Ford's EcoSport Gets Miniscule Motor and a Big Fat Unveiling

it's not that heavy a vehicle.

*Yuuuuuge mistake. The RAV4 and CR-V had them, then went away for various reasons. 1. You either have to tool up a door that opens the other way for other-hand-drive markets, or just tell those buyers to get bent. 2. If someone parallel parks too closely to you, you can't open it (not likely, but possible). 3. There's no provision for automatic opening/closing. Even on a non-automatic liftgate, the struts are usually strong enough (at least on a new vehicle) to lift the gate up at least partially with just a hand to unlatch it, then quickly go back to holding groceries or luggage or whatever (yes, I speak from experience).

@Drzhivago138 And 4) You can't back into spaces in lots where you'll be doing loading, because someone could park too close, then you're stuck moving it forward before you can get into the back. 5) Does not provide shelter from elements while loading. 6) Is not conducive to tailgating functions. 7) You have to walk around it all the time when it's open, if you're making 2+ trips.

Swing gate would be a deal-breaker for us because it would prevent us from opening the back of the car in our normal driveway parking spot (very short driveway, car backed up hard against garage to avoid sticking out into the sidewalk). The C-Max hatch is great. It can open far enough to be useful even where there are only a couple of feet of space between the car and whatever's behind it.

@dal20402 You always have such unique parking issues.

@Drzhivago138 Or how about a new sort of magic gate that opens either way. Not all that far removed from their pioneering tailgate that either opened as a door or folded down.

@dal20402 They could do a window that opens upward like they've done on many other vehicles. Of course it has to be big enough to be really useful. With our Mountaineer the window was used probably 80-90% of the time as it is nicely sized and at a good height. The Escape Hybird on the other hand is a little small so I find we've been using the hatch more frequently, so far.

@Corey Lewis Welcome to the city. Parking is always more fun when things are more crowded.

@Corey Lewis Completely misses the point. Compact CUVs are marketed to women and seniors. Women tend to be shorter than men and seniors don't have the flexibility and strength they used to, both of which make a side-opener more convenient than something you have to reach way up to and firmly pull down.

@Scoutdude Love this idea; a liftable window (as vertical as possible) that easily clears grocery bags and doesn't necessitate such a high reach to grab and close.would be very tiny-oldster friendly.

@HotPotato As someone being actively seniorized I can assure you that the upper body is the last to go. I can bench and curl as much as 20 years ago but you gotta hold still for me to hurt you. It's like everybody undergoing gradual FDR-ing.

@dal20402 Oh I recall you saying now you can't even have your Legend at home because it won't fit anywhere?

@HotPotato If you think this EcoSport is too TALL for women and elders to open, you really must get your vision checked. It's tiny. And if you're not strong enough to open a hatch with gas shocks on it (which takes very little effort) I doubt you have the strength to climb in the car and drive.