The 1.5 litre 3-cylinder petrol engine is an all new unit from the Dragon family. It makes 123 horsepower and 150 Nm of torque. The engine comes to life once you push the START/ STOP button. There is a shake when the motor starts and at idle you do come to know that it’s a 3 pot unit. Once it warms up and you get going, the refinement is impressive. The facelift gets a 6 speed torque converter auto box and while shifts aren’t like the previous dual clutch unit, they still are smooth. For the past month, I have been driving the Ecosport only in the city and it has been a boon in Mumbai’s bumper to bumper traffic. The crawl feature works very well and I just have to take my foot off the brake to move ahead. My everyday driving is always with a light foot and the gearbox responses are prompt. Gearshifts are smooth too. On early morning Sunday drives, the Ecosport cruises well on empty roads as well. The engine and tranny work well in tandem offering a relaxing driving experience. I haven’t yet used the Sport mode yet. But I plan to take the Ecosport for a highway trip and so that could come into play then. Amongst other things, I quite like the high seating position and it gives the good view of the road ahead. The A-pillar does obstruct views however.

Coming to the fuel efficiency, the Ecosport has been consistently returning around 8 kpl in city driving. It has been sipping more than I had expected to be honest. This is one area where I have been disappointed. It will be interesting to see the highway figures once I take out on the open road in the coming days.

To sum it up, it has been pretty smooth sailing for the past month and the Ford Ecosport is quite a likeable compact SUV. The size is perfect for the urban commute and the automatic just adds to the convenience. There have been no issues so far except a malfunctioning TPMS sensor. Might have the service centre take a look at it. I’m looking forward to driving it more and putting in more kms in the coming weeks. More on life with the Ecosport in the next report. Signing off…