Skip to content

REVIEW: Ford Escape still a sporty choice

All hail the crossover: king of the sales chart, master of the road, displacer of the stalwart family sedan. Seriously, nobody buys anything with four doors anymore unless it's got a raised up ground clearance and pseudo-SUV looks.

All hail the crossover: king of the sales chart, master of the road, displacer of the stalwart family sedan.

Seriously, nobody buys anything with four doors anymore unless it's got a raised up ground clearance and pseudo-SUV looks. There's a pretty good reason for this state of affairs, and it's a near total lack of penalty for ride height and increased carry capacity. Fuel economy levels are about the same for a crossover as a sedan (or at least, close enough given our still relatively affordable fuel prices); so too, is handling approximately the same.

However, not all crossovers are created equal. Some focus on driving efficiency first, some strive to have maximum practicality, some are filled with clever interior technologies, and some are simply resting on the laurels of the badge out front.

A strong-selling model for many years, the Escape could easily fall into the latter category, but here it is updated for the 2016 year. Never mind the battle for sales supremacy, here's how it does in the quest to end up in your driveway.

Design

While not overburdened by a huge grille, as seems to so often be the case with modern crossovers, the Escape can be a slightly ungainly looking thing from some angles. As it's essentially a raised and embiggened version of the Focus hatchback, it's no longer the simple, boxy machine of the previous generation.

That car had a more honest demeanor, where this one is more complex. Still, a few nips and tucks freshen things up a bit, not least the available 19-inch alloys that came on this Titanium trim top model. The big wheels give the Escape a strong-looking profile, and elevate it from humdrum family-hauler to something a bit nicer. Bi-Xenon headlights, part of an optional tech package, also bring equipment levels up to those of a more upscale machine.

Environment

Like the Focus, the Escape's interior is more form than function, and lacks interior storage. It's no minivan replacement, and you have to look hard to find cubbies for all the stuff that everyday living seems to come with.

Having said that, it's also a pretty nice cockpit, with available heavily bolstered sport seats, a well-trimmed dash, and an update to the Sync infotainment. This last is perhaps the most important upgrade.

While the screen remains set back just a little too far, and the redundant buttons placed at an angle that's not quite ergonomic, Ford's new touchscreen system is a leap forward that'll please anyone frustrated by wrestling with the old system. The voice commands still work well - better than many manufacturers' offerings - but the screen is now easier to read, quicker to respond, and the menus make more sense.

Rear passenger room is good, though better suited to kids than adults, and trunk space is just a hair smaller than rivals like the Honda CR-V or Toyota RAV4. It totals 971 litres with all seats in place, and a capacious 1,920 l with the rears laid flat. Ford also includes a handsfree tailgate: just wave your foot under the rear bumper to pop open the trunk.

Performance

The Escape comes with several engine options, including a 168 horsepower 2.5-litre four-cylinder, a 178 h.p 1.6-litre turbocharged engine with punchy torque, and the top level 2.0-litre turbocharged engine making 240 h.p. at 5,500 r.p.m. and 270 foot-pounds of torque at 3,000 r.p.m. Those last are the figures on premium fuel; the 2.0-litre makes 231 h.p. on regular.

You won't notice the 9 h.p. drop from using regular gas, so skip the high-octane stuff. As it is, the Escape with the 2.0-litre option has a surfeit of power, and offers much stronger acceleration than anything else in the segment apart from the similarly turbocharged Forester XT.

Add in a chassis that is, as mentioned, heavily related to the fun-to-drive Focus hatchback, and you've got a zippy little crossover with excellent driving dynamics. Mechanical grip is excellent, and when that gives up, the torque-vectoring front end is capable of braking an inside wheel to haul the nose of the Escape deeper into the corner for better bite.

If anything, it's like an all-wheel-drive Focus ST with more comfortable seats and better cargo capacity. There's plenty of pace here, more than enough for the city street, and only the Mazda CX-5 can really touch the Escape for driving verve; factor in the Escape's much more potent turbocharged engine, and it's the quickest mainstream crossover there is.

Features

As mentioned, the updates to Ford's Sync system finally bring the Escape's technological Achilles heel in line. With the brighter screen and larger icons, the satellite navigation and infotainment is far easier to use.

Add in stuff like the handsfree power liftgate, and Ford is providing option levels you'd normally have to step up to a luxury badge to get. In fact, the Escape Titanium makes a pretty strong argument against the equivalent Lincoln model. Not that it isn't expensive too. This

top-level Escape rang up with options to a heady $40K-plus. That's just Ford's business plan - even though the 2016 is just out, there's already heavy discounting to make it seem like a better deal.

Official fuel economy figures for the largest 2.0-litre offering are 8.4 (litres/100 kilometres) on the highway for manual-equipped cars, and 11.4 in the city. While highway mileages can be achieved with gentle driving, the Ecoboost engine will ordinarily be a bit thirsty if you dip into the boost in the city.

Green light

Powerful turbocharged engine; strong chassis dynamics; greatly improved infotainment.

Stop sign

Fuel consumption can get high; expensive price tag after options; not as spacious as rivals.

The checkered flag

One of the sportiest offerings in the crossover market.

Competitor

Honda CR-V ($25,990): To call it a no-brainer might be doing the CR-V a disservice, but Honda's mid-sized family machine is indeed the perfect car if you don't want to think about your purchase too much. It's got a good reputation, strong reliability, excellent fuel economy, and a few nice touches like clever folding seats.

From a tech standpoint, the CR-V doesn't offer quite the same gee-whiz factor as the Escape - though its multi-angle rearview camera is pretty great. Also, there's only one engine and one transmission on offer: a 185 h.p. four-cylinder attached to a CVT.

Still, that's good enough for reasonable acceleration and strong fuel economy. It's sensible, and that's what buying a Honda is all about.

mcaleer.nsnews@gmail.com