-Once in a while, a car just totally changes like this one, all together now, that's an Escape?
Yup.
Let's drive the 2013 Titanium edition and check the tech.
If Ford set out to escape the look of the old escape, they did it.
This is about as different from the previous rolling brick as they could have gotten.
This is their kinetic design.
You recognize the lines and especially the face from the new Fusion and the redesigned Focus.
Now, the first thing I notice on the inside of the new escape is it looks uncannily like the outside of the new escape.
Look at the shape of the dash in this lower bolster, now look at the outside, kind of the same part, isn't it.
Do they just put dash on the front and paint it blue?
Anyway, here's where the real design has to be questioned.
It's what's going on with My Ford Touch and Ford Sync.
Now, My Ford Touch is this interface they have on this central unit.
They have taken a bit of a beating from various sources as included
about the earlier incarnations of this.
Let's see how they cleaned it out.
It is like this much bigger transport buttons and generally larger buttons all around.
If I go to my sound settings, things get a little more dent, I'm certainly getting a little nervous here, but everything is still pretty touchable and readable.
If I go down here to the information screen, oh dear God, it's like reading a phonebook.
That's not clean enough.
Little slow the transition between modes, you see, but generally I'm pleased with how the screen looks
in terms of it's various zones.
I'm no pleased with how it's implemented in this vehicle with this, this, this, and this.
You've got 4 physical bumpers all around the screen.
Look what I got to do, I got to navigate over this plastic ridge and find this tiny thing at the bottom.
Same thing goes for hitting the nav.
I've got to work around this eyebrow.
It's just too tightly surrounded in this plastic canyon and it's got far away.
I've got monkey arms and kind of hard to reach this thing.
Now, of course, you may never touch this thing if you use the voice command, let's see how it's working.
235 Second Street, San Francisco, California.
-Sorry, please say the address and city.
Say each digit individually like 1, 2, 3, 4.
-235 Second Street, San Francisco.
-Asking what can I say, well--
-2 times earlier today, I gave that same address that's 235 and it got it.
I gave here in single digits and it didn't get it.
However, you get things going.
There's a lot of good sources here.
As you can see, you've got you RCA jacks, SD card, 2 USB slots
and of course, AM, FM, HD, satellite radio.
Everything is in here except the hard drive.
No hard drive or solid state drive to rip music to and I don't miss that a bit.
See now here the system is stuck on AV jacks.
I don't have anything plugged into.
This is all I think part of a central need for more processing power or more software streamlining on this car.
Navigation by the way is option into this car by getting the SD card that has the navigation on it.
It's not something you have to buy necessarily until later as you own the car.
Go get the card stick it in there and it grabs the functionality on.
I like the way Ford does that.
Rear camera technology is pretty good on this vehicle.
You've got trajectory.
You got distance.
You've got sensors all around the car, front and rear part of a packing package.
You've also got active park assist.
This guy will park itself and does it quite well.
Now, I think the first self parking system I ever demoed was an '07 Lexus LS and it was a disaster.
I mean.
You had to cad cam drawing on the center screen first and then allocate most of an hour for the car to do its thing and it's still left the nose hanging out.
I got him some slot, I twas early days.
Today's system works really well quick, thorough, simple and requires about as many new ingredients as left overs for dinner.
So, heres the scenario you just came out at Costco or somewhere, bought a whole bunch of stuff,
so some jackass on the TV screens and now you're put your things on the back, but your hands are full, you don't dare to put them down because there's a steaming file of [unk] left behind you car, so what do you do?
Ford got an answer.
You just wag your foot over here and the tailgate opens all by itself.
Now, of course, this is a 2 row vehicle.
There is no room for a third row, but when I show you the second row, you wouldn't be blamed for looking at that flat thin back seating and saying,
"No it's okay, I'll take the water boarding option, but it's actually not a bad seat in spite of its looks.
Got some good dance foam and some good sculpting.
By the way, Ford is big on fact of this foam pads are made of soybeans and carpet recycled water bottles and the key here is you've got 1 hand fold flat.
Let say, I got the groceries again.
I just pull this lever and the whole goes flat with.
No other screwing around.
And this engine is more than just the engine of the new escape.
This may become Ford's new bread and butter, may become to the future what the 302, the 5 liter was in the past.
This is the 2 liter turbo charge direct injection Ford.
It's an EcoBoost mode.
That's ford called when they put DI and turbo together, but they don't have a patent on that.
240 horsepower, 270 foot-pounds of torque.
It's a torquey little beast because that's how they decided to use the turbocharging among other things.
0 to 60 happens in about 6.8 seconds on this vehicle which weighs 3500 pounds.
Your mileage is going to be 2230 front-wheel drive.
If you go all-wheel drive, you shave a few off down to 2128 and it all goes out through 1 transmission in all Escape, so 6 speed automatic that has a sport mode, but unfortunately, no paddles on the wheel, one of those line rockers on the left side.
I'm not as crazy about those, but let's go see how it works.
On the road, it comes together a little better than some of its parts if you will.
That engine may seem very small.
The power is quite good.
The build quality in this vehicle is real good and general, you got this feeling of high style and good quality inside this vehicle.
If you like the looks, you like them.
If you don't, then obviously won't get you very far, but most people have shown it to really like this inside and out.
Okay, let's price this guy, 2013 Escape Titanium top trim is about 31 with destination, add 1750 for wheel drive and take a 2 MPG hit on your highway mileage as well.
Navigation system is still slow and bulky, but it's a pretty bargain at 795 and the one that I really love is that parking package, sensors, camera, and the self parking logic that's like magic for 995.
