The one drawback is, of course, the Ecoboost engine’s fuel economy. Official ratings are set at 11.4 L/100 km in the city and 8.4 L/100 km on the highway; I suppose it might be possible to hit these figures under ideal conditions, but start dipping into the boost for on-ramps, in-traffic shunting, climbing hills, and just general everyday use, and consumption quickly climbs. Over the course of the week, I averaged 12.5 L/100 km or so, about 10 percent worse than suggested mixed-mileage.
The Escape is a great vehicle; right-sized and actually somewhat fun to drive for a cross-over and that 2.0 L Ecoboost has a lot of beans. But I don't understand how the fuel economy could be so bad, when my wife's 328i with a similar engine is averaging 8.5 L/100 km in mostly urban driving...
I'm calling bullsh!t either on 8.5L/100km or that it's an urban-only figure - and also note that your wife's bimmer uses premium fuel. Fuelly shows the 328i at 25.4MPG, which is 9.3L/100km. That's for mixed driving.
My Lady's 2011 Forester XT is a relative pig on (premium-required) gas. In the snowiest part of the winter, I've spotted her average over the course of a week (truly ONLY urban driving of <4km round trip to/from work) at 19.2L/100km. With that being said, I just did a trek to/from Toronto from Guelph at a steady 120km/h with some traffic near Milton and averaged 8.8L/100km of Shell V-Power. The 2011 Forester is boxy, has a 4-speed automatic, and has awful driveline losses exceeding 20%. In the city, I get about 11L/100km, while her heavier foot gets about 12-12.5L/100km.
The Escape is similar in weight, has less of a driveline loss, and will soon have a more modern turbo setup (twin-scroll). [
Source].
This is the thing about turbocharged engines: their relative fuel economy will depend more on driver input than naturally aspirated engines will. It is highly conceivable that Jacob Black would get 12L/100km in your wife's Bimmer, whereas I, the granny of the bunch, will get closer to 8.0L/100km. In every comparo, the test average drops by about 0.5L/100km when I have at it, and rises about 1L/100km when Jacob steps out. Silly Jacob.
The Escape is a great vehicle. It has excellent driving dynamics, it's relatively small in this age of growing CUVs, it has decent cargo capacity despite the foregoing, and its available options can make it rental car grade or entry-luxe. My concerns for it are solely with respect to reliability/build quality and MSRP, which as Brendan mentions, depends on the sale-of-the-day. Ford Motor Company is historically relevant for its ability to produce vehicles at a relatively low cost (perhaps not quite Toyota low...but still) and high output to keep up with (HA! exceed...) demand. The flip side is that, on occasion (not always), panels don't fit flush, third party parts are not tested thoroughly enough, and the primary directive is not to out-shine Lexus in terms of reliability. But does the Escape, objectively, check all the boxes that folks would want? 100%. It'd be nice to get a hybrid version back, but it is a really, really well-designed vehicle.
Heck, that’s even a real handbrake: when’s the last time you saw one of those in a crossover?
^^ Forestah a-go! (and Crosstrek for that matter)
If we did decide to turf our Fozzie (we won't), my top 3 replacements would be:
1) Forester/Crosstrek (depending on whether or not the Crosstrek ever gets the FB25!!)
2) Tiguan
3) Escape
I simply do not find favour with Honda's designs of late, and their anaemic engines are not to my liking. Nissan's interiors are great, but powertrains woeful. Toyota's offering has become too harsh-riding and again, styling is too polarizing. I still don't trust Hyundai/Kia in terms of long-term reliability (of little stuff - mechanically I'm sure it's all fine), and certainly not for the higher price we're seeing (ahem, especially with the new Free-Trade agreement). While I like the CX-5, its outward visibility and relative width makes the vehicle drive much larger than it is and I dislike that. The Equinox? Lolz. No. I may have gone to a Demolition Derby in New Hamburg last weekend, but my neck didn't get burned enough for me to put space and Buick-like ride comfort ahead of driving dynamics, quality, or feature content. The list goes on.
^^ The point of my saying is to suggest that there's an option for everyone, but the Escape is the the one that will do everything well to the exclusion of very little. Its outward visibility is decent, it has sufficient space, it has good ground clearance, and can be had with many, many desirable options.
...except for the Small Overlap, it seems to be a pretty safe vehicle, too...but that is an ongoing concern.
