Ford’s trucklet EcoSport

So I finally got to drive Ford’s littlest CUV, the EcoSport. Rather than expecting it to function as a traditional small SUV, I learned to appreciate it more as an oversized hatchback. It’s basically a Fiesta with a backpack and trekking shoes. It doesn’t have any offroad cred other than that 200mm of ground clearance and 550mm of water-wading spec, it rides on comfort-oriented 60-series street tires, and it has a rear seat that makes the most of the cargo area’s limited dimensions. Yet, I liked it. A lot.

The standard drivetrain is the 1.5-liter largely shared with the Fiesta albeit tuned for more torque than power.  It’s a pleasant enough mill with good low-end grunt and enough horses to get you moving along at a brisk pace up to around 130kph, after which it begins to strain even with a light load. Once again, it is matched to the infamous double clutch transmission.

It’s a unit that delivers quick shifting under linear acceleration/deceleration situations, but which quickly becomes flustered and audibly clunky in stop-and-go traffic. Neither stickshift diehards nor automatic loyalists will really like the DCT. It wants to give the best of both worlds but sadly falls short in smoothness or driver involvement. If you like manual, you will wish you had a clutch pedal so you could shift smoother than the computer. If you like automatic, you will wonder why the thing can get so clunky. Fortunately, manual fans have that option in the Ambiente and Trend variants. Unfortunately, they don’t get all the other nice toys reserved for the Titanium variant I tested.

It’s a good thing that the rest of this little trucklet lives up to Ford’s recent standards for refinement and sense of style. The cockpit is lifted right out of the Fiesta, down to the motorcycle-style instrument pods, the alphanumeric keypad center stack for pairing your phone with, and sport seats that are great for all-day driving. Buyers who are particular about the tactile experience will like the soft-touch plastics used for the cabin, giving off a high-end vibe that’s a refreshing change from bargain basement materials commonly encountered in entry-level SUVs. Truth is, the EcoSport’s cabin looks and feels more expensive than several pricier SUVs.

The main reason for the EcoSport’s existence is its added versatility compared to the Fiesta.  Considering that the new Escape is nearly half a million pesos more expensive,  Ford has to make sure that customers who venture into its showrooms will be comfortable with the idea of potentially downsizing to an EcoSport. Unlike the Fiesta’s basic, 60:40 split folding rear seatback, the Eco Sport has fold-and-tumble seats split 60:40. While the 705 liter capacity still pales in comparison to the Honda Jazz, the space created by the folded-and-tumbled seats is reasonably tall and wide, if not particularly deep. The Ford will easily swallow small refrigerators, washing machines, and other appliances back there, but for objects that are longer than they are wide or tall, you may need other storage options. Using the EcoSport for a duathlon weekend, I found that I couldn’t stow my bike lengthwise with the front wheel removed like I could with the Jazz; the folded seats were in the way. If you ride bikes, you will need a roof rack for the EcoSport. Or perhaps a HitchPro mount, and I bet that would look really cute on such a short car like this one.

Driving and using the Ford for its intended purpose is as fun as its looks would suggest. Excepting that dreadful transmission, the Ford has enough pep to get around town without breaking a sweat. The Euro-tuned suspension gives the Ford a sprightly nimbleness that will delight buyers used to sluggish responses from larger trucks or SUVs. Whoever designed the electric power steering suspension deserves an award as it has the road feel of a traditional hydraulic setup while always managing to deliver just the right amount of boost at any speed.

Buyers will also be pleased with the little details like bottle holders nestled in the door panels, the aerodynamically sculpted side mirrors, and the pushbutton opening for the side-hinged tailgate, to name a few. All in all, this is a fun little trucklet to have for the urban street ninja and weekend warriors travelling light.

A fully decked out EcoSport Titanium with such niceties like Bluetooth hands-free phone pairing, voice command stereo, ABS, dual airbags, stability control, Hill Start Assist, Smart Key with pushbutton Engine Start and rear parking sensors carries a relatively modest SRP of P985,000. It’s a compelling argument for potential buyers looking for the raised ground clearance and additional cargo capacity of a traditional SUV but at a friendlier price point.  It doesn’t have all-wheel drive and you’d be stupid to take this Ford trail-busting, but what it can do is what 90 percent of SUV buyers look for anyway.

With the EcoSport, Ford realizes that the buyer’s hairiest “off-road” adventure would mean wading through urban floods and perhaps parking it up on the sidewalk.

Judging from the surprising number of EcoSports plying Manila’s roads today, Ford looks to have made a winner. And to think, just ten years ago, the “Ford SUV of choice” was the full-size Expedition.