C O V E R     S T O R Y

It’s a fact that ninety-five percent of SUV owners haven’t even thought of going off-road.  They probably avoid the smallest of potholes and slow down to take the highway metal joint.  That said, the discussion of whether to have this or that all-wheel drive system is as important as what color of socks you should wear for the day.

All-wheel drive, in the urban setting, is nothing more than a bragging right.  A very expensive bragging right.  Imagine, aside from the drive train’s astronomical asking price, it lessens fuel economy by adding weight, and by sapping engine power since it’s distributed to all four wheels.  In the case of the Ford Escape, it can get pretty dangerous too.  The Control-Trac II system can get easily fooled: transferring too much power to the slipping wheel too late, causing a scary slide.

So praise the angels and saints that Ford has finally come up with the sensible front-driving Escape XLS.  Although there has always been a two-wheel drive version, it wasn’t desirable.  This is mainly because of the prehistoric 2.0-liter inline-4 that was as asthmatic as it was thirsty.  The Escape’s heavy body and unresponsive transmission made that fact even more obvious.

Of course, now that’s not the case anymore.  The new 2.3-liter Duratec inline-4 finally enables the Escape to gain some much needed sprinting legs.  The horsepower hike is impressive: 27 horsepower and 28 Nm more torque.

Off the line, the Escape is light on its feet, much like its bigger V6 brother.  Though still no drag racer, the XLS finally has the pace to keep up with most cars on the road.  It rarely needs a climb beyond 2,000 rpm for excellent overtaking thrust.  The new power plant also means that there’s a slight increase in fuel economy: 6.8 km/l in the city.  However, the hesitantly shifting transmission can still reek its ugly head every once in a while, especially when it comes to sudden downshifting requirements.

NEXT PAGE >>>