Ford EcoSport Review & Pictures

[ArunBlore]

Originally Posted by Bopanna

Congrats Arun. Looks like they have done delivering pre-launch and 'management quota' bookings and now moving on to the post-launch ones. Is yours 1.5P AT ? If yes, looking forward to your ownership report.

Originally Posted by Ecosport

Is it the automatic? Which color are you getting? In the bookings spreadsheet, this is your entry right?

1.5 Ltr Petrol Titanium Automatic Sea Grey 26/06/2013 Bangalore Lathangi 4 Months Arun

@Bopanna , Thank you. My booking number was 121. In AT version it was around 12-13. SA told me that mine would be the 2nd AT from their showroom. I guess its because of color I chose - Sea Grey .
@Ecosport - Yes, that was me with the spreadsheet entry.

On Wednesday SA told me that they received 50 cars from Chennai, All of them are Petrol. Mine will arrive in next Lot. Also SA got an info from higher management to stop the bookings for all the variants completely . He didn't tell me the reason.

[Raja]

@ sandyman

Congrats Buddy . I think you are first person across the forums to get a petrol 1.5 mt .

Waiting for the pics . Please start a ownership report it will help others who are intrested in 1.5 petrol option .

[Bopanna]

All Bangalore Ford dealers have stopped bookings of 1.5Petrol variant. Lathangi is the only dealer which has stopped bookings of all Ecosport variants. I appreciate dealers stopping bookings instead of giving false hopes and earning interest on deposit money. But on other hand, stopping bookings may encourage black marketing practices.

Along with SA, Aus and UK, Ecosport also got an informal unveiling in Spain; so the export obligations of Chennai plant are only going to increase, leaving precious little to quence the thirst of Indian market.

[D.J.D.]

Hi friend
So far I have driven 350 KM and below are the points i want to share with you guys:

Look :

I think no need to say any word. A real attention grabber. No second thought. Yesterday during my short highway trip to Thanjavur, people driving scorpio, ertiga, even duster were staring at me car .

Steering & driving position:

Steering is nice to hold and operate. Really smooth for city use. No complaint. And it weighs up nicely as speed increases. Yes it is not like the new fiesta which is direct and gives awesome feedback. Fiesta steering is like point and shoot. But I am not saying that Ecosport steering is bad. It is really good for city as well as highway. You will not lose confidence while doing highway speed. I have extensively driven my friends I20. Ecosport steering is far better than I20.

If I compare my earlier car Manza’s steering with ES, it will be like comparing apple with orange. Manza needs constant attention after 80 kmph and its steering becomes super light at 100kmph. Whereas ecosports steering weighs up nicely with speed.

Ride and handling:

Now this is one area which surprises me whenever I drive my ecosport. Most of the people complain about stiff suspension of ecosport. Initially I was also sceptical about the ride quality of this car. But I must say Ecosport ride quality is superb at highway speed (better than my earlier car Manza). Yesterday I made a short trip to Thanjavur Temple and ride on the highway was simply awesome. No complaint from back sitters also (my wife and my mom). In city area if you are in hurry you can feel some bumps. Otherwise it is ok for city speed. Handling is really good. You will not feel that you are driving a high CG compact SUV. But remember don’t make any mistake to take sharp turns at high speed. This car does not like high speed sharp turns. Yesterday when I tried to take a turn at 50 – 55 kmph which I used to take at @ 50 in my Manza, made the car little nervous. So beware, don’t treat this car like low slung sedan / hatch. Just stay in this car’s limit and you will be awarded with a smooth and comfortable ride.

Seating & space:

This car is strictly 4 seater. No doubt about this. If somebody says that 3 persons can sit at back seat I will not believe. Because even my 7 year old daughter needs to squeeze herself between my mom and wife at the back seat. And my mom and wife are average built. So if anyone is planning to use this car for 5 adults please rethink.
Front seats are really good and have good supports but smaller than Manza’s seat. Rear seat reclining is good and leg room is surprisingly good for this compact car.

YES I miss my Manza’s space.

Headlamp

This is one area where I miss Manza’s headlamps. Upgrading the headlamps is must. Ecosport headlights are sufficient only if you are driving alone on the highway. If other vehicles come from opposite or rear it becomes really difficult to see the front of the car.

Milage:

So far I have driven around 330 km, roughly I did some calculation and it seems I am getting 20+ kmpl with 100% AC on. Superb figure for a car like this.

AC

Ac is really good. Better than my Manza. Now my wife is complaining that it cools too much 
Sorry I dint not take pictures. Will try to upload ASAP.

BTW, i have one doubt. Ford says water wadding capability of ecosport is 550 mm. whereas manual says "don’t drive the car through water if water level is higher than the bottom of the bumper". And i am damn sure ground to bumper will be hardly 220 to 230 mm. A bit confused.

[sandy_man]

yes, apparenyly 1.5L petrol bookings stopped. A friend of mine visited ford showroom yesterday and was told so!

[The Quest]

Originally Posted by Ecosport

Is it the automatic? Which color are you getting? In the bookings spreadsheet, this is your entry right?

1.5 Ltr Petrol Titanium Automatic Sea Grey 26/06/2013 Bangalore Lathangi 4 Months Arun

Congrats @Sandy. Seems you are the first owner of 1.5P .
Well please do confirm about the mileage as that was really concerning as I have also booked 1.5P .

And above all more picks please .

[Ish Agarwal]

Hello All,

This is my first post on this forum. Good to see you all having a great discussion on th Eco sport
I have booked Eco sport Titanium TD-Ci (Diamond White) at Harpreet Ford , Dilshad Garden , Delhi on 14th July. No updates from the dealer about the deliveries.
Last week I sent some mails to Ford India regarding the deliveries & got reply from them mentioning that "contact our dealership for the availability, since the dispatches of the vehicle would also be based on the order priority across dealerships based on the order placed with us by them."

Still waiting for mine.
Anyone experiencing the same ????

[D.J.D.]

Originally Posted by Ish Agarwal

Hello All,

This is my first post on this forum. Good to see you all having a great discussion on th Eco sport
I have booked Eco sport Titanium TD-Ci (Diamond White) at Harpreet Ford , Dilshad Garden , Delhi on 14th July. No updates from the dealer about the deliveries.
L

Hi mate,

No use in sending mails to Ford regarding delivery. It fully depends on the dealer. The best way is to follow up with your dealer (i mean SA) regularly and make regular visit to the showroom.

[sandy_man]

Originally Posted by D.J.D.

Hi mate,

No use in sending mails to Ford regarding delivery. It fully depends on the dealer. The best way is to follow up with your dealer (i mean SA) regularly and make regular visit to the showroom.

I disagree IMHO. Give my example - i booked on 18 June only after dealer confirmed that delivery will be done by 25 July 2013. He failed and i made their life hell. Wrote to the president's desk multiple times - first wrote gently and softly and then screwed them. threatened to write to alan mulally directly, I asked for a ecoboost/diesel which ever is available at no extra cost. All said and done, these buggers ensured that I get 1.5L petrol first. I am the first to get 1.5.L petrol at bhavna ford mumbai and probably the first one in mumbai. So it works!

so my 2 bits - follow the same strategy

[D.J.D.]

Originally Posted by sandy_man

I disagree IMHO. Give my example - i booked on 18 June only after dealer confirmed that delivery will be done by 25 July 2013. He failed and i made their life hell. Wrote to the president's desk multiple times - first wrote gently and softly and then screwed them. threatened to write to alan mulally directly, I asked for a ecoboost/diesel which ever is available at no extra cost. All said and done, these buggers ensured that I get 1.5L petrol first. I am the first to get 1.5.L petrol at bhavna ford mumbai and probably the first one in mumbai. So it works!

so my 2 bits - follow the same strategy

ok i respect your views. But in my case it was opposite. Only my SA helped me to get the car early. I really appreciate Mr. Sukumar's help who was my SA :)

[sandy_man]

is it true that 1.5L petrol variant booking has been closed?

[IndicaDLS2002]

Wow! this is the longest probably one of the most hotly discussed thread I have seen on this forum! few members also seem to have been banned for their overly passionate comments! Even Range rover discussed along side ES, Ford must be proud

Almost makes you think that ES will be in the top 5 selling cars in India but again ... maybe thats the whole idea ... here .. to get it there???

Why did the dealers stop booking of ES btw? or after XUV has this become a trend to stop bookings & show that the car is in very high demand. reality could well be the plant capacity not prepared to scale up anytime soon.

[quantized]

Originally Posted by D.J.D.

ok i respect your views. But in my case it was opposite. Only my SA helped me to get the car early. I really appreciate Mr. Sukumar's help who was my SA :)

I see it more practical way.
If Ford sees that there is a situation where they can help, customer is really angry and they can extract out a better offering from dealer by intervening, they do.
But there are cases where Ford themselves are at fault for example, AT and 1.5MT production, in these scenarios, they leave us to the mercy of dealer.

And Yes, their first line of defense always redirect everyone to dealers holy feet.

[get4gopim]

Thanks for writing a detailed review DJD

Originally Posted by D.J.D.

Hi friend
So far I have driven 350 KM and below are the points i want to share with you guys:

But remember don’t make any mistake to take sharp turns at high speed. This car does not like high speed sharp turns.

ABS will help in this way?

Originally Posted by D.J.D.

Seating & space:

This car is strictly 4 seater. No doubt about this. If somebody says that 3 persons can sit at back seat I will not believe.

Yes. Space is one of the main issue. Compare to Ertiga and Duster this is very small space at rear seats.

Originally Posted by D.J.D.

Headlamp

This is one area where I miss Manza’s headlamps. Upgrading the headlamps is must. Ecosport headlights are sufficient only if you are driving alone on the highway. If other vehicles come from opposite or rear it becomes really difficult to see the front of the car.

Yes definitely we need to upgrade headlights.

Originally Posted by D.J.D.

Milage:

So far I have driven around 330 km, roughly I did some calculation and it seems I am getting 20+ kmpl with 100% AC on. Superb figure for a car like this.

Mileage one of the biggest thing in this car.

[knasahs]

Originally Posted by D.J.D.

Hi friend
So far I have driven 350 KM and below are the points i want to share with you guys:

Excellent write-up DJD! Very balanced and neutral. Did you try driving at triple digit speeds in your car ? How does the engine feel in comparison to your Manza