Driving report Ford Ecosport (2015)

Soft, out of date on the inside and armed with yesterday's spare wheel on the outside: As the F ord Ecosport came to Germany from India in 2014, it caused perplexity. Opel brought the successful Mocha and Ford did not want to stand aside in the booming mini-SUV segment. So the headquarters in America pushed the ecosport, which was quite successful in emerging countries, quite autistically into the more demanding European markets, without making the car cheap for dacia. Now the car has been further developed. We check the result in the motorization with the 1.0-liter 125 PS engine.

Ford Ecosport no longer has to carry the spare wheel on the outside

On the outside, the missing spare wheel is immediately noticeable - finally this kind of thing, even in the rough off-road world, has disappeared. It interfered with parking and made the Ecosport optically old. Spare wheel nostalgics can still get the giant button on the rear door for an extra 200 euros. The disadvantage of the rear door opening to the side, which is particularly noticeable in narrow parallel parking spaces, has remained - after all, this door now locks steplessly. Otherwise, the Ecosport is now also available as a Titanium S model with always black rims, and also black exterior mirror caps and the same tinted roof.

According to Ford, 65 percent of customers prefer the more expensive Titanium equipment the trend Line, so that an even more lavishly priced S variant has a good chance on the market. Funny: An all-wheel drive variant of the Ecosport available in non-European markets will not exist in Europe. If you want a four-wheel drive eco-sport in this country, the Ford marketing department teaches you better: Allegedly, customers would shy away from the all-wheel drive surcharge in this price-sensitive market segment.

Ford

The spare wheel no longer sticks on the facelifted Ford Ecosport at the rear.

Ford Ecosport inside now more comfortable

In the car, the occupants enjoy the high seating position - the secret of success, have thoroughly shaken up the market for sedans, vans and station wagons with the SUV in recent years. The driver grabs the steering wheel taken over from the Focus and a bit of chrome trim and high gloss drive away the hard plastic wasteland of the predecessor a little. However, the Indian production site cannot be said to be jealous of gaps: In this respect, Ecosport is relaxed and variable.

The new seats in the Titanium equipment now even offer a little lateral support for the back and no longer look like a used car. Additional features now include, for example, a winter package with a heated “I don't scratch anymore” windscreen (Trend: 500, Titanium: 350 euros) and the communication and multimedia system called Sync (475 euros) with full app integration to have. Also nice: The unscrewing cap on the fuel filler cap has been exchanged for a comfortable easy fuel system.

Successfully revised chassis, improved insulation

The engineers were forced to get involved in the further development of the chassis and steering. New rear axles, new dampers, new coordination of spring and damper rates as well as a lowering by ten millimeters should turn the Ecosport from emerging country gravel road rumpler to European asphalt curve robber. Mission successful: The new Ecosport takes the ground much more streamlined, the very gentle rolling tendency does not bother, especially not with such a high car.

In addition, there is the now worlds better coordinated ESP. The electromechanical power steering also works: in the middle position there is a clear play, but you get used to it immediately. It can be used to precisely indicate the direction on winding roads and is smooth enough for parking in the city.

Ford

New: The Titanium-S equipment with black rims, black exterior mirror caps and black roof is new to the range.

Ford's parade engine is the three-cylinder turbo gasoline engine with a displacement of one liter. In Ecosport it is available as a 125-PS variant and from the first quarter of 2016 also as a 140-PS version. The sprint time of the 125 PS model to 100 km /h gives Ford 12.7 seconds. Double digits always sound like fear on the motorway acceleration lane. But the reality is much friendlier: after a tiny starting weakness, the little engine kicks off and provides decent pulling power in all driving situations.

The unit growls pleasantly - the engineers have the sound cacophony of the predecessor through extensive insulation measures composed away. A maximum of 180 km /h is possible and on average the small engine burns 5.4 liters per 100 kilometers according to the standard. Consumption is okay, but a car with the word 'Eco' in its name would have deserved a start-stop system and upshift recommendations - the fuel saver doesn't even find something like that in the surcharge list.

Ford

The rear door continues to open to the side, at least it can now be locked steplessly.

The manual five-speed gearshift, coupled as standard to the 1.0-liter engine, enables precise gear engagement. Thanks to the maximum torque of 170 Newton meters, which is available on a broad engine speed plateau of 1,400 to 4,500 rpm, a sixth gear is not necessarily missing. A six-speed automatic is currently only available for the 1.5-liter gasoline engine, there is no six-speed manual transmission. That will only change with the model change in two years.

Conclusion

Ford initially rushed in Europe The pegged Ecosport is screwed in the right places: the chassis and steering can no longer be compared with the systems of the predecessorannoying rear spare wheel sinks into the surcharge list and the interior has noticeably gained. The enormous boost to improvement is of course also due to the poorly developed starting position. But now the Ecosport is a mini-SUV that easily meets the demands of European customers.