MY POCKET SUV

Warning! This is going to be long!

Exterior It is a looker alright especially when viewed from the front or the back. But when viewing from the side, you can not escape the feeling that the car ought to look bigger. And when seen squarely from the side especially the front portion after the windscreen, the car looks ugly. The fit and finish is ok but the panel gaps could have been narrower. The rear lights when on, look very small for the car's size. The front bumper is made of softer material and bend if pressed, probably keeping pedestrian safety in mind. The rear bumper is solid. The doors are thick and close with a thud. No one is able to close the door in the first attempt since no one expects them to be so solid.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) This is one car which induces a smile every time you enter it and sit in the driver's seat. The seating position is an absolute delight especially for people like me coming from hatches. The view to the front and sides also is expansive. The view to the rear is some what disappointing but enough to get by. The seat height adjuster coupled with the tilt and the reach and rake adjustments of the steering really help in reaching a very comfortable driving position. It has keyless entry (lucky to have got it) and so one needs to merely press the button on the door handle (with the remote in the pocket) to open the door. Once the car is unlocked, the parking lights and dash board lights including the meter lights come on whether it is day or night and remain on for some time. If the third unmarked button on the remote is pressed twice, the boot opens a couple of inches enabling you to pull it open.

Since it has Push Button Start and Stop, the first press of the button enables the accessories. If the button is pressed with the clutch depressed, the car starts. And the dash board lights remain on till the engine is switched off. The plastic quality inside is not great, the door trim plastics bend when you push the door open from the inside. But the cabin is silent even with the engine on (mind you it is a diesel). Only when the engine is revved, you hear it inside. It is reported that the sound proofing extends to the front fenders also. The layout of the dashboard is impressive and the switches are where they ought to be and fall to hand naturally. My only gripe is about the headlight switch which is not integrated into the stalk on the steering column but is placed separately at the bottom of the dash on the right side along with the foglight switch and the headlamp leveller.

My phone was recognised by the bluetooth and the phone book downloaded. The voice command feature is an issue. 90% of the Indian names and pronounciation are not recognised. Ford has to tweak it to do so and give an update for the Sync. There are two settings for the voice command, in one the system decides the most probable name you called out and dials it, mostly with disastrous consequences. In the other setting, it asks you whether to dial xxxx and if right, you can say yes and if not say no. Then it offers you another attempt by which time you lose patience. Normal commands like yes, no, phone, music etc. are recognised without issue. The emergency assistance can be switched on or off. Sync works whether the music system is on or off.

The music system and the speakers are really good for a stock system. The headlights and the foglights are adequate.

When your front wipers are working and you put the car in reverse, the rear wiper also starts working at the same setting as the front. Once you come out of reverse gear, the rear wiper stops.

The rear seats are adjustable for recline and are very comfortable for two persons and a slight squeeze for three. Here I am talking about normal sized persons (no offence to anyone).

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox The clutch is not hard at all and the gear shifts are smooth. There is no notchiness or stiffness. Once the car starts moving, the experience makes you forget all the other small irritants. The steering is very light but weighs up with speed. But compared to other cars, it still remains light so one has to be careful about sharp manoeuvres especially on the highway. Remember its high GC and short length and do not attempt manoeuvres normal on hatchbacks and sedans. Drive within the limits of the car. 

The car acclerates smoothly and suddenly you find that you have already crossed 60 kmph. The engine does not strain atleast till about 120 kmph (the max I tried was 140). In the city, it is a breeze to drive. There is no noticeable turbo lag and coupled with the light steering and the view, it is very easy to drive.

The sensors make light work of reversing. The outer edges of the wing mirrors are curved and offer a larger field of vision. The only irritant is the small rear windscreen which offers only a restricted view. But the sensors compensate for that. They are placed such that they cover the sides and the area just behind and below the bumper very well. They even detect moving objects behind the car. 

The major irritant for me is the left footrest for the driver. While it is good that Ford has provided it, it is not properly located or angled. Its top has to be raised a little more since if you drive with shoes or sandals on, your foot gets caught under the edge of the clutch pedal every time you want to use the clutch. The space between the footrest and the clutch pedal is very narrow compelling me to rest my foot on the lower part of the footrest which is not very comfortable. If the top of the footrest is raised a little (so that when you rest your foot, it is level with the clutch pedal), then it will serve its purpose wonderfully. Coming from Santro and Getz, I am used to the comfort of the footrest and that is why this long complaint.  

Ride Quality & Handling Definitely stiff. But no thuds on normal potholes and uneven surfaces. At highway speeds, the car does not bounce on potholes, but you can tell that it is going through them.

 

Brakes: 

So far I did not have the opportunity to test the brakes. Normal braking is ok and the car stops quickly even with MRFs.

EDIT: I have had many occasions to test the brakes now and can confidently say that the brakes perform well including the ABS.

FE:

I have so far driven about 1300 kms and checked the FE twice by the tankful to tankful method. The first time the FE was 16.18 kmpl and the next time it was 18.68 kmpl. I am not very sure of the second reading because though the pump cut off automatically, the fuel guage is showing less than full. So I will have to fill up again and check. The FE as per the meter was 15.5 kmpl and 15.1 kmpl respectively. The car is always driven with AC.

Edit1: I have tried to fill additional fuel. But it auto-cuts with just half a litre. So filled up to the brim manually. It took in 3.3 litres and now the gauge shows full. On recalculation, the FE comes to 17.35 kmpl. Not bad at all! However I will check next time also and report.

EDIT2: Now after driving about 13000 kms+, my city FE has settled at about 16 kmpl and highway FE varies between 15 and 22 kmpl depending on the speed (both with 100% AC). 

Final Words The car is nice and there are no regrets in having purchased the same. I am enjoying it and will update this thread as and when there is something to report.

Areas of improvement The dead pedal may be shaped differently and position also modified if possible. The panel gaps should be narrower. The rear lights may be reworked to make them bigger. And lastly the quality of the interior plastics can be improved.

Looks, engine, gearbox, featuresdead pedal, panel gaps, rear lights, interior plastics