Ford EcoSport Ambiente (Petrol)

Expert Review by Maxabout

Ford EcoSport is a mini SUV that was launched by Ford in Brazil in 2003. The second generation EcoSport concept was unveiled in India at the 2012 Auto Expo in New Delhi. Ford India has invested 142 million dollars at its Chennai plant so as to manufacture the EcoSport. It will also be exported to 40 countries from its Chennai plant.

The variants of EcoSport are named as Ambiente, Trend, Titanium and Titanium (O). This SUV measures 3999mm in length, 1765mm in width, 1708mm in height with ground clearance of 200mm and wheelbase of 2520mm. It offers a huge boot space of 346 litres that is expandable up to 705liters. The electric power-assisted steering with pull drift compensation technology provides minimum turning radius of 5.3 metres. It uses independent McPherson strut with coil spring & anti roll bar as front suspension and semi-independent twist beam with twin gas & coil filled shock absorbers as rear suspension. The brakes of EcoSport are ventilated disc in front tyres and drum brakes in the rear tyres.

The Ford EcoSport is available in three engine options as 1.5-liter petrol engine, 1.0-liter petrol engine and 1.5-liter diesel engine. The 1.0-liter EcoBoost petrol engine is available with Titanium variant only and the other two engines are available in all three base variants. As for now the EcoSport is available in market with ten different variants with four 1.5 litre petrol engine, four 1.5-litre diesel engine and two 1.0-litre petrol engine. Its fuel tank capacity is 52 litres and the diesel variant gives an average mileage of 21.40 kmpl. The Ford EcoSport is assisted through 5-speed manual transmission. The 1.5-liter Ti-VCT (twin independent variable camshaft timing) petrol engine of EcoSport makes 1499cc of displacement. It generates the power of 108 bhp at 6300 rpm and the maximum torque produced is 140 Nm at 4400 rpm. This engine also has option for the 6-speed automatic transmission. This engine gives an average mileage of 15.6 kmpl on highways. The 1.0-liter EcoBoost petrol engine makes 999cc of displacement. The power generated by this engine is 123 Bhp at 6000 rpm and the maximum torque generated is 170 Nm ranging between 1400-4500 rpm. This 1.0-litre petrol engine makes more power than the 1.5-litre petrol engine and hence costly than the latter. This petrol engine gives an average mileage of 18.9 kmpl on highways. The 1.5-liter TDCi (turbo diesel common rail injection) diesel engine of EcoSport makes 1498cc of displacement. The power generated by this engine is 90 bhp at 3750 rpm and the maximum torque produced is 204 Nm ranging between 2000-2750 rpm.

The Ford EcoSport supports headlamp levelling, home safe headlamps and also features approach light. Only the Titanium variants are equipped with front fog lamps and silver painted roof rail. The bumpers, outside rear view mirrors and the door handles all have the same color as the body of the SUV. In Ambiente and Trend variants the front upper & front lower grilles are mid grey while the Titanium variant has chrome colored upper & lower grille. The Titanium variant doesn't have wheels covered while the Ambiente and Trend variants have full wheels covered including the spare wheel. The Titanium variant has 3.5-inch multi-functional display (MFD) while the Ambiente and Trend variants have 2 line MFD display. The music system of EcoSport consists of four speakers (two front & two rear) and supports MP3, CD, FM/AM radio, Bluetooth, Aux-in and USB. The driver's seat is provided with comfort features like seat armrest, floor mat, seat height adjustment and adjustable lumbar support.

This SUV has 12V power point in the front while the Titanium variant has the same power point in the rear also. The safety features of the Ambiente and Trend variants are front 3 point seat belts, rear seat belts, remote central locking with flip key, engine immobilizer, electric swing gate release and locking wheel nut for spare wheel. Along with the pre-mentioned features of Ford EcoSport the Titanium variant is also equipped with ABS (Anti-lock braking system), six airbags, auto door unlock on crash, driver seat belt reminder, ISOFIX, rear parking sensors, emergency brake hazard warning and emergency assist. The SUV also supports the warning indicators like low fuel indicator, seat belt reminder, distance to empty, average fuel economy, average speed and outside temperature. For the comfort of the occupants it has front courtesy light with two map reading lamps and rear courtesy light.

The Trend and Ambiente has manual air conditioner while the titanium variant is equipped with automatic air conditioner that also supports the cooling of glove box compartment. The steering wheel allows tilt and telescopic adjustments and has steering mounted audio controls for easy access. The outside rear view mirrors have mounted side turn indicators and are controlled electrically. All the windows are electrically powered and the driver window has auto up/down feature. The wheels of this SUV are 15-inch alloy wheels in case of Ambiente & Trend variants while 16-inch alloy wheels in case of Titanium variant.

Ford EcoSport is available in seven colors named as Mars Red, Diamond White, Kinetic Blue, Moondust Silver, Chill Metallic, Panther Black and Sea Grey. The ex-showroom price of Ford EcoSport in Delhi ranges between 5.59 lakhs to 9.10 lakhs (approx., may vary). Ford is offering a warranty of 2 years/100000 kms on EcoSport.

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