The Ford EcoSport has a feature called Active Nibble Control. Yes, really.
I’ll explain what this does in a moment, but let’s start with what an EcoSport is: basically a Ford Fiesta on stilts. This recently-launched mini SUV, imported from India, is the blue oval’s answer to competitors like the Daihatsu Terios and Nissan Juke. It has a blend of practicality and smart connectivity that’s targetted at what Ford terms young and adventurous customers.
GRAVEL MILE GOBBLER
Although its physical dimensions are similar to a Fiesta’s, the EcoSport has an added 80mm of ride height to give it a useful 200mm ground clearance. This, apart from making for the higher seating position that so many South African drivers are fond of, allows rough roads to be tackled without fear of scraping the vehicle’s belly. It’ll happily trundle along dirt paths and do the game-viewing thing, but as it comes in only front-wheel drive – not 4x4 – it’s no serious offroader.
The higher ride height compromises handling ability somewhat and the EcoSport won’t nip through bends with the same alacrity as a Fiesta, but the car doesn’t feel overly top-heavy and gets around fast corners pretty neatly. So too does it have a comfortable ride, and bumpy roads are covered without significant shakes. Unlike many SUVs which are fitted with inexplicably low-profile tyres that judder on coarse surfaces, the EcoSport wears comfy-riding 205/60 R16s.
DECENT SPACE
The cabin’s slightly larger than a Fiesta’s with more rear leg- and head-room, making this a viable four-seater (or five, at a push) while the boot’s also 86 litres bigger to give significantly more cargo space (362 litres, up to 705 litres with rear seats folded). A full-sized spare wheel is perched on the tailgate, which opens outwards instead of upwards.
There’s a generous array of storage nooks including a cooled glovebox big enough to store six beverage cans.
Available in three engine derivatives and a trio of trim levels, the EcoSport on test here is the 1.0T Titanium selling for R244 000, which is the top-of-the-tree petrol version. The car’s also available in a 1.5 four-cylinder petrol and a 1.5 turbodiesel.
Many buyers will struggle to reconcile a 244 grand pricetag with a 1-litre car but, as we never stop pointing out in this publication, with modern engines it’s no longer relevant to single out cubic capacity as the only measure of muscle power. Thanks to a turbocharger, direct injection and variable valve timing this ‘lil three-cylinder engine, dubbed the Ecoboost, packs a 1.6-litre sized punch. Think of it as a chihuahua with a staffie-sized bite.
RESPECTABLE OOMPH
This powerplant’s won its category in the World Engine of the Year award two years running, and pumps 92kW and 170Nm from its tiny heart. This is sufficient to give the EcoSport 1.0T a claimed 0-100km/h sprint of 12.7seconds and a respectable 181km/h top speed. It’s a little slower than the Fiesta version which is nearly 100kg lighter. But while far from sporty, the 1-litre EcoSport has enough urban and open-road pace to not make you want to tear your hair out in power-hungry frustration – even with four people on board.
Contrary to the frantic high-revver you might expect such a small engine to be, it hums along in a muted manner and it’s only in the background that you can hear its slightly offbeat three-cylinder symphony. Overall refinement is fairly calm and there’s no intrusive wind- or road-noise.
BUT A TAD THIRSTY
The one area where the engine disappoints is its fuel consumption of 8 litres per 100km, which is way higher than Ford’s 5.7 litre claim. Not helping matters was that the fuel-sucking aircon kept turning itself on randomly, and it wasn’t possible to switch it off permanently.
The controls are mostly light and simple to operate, except for the five-speed manual gearshifter feeling a little notchy. Also, the handbrake is badly positioned, and operating it causes your hand to bash against the passenger seatbelt clip.
Spec levels in this Titanium model are pretty high and include cruise control; rain-sensitive windscreen wipers; auto headlamps, and an audio system with usb and aux inputs, among others. Ford SYNC is a voice-activated connectivity system that allows drivers to keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel while choosing their favourite music and making phone calls using voice commands.
CLASSY CABIN
Leather seats as well as leather steering wheel and gearknob create a stylish interior ambience. The dashboard is a hard plastic, not the richer-looking soft-touch type, but the EcoSport’s cabin otherwise has a classy look. Safety spec on all models comprises ABS brakes and six airbags, while Titanium versions also get Electronic Stability Control.
There were a couple of niggles in our test car, including that one of the rear seatbelt reels was stuck which meant the passenger couldn’t buckle up. The automatic wipers were sometimes slow to react to the onset of rain, too.
Also, a reader alerted us to an incident where her EcoSport’s airbags failed to activate in a collision. Ford’s preliminary investigation is that the magnitude of the crash was insufficient to trigger them, but the reader argues that she suffered injuries that would have been prevented had the airbags deployed.
VERDICT
The badge may be a misnomer as this car’s neither particularly economical or sporty, but the second-generation EcoSport (the first one wasn’t sold here) has sassy styling, decent space and some gravel road ability. It’s an appealing car for young buyers who like sitting high up and are lucky to have a quarter of a million bucks to spend, although some potential build-quality issues are cause for wariness.
And, oh yes, Active Nibble Control?
It’s a system that reduces vibration in the electrically-assisted power steering, and helps the car keep a steady line over bad road surfaces.
Pricing includes a four-year/120 000km warranty and four-year/60 000km service plan. -Pretoria News Motoring