Ford's Brave New Hope In The SUV Space

Plenty To Commend Here, Just Not The Quite The Cut-through

- Tim Robson

Variants tested FWD, ST-Line FWD, Vignale AWD As-tested prices $36,490, $41,440, $50,240 Warranty 5-year unlimited km

EXPECTATIONS ARE HIGH for Ford’s brave new hope in the SUV space. Really, really high, in fact. The Ford Escape is intended to add vital firepower to a local Ford line-up that places its eggs all too firmly in the Ranger/Everest basket – but boy, does it need to be on its game.

It sits in a category that Ford has managed to alternatively neglect and under perform in over a couple of decades now, but the new mid-sized Escape – previously known to us here as the Kuga for a spell – is supposed to sweep all those assertions under the rug.

A three-strong line-up is intended to give all things to all people, and a concerted engineering effort has ostensibly balanced ride, handling and comfort in equal measure.

It’s this effort at rejigging the car for local tastes – and the fact that the C2 chassis is no bad thing – that ensured the Escape’s place on the COTY tour.