Launched: Ford Escape 2.3 XLT [UPDATED]

The date was 28 December 2008. Ford Motor Company, as part of a restructuring exercise, announced their complete withdrawal of their direct participation in the Malaysian market. While sales and service of Ford vehicles would continue in Malaysia, the parent company is releasing all the marketing, branding and product planning responsibility to Sime Darby. Enthusiasts feared that it would herald a slow and painful decline for the Ford brand in Malaysia. Many pointed fingers at the National Automotive Policy as a reason for the Blue Oval’s pull-out.

Fast forward almost half a year on. We have not seen a downhill slide of the Ford brand. Rather, we have seen Sime Darby, through its wholly owned subsidiary Sime Darby Auto ConneXion Sdn Bhd, taking on the challenge as the sole party responsible for Ford’s Malaysian distribution in its stride. They have since introduced new variants of the Focus, and also the newly restyled Ford Ranger 4X4 pick-up truck. Their renewed assault on our market now continues with the all-new Ford Escape 2.3 XLT, which was unveiled to the media yesterday (10 June 2009).

Despite carrying over the existing 2.3-litre Duratec engine from the previous Escape, Ford has given the new one nothing short of a complete plastic surgery on the outside. A few updates made their way inside too, most notably the repositioning of the gear lever from the steering column to the centre console. There is also a decent amount of kit thrown in, with the party piece being the Emergency Brake Assist (EBA) system that pre-activates the brakes to full stopping power when it detects that the driver slamming hard on the brake pedal.

New Escape takes on rough terrain.

Exterior Styling

They say external beauty is only skin deep, and as far as the Escape is concerned, the biggest changes are indeed skin deep. Despite still sharing many mechanical bits, the styling of the new car marks a massive departure from its predecessor. Ford says the new styling is supposed to make it feel ‘sleeker and more dynamically poised’, but I find that it now looks taller and chunkier, especially from the rear three quarters.

Sleeker?

The front end styling is clean and uncluttered, although the three chromed bars on the radiator grille does add a bit of of ‘bling-bling’ touch. Ford’s now trademark Kinetic styling features only a bit part role for the Escape, in the form of the inverted trapezoidal lower grille flanked by a pair of fog lights either side. Compared to the precedessor model, the new Escape’s front is far smoother, more rounded and pleasant looking, though not particularly eye grabbing.

Front styling is clean and unoffensive. Very minor touch of Kinetic styling at lower grille.

The smooth front end then flows back to a more muscular looking bonnet complete with a pair of ‘power’ domes. The wheel arches are flared, not in SUV style, with sharp cut-offs pointing in the direction of chunkiness rather than sportiness. At the rear edge of each fender, perhaps a parting gift from Land Rover, is a black vent stamped with a small name plate of the Escape. With the vents occupying the fender, the flank signal lights were moved up to the side mirror, a styling touch which, in Ford’s words, ‘often in the domain of more expensive passenger cars’. Yes, like the Perodua Myvi, Nissan Sentra and Proton Exora.

Signals now integrated into side mirrors. Fenders get Land Rover like vents at rear edge. Flared wheel arch points at ruggedness rather than sportiness.

At the rear, the styling is at complete contrasts to the front, though it is still something of a clean and uncluttered look. Where the front end had an almost excessive use of chrome in its three horizontal bars, the rear has kept the ‘bling-bling’ at a minimum with the shiny stuff only appearing on the badges. Where the front is rounded and smooth, the rear is a lot more squared and emphasizes the Escape’s height. Where the front hints sleekness, the rear displays ruggedness, especially with its chunky-looking rear bumper.

The taillights, which were probably inspired by the VW Touareg, are lit-up by LEDs – itself one of many safety features engineered into the Escape. Conventional light bulbs take one-third of a second to light up when a current is applied across it. In comparison, LEDs light up within 100 nanoseconds. The difference? One third of a second equals to over 330 million nanoseconds, which, when driving at 105kph is sufficient time to cover almost 10 meters. In some accidents, that is the distance between life and death.

Chunkier looking rear end. Has some VW Touareg styling influence.

As of launch, three colour options have been specified for the new Escape, namely Black Mica, Moondust Silver and Infra Red, all three of which were displayed to us during the media launch. Among the three, I feel that red is the boldest choice, while silver further emphasizes the bulk from the rear end.

Interior

Little is changed in the Escape’s interior, though the selector lever of the auto gearbox has been repositioned to the centre console. Basic cues of the dashboard has been retained. The audio unit continues to take centre stage, with an integrated HU replacing the 2-DIN set of the previous model, and the two vertical air-con vents still sit either side of the HU. Behind the facade also hides a six-disc in-dash CD changer.

Interior trim comes in a two-tone black and beige colour, giving it an upmarket feel, though that’s under exhibition hall lighting. Metallic finish of the dashboard panels add a nice touch of class, though the [P R N D 2 1] gear selector panel now looks decidedly old-school. In truth, the overall look of the interior has a slightly ‘old-school’ look to it compared to its predecessors, but in a way that is refreshing in this day and age, when most cars out there have more electronic buttons than you and I have fingers combined.

The four-spoke leather wrapped steering wheel, however, carries on the old-school look to the point of being dated, with the steering mounted auto-cruise and audio controls being attached rather than integrated on the wheel. Peeking through the wheel, you see a similar looking instrument panel to the one found in the outgoing Escape, with the speedo just overlapping the tacho a styling cue that is definitely carried over from the predecessor.

If it ain’t broke, why fix it?

However, do not let the simplicity of the cabin fool you into believing that the Escape is ill-equipped, because it isn’t. In addition to the aforementioned six-disc CD changer (with six speakers) and auto cruise,  there is also auto air-conditioning, central locking, power windows, a sun roof, and the folks in front do get side airbags covering them in the event an errant motorist ‘T-bones’ you at the traffic lights. Not class-leading, but certainly not stingy.

Where the Escape excels in the interior department, is space. There are acres upon acres of them. It is still a five-seater, but it sits five very very comfortably, with ample head and leg room for all. And, when cargo capacity needs expanding, the rear bench folds down to form a flat floor with the luggage compartment. That’s for the big things, for the little trinkets, there is the two-tier arm rest console together with a couple of covered cubby holes at the centre console in addtion to door pockets, and glove box.

Split folding seats gives additional cargo carrying capacity.

Powertrain

Under the curves of the muscular bonnet is the proven 2.3-litre Duratec engine with variable valve timing and drive-by-wire throttle control. Displacing 2,261cc, this powerplant is good for 144bhp of power at 6,000rpm, while its peak torque of 196Nm comes at 4,000rpm. It has also seen service, most notably, in the previous Mazda6, albeit in a different state of tune. Coupled to it on the Escape is a 4-speed automatic transmission with overdrive.

Duratec Engine: 2,261cc, 144bhp, 196Nm

The Control Trac II 4X4 system is activated on demand, with twist routed to the rear wheels only when slip is detected. However, the driver can choose to lock the system into full-time four-wheel drive mode with a button on the dashboard. Ford claims a fuel consumption figure of 10.5 l/100km for the new Escape, which is capable of towing loads of 750kg (unbraked) or up to 1000kg for brake-equipped trailers.

Engage..

Chassis

Much has been said about the Escape’s (and pretty much every other SUV in the segment) ability to give almost car-like handling. So, it’s not unusual that we find the standard car-like components are all there: MacPherson/multilink suspension setup, power-assisted rack & pinion steering; both of which pretty much what you would find in a passenger car. However, as befitting an SUV, the Escape is fitted with massive tyres: 70-series 215-section rubbers wrapped around 16″ five-spoke cast aluminium alloys.

215/60 R16 tyres wrapped around 16″ five-spoke alloys.

Stopping power is upgraded from the disc/drum combo of the previous Escape to disc brakes all-round. Supplementing them is the now usual Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) and Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD). As mentioned earlier, the party piece here is the Emergency Brake Assist, which similar feature was only recently introduced in the new W212 E-class. The Ford version works with a sensor on the brake pedal linkage itself. When it detects the driver slamming the brakes hard, it automatically gives full braking force whether or not the brake pedal is fully depressed. We will definitely give this feature a proper testing when Ford sends a media car our way.

Prices & Availability.

There is only one variant of the Escape on sale, with Ford not finding the business case to bring in the diesel or hybrid variants available in other markets. As an introduction price, Auto ConneXion is asking you for RM139,888.00 to have the Escape parked at your garage in the Peninsula, and extra RM2,170.90 if you’re from East Malaysia. A prominent journalist at the press conference noted that compared to the first variant of the Escape, Ford is now offering a newer, bigger and more powerful replacement at the same price that the predecessor was sold 8 years ago.

As of press time, the first 50 units of the Escape brought in from the Philippines has already been sold out. Auto ConneXion is bringing them in small numbers for now, with the next shipment of 50 units due to arrive in July. Unlike before, there will not be a Mazda Tribute sold alongside this Escape.

Ford Escape 2.3 XLT

More to come…

The bosses at the press conference indicated that Ford’s assault in our market will continue with the introductions of the Everest and the Mondeo currently being planned. The cute little Fiesta might also make it, but that is subject to them being able to set up CKD operations for it in Thailand.

Let’s wait and see. Stay tuned for our test drive report of the new Ford Escape.