2001-2004 Ford Escape: Overview

Vehicle Highlights

Answering the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, Ford's compact SUV went on sale in summer 2000 as another four-door unibodied wagon with front-wheel drive or permanent 4WD. However, the Escape offered a V6 as well as four-cylinder power. Honda and Toyota rivals came only with four-cylinder engines. So did the Subaru Forester, which used a horizontally-opposed four-cylinder. An Escape was 4.6 inches shorter than the CR-V, but virtually equal in other dimensions. The Escape was developed jointly with Ford partner Mazda, which got its own version named the Tribute. Their new carlike platform was a Mazda design, but shared engines came from Ford. Escapes have more rugged styling than the Tribute, and were expected to account for 75 percent of the 135,000-unit annual output. Escapes came in XLS and uplevel XLT models. The four-cylinder engine was borrowed from the subcompact Focus line, teaming only with a floor-shifted manual transmission. The optional V6 came from the midsize Taurus, mating only with a column-shifted four-speed automatic. Escape's 4WD automatically sent up to 50 percent of power aft, when front wheel slippage was detected, but a 50/50 split could be locked in using a dashboard switch. No low-range gearing was included. Antilock braking was standard on XLT models, and optional for the XLS. Front side airbags were optional on both. Standard equipment included a rear liftgate with glass hatch and wiper, air conditioning, front bucket seats with console, and a CD player. A 60/40 split-fold rear seatback was standard on the XLT. Both versions used 15-inch wheels, but 16-inchers were optional for V6 XLT Escapes.