Nov 02, 2013 05:23 PM
8504 Views
After driving all three vehicles and analyzing them I have summarized these views. I have tried to give a fair picture of good and bads about these three compact SUVs.
Styling:
Ecosport design is fresh and styled well. It has a youth appeal. The spare tyre on rear door adds to the look. However it does not feel masculine and hefty as an SUV should look like. The front area looks as if its deliberately cut to bring it under 4 meters, which is odd. This car may look attractive initially, but after sometime we will realize it's a small car.
Duster styling is good and appears masculine like a SUV. It's broad design feels as if it grips the road well. Though this model is 3 years old it still has its presence.
Terrano looks better than duster with its new grill and rear door designs . Every sheet metal is different from duster. The machined alloy wheels has killer looks and I bet no car in India(except luxury cars) have such stylish alloy wheels. Since it's a new design and looks like a proper SUV Terrano wins marginally from duster in styling.
Engine & performance:
Ecosport comes with two petrol and one diesel engine. The petrol ecosboost engine is fantastic. Diesel engine is also good and tried and tested. Only petrol comes with auto transmission. Both Petrol Ecoboost engine and the diesel engine are fuel efficient. Petrol gives overall 11-12 kmpl, diesel 14-15 kmpl. The steering is very smooth, but sharp and gearshift is precise. Ecosport does not handles bad roads well. There is body roll, the potholes are felt with a thud in the inside and passengers will feel the bad roads.
Duster comes with one petrol and two diesel engines(86bhp & 110bhp). The petrol engine is average in efficiency and performnace. But the diesel engines are excellent, powerful and reliable. Renault dci diesel engine performs better than ecosport diesel engine. Petrol gives overall 10-11kmpl, diesel 15-16kmpl. There is no auto transmission version in any models. Petrol engines don't have good fuel efficiency. Diesel engines are very fuel efficient. Duster handles bad rods very well, has very little body roll and the ride quality is fantastic.
Terrano gets similar engines like duster with no difference in performance. However I have noticed that the gearshift is smoother, clutch is softer and the steering kickback is less compared to Duster. The engine mounts are said to be of gas filled shocks unlike Duster which has rubber mounts, hence engine noise reduction is better in Terrano.
Ecosport ecoboost petrol engine and Duster/Terrano diesel engines are the winners here.
Interior and equipment:
Ecosport interior is very modern and stylish. It gets features like steering mounted controls, Bluetooth, climate control, push button start(in titanium O), cooled glove box and a special Microsoft sync system. It has many slots for holding bottles and one secret compartment below driver seat.Top end has leather seats. Rear 60:40 split seats and adjustable. The rear legroom is better than Duster/Terrano, but cannot comfortably sit 3 passengers. Steering is adjustable(Tilt and telescopic).
Duster interior is basic, though not boring and may not impress on first look. But its practical and functional. Its top end diesel gets all features similar to ecopsort except climate control, cooled glove box and sync system. But it has touch screen audio and navigation system which is absent in Ecosport. The OVRM controls are awkwardly place below the handbrakes which may take time to get used to. Rear seats are fold-able. The rear legroom is adequate but not lavish. It can comfortably sit 3 passengers. Steering is adjustable(Tilt)
Terrano interior has many changes compared to duster and looks better. None of the models have steering mounted controls and touch screen audio with navigation system. Other features are similar to duster.
In looks and equipment Ecosport has an advantage over duster. In comfort and space Duster/Terrano wins.
Safety:
This is the most important area. Ecosport titanium O comes with ABS, reverse parking sensors, rear wiper washer, defogger, six airbags. The titanium version comes with 2 airbags. The petrol auto transmission comes with ESP, HLA in addition.
Duster comes with ABS, EBD, BA, two airbags, reverse parking sensors, rear wiper washer and rear defogger.
Terrano comes with similar safety features like duster.
The ecosport 6 airbags may look impressive, but on day to day driving it's the ABS, EBD and BA which plays a important role and ecosport lacks EBD and BA. Duster and Terrano are more stable on road at high speeds and while braking compared to ecosport. The six airbags in ecopsort may save live in case of major collision and toppling, but the duster and Terrano's smart braking and stability will prevent such accidents in first place. Hence in safety Duster and Terrano have slightly upper edge over ecosport.
Quality, reliability and maintenance
Ecosport overall build quality is good, but interior plastics are cheap. The engine does not come with engine cover which looks strange. However you can buy it as optional for Rs.2500. Ford vehicles are not very popular for reliability and notorious for high maintenance cost. Ecosport is a new vehicle and has to prove itself on the road in times to come. The old ecopsort models have done well in Brazil and other south American countries.
Duster is a tried and tested car and proven to be reliable all over Europe and in India. Its overall build quality is good, but plastics appear cheap and evident cost cutting measures seen. Maintenance may not be very cheap, but should be cheaper than Ford.
Though Terrano is similar to duster, being a Japanese brand it may have a slight edge over Duster in quality and reliability. Having said that it has to prove itself to be better than duster in times to come. More service centres are required in our country.
Conclusion:
Now finally which one to choose and why. If you are looking for a petrol car and only city driving go for Ford ecopsort, ecoboost engine. If you are looking for a diesel then it's tough choice. Ecosport though it claims to be a compact SUV it's falls short of an SUV features. It's just a small car with more ground clearance. It's looks can cheats us & we will realize it later after looking it several times that its indeed not a compact SUV. But being priced 1.75 lakh cheaper than Duster/Terrano it's a bargain. If you drive only in cities then ecosport is suitable because it's smooth steering, cltuch and small size makes driving and parking easier.
But if you drive on highways or long distances then Duster/ Terrano is the one to go for. It's definitely a better compact SUV than ecosport and looks more like an SUV. If you think you should go for'value for money' you could consider Premier Rio or Force One or Tata Sumo or Tata Safari. The point is it's always not just' value for money', you should have a car that drives well, comfortable and reliable. Hence Duster/terrano are better diesel cars than ecosport.
Since Terrano is new with refreshed design and improvement in clutch, gearshift and noise levels it is the ultimate choice for diesel even if it's priced higher than duster.
