Ford EcoSport review

We’re very late. The sun has already come up, our Brazilian journalist colleagues are running late, and then once away, we land slap-bang in the middle of Sao Paulo’s mid-morning stampede. They said it would be bad, but this is ridiculous. The gridlock on the Ayrton Senna freeway is so intense, so tight and so unending, it makes rush hour in Bangalore feel like a breeze. An hour and a half later, still on the elevated freeway, still on the way out of the city and still in the jam, I’m casually informed that our destination is around 130km away! 

Then, finally, salvation. A couple of speed breakers, a toll plaza, and beyond it open roads. It’s a sight for sore eyes alright – perfectly paved elevated road, perfectly marked wide lanes, long sweeping corners and gently banked sections, all rolled nicely into the mix. Time to loosen the reins on the 1.6-litre motor and see what the EcoSport is really like. First impressions are quite good. There’s enough torque in the mid-range to get the relatively light 1243kg EcoSport moving quite effortlessly, the speedo needle climbs past 110kph easily and speed continues to build as 

I keep my foot down, the motor pulling hard quite happily. The road ahead is empty, so soon the speedo is up to 140 and climbing. 

 

Then, out of the blue, an 18-wheeler decides to change lanes on a whim. I feel right at home; must be an Indian trucker. I get sharply on the brakes in a straight line, bleed a lot of speed and steer smoothly into the next lane. The Ford executes the change of track without a hiccup. Yes, I know this car’s based on the Fiesta and that automatically means good driving manners, but this is something else. The rest of the expressway is traversed without incident, the Ford holding on to high speeds as easily as a low-slung saloon. Wind noise is well contained, the roar from the tyres is pretty subdued, despite the big lugs in the rubber, and the kilometres just fly. Soon we are at our exit. Time for some smaller roads and some corners.