The base version of the Kuga has a gasoline-fed turbo mill with a 1.5-liter displacement - in Europe, it develops 150 PS/148 hp, while the U.S. A certain driving sharpness is also there, the car demonstrates a praiseworthy agility for this class, but sportiness would be too much to say.Īnyway, the engineers from Ford have given a solid confidence to this platform since they equipped it with quite powerful engines. Let’s stick to the essential: negative comments could hardly be formulated concerning the stability and comfort of the model. Its design and its roadholding confirm the idea, yet pretending this automobile has absolutely the best dynamic capabilities in its class will trigger complicate debates. Thrust The Ford Escape/Kuga is promoted as a particularly dynamic exponent of the compact/subcompact crossover-SUVs around.
At 411 liters, the trunk volume is not something special, but it’s OK for the car’s segment. A three-segment bench would have been a top practical argument. Only one regret: the bench in the second row is divided only in two segments. No reasons to complain about the passengers’ space, the seating conditions are pretty good for this size of car. Adding money to buy a superior trim level can always help here. The finish of the interior looks decent, but the quality of the materials is not the same everywhere. Also impressive: the wide range of graphics available for the instruments cluster. Interesting: spending time to learn to extensively use this steering wheel will not impact the usability of the vehicle itself, yet the interest of the owner for what the car has to offer will be maintained high. While it is easy to spot the separate zones of the multimedia and heating/ventilation controls and to identify without problem all the buttons and functions, the multifunctional steering wheel looks impressively complex (Boeing fitted their 787 with a much simpler yoke, for instance). The cockpit of the 2021 Ford Escape/Kuga leaves very little to be desired in terms of ergonomics and we think they did it this way on purpose. The practicality, coming as a collateral benefit when looking from this perspective, is anyway appreciated. Everyone should be satisfied to get in control of an advanced complex vehicle - assumption that proved to be correct.
Everything clear now?Īmbiance Definitely, an attractive scenario! The project’s management decided to present the Escape/Kuga as a high-tech product rather than a practical device. A decade later, the Escape/Kuga was thriving, while the C-Max was discontinued – both were using similar technology and, besides, the practical virtues of the MPVs and crossovers are quite close. Proof that they noticed this at Ford, the first generation of the Escape/Kuga was introduced in 2008 boasting a crossover- SUV design with a pronounced dynamic expression. However, it is easy to understand why an MPV is not a very appealing scenario for most customers: obvious visual heaviness, relatively small fragile wheels, (intuitively) significant risk that the family will ask the captain to load/unload tons of stuff at any trip and, last but not least, dynamically uninspiring appearance (in fact, we buy automobiles to go from A to B faster, aren’t we?). The Focus C-Max, showing a typical compact multi-purpose vehicle ( MPV) shape, was presented in 2003 and didn’t meet the expected success. Beyond this, the car incorporates a vast experience of the brand in terms of all kinds of compact (subcompact, in the U.S.) family vehicles.Īpproach During the late nineties, after the compact Ford Focus squeezed pretty much everything in terms of utility, dynamics and style from the potential of its class, a natural question emerged: is it possible to get even more from this size of vehicle? First, they tried to make it taller. The 2021 Ford Kuga/Escape represents the third generation of the model series.
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