Ford EcoSport Road Test and Review

The Ford EcoSport has been an object of infatuation since it broke cover at the Delhi Auto Expo in 2012. It basked in the limelight for a year and a half for three reasons – an unconventionally attractive design, the 1-litre EcoBoost petrol engine and the sub-Rs 10 lakh price tag. In a sign that the wait is finally over, Ford has recently conducted the pre-launch test drive for media in Goa.

I know most of you have already seen the EcoSport in-person as part of Ford’s pre-launch campaign and formed an opinion about its design and features. But does the 1-litre EcoBoost engine pack enough punch to take this urban SUV to the top of its game? Read on to find out.

Design

In appearance, the EcoSport is unmistakably avant-garde. The front end features a large, ‘gaping fishmouth’ grille flanked by slim headlamps and big fog lamps, reflecting Ford’s global design language. Two bold lines on the bonnet flow onto the roof, highlighting the car’s aerodynamic prowess. I particularly liked the muscular fenders, tailgate-mounted spare tyre and the sleek roof-rails that enhance the vehicle’s SUV stance. The tailgate handle is beautifully integrated within the tail lamp and that’s a nice touch. The only thing missing is a pair of sidesteps that could greatly accentuate the SUV’s ruggedness. Overall, the EcoSport has a quirky design -- love it or hate it, the car certainly makes a statement on the road.

Step inside and you’ll discover a welcoming combination of contemporary design and intuitive technology. Dials and knobs are ergonomically appointed and the Ice Blue dashboard illumination looks cool, too. However, I was less enthused about the hard-plastic dashboard and door panels.

Space, Comfort and Convenience

Frankly, the EcoSport doesn’t look as big in flesh as it does in pictures. It can comfortably seat five but going by the SUV standards, the fifth person wouldn’t be really happy. However, those upgrading from a hatchback would find ample head, shoulder and leg room in the EcoSport. The boot that Ford claims could accommodate even a washing machine is expandable up to 705 litres, with the rear seats tumbled.

The driver seat offers a commanding position and excellent outward visibility. Ford seems to have employed a wide range of sound-deadening features in the EcoSport - there’s very little noise intruding on your comfort.

The EcoSport is the first vehicle in its segment in India to feature Ford SYNC® connectivity platform, which provides customers with the convenience and flexibility to control their media players and mobile phones with voice commands.

SYNC takes safety to new heights with a life-saving feature called Emergency Assistance. When an airbag is inflated or the fuel pump is shut off following an accident, SYNC sends a voice message to 108 (emergency phone number) from the paired mobile phone. SYNC also sends the GPS co-ordinates of the accident location and lets the occupants speak to the emergency operator -- how clever is that!

Performance, Ride and Handling

The EcoSport’s strongest selling point is certainly the 1-litre EcoBoost engine. It is hard to imagine a 999cc three cylinder engine under the hood of an SUV, but guess what; this engine delivers the power and performance of a naturally aspirated 1.6-litre engine. Helped by a turbocharger, direct injection and variable valve timing, the EcoBoost motor develops 123 bhp of power at 6000 rpm and 170 Nm of torque from 1,400 to 4,500 rpm.

Dip the clutch and press the start button, the engine fires up smoothly and idles without clatter. It has enough low-end grunt to nip in and out of traffic but once you floor the pedal, there’s detectable turbo lag. However, once past 1800rpm mark, the engine revs happily and displays good power delivery. On the flipside, it becomes very audible at higher rpms. Overall, the 1-litre EcoSport is more of a practical cruiser than a fun-to-drive car. The engine is mated to a five-speed manual gearbox that offers slick gearshifts. Two other engine options will be available, too - a 110bhp 1.5 petrol and a 90bhp 1.5 diesel. The diesel EcoSport will have more takers and I’m sure, be more fun-to-drive.

Fords are generally regarded as great handlers and the EcoSport is no exception. Dampers and springs achieve an optimal balance between handling and ride comfort. The car stays absolutely pinned to the tarmac even at a close corner. I didn't think twice about rolling over big potholes or pesky curbs, thanks to the all-absorbing suspension and the 200mm ground clearance.

The light steering is a blessing in city, yet precise enough at high speeds and around tight corners. Ford's Electric Power Assist Steering (EPAS) system is equipped with ‘Pull Drift Compensation’, which automatically makes imperceptible steering corrections when it notices a pull caused by wind, potholes or even differences in tyre pressure.

Mileage

Ford has quoted an ARAI certified mileage of 18.7 kmpl for the 1 litre EcoBoost variant. However, I rarely saw a double digit figure on the real-time fuel consumption monitor; blame it on the performance tests and aggressive driving. Otherwise, the engine is definitely capable of returning an average of 13-14 kmpl in normal conditions. The 1.5-litre petrol and diesel variants return 15.8kmpl and 22.7 kmpl respectively (ARAI figures).

Conclusion

If I were to sum up the EcoSport in one word, it would be: intriguing. It has got all right ingredients to stay true to what Ford calls it – the urban SUV. Although the long wait of almost 17 months has led to an inevitable loss of interest, I’d dare to say that the EcoSport is indeed worth the wait.  If Ford manages to price this sub-four metre SUV very wisely, it could be the beginning a new revolution in the Indian automobile market.

Goodwood Festival of Speed...Glorious Goodwood!!!

The Festival of Speed kicked off on Thursday with the second running of the Moving Motor Show where invited guests and lucky members of the public could get behind the wheels of the latest models from the major motor manufacturers and actually take them for a spin up Lord March’s famous hillclimb.

It’s a great opportunity for people to closely examine the cars and see and hear them running. Mercedes, Porsche, Ferrari, Rolls Royce, BMW, Chevrolet, Abarth, Ford, Honda, Jaguar, Morgan, Alfa Romeo, Audi, Volvo, Seat, MG, Peugeot, Skoda, Toyota and Citroen all had stands and judging by the crowds, were probably glad they had. Folk also had chance to mooch about the many merchandise stalls and additional manufacturers stands on the infield, or take a free ride on the Honda big wheel which gave a spectacular birds eye view of the event.

Friday was the start of the Festival of Speed proper, this year themed “Racing Revolutions”. The featured marque was Jaguar and in celebration of 50 years of the iconic E Type, a huge tubular sculpture of an E Type was erected on the lawn in front of Goodwood House.

A flick through the programme and entry list showed that the cursor had moved a little forward this year with a greater emphasis on modern cars than previously. The Supercar class was absolutely bulging with exotica which included Ferrari’s 458, California and new four seater FF, the Koenigsegg Agera R, the hard core Hulme Can Am Spyder and Ariel Atom V8, the glitzy and unpronounceable Pagani Huayra, the whacky six wheeled Covini C6W, the understated McLaren MP4-12C and AMG SLS and the futuristic Citroen Survolt, plus the latest Lambos, Bugattis, Maseratis, Porsches, BMWs, Bentleys, Nobles, Teslas, Spykers, Alfas, Astons, Chevrolets, Corvettes and Jaguars. With two runs a day each, the drivers and their lucky passengers had a ball.

More moderns included the latest crop of Touring cars and Endurance racers. The 2011 Peugeot and Audi Le Mans racers looked fantastic and such are their aerodynamics that even driving slowly in the paddock, their undertrays acted like hoovers, sucking up the dirt and leaves off the ground and blowing it all out the back in a great cloud of dust. This was something innovator Jim Hall understood well back in 1970 when he built his Chaparral Chevrolet 2J which used a secondary snowmobile engine to suck air out from the underside of the car to stick it to the ground. This year it was demonstrated by it’s great driver, Vic Elford. Hall was also a pioneer of high winged cars, with his 1966 Chaparral 2E which was also at Goodwood. When the Formula One brigade tried to copy him, they made the wings too fragile and dangerous failures soon led to their ban.

Many of this year’s Formula One teams were out to play along with their star drivers. Red Bull’s Mark Webber, McLaren’s Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, Vitaly Petrov and Bruno Senna from Lotus Renault, Ferrari’s Marc Gene, Nico Rosberg from Mercedes and Karun Chandhok from Team Lotus all signed hundred of autographs, had a good thrash and did a few burnouts and doughnuts. However, my vote for King of the smokey doughnuts was this year split between Kris Meeke in his red Mini WRC rally car and wild man Ken Block in his “Monster” Ford Fiesta gymkhana car. Both were really spectacular and wowed the crowds with their unbelievable car control. Also smoking up the place in red white and blue were the fabulous Red Arrows who performed three days running while on Sunday, the menacing Vulcan swooped low in the blue skies across Goodwood House.

On the infield, the GAS trick cycle and motorcycle displays were a big hit with the youngsters especially, while on track, ace motorcycle stunt rider Mattie Griffin tied his BMW in knots and ran rings around the marshals, while Terry Grant broke a new world record by driving his Nissan Juke the entire length of the hillclimb course on two wheels.

From the pre-war era, stand outs included a brace of fabulous supercharged rear engined Auto Unions and the 1939 Mercedes Benz W165 “Tripoli” car, driven by John Surtees.

Surtees, the only man to have won premier class world championships on two wheels and four, also had a ride on the ex Georg Meier 1939 TT winning BMW Kompressor to celebrate 100 years of the Isle of Man TT. Himself a six time TT winner, he was joined by 17 time TT winner John McGuiness, Ian Hutchinson, who in 2010 became the only man to win five TTs in a single week, Stuart Graham and many more TT winners and stars.

The highlight of the Festival was a celebration of 100 years of the Indianapolis 500, arguably the most famous race in the world. Lord March laid on a theatrical recreation of the build up to the start of an Indy 500 race with marching bands, cheerleaders, a fantastic array of Indy cars from throughout it’s history and fifteen Indianapolis 500 winning drivers, namely Bobby Unser, Al Unser Jnr, Johnny Rutherford, Emerson Fittipaldi, Arie Luyendyk, Parnelli Jones, Bobby Rahal, Eddie Cheever, Danny Sullivan, Gil de Ferran, Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Kenny Brack, Dario Franchitti and fresh from this years win, Dan Wheldon. Rock legend Brian May belted out the music while multi coloured streamers were sent shooting high into the air as the order was given “Gentlemen, start your engines”. Just wonderful.

Sunday afternoon climaxed with the Top Ten Shootout when the weekend’s ten fastest cars in the competition class battled it out for overall honours. Dan Collins drove superbly in his 1981 Lotus Cosworth 88B to come out top dog with a time of 48.52 seconds, fending off the purpose built Toyota Celica Sprint Special of Johnny Milner who was 0.47 seconds behind. Michael Bartels in his glorious Maserati MC 12 FIA GT car was third with 49.09. Over on the more sedate Cartier Style et Luxe concours lawn, a 1951 Ferrari 340 America was judged winner.