change direction and it will not be agile. Ant the Punto isn't agile at all. The Swift & Brio are. Although other factors also pitch in like Wheel base, Track etc.

Originally Posted by anachronix

Unwanted features? Curtain airbags & Side airbags, calling 108 when the occupants of the car are in an emergency is an unwanted feature that comes in a Nikon D7100 or an Alienware laptop?

How many people actually go on and buy car with ABS & Airbags. Anyway these are crap to those 90% buyers by statistics and no one car argue with that.
What I am complaining about not giving a base model with the Eco Boost. What problem do you have with that?

Originally Posted by anachronix

What problem with the Beat, its the best selling hatch for Chevy.

Nothing is wrong with the Beat or the Eco-sport for that matter. These products will actually find very few homes. I own a Beat for 3 years. So I know better. It is not a Driver's Car. It is not for being Chauffer Driven. What it is is cute 2nd Car. That that is why it has not done well in the market.

It may be the Best selling Hatch from GM but that is not saying a Lot. It is 90% as good as i10 at a lot cheaper price. It should have sold more.

Originally Posted by vb-san

And I am kind of interested to know what you classify as unwanted features /crap.

Anything that I don't need. And Microsoft SYNC is the one I would not buy even if it was offered for 100 bucks.

Originally Posted by bsdbsd

The very first page shows the EcoSport has a better power to weight ratio than Duster. Correct me if I am wrong...doesn't this indicate weight is not much of a concern?

The Duster has a more powerful 110ps engine which blows away the comparo chart.

Originally Posted by bsdbsd

BTW, I have been paring my phone with an external bluetooth car unit for the past three years - daily. Nobody syncing is too big an umbrella

Probably then.

Originally Posted by MaserQ

Now come on Ford, shock the daylights out of us and do a Figo on the pricing!

I dont think so. But lets wait and watch.

[anachronix]

Originally Posted by oxyzen

And thank god they did it.

The Grande Punto was/is still the best handling hatch!

It does. Take 5 passengers on board and try taking some fast corners. Well never mind. Dont try! Ill explain.

Lighter cars are easier to change direction in.
Lighter cars are easier to pull back from a mistake.
Lighter cars experience less weight transition (Front-rear) during braking and acceleration.

It is a simple formula of Force = Mass X acceleration.
The more mass you have, the more force you need to achieve the same acceleration be it forward or lateral.

Oops!

Bottomline - Heavier cars will roll, pitch more. It will have more angular moment of inertia which means it will be reluctant to change direction and it will not be agile. Ant the Punto isn't agile at all

You cant be more wrong when you say the Punto is less agile!

The Swift & Brio are. Although other factors also pitch in like Wheel base, Track etc.

Brio vs Figo, the Brio should be a better handler?
City/Etios vs Linea/Fiesta, the City/Etios should be a better handler?

See the flaw in your bottomline?

How many people actually go on and buy car with ABS & Airbags. Anyway these are crap to those 90% buyers by statistics and no one car argue with that.

You tell me how many people don't want to buy a variant without all the ABS/Airbags? I personally would want these two as mandatory in all my cars. 5 years back, it was different. The market is changing, no harm in giving better safety options.

If you can find better words than 'crap' to describe these features on a public forum it will be more nice.

What I am complaining about not giving a base model with the Eco Boost. What problem do you have with that?

You have a point!

Nothing is wrong with the Beat or the Eco-sport for that matter. These products will actually find very few homes. I own a Beat for 3 years. So I know better. It is not a Driver's Car. It is not for being Chauffer Driven. What it is is cute 2nd Car. That that is why it has not done well in the market.

What segments are you comparing mate!? Beat has enough competition in the segment from Maruti who have 6 products to cover the segment that Beat is placed. Its no surprise that its selling low, but its doing decent even midst of all the heavy competition.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by oxyzen

Agree but then given between the choice between reliability and durability I would much prefer a reliable Civic than a Durable Octavia. - Performance aside.

That's a good point and I do agree to an extent.

Originally Posted by oxyzen

Secondly thicker sheet medal does not necessarily mean more durable. It is also the shape of the panels, the cuts & creases, the reinforcements that gives it strength. Sure thicker metal does play a part but then it has its drawbacks.

True. But I've driven my fair share of Marutis, Hyundais, Hondas and Toyotas to know and understand that most European cars just feel more solid, standing still and whilst on the move.

Originally Posted by oxyzen

It might be unfair to comment on ecosport's lag before driving but as per the review is is pretty prominent. My point was that high boost (125 BHP form a punny 1L) and tall gearing (100 kmpg in 2nd gear) will make the turbolag very prominent.

Lag is lag my friend, whether it's on the EcoSport or the Swift or the Polo GT. Some cars have less of it and some more. Most turbocharged engines have some lag. It's just up to driver to learn and work around it.

[k_ajay]

The 1st image is a nice photo of the DRL in action, on an Ecosport in Brazil. The 2nd image is of an Ecosport that was being test driven in India. Check the DRL on it. Also notice the polished silver/aluminium lip on the front bumper.

There is a provision in the headlamp assembly for the DRL. What are the chances this will not come later, as an accessory? Should have come as standard accessory on the top end, I would say.

The 5th wheel cover is an accessory I surely expect (and hope) Ford will bring on to india. Looks fantastic.

[achilles101]

Most reactions seem to be going overboard about the rear width and rear space available and the boot capacity of the Ecosport.

Here is a pic of the Ecosport boot from the Ecosport discoveries campaign (link - http://ecosportdiscoveries.co.in/act...pace-you-need/ ) with 2 suitcases and a cabin baggage:


From the comments on the pic, the 2 suitcases seem to be 23 Kgs (inference since the person has arrived from US). This is quite decent.

Vid has replied on the queries from fellow members that the rear seat width is similar to that of Figo. He has also mentioned the legroom is superb.
I haven't faced any issues with 3 persons on the rear seat of my Figo which i agree maybe different from what other's have experienced. Hell there were once 4 occupants in my Figo's rear seat albeit one person was slim and i know that can be put down to jugaad as well.
And from Hormazd's tweet's it seems the rear seats are even better than that of the i20.

And all of these point towards the package ticking many points.
If the pricing is good, i don't have any doubts on the Ecosport being a hit.

The Duster is solid, has classic front SUV looks but it is indeed sad from the rear. And the interiors aren't that great. Still both Duster and Ecosport have their pluses and both will have their niche and command market share.

On a different note, I was watching the Car and Bike review of Ecosport with one of my friends who is in the market for a car in the next few months and when i told him the expected base pricing is 6.5 to 7 lakhs he was like he will get one if the pricing is anywhere around that as he was mindblown by the exterior styling. The styling itself will draw in the younger buyers. Mind you also that even the base variant will have audio and other features as standard whereas most other cars have the base just to draw in the crowds to the showroom.

Bring it on Ford with a decent pricing and you'll see long queues ahead outside your showrooms.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by oxyzen

How many people actually go on and buy car with ABS & Airbags. Anyway these are crap to those 90% buyers by statistics and no one car argue with that.

Majority of the said statistics comes from lack of awareness or ignorance. Responsible manufacturers normally will not try to cash on the lack of awareness.
In a few years, these 90% will reduce to 10-20%, and only those who tend to ignore safety for the sake of other parameters will remain in that group.

Anyways, I am happy that Ford (and many other manufacturers) is not considering safety as an option/luxury in India.

Related reading: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...g-figures.html

Originally Posted by oxyzen

Lighter cars are easier to change direction in.
Lighter cars are easier to pull back from a mistake.
Lighter cars experience less weight transition (Front-rear) during braking and acceleration.

Now I know why Maruti Omni is still selling.

Originally Posted by oxyzen

Anything that I don't need. And Microsoft SYNC is the one I would not buy even if it was offered for 100 bucks.

Ok!

Originally Posted by achilles101

From the comments on the pic, the 2 suitcases seem to be 23 Kgs (inference since the person has arrived from US). This is quite decent.

Thanks for the picture. From this picture (and the one Vid shared earlier) it looks like the boot has good amount of usable space.

[vasanthn21]

Originally Posted by oxyzen

Lighter cars are easier to change direction in.
Lighter cars are easier to pull back from a mistake.
Lighter cars experience less weight transition (Front-rear) during braking and acceleration.

It is a simple formula of Force = Mass X acceleration.
The more mass you have, the more force you need to achieve the same acceleration be it forward or lateral.

Bottomline - Heavier cars will roll, pitch more. It will have more angular moment of inertia which means it will be reluctant to change direction and it will not be agile.

The above statement is only true given all other factors remain constant, but there are many other factos which vary from car to car. Factors like, the wheel base, the CG, the suspension setup etc. Hence the above statements cannot be taken in isolation. If it were true, then Tata Nano, M800 and Alto should have handled better than Puntos and the Fiestas.