Review: Ford Ecosport Titanium from Zoom cars
After driving the petrol variant of Ecosport (1 litre ecoboost engine) during the media drive in Goa last may, I was looking forward for an opportunity to try the diesel one. I got that chance finally, once Zoom, Bangalore's pure play self drive rental agency added Ecosport to their fleet.
Recently I drove Zoom's blue coloured Ecosport Titanium diesel variant for about 260 kms in a day and below are my thoughts on the vehicle.
Zoom usually buys mid or budget variant of cars, but in case of Ecosport, they've added the titanium variant, just one level below the top spec titanium Optional.
Exterior of ecosport is well known by now. So I won't talk much about it. The looks are very impressive and the compact SUV does command respect on the road at par with its full grown SUV peers.
On the inside, zoom has topped default black seats with a nice colour seat cover. The console and dash is similar to the new fiesta, with Microsoft Active Sync being the addition. The voice command worked pretty well during our last media drive, but in the Fiesta we drove, it wasn't very accommodating. May be my voice has become thicker, not sure. I asked it to call a name, it did once but when I tried demonstrating the same to my passengers, it failed me.
The keyfob reminds me of button knife. It can be folded inside. Titanium optional gets a push button start.
The drive: Ecosport's steering is super smooth. If you drive a ford figo after spending a day with Fiesta, you will feel Figo's controls (steering, clutch and gears) very hard. Ecosport titanium gets both tilt and telescopic steering adjustment. Transmission again is good but not as good as ecoboost petrol. Ecoboost petrol was almost like an automatic- would have managed in 3rd gear for speeds between 20 and 80 very easily. But Diesel ecosport is not that forgiving-it demands that we downshift.
Ecosport gives good commanding view of the road. A light blind spot in A-pillar is manageable.
How to toggle between Odo, Tripmeter and DTE in Ecosport?
Console has a host of display at par with all modern cars. It took me a moment to figure out how to toggle between odometer, trip meter, DTE etc. There was no stick poking out of the dash that could be pressed to change mode or to reset. Then the quick reference guide came to my rescue-the left side control lever below the steering wheel has a pushable button which can be used for this purpose.
Speaking of the manual, it is very thoughtful of Ford to include a 12 page quick reference guide along with the usual super thick owner's manual. Quick Reference Guide is good enough for most practical needs and saves the trouble of going through a 200 page thick manual for one simple information.
Ecosport's dash showed me a fuel economy of about 14-15kmpl most of the time. I could see that an additional setting has been added by Zoom- an over speed warning at 110 kmph. So you can add your custom messages to the dash, which is very cool. (If you don't want your wife to drive faster than say 60 kmph, you can ask ford people to add a message like "Honey, you're driving too fast" which will beep once the speed crosses 60kmph, but be ready to face repercussions by an upset wife)
Space is aplenty in Ecosport. Second row seat is 60:40 foldable. Second row passengers get extra 12v charging points. A foldable armrest in second row would have been nice
Above: Luggage space once the rear seats are folded
Below: Door opens in opposite side, compared to all other cars. This has its own merits and de-merits. Door doesn't really feel heavy despite the wheel-probably because of centre position of the wheel.
Ecosport gets a roof mounted spectacle holder. But I missed a proper place to keep toll receipts. Water bottles won't fit in the door and needs to be kept in cup holders between the front two seats. Also there's no provision in dash to include a navigation system, should they wish to add one in future.
Btb Zoom is the only agency in India which has ecosport on self drive rental. If you wish to test it out before buying, to evaluate if Ecosport is really worth its wait or if you've booked Ecosport but long waiting period is forcing you to postpone your trips, rent one from Zoom. Zoom charges Rs 3250 per day for ecosport with 225kms worth fuel included.
Also read: Evolution of Nano * Ecoboost key facts * Sunset photos with Ecosport *
Ford Time Machine to recreate auto Expo experience
In other related news, Ford will be recreating Auto Expo experience in various cities this month- with 3D effects, visitors who missed being at Auto Expo 2014 can experience the same by walking into the specific malls on specific dates and experience the ford time machine.
Bangalore: March 8 & 9 at Garuda mall, Chennai: March 15 & 16 at Express Avenue. Do check it out
Recently I drove Zoom's blue coloured Ecosport Titanium diesel variant for about 260 kms in a day and below are my thoughts on the vehicle.
Zoom usually buys mid or budget variant of cars, but in case of Ecosport, they've added the titanium variant, just one level below the top spec titanium Optional.
Exterior of ecosport is well known by now. So I won't talk much about it. The looks are very impressive and the compact SUV does command respect on the road at par with its full grown SUV peers.
On the inside, zoom has topped default black seats with a nice colour seat cover. The console and dash is similar to the new fiesta, with Microsoft Active Sync being the addition. The voice command worked pretty well during our last media drive, but in the Fiesta we drove, it wasn't very accommodating. May be my voice has become thicker, not sure. I asked it to call a name, it did once but when I tried demonstrating the same to my passengers, it failed me.
The keyfob reminds me of button knife. It can be folded inside. Titanium optional gets a push button start.
The drive: Ecosport's steering is super smooth. If you drive a ford figo after spending a day with Fiesta, you will feel Figo's controls (steering, clutch and gears) very hard. Ecosport titanium gets both tilt and telescopic steering adjustment. Transmission again is good but not as good as ecoboost petrol. Ecoboost petrol was almost like an automatic- would have managed in 3rd gear for speeds between 20 and 80 very easily. But Diesel ecosport is not that forgiving-it demands that we downshift.
Ecosport gives good commanding view of the road. A light blind spot in A-pillar is manageable.
Console has a host of display at par with all modern cars. It took me a moment to figure out how to toggle between odometer, trip meter, DTE etc. There was no stick poking out of the dash that could be pressed to change mode or to reset. Then the quick reference guide came to my rescue-the left side control lever below the steering wheel has a pushable button which can be used for this purpose.
Speaking of the manual, it is very thoughtful of Ford to include a 12 page quick reference guide along with the usual super thick owner's manual. Quick Reference Guide is good enough for most practical needs and saves the trouble of going through a 200 page thick manual for one simple information.
Ecosport's dash showed me a fuel economy of about 14-15kmpl most of the time. I could see that an additional setting has been added by Zoom- an over speed warning at 110 kmph. So you can add your custom messages to the dash, which is very cool. (If you don't want your wife to drive faster than say 60 kmph, you can ask ford people to add a message like "Honey, you're driving too fast" which will beep once the speed crosses 60kmph, but be ready to face repercussions by an upset wife)
Space is aplenty in Ecosport. Second row seat is 60:40 foldable. Second row passengers get extra 12v charging points. A foldable armrest in second row would have been nice
Above: Luggage space once the rear seats are folded
Below: Door opens in opposite side, compared to all other cars. This has its own merits and de-merits. Door doesn't really feel heavy despite the wheel-probably because of centre position of the wheel.
Ecosport gets a roof mounted spectacle holder. But I missed a proper place to keep toll receipts. Water bottles won't fit in the door and needs to be kept in cup holders between the front two seats. Also there's no provision in dash to include a navigation system, should they wish to add one in future.
Btb Zoom is the only agency in India which has ecosport on self drive rental. If you wish to test it out before buying, to evaluate if Ecosport is really worth its wait or if you've booked Ecosport but long waiting period is forcing you to postpone your trips, rent one from Zoom. Zoom charges Rs 3250 per day for ecosport with 225kms worth fuel included.
Ford Time Machine to recreate auto Expo experience
In other related news, Ford will be recreating Auto Expo experience in various cities this month- with 3D effects, visitors who missed being at Auto Expo 2014 can experience the same by walking into the specific malls on specific dates and experience the ford time machine.
Bangalore: March 8 & 9 at Garuda mall, Chennai: March 15 & 16 at Express Avenue. Do check it out
the SUV sure looks WOW!!!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.myunfinishedlife.com
Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThanks, great post! Both the car and the self drive sound amazing.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Do try it out
ReplyDeleteCar is good, but service and customer attitude is pathetic. We faced clutch problem just 2 months after buying the car - entire clutch is gone and Rs.13000 to replace. We are very experienced drivers and have driven many cars for >10 years without clutch problem, but the service center clowns had the nerve to blame the driver for the clutch problem. They should recall all Ecosports for clutch problem. They recalled the automatic gear version in Australia, but not in India. Shows the double-faced cheaters that Ford are.
ReplyDeleteHmm, that is bad. Two months is too short a time for a clutch to go bad.
ReplyDeleteWhich city and service centre was this?
I Have ecosport Titanium diesel. I have odometer problem.. I am getting well mileage of 15+ but its showing below 8 on odometer.. done reset several time also contacted service centre but they are saying its depend on driving pattern??
ReplyDeletechecked on both city and Highway same thing afer resetting it goes down to 7-8.
any one have noticed that or having same problem??
Since your real mileage is more than what is shown on screen, you should be happy. On board computers only show instantaneous mileage or sometimes average one. Trying to get those numbers perfected is waste of time and efforts
ReplyDelete