2013 Ford Escape gets long-awaited redesign
It’s easy to look down your nose at a car like the Ford Escape – or at least, at the small, boxy crossover that it used to be. It sold by the boatload right off its 2001 introduction, and continued to do so for more than a decade, despite receiving only relatively minor changes to its styling and mechanicals.
But the Escape gets a longawaited, thorough redesign for 2013 that finally brings it into the modern age of compact crossovers.
The styling update is obvious, so what’s underneath is arguably more noteworthy. The only mechanical carryovers are the six-speed automatic transmission (now the only one available) and the base 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine. Last year’s optional V6 is replaced with a 2.0-litre turbocharged, four-cylinder EcoBoost engine, and the third option is a 1.6-litre EcoBoost turbo.
That last option is the one my SE 4WD tester used. Its power output, at 178 horsepower and 184 foot-pounds torque, is only marginally more than the 2.5-litre’s 168 hp and 170 ft-lbs, but turbos are good at making small motors feel bigger, and this one feels impressively athletic, considering its small displacement.
Low- and mid-range power are abundant, and only the engine’s high-end performance betrays its small size; it runs out of breath at high revs at highway passing speeds. The 2.0-litre engine makes 240 hp and 270 ftlbs of torque.
Also new is the Escape’s allwheel-drive system, an “intelligent” set-up that can route up to 100 per cent of the engine’s torque to the front or rear wheels. It also works to eliminate under-and oversteer, and Ford’s torque vectoring control and curve control go to work in all Escape trims to slow the car down if it senses that its road speed is too quick for the conditions.
The Escape’s automatic does its work flawlessly, shifting smoothly and at the right time, no matter what you ask of it.
You might be among the minority who will miss a manual transmission option, which disappeared with the previous-generation Escape; the only option left for drivers craving more control is the manual shift function, accessed by moving the shifter to “S” (short for Sport) and using the buttons on the side of the shift lever.
Left to its devices in that Sport gate, the transmission will still shift automatically, letting the engine rev more freely and downshifting more readily.
Fuel consumption estimates for the 1.6-litre engine and allwheel drivetrain are 9.2 litres per 100 km in city driving, and 6.6L/100 km on the highway. My tester averaged 10.9L/100 km in mostly city driving.
I was surprised by the Escape’s handling.
It’s more competent than exciting, but beats the old Escape handily. The car’s ride strikes a good balance between being firm enough to prevent floaty body motions without compromising ride comfort. The steering deserves a mention, too, for its good road feel.
Seventeen-inch wheels and tires are standard up to SE models, and 18s and 19s are available as standard or options on the SE, SEL and Titanium. I’d avoid the upgrades, if only because the Focus that shares this Escape’s underpinnings suffers from a very wide turning circle when fitted with anything but the smallest available wheels.
The old Escape’s interior was notable for its generous headroom and cargo space, both side effects of its boxy body.
In the new car, front-seat headroom is nominally (but not noticeably) reduced, and rearseat headroom is identical; the panoramic sunroof in my tester cut a measurable chunk out of each. Ford claims 971 litres (34.3 cubic feet) of cargo volume behind the rear seats, against 827 litres in the outgoing car. There’s a smaller improvement in carrying capacity with the rear seats folded flat.
The new car’s 1½-inch gain in front-seat legroom, and a slightly smaller bump in the rear seat, are hard to feel out without a backto-back comparison. In the flesh, the updated front seat accommodations actually feel a bit smaller, mostly because of the new, more prominent console. The front seats themselves feel small, too, both in width and in the length of the bottom cushion, which comes up short under the thighs.
Aesthetically, the new dash gives the Escape’s interior a modern feel; unfortunately, it also brings MyFord Touch, the climate/navigation/communications interface that I’ve learned to love to hate for its fussy, slow-torespond touch screen. This is the second generation of the technology, and an improvement over the first, but not by enough.
Escape pricing starts at $21,499 in S FWD trim (down from $22,099 for a 2012 base model with automatic transmission), and goes up to $37,500 for a Titanium AWD model. My SE AWD tester was priced at $29,099 but, like many new Fords, it doesn’t take much to drive the price well above what past Escape buyers might be accustomed to. Options in my test car totalled $5,380: for $2,300, Ford will com- bine a Cargo-management package (tonneau cover, roof rails and cross bars and perimeter alarm) and Comfort package (10-way power driver’s seat, heated front seats, leather upholstery, power heated mirrors, leather steering wheel and dual-zone automatic climate control). A power liftgate is a $500 option, panoramic sunroof adds $1,750 and MyFord Touch, satellite radio and navigation cost $700. All in, my tester’s price was $35,979.
It would have been hard to justify paying $35,000 for an Escape before now, especially when most of its competitors looked, felt and drove like more modern vehicles. Not so much, anymore: $35,000 is still a lot of money for a compact vehicle, but this one at least looks and feels like it’s worth that price.