Part 5: Personal Experience with the Car
At the time of writing this review, my car has clocked 16400 KM and completed 2 services in 13 months. I use this car more on the highways and occasionally in the city. I think twice to take the car out in the city these days due to the notorious and ever-increasing Bangalore traffic.
Since a comprehensive review of petrol and diesel is already present on Team-BHP, I will be focusing more on my personal view of the car.
Engine:
The TDCi engine is no scorcher and if you think you want to rev the nuts out of this car, this is not the car for you. It is an efficient and reasonably powerful old-school engine which has an adequate grunt to keep one satisfied behind the wheel. The car pulls slowly in a linear fashion till 1300-1400 and post 1500 rpm, the car thrusts ahead linearly and has good grunt till 3500-4000 rpm post which the power delivery is dull. This car is all about the driver being connected to the car as well as the road surface while driving. Overall, an engine which will not disappoint you. If you need to extract more miles from this engine, you need to be within 2000rpm to get the best fuel efficiency. I usually fill diesel only from Shell when I'm in town and when on the Highways I fill from a COCO pump.
In terms of fuel efficiency (all figures with AC on): In peak Bangalore Traffic: 13-14 km/l
On Weekend mornings: 15-16 km/l
Highway ( if you are driving within the turbo zone and 2000 rpm): 18-20kmpl
Pedal to the metal driving on the highway with full load: 17 km/l ( gives almost the same mileage on ghats as well).
First Long Trip with the Blue Baby to Maravanthe Beach and Kollur
Transmission and Clutch:
The gearbox used is the old IB5 gearbox which has a nothcy throw in the first two gears. The clutch is lighter than the previous EcoSport and the pre-facelift Figo Twins but the clutch has a high resting point. Not a deal breaker though. Clutch action is smooth and not springy. The gearbox is neither good nor bad, but it just gets the job done.
Ride and Handling
Though the suspension is firm, you don't feel most of the undulations in the cabin. Rough road driving is manageable. As the speed of the car increases the bumps are hardly felt, in fact, it's much better with a full load of 4 passengers and luggage. However, bridge expansion joints can be felt with a bit of nosedive. Due to the stiff suspension, driving this car on curves or ghat roads are a delight. The steering is very communicative and you can feel the tyres and the road surface on your palms while driving. Changing lanes or emergency manoeuvres in this car are quick and agile by compact SUV standards.
Tyres
I have the stock MRF ZV2K tyres on my car. The grip levels from these tyres are good and the tyres are hard compound. Have faced only one puncture during the course of my 16,000km ownership. However, these tyres do make a lot of road noise adn a solution for that is to increase the audio volume.
Comfort and Convenience:
The car feels very comfortable for four people and the interior feels premium though there are hard plastics. There is sufficient rear seat space for 2 people with usable leg space. The seats were so comfortable that I have travelled with my family from Bangalore to Bhutan in 11 days with an average driving distance of 700-800km per day. The armrest is partially plastic. AC is a chiller and very effective. I heard that Ford cars use a double compressor AC. The AC chills quite fast if you set the temperature between 19-21 degrees Celsius. The ergonomics are well within the reach of the driver and co-driver.
The projector headlights are powerful enough for night driving and I feel that there is no need to change the bulbs or projectors.
Parking sensors have varying levels of chime with respect to the colour on the screen (such as green, amber and red on the sensor lines) as you approach closer to an object and music is not interrupted as well. A neat touch indeed.
Android Auto/ Apple Car Play can be used simultaneously with radio or USB songs in the background.
Safety:
ABS with EBD and 2 Airbags are standard on all variants. Signature edition gets hill hold and ESP/TC along with the standard safety kit. Brakes are sharp and confidence inspiring. Emergency braking is also quite good though there's a nosedive in such situations. The ABC pedals are spaced well and the brake pedal inspires confidence. Tyres have a good grip though I have MRF ZV2K on my car. The only gripe is that all doors can be unlocked at any speed by using the door lever. If there are kids behind, the child lock must be used.
The doors and boot don't get self-locked if the key fob is in the car.
Another nice touch is that the doors and fuel flap can't be opened from outside unless you press the lock/unlock button on the door. Neat!
Let some pictures do the talking. (Apologies for not adding interior pictures because I've hardly taken interior pics of my car):
The LED DRL's always in action. Dims when you turn on the headlights.
Side View. The wheel arches enhance the personality of the EcoSport and help in avoiding scratches as well. These are additional accessories and cost Rs.6000 to install
Still, I can travel a lot of distance with a 3/4th tank. A capable inter-city cruiser
Average Highway FE:
Service Costs:
My erstwhile Ikon would give us shivers if we gave it for service, but it is not the case with the EcoSport or any present day Ford car. Service costs including labour are very cheap and are within 6k(including labour cost and alignment) for regular service once a year or 10k kilometres. Spare parts are pretty cheap in terms of cost without compromising on quality and are arguably the cheapest car to maintain in the market in the compact SUV space.
The first service is free and I had done it in Metro Ford. Metro Ford is closing down soon.
Second Service onwards I started giving my car in PPS Ford, Domlur as their customer service and response in addressing complaints is very good. The second service cost was Rs.1600 with oil change and AC filter change. I get the Wheel alignment done at Classic wheel alignment Kalyan Nagar, Bangalore. This wheel alignment centre has been here for 15 years and they do a good job. They charge Rs.900 with alignment, rotation and balancing.
Some interesting bits about the car
Doors get locked automatically after 45 seconds if you do not open the door within 45 seconds after unlocking the car. The puddle lamps are always on when the doors are unlocked.
Fuel warning comes in at 80km before empty on the MID
MyKey is more like a nanny which controls most of the functions of the car. Speed restrictions can be set from 75km/h to 130km/h. If speed restriction is set, the car will go only up to the set speed limits beyond which the car won't go faster.
Another good thing about MyKey is that music will not be played unless you buckle up and no shortcut method will work to get the music playing. The maximum volume is restricted to 13 if MyKey is activated. The distance to empty warning comes up twice at 120km and 80km with a chime warning before empty if MyKey is activated.
One weird thing about the EcoSport is that the ideal driving position is tough to find although there's seat height adjust and tilt/telescopic steering adjustment. Once the ideal driving position is found, this car is truly fun to drive.
A few additional points:
1. If you drive above 5km/h with the handbrake engaged, a warning chime and a message "Park brake applied" appears on the MID. Useful for beginners and a great thought by Ford.
2. You can access the MID by pressing the OK button on the steering wheel when ignition is on and engine is off to bypass the message "Full power accessory active".
3. To know more information about the car, press the forward button below the sync 3 screen and on the steering wheel simultaneously. A sound check test will happen and after that all the technical details of the car is displayed on the screen.
For those of you who have sync 3 but no reverse camera, please refer to post #861 in the link below.
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offic...review-58.html (2018 Ford EcoSport Facelift 1.5L Petrol : Official Review)
Another suggestion from my side is that Ford needs to launch a diesel AT EcoSport too.
Bottom line is that the EcoSport will make you crave to drive it more and more often to explore the vast stretches of our country. It's a modern package with old-school mechanicals which I like.
The shortcomings of this car as per my view are visibility while driving/reversing and rear seat space.
Before concluding my first review, I would like to say something.
"No car is ever perfect, one needs to prioritize on what he or she expects the best from their car and live with its shortcomings if it's not a deal breaker."
Parting Shots:
Blue Baby resting in Bhutan
Drive safe folks,
Cheers!