It’s been a wonderful journey with her so far! I’ve clocked about 25,000 km in 7 months and travelled across 18 states.
BHPian jithin23 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
The Red Dragon has been munching miles faster than its twin, the Blue Baby and After the Remap, I’m more in love with this machine and it’s been a fill it, shut it, and forget it experience. (Had diesel prices been around Rs 70-75, I’d just drive to my heart’s content anywhere in the country!) It’s been a wonderful journey with her so far! I’ve clocked about 25,000 km in 7 months and travelled across 18 states. Most of these drives are solo only.
I’ve travelled almost every weekend with this car and once out of boredom, I drove alone to Kolhapur for its famed Mutton Thali and Biryani and drove back the next day to Bangalore. That was a pure 1,400 km blissful drive. Recently I did a Solo Ladakh drive which was completely unplanned(will post a travelogue on this soon)
During this course of time, I’ve spruced up the Red Dragon to my taste. I’ll keep it short and crisp as these mods are a mixture of the mods by Blue Baby and Satya’s Ghost (nightraven).
The Aesthetic Mods
I’ve added the batman themed spoiler (Ford OE in Thunder Variant) which costs about Rs 6.5k including painting and labour. Some of you might think that the spoiler is only for function. I was pleasantly surprised that the spoiler actually helps in downforce drag above 120km/h. The spoiler was fixed by Javed Bhai in JC Road and he’s a pro with Ford cars regardless of the issue.
Roof Rails (Part no: CN1Z9955100A) are from Ford itself and these cost Rs 7k. However, we need to order these parts in advance as these are billed on an order basis. This can be ordered on Boodmo or GoMechanic.
I’ve de-chromed the badges as well for a sporty look.
The upper portion of the door needs to be drilled for the spoiler to be installed(Its a pain to witness this in person while drilling)
The combined result of the Aesthetic mods
Installing BMC Air Filter: It’s a straight replacement stock filter and it is priced at Rs 7,000.
Fiesta Diesel ST meter
As I keep scouting for some exotic parts on eBay.co.uk, I stumbled upon the Fiesta meter as my parents wanted the EcoSport ST meter back in the blue baby and I didn’t want an 1100 meter(the 2″ MID) back again. So I had asked a friend to courier it (Fiesta ST meter) via Royal Mail and he did courier it and I had to pay extra to the customs officials at the Foreign Post Office in Chamarajpet. I paid up upfront even for the ST line steering so that I do not need to make a repeat visit.
The cost of the meter was 120 Pounds+ 25 Pounds for shipping. Plus prices depend on the car clunker as well.
The giveaway for a colour cluster is the first letter in the last 3 letters of the part number. The part number is H1BT-10849-CDJ. The one in italic is the giveaway for a colour cluster regardless of whether the meter is petrol or diesel. If it’s B, it’s the same as you get in the S variant in India. If the letter is A, then it’s the 2″ MID Nokia display.
The Tab needs to be trimmed
The edge of the speedo base too needs to be cut
The meter base of the ST meter needs to be fixed with the glass of the stock meter in the next pic. B479 is the internal code name for Fiesta
B515 is the internal code name for EcoSport
Getting the meter was one part but reassembling the meter was a challenge as the EcoSport glass housing won’t fit snugly. I had to cut a few edges on the Fiesta meter and then fix the glass. On connecting the meter, I figured out that this meter had just been used for 3 Miles only!
However, the elephant in the room was that the RPM Guage wasn’t working at all. I tried reflashing all the as-built codes but no luck. Then I immediately drove to Soni Meters in Ulsoor and the meter guy reset the needle and Voila, it started working! The meter oozes style and function.
If someone wants to go for a UK spec meter, you can also try out Focus ST and C-Max/S-Max meters as the base architecture is similar to EcoSport. Only the glass needs to be replaced from your stock EcoSport meter
The base has the part number sticker on the right
Next Up: Focus ST Steering Wheel and TPMS from Aliexpress
Ford has literally goofed up in the feature distribution as they couldn’t give a TPMS in their most expensive variant at that time. I was in for a rude shock as April 2018 make Titianium+ not come with TPMS. Then I had to order via Aliexpress using Buyandship. Though it took 2 months for the sensors to arrive, it was worth the wait
A short video on how to purchase from Buyandship.
The cost of the sensors including shipping and customs came to around 6,000 Rs for a set of 4 sensors.
The Focus ST Steering
As I was fond of flat-bottom steerings for their ease of use, shipping one to India had always been a task. As usual, I tried couriering via Royal Mail through my friend but the catch was that the parcel will weigh above 2kgs and Royal mail DOES NOT usually accept parcels to India above 2kg. Even if they accept, the pricing is insane!
Need to remove the steering wheel with a torque bolt
Me being curious, I asked my friend to bubble wrap it and wrap the upper layer in a dustbin bag/cover to keep the weight under 2kgs. This time the trick worked and the parcel came faster than the Fiesta Meter.
The White Tab is to be removed. Steering is made by ZF!
Once the parcel arrived I had to crimp the white tab and replace it with the crimping pins from the stock steering wire. A bit of soldering and the steering buttons worked just fine. After I installed the steering, I felt that the horn pad was loose on the lower end. Then I took the plunge and cut the upper portion of the Hornpad (where the airbag isn’t present) and the horn pad works fine.
The 2 small connectors( the pins on the red and black wire, to the RHS of the steering) need to be replaced in place of the white tab.
Total cost for the Steering wheel: 75 pounds + 25 pounds for shipping
A Ford Puma Steering link on eBay for reference (can be used on EcoSport)
Now the car has become a semi-batmobile and an extra 10 bhp for looks!
Now time for some fancy mods:
Then I was curious to unlock the jailbreak for sync on my own and I followed the video by Naviupgrade+ Satya’s post for the sync unlock. I tried several builds but only Sync 3.4 build 21194 works without any hiccup.
Here’s the link to my previous post on sprucing up Sync 3
This page affirms that the mods have been installed.
The first line has the sync version. 2nd line has the build number. Can be found in about sync
I’ve enabled custom themes, backgrounds, video player, and Rear cam on demand(works only under 15 km/h)
Bonus: A 10-button Sync 3 display which is apparently the only EcoSport in the country to have this:
In terms of maintenance, I’m still servicing my car at FASS and I changed the brake pads and diesel filter as I realized quite late that my previous owner only did the regular oil change and has never bothered to check the brake pads or other mechanical bits.
For Washing the car I always give it to the Turtle Wax outlet near Jayanti Nagar signal and they do a stellar job. Price is at par with all the car wash centres in the vicinity.
I carry my own oil (Motul Xcess 8100 5W40) to FASS and request them to use my oil only and while pouring the oil, it needs to be done in my presence. On a different note, after seeing my car even FASS folks reach out to me for help on some mods and unlocking features on several Fords.
My next set of upgrades is the headlights from Automotive lighting experts, A mesh grill, a TPMS display on sync 3(my module is on the way from Vietnam or Thailand(depending on the seller), and a nice set of tires.
I was contemplating sync 4 as well but I think that sync 3 would still be fine for me for the following reasons
Sync 3: Mod potential, Wired Android Auto(AA+ Car play(CP))
The context for my explanation.
Sync 4 is possible for EcoSport and Endevaour at the moment as these 2 cars have an 8″ touchscreen
The only major reason to upgrade would be only for wireless android auto, but that would need a wireless charger too (not many phones support wireless charging). Else the UI and functionality are pretty much the same.
Only some traffic scars are there on the cladding of the red dragon which I’ll sort out during one of the weekends by Sep. Till then, Ciao!
For Viewing Pleasure
One at the Ford Plant when I went recently. Spotted this greenish colour EcoSport which was never launched in India
The Remap+CC does wonders in fuel economy! Now the CC issue has been corrected as the remap file I was running on previously had this CC resume on the throttle issue.
Interior View, with movable date font+ rear cam on demand icon.
Keyword: Sprucing my Ford EcoSport with aesthetic & functional upgrades