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Initial impressions of my new Ford Ecosport after 1 week / 1500 km

27th August 2024, 18:12 by Kanad Kalasur

All in all, it has been a mixed bag for me, but I am sure once I start racking up the miles, I would start liking the Ford more than now.

BHPian ManasN95 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

So, after driving for around 1000-1500 KMs in a week, here are my first impressions, some might be in comparison with the Honda City 2012 (HC) model.

Pros:

Ground Clearance - The biggest pro for me, I don't have to worry about scraping anything anymore.
Features - Sync3 ease, Android Auto and Auto dimming IRVM have been the biggest features for me. Other good to have features over City are auto headlamps, automatic wipers, etc - which for me, are good to have as features, but I wouldn't have missed them if I didn't have them. Other features like Hill Start Assist, MyKey etc, haven't been explored by me yet to comment.
Steering - In city, it doesn't feel as light as the Honda City, but on higher speeds, it's feedback and weight feels really good. Especially on highways, I feel like having more control over the car, somehow.
On highways, it's so assuring to have a stable car, while HC would feel a little under confident on EWays around 100 kmph and more.
Because I am sitting high, the view is great, feels commanding. I like this sitting on a bench posture more than sitting on a couch posture in the HC.
The mileage economy and hit on the wallet hasn't taken a big dent, it's almost similar. Below are the figures I am getting (only first calculations in all scenarios)
6a. In complete city driving, with poor roads and intermittent traffic, I am hovering around 13-14 kmpl
6b. In free flowing City traffic - I got 17.7 kmpl
6c. In one trip from Dombivli - Pune - Mumbai I got exactly 20 kmpl for the 350+ kms trip, which included insane Mumbai bottleneck traffic as well during a Saturday evening, which is good in my books.
Compared to the HC (which was on CNG and Automatic), I would have gotten atleast 2-3 kmpl lesser than the above figures for sure. So that more or less cancels out any difference between running on CNG vs Diesel.
No more waiting on long CNG lines for out station trips (where I would generally get 180-200 km on tankful). Visits to the pumps would be so much lesser.
Suspension feels better for higher speeds, takes a lot of undulations and rumble strips in it's stride.
Overall the quality of interiors is good, the steering buttons feel tactile, good to use, same is the case with the center console. All are within reach, and once I get the hang of what is where, I would be able to operate most of the things without taking my eyes off the road.
Music system is good for my taste, after tuning a little bit. I am not an audiophile, so the current setup is going to be untouched. Call quality is also good enough for me, crystal clear audio.
Having an adaptive rear reversing camera is helpful, and the convex ORVMs are a plus point, also being big and wide enough to see the world behind.
I always wanted a rear wiper, and now I have got one. So I would definately list in my likes as it also comes with a wash and wipe.
I like the diesel clatter, it does feel like now I am driving something, Honda City was extremely quiet (I am taking about the engine noise and vibrations and harshness in the cabin which was next to none). There is evident clatter on starting up, and overall, the harshness is present, but I LIKE it. During the Pune Mumbai trip, I couldn't help but notice that I am feeling less sleepy than I would have in the HC because I needed to be more aware for the gear shifts and the vibrations and engine noise help me in that.
Internal space is okay, 1L bottles fit in all 4 doors, 2 cup holders near handbrake and on the rear arm rest
The pull of the diesel motor is addictive in the torque band, especially coming after a CNG car.

Dislikes:

The lag around 1500 RPM is terrible, almost feels like engine is gasping for air. The first gear and second gear in some scenarios are tricky, where I do not understand if to stay in 1st gear or up to 2nd, but then it lags horribly. I have heard Stage 1 map will solve this to an extent.
The low speed ride quality is horrible, to the point where I almost question my decision. And my Ecosport is with 16 inchers. I can't imagine what 17 inchers must be going through. It's extremely wobbly and feels like a low quality boat getting bashed around waves. Any suggestions, or do I live with it? I am feeling it more so coming from a sedan whose low speed ride is now feeling like a carpet.
The intermittent rain sensing wipers feel chaotic, or I am using them wrong. (I haven't had the chance to read the owner's manual yet). They more often than not, work well, but when there isn't lashing rain, but a slow accumulation of droplets, they just don't wipe for a long time. Will read up more about this, but I would have liked a simpler mechanism like my HC here.
Now, this car was meant to be 30% Ciy and 70% highway use, so we kept manuals open as an option after using a smooth Automatic for 4 years. Man, am I struggling or what!! The clutch is hard, (might have started to wear out), and although driving on EWay for most of the time was okay, that 1 hour of driving in intense bumper to bumper traffic has given me a minor swollen ankle. I agree, that I am not in a best of physical conditions to not let this affect me, but this is going to be a worry for me. But I think all I can do about this now is start doing ankle strengthening and mobility exercises and get it checked with another Ford ASC to see how much the clutch play and hardness can be improved. (When I got her checked before purchase at Ford, they said that it's normal hard for the KMs run - 90,000, and replacing the clutch unit would only make it 20-30% better not more.) So I have to take this in my stride I guess.
It feels like the car is missing a 6th gear on highways. I observed that she does 95 kmph at around 2k RPM which feels gruff, also highlighted by the fact that I am accustomed to the smoothness of the petrol automatic. Going beyond 100-110 kmph would mean even more roughness, but then I guess this is to be expected of a diesel, but as I said, a 6th gear would have been nice. I may try putting in a better engine oil, using some products like Liquimoly Ceratec so see if it gets a little smoother.
The sitting position is a little hard to find, because the car is used both by me and my Dad, so each one struggles to find the settings they want in the first instance of getting in.
Doors do not open full 90 degrees, which my Mom would have liked for better ingress.
Strictly 4 seater, compact dimensions means no 5th healthy adult allowed. Doesn't matter to us as we rarely travel with the need of carrying 5 people.
Half the boot space (feels like) compared to the City. Not sure about how much luggage would she really gobble unless we go on a multi day trip - so comments about scarcity or not only after we do.
Contrary to the common opinion on this forum, I do not like the all black interiors of the Ecosport. Unfortunately, I can't even change the seat covers due to air bags, but I would have absolutely loved putting tan coloured seat covers which would have looked really good on the blue body shell. Any options?
A-pillar view blockage, as is highlighted by everybody.

Mods Planned:

I have already installed the 70Mai A510 which was pending from a long time.
Stage 1 Map
Cosmetic modifications aplenty - grill, body stripes, rear spoiler, some contrast styling in the interiors, maybe tinting the headlamps and fog lamps to look like S variant (I am unsure of this).
Maybe better looking alloys, I hate the current flower type alloys, but beggars can't be choosers, right? Although I can choose a different alloy design, maybe also go for 15 inch alloys if that improves the low ride quality by a good margin.
High beam and fog light bulb to better ones. The previous owner had installed HIDs in the low beams and they are fantastic (pending some fine tuning). I would like to have all the best possible bulbs in the high beams and fogs as well.
Some small things like a vacuum cleaner, good upkeep chemicals, tyre inflator etc - whatever required basics to get her ready for cross country trips I have been dreaming of.

All in all, it has been a mixed bag for me, but I am sure once I start racking up the miles, I would start liking the Ford more than now.

My next update would be of a separate ownership thread combined with travelogues hopefully.

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