Freedom Ford

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Driving Impressions

The Escape is truckish as the current crop of small sport utility vehicles go, but not in a bad way. Its ride height and seating position are higher than a lot of unit-body (sedan style) utilities, though lower than many traditional truck-based SUVs.

The Escape is quite pleasant to drive. It handles well and has a firm, comfortable ride, without the roly-poly mush quality or the jarring suspension clanks that can characterize conventional truck-based SUVs with tall, off-road tires. An electric power steering system and careful suspension tuning give a level of refinement in ride and handling.

The engines are all solid performers. Both the four- and six-cylinder engine deliver good response and decent acceleration. The Escape Hybrid delivers essentially the same performance, with very little to give away its hybrid powertrain except improved mileage. Indeed, all Escape models, from front-wheel-drive four-cylinders to all-wheel-drive V6s to the Hybrid, have some of the best EPA mileage ratings in the class.

The base 2.5-liter four-cylinder delivers good power at high revs for those who like to wind it up and decent torque for acceleration when you need it at any speed. With a balance shaft to offset vibration, it's also smoother than some of Ford's previous four-cylinder engines. We prefer the 171-hp four-cylinder with the five-speed manual transmission; indeed, a front-drive, manual Escape XLS 2WD might be the most engaging and enjoyable model to drive. At an EPA-estimated 22/28 mpg City/Highway, it has one of the highest EPA mileage ratings of any non-hybrid SUV. With the four-cylinder, maximum towing capacity is 1,500 pounds, sufficient for dirt bikes or a snowmobile.

The 3.0-liter V6 engine offers 240 horsepower for stronger acceleration. It has about as much torque as any small SUV is likely to need. It's available only with the six-speed automatic, but its power band is broad. In day-to-day driving, it never lugs, strains or feels as if it's out of breath. And with the optional Class II towing package, the V6 AWD models can pull a substantial 3,500 pounds, which surpasses most vehicles in this class.

Both the four-cylinder and the V6 engines are matched with a very smooth, electronically controlled six-speed automatic, which offers ideal ratios for all vehicle speeds and contributes to the Escape?s exceptional fuel economy.

The Escape handles well. One reason is the electric power-assisted steering system (EPS), which operates with an electric motor rather than a hydraulic pump driven by the engine. One of the advantages is increased efficiency, because a conventional, belt-driven steering pump takes a bit of the engine's power just to operate. That's power that's not being used to move the vehicle. Another advantage, at least in the Escape's case, is improved steering feel. With the electric steering, there's a nice balance between steering assist at parking-lot speeds and decent feel on the highway. The steering tracks steadily, with little adjustment or correction required over uneven surfaces. It's direct and accurate with no dead spot in the center, and there's enough feeling when you turn the wheel to impart a sense of control. Despite its truck-style facade, the Escape delivers a ride and handling balance on par with many sedans. Its ride is comfortable, but never wobbly or floaty, over a variety of road surfaces, including expansion joints and shallow potholes. The tires deliver respectable grip in paved corners, so the Escape stays planted where a lot of SUVs might slide. Transient response is surprisingly good, meaning the Escape maintains its composure in a series of left-right-left lane-change maneuvers. This permits quicker driving that is also smooth, and it won't make passengers feel sea-sick.

Braking performance is good. The Escape stops in plenty of time, with no brake fade in any typical on-road driving circumstances. The anti-lock brake system is well tuned, keeping the brakes right at the threshold between maximum stopping force and wheel lock, and allowing the driver to maintain steering control in a full-panic stop.

The Escape Hybrid is a different beast entirely from the gasoline-only models, at least on one hand. On the other, few drivers will notice any substantial, functional differences with the hybrid powertrain in day-to-day driving. Its battery pack is automatically recharged by the gasoline engine and by regenerative braking, which captures energy that is otherwise wasted when a vehicle loses momentum and sends it to the batteries.

By combining a four-cylinder gasoline engine with the boost from an electric motor, the Hybrid can deliver a significant fuel-economy improvement and reduce emissions. The Escape Hybrid is a full hybrid, meaning it can run on 100 percent electric power up to about 25 mph to maximize in-city fuel economy. It was the first hybrid-powered SUV available in the United States, and the first hybrid with optional all-wheel drive and significant towing capacity (1,000 pounds).

The Hybrid's primary source of power remains the gasoline engine. It's nearly identical to the 2.5-liter four in gasoline-only models, except that it runs on something called the Atkinson cycle, which improves its fuel efficiency. The companion, 70-kilowatt electric motor can kick in and deliver more torque to the wheels when a driver demands full acceleration or it can power the Escape Hybrid by itself in certain circumstances, such as creeping along in a traffic jam or rolling through a parking lot. Bottom line, the Hybrid model delivers acceleration times comparable to the gas-only V6, with terrific fuel economy of 34/31 mpg City/Highway for the Hybrid 2WD.

On the road, the Escape Hybrid delivers excellent acceleration at lower speeds. Floor it at 20 mph, and it will snap heads back toward the head rests. Floor the Hybrid 2WD at a stop sign, and it can squeal its front tires like a hot rod. To be sure, its tires are harder than those on other Escapes and designed for maximum efficiency, which means less rolling resistance, and less grip.

Few drivers will notice any significant difference between the Hybrid and a conventional Escape, except when the Hybrid shuts itself off at stop lights or glides quietly through a parking lot on electric power. Indeed, the Hybrid is a bit quieter, probably smoother, in all circumstances. In order to minimize the power lost as it transfers to the drive wheels, Ford equips the Escape Hybrid with a continuously variable transmission, which has no conventional gears. Instead, it has metal bands that adjust to best match the engine's speed to vehicle speed. The CVT does offer a low-range setting for increased traction. But in typical driving, there's no hesitation as ?gear? ratios shift, no uneven surges of speed and less variance in the noise coming from under the hood as the car picks up speed. There's just smooth, even acceleration.

With the stereo cranked up to hide engine noise, a driver will have a hard time knowing when the gas engine starts or shuts off at stop lights, when the Hybrid is rolling along on electric power alone, or when the electric motor is augmenting the gas engine for maximum acceleration

We're not sure what protocol determines when the Escape Hybrid operates on electric power. In fact, it seemed to operate in electric mode less frequently than we might have expected. At times the gas engine ran when we thought it might not have to, and at times it didn't even shut off at a stop light. For the most part, we drove the Hybrid as we would any other test car, which is fairly aggressively, using the accelerator as if someone else was buying the gas, and we still saw some improvement in fuel economy.

Our normal rounds include more city than highway driving, though rarely in a true rush-hour traffic flog, plus a few extracurricular, test-specific maneuvers. In this routine, by our best calculation, we found an improvement of 10 to 12 percent over what we've seen with a conventional four-cylinder. We expect most consumers will get better fuel economy than we did, at least those with long, traffic-laden commutes. Still, the real-world fuel savings with a hybrid depend heavily on how, where and when you drive. For guestimation, EPA mileage numbers may be the best tool, and the Escape Hybrid still surpasses the other hybrid SUVs that have followed it to the market.

If you want the best fuel economy, and presumably most hybrid buyers will, you'll want to be gentle on the gas pedal. It will maximize the instances when the Escape travels only on electric power. Dip the pedal quickly, or much past a quarter of its travel, and the gas engine restarts immediately to provide what the control electronics determine to be a demand for serious acceleration. Even if a driver is not going to exceed 20 mph, which is well within the limit of electric-only speed, the gas engine will start if the pedal application is too strong. It probably helps to stop slowly, too. Long, steady, coast-down stops, using more engine compression than wheel brakes, are best for charging the batteries. We surmise that short, quick stops from road speeds may be what keep the engine from shutting off at a red light. The control system may sense aggressive stops as emergencies, or just sporting, aggressive driving, and leave the engine running for more action.

You'll want the optional navigation system for the Hybrid, which includes an energy meter function that graphically illustrates how well you're doing at saving fuel. It includes instantaneous and average fuel economy readouts, and tells you when the gas engine is running, when the electric motor is doing the work and when the batteries are charging. It's a good tool to learn how to maximize economy with the Escape Hybrid.

Regardless of powertrain, the Escape makes an excellent all-season vehicle in all climates. It does not make an excellent off-road vehicle, despite a bit more ground clearance than some competitors. Ford's optional all-wheel drive (AWD) system is tuned for driving more on slippery pavement than dirt or gravel. It delivers engine power to the appropriate wheels before any particular wheel can loose traction. It can switch power front to rear or side to side, and theoretically can send 100 percent of the engine?s power to either the front or rear wheels. The all-wheel-drive system takes stress out of driving on wet, slushy or snowy roads. It helps maximize forward progress on slippery surfaces, and its transfer of power to wheels with the best traction is rarely noticed by the driver, who can focus simply on using the gas smoothly and steering between the lines.

Off road, the Escape is less than stellar. It's built on a front-wheel-drive platform developed primarily for sedans, and like most small SUVs, the 2WD models are front-wheel drive. With caution, it can handle level gravel or dirt trails. But if there is no graded path, forget about it, and if the way is much steeper than you'd attempt in a car, forget about that, too. Shoppers seeking a small SUV with real off-road potential should consider a competitor like the Jeep Liberty. For every-day driving and travel on the road, the Escape is one of the best.

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