Ford EcoSport: Offers a good balance of power and mileage

Ford is gearing up for the launch of its new model - Ecosport. The compact SUV has been in talks for a long while and Ford is going to get it out in the market pretty soon. Ford is reportedly launching the EcoSport model in Mid June 2013.

As per the updates, Ford will launch its Ecosport in India with four trim levels and three engine options (two petrol, one diesel). Pricing is expected to start at Rs 750,000, going all the way up to Rs 12 lakh!

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Its design is unconventional, but not uncomfortable. It has urban chic written all over it, but it is certainly not metro-sexual.

The best part though is that its design works in an odd sort of way. It brings in a lot of freshness to the compact sports utility segment, after all, there is a lot riding on its wide shoulders.

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Ford EcoSport can easily give other SUVs a run for their money. The EcoSport will be powered by a British-designed 1.0-litre, 3 cylinder turbocharged EcoBoost petrol engine which has a power output of 120 PS (88 kW; 118 bhp) and 170 Nm (125 lbft) of torque.

The engine features Ti-VCT (Twin Independent Variable Camshaft Timing) which contributes to the turbocharged engine's peak torque starting at 1,300 rpm.

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Said to be tiny enough to stand on an A4 sized sheet of paper and compact enough to be stowed away in an airplane overhead luggage compartment, the 999 cc, 3-cylinder EcoBoost engine is the smallest unit in its class.

The engine is also said to have 25 per cent fewer moving parts and is constructed out of alloy steel (instead of aluminium) to ensure improved refinement levels.

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The EcoSport is a global product, available with a number of powertrain solutions to serve different demographics.

The list of powertrains includes Ford's newest, most advanced engine-the 1.0-litre EcoBoost-developed at Ford's Dunton Technical Center in the UK.

The 1.0-litre, 3 cylinder, turbocharged, cast-iron engine comes in two versions: 74 KW (101 PS; 99 hp) and 88 to 92 KW (120 to 125 PS; 118 to 123 hp), with the latter delivering a peak torque of 170Nm from 1,300��,500 rpm and 200Nm on overboost.

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Ford's decision to use cast-iron for the engine block instead of aluminium improved engine warm-up time by 50 per cent.

However, the 3-cylinder engine design causes inherent vibrations, which Ford overcame by incorporating a deliberately unbalanced flywheel.

Employing the unbalanced flywheel conserves energy more efficiently than employing the more commonly-used balance shafts to ensure smooth running.

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Additionally, an internal timing belt bathed in engine oil ensures longer life and even greater efficiency. Lastly, to reduce warm-up times and increase efficiency even further, Ford engineers cast the exhaust manifold into the cylinder head.

The EcoBoost engine design is quite compact. The EcoSport will be available with this engine design in China, India and Europe, but not in Brazil.

The Brazilian EcoSport will be powered by a 1.6 L petrol engine, which produces 113bhp (114.5 PS, 84 kW) and 115 lb.ft (156 Nm) of torque.

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The interior of the EcoSport has Ford's signature details in many places. The centre stack is particularly familiar. The chunky steering wheel and the centre stack have largely been borrowed from the new Fiesta. The seats are comfy and sport contrast stitched faux leather, with horizontal support squabs.

In terms of design, the EcoSport manages to excel in leveraging the platform's strength in creating a compact SUV, which still manages to be very aerodynamic.

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With the wheels out on the extremities of the vehicle, the raised posture and the spare wheel mounted on the hatch door, the EcoSport has that butch stance that we associate with SUVs.

To push the envelope, Ford has loaded in tech like the Microsoft partnered SYNC system into the car's audio and telecom features.

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And Ford India is said to be involving local emergency services to utilise the infrastructure if an emergency arises for the car and its occupants.

The system auto dials the emergency services if an airbag is deployed or if detects an emergency ignition cut-off.

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The Indian market will be amongst the first few to receive EcoSport. The vehicle was presented as a concept in India on 4th January, 2012 and the Indian version was unveiled on 15th March, 2013, in Mumbai.

The car is being manufactured at Ford India's Chennai plant and Ford claims that the vehicle consists of 80 per cent local content.

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The EcoSport is expected to launch in India shortly, in four trims with the choice of three different engine options 1.0 L EcoBoost, 1.5 L Ti-VCT and 1.5-litre TDCi.

The engines will be mated with 5-speed manual and 6-speed dual clutch transmissions, the latter likely to be available with 1.5 L Ti-VCT engine only.

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