Ford has unveiled its latest CUV, called the EcoSport concept in Delhi prior to the auto show. The new CUV previewed the "One Ford" latest evolution of Kinetic design, first seen on the Evos concept. The EcoSport is underpinned by the Fiesta platfrom, the B-Class challenger from Ford.
Ford new CUV is designed to cater the young, urban buyer looking for a prominent upgrade for their hatchback, but not quite into the SUV trend. The EcoSport sports (no pun intended) a chunky detailing, comprises of technical looking headlight graphic, huge trapezoidal grille, pronounced cladding around the lower bumper edge, sills and surround the mascular wheelarches, and an outside-fitted spare wheel, mounted on the tail gate. These elements impart an off-road aspiration, complemented further with the roof rail.
Underneath the sleek skin, the EcoSport housed the latest, smallest EcoBoost powertrain, at just 1.0L in capacity arranged in 3-cylinder in-line format. The modern-downsizing of 1.6L equivalent in performance, the smallest EcoBoost boast 118bhp and 170Nm of torque. However, the 1.5L diesel from current Fiesta is also destinated to reside under the EcoSport hood in the near future.
The EcoBoost engine capitalized on the turbocharging and direct injection to achieve an efficient blend between power and reduction of fuel consumption. The quick spooling turbo has further aided the availability of 170Nm from as low as 1,300 rpm. The cylinder block is made of cast-iron. Not only this is cheaper material-wise, but aided with split coolant circuit design, the engine can be warmed up quicker, further helped by in-cast exhaust manifold in the cylinder head (similar in concept with Honda R18,20). More after the jump.
