Ford Escape Titanium Diesel
Talk about taking a brief – to drive and write about Ford’s revamped Escape SUV – literally. With nary a backward glance Jane Warwick loaded up and headed to Great Barrier Island for the weekend.
It’s very easy, really. The Ford Escape offers said escape with just three pushes of a button. The first raises the boot door on a whisper so you can chuck in the luggage – and there’s quite some room to put that luggage – the second touch of a button brings the boot down just as quietly and the third touch of a button starts the engine and you’re away.
I guess, pedantically, the flickof-a-finger electric parking brake release could be included in the button count but anyway, if you want to make a quick escape, the Ford Escape will more than get you on your way.
Even if the vehicle is fivepassenger full, there is still ample luggage room. Otherwise the 60/40 split-fold-flat rear seat backs allows for all the stuff you think you might need and that you’ll never actually use.
We headed out into the dawn in the 2017 Escape Titanium en route for the early departure of Sealink’s freight barge to Great Barrier Island, guardian to Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf.
After a momentary surprise when the vehicle surged ahead at what felt like a mere touch to the accelerator, we settled in to a smooth and comfortable run along the motorway, seat warmers on.
The ice blue instrument panel cluster lighting is impressive and soothing on the eyes. The coffee holders also are marked out in blue, which is useful for the blearyeyed. In fact, there are eight cup holders all up in this vehicle, great for those who have to preload for the day. There are also four power points (front of centre console, inside centre console, rear of centre console and cargo area) so all the tech toys are provided for. And the large touch screen which takes pride of place in the centre console offers access to a 10-speaker audio system from Sony, Siriusxm satellite radio, Ford’s SYNC 3 and SYNC Connect and a voice-activated touchscreen navigation system with pinch-tozoom capability.
Siriusxm Traffic and Travel Link, is optional, but really, once you
get in the leather bucket seats all you really have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride with your only real responsibilities being steering and conscientious driving.
At the wharf there was a small moment of anxiety when Sealink’s parking warden directed me to back onto the barge, over a rattling metal gangway, around an articulated trailer and under the eaves of the upper deck.
It turned out to be a breeze, however; the reversing camera taking all the guesswork out of it. So much so that the warden said, “Well, you made that look easy, I hope the others are taking note.”
So, you can rest assured that backing this vehicle won’t be a drama, because that was the first time I had backed the Escape, except to get out of its parking spot when I picked it up.
At Tryphena we took to the road, which, although sealed, is narrow and winding. With the cliffs and hillsides to the right and the ocean to the left, there were times when it felt like the road wasn’t wide enough, especially when we met an oncoming van around a corner, whose driver bought it to a shuddering stop and cheerily waved us around him. It wasn’t until I had done this that I realised I hadn’t had a second thought about sliding off the edge. This vehicle
❝The Escape paid no attention to the cluggy grass, was nimble over rocks and fast on the sand.❞
seems to have a lot of road grip, which I realised constantly in the following days.
The main road that winds around Great Barrier Island is sealed, although there are a few potholes and lots of winding corners. The Escape couldn’t have given a crankshaft about any of it, taking the corners smoothly, rendering the potholes almost bounce-less, and ignoring a long muddy stretch where the road had recently flooded.
Also. when a silly banded rail ran out right in front of us, the brakes performed admirably, thanks to Brake Assist. Black petrels and the endangered brown teal duck are also birds to keep an eye out for along the roadside, the teal in particular as it is one of the rarest ducks in the world.
The road winds up to the highest point of the island where the outside temperature display showed a chilly seven degrees. (In 2015 it famously snowed on the Barrier.) But it’s warm and toasty inside the Escape, thanks to the heated seats and Dual-zone electronic automatic temperature control. It has to be said, though, in a purely nonscientific observation, that if you are comfortable, you can also feel cosy and the Escape is certainly a comfortable ride, even for those in the back whose comfort needs are often ignored even in the most celebrated of vehicles.
The top of the road is not the top of the Island. For that you must get out and climb through Windy Canyon and hike along Palmers Track to the top of 621m Mt Hobson/hirakimata. You can soak the resulting sore muscles away with a soak in the natural hot springs. Neither Mt Hobson nor the hills are accessible by vehicle, but you need not worry about leaving your SUV on the side of the road while you trek.
Down in the Harotonga Wetlands we drove past the blackfaced sheep with their dusky lambs, passed the outrageously flirtatious clematis and the shyer buttery yellow kumarahou, banks of heather and roaming bands of pukeko.
The Escape paid no attention to the cluggy grass, was nimble over rocks and fast on the sand. If you are an off-road novice, Great Barrier Island and the Ford Escape are very probably a great
introduction to both.
*Great Barrier has become WKH ZRUOGŌV ƓUVW LVODQG WR EH recognised as a Dark Sky Sanctuary. To earn the FODVVLƓFDWLRQ DQ DUHD KDV to have “exceptional or distinguished quality of starry nights and a nocturnal environment that is protected for LWV VFLHQWLƓF QDWXUDO RU HGXFDWLRQDO YDOXH LWV FXOWXUDO heritage and/or public enjoyment”.