Ford EcoSport vs Nissan Juke - A battle of two supreme subcompacts

The Ford EcoSport has been an amazing car right since its inception. In fact, it was highly-praised for it design, which was more like a hatchback on a strict steroid diet. And with this praiseworthy design and grunting power under the hood, the EcoSport has continued its good work for all these years.

However, with the advent of the Nissan Juke back in 2016, the EcoSport has had another competitor to watch out for and to deal with. The Juke is primarily a direct competitor to the Ford car and is presently the coolest subcompact SUV in the Philippines. It has a powerful engine to work with and a charming design to show.

So, how would it feel if both these cars are right in front of each other, battling hard for an ultimate supremacy? Well, as of now, let’s just delve in and see how they perform against each other, at least on paper.

The designing

Though the designing of the Ford EcoSport was considered to be very urban at the time of its launch, the coming of the Nissan Juke seems to have snatched away that position. And since the latest EcoSport still looks similar to the first generation, people are getting more inclined towards the Juke for its contemporary urban design.

There are some of the features on the Nissan Juke that prove that it has the upper hand over the EcoSport, like the usage of big 17-inch wheels compared to the 15 and 16-inch Ford ones.

That said, the Ford EcoSport will still appear to be more muscular from a distance, albeit the Nissan Juke tends to be more eye-catchy.

The interior features

When it comes to the setting on the inside, the Ford EcoSport is slightly more spacious since it is longer and higher than the Juke, thereby adding to the legroom and headroom. A power sunroof is added to the top-end trim only, along with an electronic air temperature control. The SYNC infotainment is added to all the trims barring the base one.

Speaking on the safety concerns, the EcoSport gets a pretty good number of features as standard, like the ABS and EBD (electronic brakeforce distribution) along with hill assist, ISOFIX and dual airbags for the driver and front passenger. The top end trim gets rear parking sensors as well.

On the other hand, the Nissan Juke is slightly smaller. However, the dimensional shortcomings are made up by the number of features on offer like the addition of cruise control and a fully automatic climate control. Some other features include a leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio controls, Bluetooth connectivity, push start/button and trunk room light.

It also gets dual airbags as standard, along with disc brakes for all the wheel. The disc brakes are accompanied by ABS, EBD (electronic brakeforce distribution) and Brake Assist. Vehicle immobiliser and Intelligent Key are also added to the standard package.

Engine and transmission

The Ford EcoSport is powered by a 1.5-litre Ti-VCT, inline 4-cylinder engine which is capable of making a maximum power of 110 hp at 6,300 RPM along with a peak torque of 142 Nm at 4,200 RPM. The power is sent down to the wheels via a 5-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic gearbox.

The engine is more grunty and powerful than these numbers suggest. It is also very smooth to drive and the automatic trim has almost zero lag even if you vary your speed a lot.

The Nissan Juke is slightly more powerful than the EcoSport and is powered by a 1.6-litre inline, 4-cylinder engine. It can produce a better 116 hp power and a peak torque of 154 Nm. The power is sent down to the wheels via an XTRONIC CVT gearbox and manual transmission is not offered even as an option.

It is more of a sporty car and the throttle is more responsive than the EcoSport. However, the car tends to get heated a little too quickly on very busy city traffic.

Verdict

After having read through this entire piece, we are sure you will be more inclined towards the Nissan Juke for its power and attractive design. However, let’s not forget that the EcoSport had been launched to be an affordable alternative to an SUV and it still continues to be so, being more affordable than the Nissan.