Greater Escape: Ford's smallest sport ute gets full-sized redo


By AUTOWEEK


FORD’S SMALLEST SPORT/utility vehicle, the Escape, gets a full-sized redo for 2005, including a new engine, an all-new four-wheel-drive system, and a refreshed appearance inside and out. The new 2.3-liter inline four-cylinder produces 153 hp and 152 lb-ft of torque, replacing the overmatched 127-hp, 135-lb-ft 2.0-liter dohc four.

A more refined 3.0-liter V6 is also available, producing 200 hp and 193 lb-ft of torque. For the first time, a four-speed automatic transmission can be had on four-cylinder Escapes; a five-speed manual is standard.

Ford chose the South Florida auto show (Nov. 7-16) in Miami to premier its freshened SUV, which begins production in December and arrives in dealerships by midwinter. The gasoline/electric Escape Hybrid (AW, Nov. 10) goes into production in midsummer and gets to showrooms by early September.

 

looks the same to me

 

It looks like they're doing away with the big gray plastic bumpers. Good, that made it look cheap.

 

When we were searching for a small SUV (which ultimately resulted in the purchase of the Subaru Forester XT) we briefly considered the Escape. I remember a reviewer commenting about it's off-road capability by stating something like -- "I wish I knew that when Ford meant this car was good off-road they referred to dirt trails and not the dealer's service bays" Made me ROFL.

Most of the reviews of this SUV highlight its poor reliability and quality...but I guess it's a Ford, so what more would one expect?

 

Nothing new to see here...move along.
If that's Ford's idea of a complete redesign, they should have saved the money and left it as is.

 

Yuck, acres of grey on grey plastic.