With a slightly updated exterior, more goodies in the cabin and two new EcoBoost engines, Ford has pulled the wraps off the facelifted version of the Escape, also known as the Kuga outside the US.
Visually speaking, the crossover has a redesigned front fascia, taking some of the styling cues from the Edge, along with a new look for the LED taillights. The updated Escape also gets three fresh colors, Lighting Blue, White Gold and Canyon Ridge, along with six new designs for the wheels.
The compact SUV is offered with a choice of three trim levels, S, SE and Titanium, along with a new Sport Appearance Package available for the SE and Titanium. The range-topping model also gets the Charcoal Black with Deep Space black trim, Salerno leather seats with “unique” horizontal pattern and customers can also opt for the the Medium Stone seats.
The cabin brings a new steering wheel, two cup holders for the reconfigured center stack, a redesigned armrest, an electronic parking brake instead of the conventional handbrake lever and updated air vents.
The 2017 Escape is the first Ford vehicle in the world offered with SYNC Connect, which allows drivers to start the engine, lock and unlock the doors and even locate the model using the smartphone app. The system also offers info on the tire pressure, battery and fuel levels. The SYNC Connect works together with the SYNC 3 infotainment system, which comes with complementary activation for five years.
Driver-assist features include the Blind Spot Information with cross-traffic alert, hill-start assist, auto high-beam control and hands-free, foot-activated liftgate. These are added to the adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning with brake support, enhanced park assist, lane-keeping assist and Driver Alert Systems, which can detect signs of fatigued driving and provide a warning on the instrument cluster, using data from the lane-keeping assist.
Two new EcoBoost engines were added to the lineup, the 1.5-liter and the 2.0-liter twin-scroll turbo units. The smaller one replaces the 1.6-liter engine and has 180hp (183PS) and 184lb-ft (250Nm) of torque, while the latter was presented in the Edge earlier this year and is rated at 245hp (249PS) and 275lb-ft (374Nm). Both benefit from auto start/stop technology. The 2.5-liter four-cylinder naturally aspirated powertrain was carried over and it comes in the same output as before, on the Escape S series.
The facelifted crossover will be presented at the 2015 LA Auto Show.