Ford Escape gets new touches, features
Ford has raised the price of its affordable Escape for 2017, but it has given its lowest-priced SUV new styling touches, safety features and engine options that should keep it popular with consumers.
The starting manufacturer’s suggested retail price for a base, two-wheeldrive 2017 Escape S is $24,645, or $650 more than the 2016 base model, which didn’t have quite as nice looking exterior and interior. Those prices include the destination charges.
The base five-seat 2017 Escape comes with a 168-horsepower, non-turbocharged, four-cylinder engine, six-speed automatic transmission and standard keyless remote entry, power windows, mirrors and door locks, rearview camera, seven air bags, four power points, 17-inch wheels and carpeted floor mats, among other things.
The lowest starting MSRP, including destination charge, for a 2017 Escape with all-wheel drive is $27,895. This is an SE model with 179-horsepower, turbocharged, four-cylinder engine mated to a six-speed automatic transmission that includes more features than the base model, including a 10-way power-adjustable driver seat, dual-zone automatic climate control and fog lamps.
The 2017 Escape is a Consumer Reports recommended buy and the magazine predicts it will have above-average reliability. The federal government said the 2017 Escape earned an overall five out of five stars for occupant protection in frontal and side crash testing.
Now in its 17th model year, the Escape helped pioneer the compact SUV segment that is so popular today.
With sales of 307,069 in the U.S. last year, the Escape is Ford’s second bestselling vehicle after the Ford F-150 pickup truck, and sales have increased 6.6 percent this year.
Along with its affordability, the Escape’s pleasant looks, practicality and wide-ranging engine and option lists help make it a go-to vehicle for shoppers who want an agile SUV.
The 2017 Escape has three engine options: the base, non-turbo, 2.5-liter fourcylinder engine from last year’s model; a new 1.5-liter turbo four-cylinder; and a top-of-the-line 2-liter twin-scroll turbo four-cylinder that produces 245 horsepower this year, up from 240 horsepower in 2016.
Each engine can give the 2017 Escape a slightly different personality, ranging from utilitarian to sporty. Unfortunately, none of them put the Escape at the top of the pack in terms of fuel mileage, and none appreciably improved its federal government fuel economy ratings for 2017.
Mileage ratings this year range from 21-23 mpg in city driving, depending on the engine, and from 28-30 mpg on the highway.
The test-driven Escape SE with frontwheel drive and the mid-range 179horsepower turbo four-cylinder engine averaged 23.9 mpg, which necessitated a
fill-up after about 370 miles. There was noticeable turbo lag, too, and the engine could get noisy when pressed hard to accelerate.
The travel was comfortable, for the most part, as the interior remained relatively quiet and the front seats provided good support and had decently long seat cushions.