the Ford Escape is a popular model in a popular class of compact SUVs and Ford
has redesigned it for the 2020 model year in the escapes fourth generation
now Ford offers the escape and four major mechanical variants three of which
we've had a chance to drive at Ford's media preview in Kentucky here's our
early take the escapes bass engine is a turbocharged three-cylinder that pairs
with an 8-speed automatic transmission with two adults aboard our front wheel
drive test car exhibited a little hesitation from a stock but had enough
power to feel reasonably brisk around town all wheel drive adds another 150
pounds or so and when we drove a car with all-wheel drive in three adults
aboard it felt like a bridge too far acceleration became pokey and the
hesitation starting off was objectionably pronounced ford claims it
locked off some 200 pounds curb weight with this redesigned but if you need to
carry all that weight on a regular basis they'll probably want to step up to the
escapes optional turbocharged 4-cylinder we tested one example with three adults
and all-wheel drive and it felt up to the task even with all that weight
acceleration is strong especially as revs built the 8-speed automatic feels
tuned for fuel economy instead of fun though once you're in motion that
resists down shifting until you give quite a bit of gas preferring to let the
engine tack on speed slowly at lower revs you'll end up wanting to driving
the escapes sport mode most of the time which keeps revs high thanks to far
livelier transmission kickdown there's also an escape hybrid which combines a
non turbo four-cylinder engine with electric power it's a smooth operator
with barely noticeable transitions from electric to gasoline power and enough
overall oomph to pile on speed quickly even with three adults and luggage
aboard EPA mileage is still pending but Ford targets 50 percent better numbers
than the outgoing front-wheel drive 1.5 litre Escape which works out to around
39 miles per gallon combined if that pans out its competitive with the escape
hybrids chief rival the Toyota rav4 hybrid Ford will also offer an escape
plug-in hybrid with a projected all-electric range of more than 30 miles
but it's coming later on no plug-in hybrids were available to
drive at the media preview one important caveat though Ford confirmed two cars
calm that all of our test cars including the Escape Hybrid that we drove we're
running 93 octane premium fuel during the preview court
says all three engines find on the cheap stuff but officials
declined to give output for the 1.5 liter or two liter engines while using
it conversely the Escape Hybrid is rated
using 87 octane fuel but officials told us it makes directionally more power on
premium which again is what we drove suffice it to say all three variants of
the escape that we tested are likely to feel a little less powerful than what we
reported if you use regular fuel and given the additional cost of premium we
can hardly blame you for going with the cheap stuff all that aside the escape
drives fine otherwise most of our test cars had big 19-inch wheels but pretty
high-profile tyres which soak up bumps fairly well rough pavement can induce
some busyness and noticeable road noise but the fourth generation escape keeps
with its predecessors which is to say it rides pretty well it doesn't brake so
well with kind of a nonlinear grabbing us and pedal feel across all the cars we
drove that's more excusable in the Escape Hybrid which has regenerative
brakes less so in the non hybrids steering is very low effort and feels a
little numb on center but it has a quick enough ratio to give the escape of
playful nimbleness body roll is reasonably contained but the efficiency
oriented Bridgestone eco Pia tyres on most of our test cars aren't exactly
gluttons for grip inside the escape features an intuitive eight-inch
touchscreen with apple carplay and android auto in all but the base trim
level interior quality is competitive with other run-of-the-mill compact SUVs
and the seats are relatively comfortable the passenger seat in top trim levels
gets a height adjustment that's a nice feature you don't often get in this
class but taller drivers may want more adjustment range I'm 6 feet tall and I
drove with the chair nearly all the way back a few of the center console storage
nooks from the prior generation Escape are now gone so are the large rear
quarter windows that once helped your view out the blind spot the 20/20 escape
is a little harder to see out of and has a little less storage space up front but
neither factor is so bad as to become a deal-breaker second row space might be a
dealmaker as it's no longer as cramped as before a major shortcoming of the
third generation Escape the seat now features a sliding adjustment and with
it slid all the way back adults should find the second row roomy enough by our
measurements luggage room behind the second row is competitive with most
compact SUVs though anyone with serious cargo needs will want competitors like
the Honda CRV or Volkswagen Tiguan both of which have cavernous
cargo areas many competitors also offer wireless smartphone charging and more
than the escapes to USB ports but Ford says those are coming later on in the
model year Ford pulls ahead with safety and driver assist technology which was
once a big drawback for the escape automatic emergency braking wasn't even
available before and now it's standard and the available Lane centering
steering in the 2020 escape works all the way down to a stop a rarity in this
class all versions of the escape except that plug-in hybrid go on sale in fall
of 2019 now the plug-in hybrid comes in spring of 2020 pricing starts around
$26,000 scoots all the way up to around 41 thousand dollars once you add all the
options a little bit steep at the top end versus in factory loaded competitors
but competitive at the bottom end versus where the field kind of starts now
pricing for the plug-in hybrid still to be announced stay tuned you can read
plenty more about the 2020 escape all on cars.com