The crossover and SUV market, being what it is, has been sliced and diced into discrete chunks. There are the behemoths: true full-size SUVs like the Chevy Suburban. There's the luxury market, where the relevance of "utility" sometimes falls into question. Then there are the subcompacts, cars like the Mini Cooper Countryman and the Honda HR-V—small crossovers with an SUV profile, a reasonable amount of cargo space, and a backseat that's not punishment for those over five feet tall. And then there's the Ford EcoSport.

A wee SUV

Ford

Ford

Ford

Ford

Ford

Ford

New to the US market in 2018, Ford's bite-size crossover sits below the Escape in Ford's soon-to-be-sedan-less lineup, and it has an attractive sticker price. The base model, the EcoSport S, starts at $19,995 and offers a 1.0-liter turbocharged, direct-injected three-cylinder engine. The model we tested, the SES, begins at $26,880. Engine size is doubled, with a 2.0L four-cylinder direct-injection Ti-VCT engine. That's paired with a six-speed transmission and all-wheel drive (on the SES only; the other three models are front-wheel drive). Safety-wise, the EcoSport has side air-curtain tech for both the front and back seats, roll stability control, and Ford's SOS Post-Crash Alert System.

From the exterior, the EcoSport looks the part, cutting a high profile. It has de rigueur black plastic trim running along the bottom of the doors, a largish grille with the familiar Ford oval, and roof rack rails. Instead of the standard liftgate, however, the EcoSport has a fifth door that swings open to the side. It's not unattractive, but the body and styling isn't going to make anyone swoon. As one person who saw me drive up in it commented, the EcoSport looks like a cousin to the Smart Fortwo with a back seat thrown in for good measure.

The interior is uninspiring but functional. The car we drove has black leather-trimmed seats with tan accents. The driver's seat has mechanical controls for everything but lumbar support, while the passenger seat gets by with all manual controls. The instrument panel is analog with a small digital display in the middle. It can be customized to show trip info or speed, but Ford also uses it as a means of sending you messages about what's going on with the car, which you dismiss by hitting the OK button on the steering wheel. It's kind of useful when you're low on gas—every time I started the car with less than 50 miles of range, I got a message telling me how many miles until empty.

The problem comes when you're doing more mundane things, like backing up. Each time I put the car into reverse, I'd get a prompt saying that the rear-view backup camera was active, which I knew because I could see the camera view on the HD display.

Speaking of the display, it looks out of place with the rest of the interior. It's positioned center-front on the dash, and it's made from a glossy black plastic that looks out of place with the rest of the matte finishes on the dashboard and the interior. It left me with the impression that Ford remembered at the last minute that the EcoSport was supposed to have a display and dropped one in there.

Sync itself is just OK. The interface feels dated at this point, and there's significant lag when switching functions or even radio stations. When changing stations, for instance, the display often wouldn't update for five to 10 seconds. It's also a long reach from the driver's seat to the right of the display, meaning you'll need to take your eyes off the road if you want to switch which radio presets you're cycling through.

Android Auto and CarPlay are both supported, and a pair of USB ports in the center console are for plugging in and charging your phone.

Sight lines are good from the driver's seat. You have the traditional SUV perch feeling when behind the wheel, even if your perch is lower than many of the other SUVs on the road. The seats are supportive enough, but the armrests are in a strange position on the door, both too high and too low for it to feel natural when using them for their intended purpose. On the passenger side, the side of the center console is angled in a way that cuts into your leg room. The back seat is bad news for anyone who's too old for a car seat. There was about 3 inches of leg room behind me when I had the driver's seat in my preferred position.

Part of the reason the backseat is so small is due to the amount of cargo area. For a car that's only 161 inches long, you still get 20.9 cubic feet (592L) of cargo space and 50 cubic feet (1,416L) with the rear seat folded down.

Rough rider

Ford

Ford

Ford

My time with the EcoSport coincided with a trip to GingerMan Raceway near South Haven, Michigan, for a track event sponsored by the Midwestern Automotive Media Association, so I got more highway time than I usually get in a loaner. There's not much in the way of acceleration in the EcoSport, as it takes close to 10 seconds to make it from zero to 60mph. Driver-assist tech is sadly lacking as well: there's old-school cruise control and warning lights in the side-view mirrors... and nothing more. That's a shame, because other cars in the EcoSport price range—like the $30,000 Subaru Crosstrek I reviewed in the spring—offer adaptive cruise control, collision warning, and lane-keep assist.

On the other hand, highway mileage topped the 29mpg advertised, as I got 30.7mpg on pure interstate driving. Overall, I averaged 27.9mpg for the week, just a hair over the 27mpg advertised for city driving. In comparison with other cars in its class, it's not as compelling. The aforementioned Honda HR-V does 34mpg/28mpg, while the Crosstrek clocks in at 39mpg/29mpg, and both cars offer more cargo space and more-powerful engines.

You'll also feel all of the road in the EcoSport. There's a section of I-196 in southeastern Michigan with pronounced seams in the concrete. If you've ever driven on such a road, you'll know what I'm talking about—that steady, rhythmic "ba-dump" that you feel to a varying degree depending on the car you're in. With the EcoSport, I felt every seam, and it had me looking to see how many miles I had left to my destination. The EcoSport's ride borders on unpleasant on poor pavement.

Handling is adequate in the EcoSport. Even as small as it is, there's still the sense of SUV-ness when taking a tight curve or a cloverleaf on-ramp.

Judging by the advertising, Ford has positioned the EcoSport as a mini-SUV for an urban streetscape. I lived on the Chicago lakefront for half a decade and would have loved parallel parking a 161-inch car in tight spaces. But that swing-open tailgate is an odd choice for a car that's otherwise optimized for tight squeezes.

Beyond size, however, it's just not a very pleasant ride. You'll feel all of the road, all of the time, and the 166hp engine feels underpowered in some settings. The front seats are comfortable to sit in, but the back seat is really not for people over four feet tall.

At $20,000, the 3-cylinder EcoSport is priced competitively with the opposition—the base, 11-inch-longer Honda HR-V starts at the same place, but at $26,000, it's not a very compelling buy. Yes, you get a fair amount of cargo space and the SUV form-factor that is all the rage in the US. At the end of the day, however, the EcoSport is not terribly economical, and there's little about driving it that feels sporty. Unless you're a diehard Ford fan, steer clear of this one.