What is it?
This is the latest evidence that not even the smallest cars are immune from the creeping influence of SUVs.
Ford’s not-quite-a-crossover is a slightly taller, slightly tougher version of the Ford Ka+ five-door supermini — one that the company is hoping will help it top the record-breaking 200,000 SUVs Ford sold in Europe last year.
It follows the same basic formula as the similarly rugged Ford Fiesta Active and will form a triumvirate with the Ford Focus Active when it arrives early next year.
Quite how active you’ll actually get while behind the wheel is up for debate; while you get SUV-friendly features such as a boosted ride height, chunkier bumpers and wheel arches, as well as standard roof rails for sporty types to lug their gear around with, this is still very much a supermini best suited to town and city driving.
So that may make the car more suited to the perils of off-street parking than any kind of off-road adventure, but the 15in alloy wheels, chrome accents on the grille and foglights, exclusive interior fabric and slightly tweaked front end go a long way to helping the Active variant stand out from the standard car.
Ride height has been raised by 23mm, giving the Ka+ Active that upright, crossover feel that’s so in demand right now, while a larger anti-roll bar works with the electronic stability control to reduce the chances of rollover while those rails are fully loaded. It sits on 185/60 tyres, slightly skinnier than the 195/55s found on the standard car, for a marginally softer ride.
Otherwise, the mechanicals are mostly unchanged. The sole petrol engine is the 81bhp 1.2-litre three-cylinder unit also found on the rest of the Ka+ range, with 85lb ft of torque, a top speed of 105mph and hitting 0-60mph in 13.5sec. A 1.5-litre diesel also joins the line-up — a first for the Ford Ka+ — but Ford isn’t expecting it to be a big seller. There’s still no Ecoboost variant, either, in order to keep some space between the Ka+ and the Fiesta.
The Ka+ Active has the same MacPherson strut front and torsion beam rear suspension as a regular Ka+, as well as a five-speed manual gearbox raided from the new Ford Fiesta’s parts bin.
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Confused
if you can get a KA Active, a Fiesta Active and shortly the Focus Active will be available, what is the point of the EcoSport?
In fact scratch that, what is the p[oint of the Ecosport full stop.
MG Rover did this with the 25
MG Rover did this with the 25 Streetwise almost 15 years ago (in fact didn't they create this niche?) and oh, how everybody laughed...
(Just noticed this has already been said!)
What about the Dragon engine?
IMy only interest in this review was whether the new 3 cylinder engine from the Ford dragon family which is fitted to this car and the Ka+ going forward is any improvement on the outgoing 4 cylinder motor. So I am puzzled why there is no mention of this by the author who says in the text:-
Otherwise, the mechanicals are mostly unchanged. The sole petrol engine is the 81bhp 1.2-litre three-cylinder unit also found on the rest of the Ka+ range, with 85lb ft of torque, a top speed of 105mph and hitting 0-60mph in 13.5sec.
He does mention in the article that the car has a new gearbox but makes no comment about the change to a 3 cylinder engine for the Ka+ range. It would seem from his comments in the driving section that the new motor is just as poor as the original but it would have been good to have some discussion on the difference.
If you gotta call an engine “Dragon”...
....you are probably over compensating for something......
MacCheese Falcon wrote:
Dude, it's a three cylinder 1.2 with 80 HP. Safe to assume it's dreadful.