Full Test: 2001 Ford Escape

Remember that kid in high school — good at sports, fun to hang out with, but a little crude? Ford's new mini-SUV, the Escape, is a bit like that lad. The Escape is selling nearly as fast as NSync concert tickets in a city overpopulated with pre-teen females, being gobbled up by folks drawn to the ute's spunky performance, good looks and generous interior space. But like that old high school buddy, it has a lack of refinement that can sometimes get on one's nerves.

The Escape competes in a very crowded market that is dominated by stalwarts like the Toyota RAV4, Nissan Xterra and Honda CR-V. Others looking for their slice of the mini-SUV pie are the Subaru Forester, Suzuki Grand Vitara and the new Hyundai Santa Fe. Those in the know, such as our loyal readers, realize that the Escape is basically a twin to the Mazda Tribute. Unlike the other truck-like SUVs that Ford produces, the Escape (and Tribute) utilizes unibody design, which offers lighter weight along with better handling and ride as opposed to body-on-frame construction. Ford and Mazda spawned both utes via a joint effort. Minor differences in sheetmetal, suspension tuning and interior trim separate the two, but powertrains and dimensions are identical. A wheelbase of 103.1 inches puts the Escape squarely against the likes of the CR-V and Santa Fe, two of the more maximum mini-utes.

Of course, styling is a subjective area, but to most eyes here at Edmunds.com, the Escape is a handsome rig though not quite as distinctive as the Tribute. One editor, however, did prefer the Escape over its fraternal twin and described the Ford's appearance as muscular and tough, the ideal choice for those turned off by the looks of other mini-SUVs. Meaty 235/70R16 tires mounted on five-spoke alloy wheels along with Chrome Yellow paint gave our XLT test vehicle a serious "I ain't no toy" appearance.

Inside the cabin, the driver faces an attractive instrument cluster that features white-faced gauges. Big door pockets, two cubbyholes under the center stack and a large, covered bin between the front seats provide plenty of places to stash maps, CDs, cell phones, PDAs and any other 21st century trappings of the average road warrior. Generous cupholders up front handle water bottles easily. The most often used controls are arranged in a user-friendly manner with the audio unit mounted above the climate controls. Large knobs and switches make these two systems easy to operate for the most part, though a few gripes were voiced concerning the stereo. The display is a bit cluttered, making it hard to read at a glance, and the column-mounted gear selector (when placed in drive) blocks a couple of the stereo's left-side controls.

Unfortunately, an abundance of hard plastic is used inside the Escape, such as on the door panels and dash. Although we realize that the Escape is not competing against $40,000 luxury SUVs, a little more soft-touch material would go a long way toward improving the look and feel of the interior.

Rear seat roominess defies the Escape's mini-SUV classification. Two 6-foot-tall guys riding in the back seat had plenty of room, with neither their heads nor their legs making contact with the Escape's roof or front seatbacks. Cargo capacity is average at 63 cubic feet with the second seat folded.

There are two trim levels for the Escape, which is available with either two- or four-wheel drive. The base XLS is far from a stripper and comes well-equipped with features such as power windows/locks/mirrors, keyless entry, a CD player and air conditioning. The XLT trim adds ABS, upgraded seat fabric, a split folding rear seat, a cassette deck to the stereo system, alloy wheels, foglights and chrome grille accents. Options include a Comfort group that bundles leather seating with a power driver seat, the latter feature a rarity in this vehicle class.

Pricing ranges from $18,185 for a two-wheel-drive XLS to $21,360 for a four-wheel-drive XLT, about average for a mini-SUV.

The Escape is motivated by a standard 2.0-liter Zetec inline four (which is coupled to a five-speed manual transmission) or the optional 3.0-liter Duratec V6 (which comes mated only to a four-speed automatic gearbox). Although the four-cylinder engine makes respectable numbers for its size (130 horsepower and 135 foot-pounds of torque), we'd skip the four-banger and go for the V6, whose muscle (200 horses and 200 ft.-lbs. of twist) is a better match for an SUV loaded up with passengers and gear. Towing capacity with the V6 is rated at 3,500 pounds — more than double that of some rivals, such as the Suzuki Grand Vitara and Toyota RAV4. Indeed, the spirited V6 (the most powerful engine you can get in this class) and the alert automatic made the Escape feel more like a sport sedan than an SUV.

Around town, there was plenty of punch for dealing with the cut and thrust of the daily commute, and cruising up an open freeway on the way to ski country (and going with the flow of traffic), we were surprised to see the speedo indicating 85 mph, so relaxed and stable was the Escape at this velocity. The only giveaway that this ute was hustling along at such a rapid clip was the pronounced wind noise around the A-pillars. The automatic gearbox was generally quick to drop down a gear to make short work of passing or merging and most of the time changed gears smoothly, though on a few occasions the downshifts were a bit harsh. Upshifts were well-timed and virtually seamless in action.

Overall, the Escape felt like a decathlete among SUVs. On the track, it sprinted from zero to 60 mph in 8.8 seconds and covered the quarter-mile in 16.6 ticks. Still, in spite of these impressive numbers, our road test pilot wondered how much quicker it would be if a manual gearbox (or a five-speed automatic, like that in the Ford Ranger) were available with the V6. The Escape was equally adept at slowing, as it hauled itself down from 60 mph in only 126 feet. Pedal feel was very good: progressive without feeling mushy. And the ABS was free of shudder when called into action on a particularly slippery section of road up in ski country. The Escape's well-rounded ability is what one might typically associate with a sporty car, not an SUV. We would expect a V6/two-wheel-drive version to be an even better performer, given its lighter weight.

Although maybe not quite as crisp around the bends as its Tribute brother, the Escape handled twisty mountain passes well enough to elicit shouts of joy, (well, OK, mumblings of praise) from this author, who normally equates driving an SUV with auto-journalist purgatory. A supple ride was another characteristic of the Escape that helped endear this little ute to the Edmunds staffers. Some credit for the fun-to-drive factor and comfortable ride must go to the four-wheel independent suspension, wide track (over 3 inches wider than the bigger 2001 Explorer) and the unibody construction. Seat comfort was acceptable, nothing stellar but neither a pain in the backside. Helping to quell the interstate drone was a powerful stereo that got us fired up for skiing by playing our favorite CDs with stunning clarity.

In the interest of a comprehensive review and for the benefit of SUV owners that actually venture off-road, we took the Escape off the tarmac to tackle some boulders and brush. The Escape's Control Trac II four-wheel-drive system is operated by a simple switch on the dash and has two modes: Auto and On. Left on Auto, the Escape operates in front-wheel-drive mode in the interest of better fuel economy. If the front wheels start to spin, torque is automatically metered out in varying amounts to the rear wheels for additional grip. Selecting On will send power equally to all four wheels all the time, ideal for going off-road or dealing with slippery on-road driving conditions. The On setting is similar to the 4WD Hi setting on a more heavy-duty SUV or pickup truck and shouldn't be used on dry pavement as driveline binding may occur when attempting tight turns.

Although the Escape isn't really meant for serious off-road duty (for example: it doesn't have a Low range for the four-wheel-drive system) it handled most of this terrain with aplomb with the four-wheel-drive system set to On. Only during a particularly difficult scramble up a steep, muddy and narrow path did the Escape falter and come to a halt, all the tires spinning in vain. A second attempt (after cautiously backing all the way down) with more gusto off the line conquered this hill. In all fairness, this pass was made even tougher by deep ruts previously carved into the path that had the Escape partially sliding on its belly like a croc slithering up a riverside bank, not to mention the street-biased tires wrapped around its now-filthy alloys. A few more inches of ground clearance and more aggressive off-road tires would have made this attempt a lot easier on both of us. But then again, the Escape is geared toward those who want a vehicle that can handle foul weather, a lot of gear and trips to the campground, fishing spot or mountain trailhead, not the Paris-to-Dakar Rally.

As gas prices climb, so does interest in how far a given vehicle will go on a gallon. Our test vehicle's average gas mileage wasn't anything to brag about — 18 mpg against the EPA's estimates of 18 city and 24 highway. Granted, this was the V6/four-wheel-drive version, and the Escape saw its share of bumper-to-bumper traffic on the freeways (or is that trappedways?) Those who want both a roomy SUV and good fuel economy may want to check out a two-wheel-drive Escape with the four-cylinder/manual transmission powerteam as it posts impressive mileage figures of 23 city and 28 highway.

Hey this all sounds great, you must be thinking. What's not to like? Well, like the happy-go-lucky jock mentioned earlier, the Escape's got the speed and the moves and is generally fun to have around. But it does have a few areas that could use refinement. Sometimes the Escape could be a bit loud; in addition to the aforementioned wind noise, there was an occasional squeak and/or rattle to be heard. We also noticed a few small lapses of attention to detail on our test vehicle, such as an ill-fitting gasket between the windshield and dashboard, as well as a wrinkled carpet in the cargo area. And sometimes it actually smelled bad: causing one of our editors to wrinkle his nose in disgust at an unpleasant odor that he noticed in the cabin during his stint with the Escape. Though this foul trait was not always present, there have been a number of recalls (five to date) issued for the Escape, one having to do with a faulty fuel-line to fuel-filter connection that can result in this odor. Finally, although the optional step rails may look cool, they're basically useless except for getting your pant legs dirty.

The general consensus around here was that everyone really liked the Escape and felt that once Ford works out the refinement issues, it's going to be hard to beat.