Escape

Make
Ford
Segment
SUV

The Ford Escape is one of the most popular compact crossovers on the market. Good chance your neighbor, a work colleague, relative or even yourself are the owner of one. Given that the compact crossover segment is booming right now, we figured it was time to review a brand 2017 Escape. Of course our tester was a fully-optioned Titanium trim. The only thing it was missing was the optional all-wheel drive. Facelifted for 2015, the updates include an Edge-inspired front end reshaped LED taillights.

The interior was also given a freshening and Sync 3 has replaced MyFord Touch (finally!). Powered by Ford's turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four EcoBoost with 245 hp and 275 lb-ft of torque, this is the best engine you can get in an Escape and, in our opinion, is worth the extra $1,295.

Yes, this is the same engine offered in the larger, mid-size Edge, so imagine what the extra kick does for a smaller vehicle. What else did we like? The Escape Titanium's overall refinement. This is, literally, a luxury vehicle and like the Edge-Lincoln MKX comparison, we found it difficult paying a premium for the Escape's Lincoln platform mate, the MKC. But, at the end of the day, the Escape is built on the same platform as the Focus, only it's been raised several inches. And no, that's not a bad thing at all. Special thanks to Future Ford of Sacramento for letting us film the car.