The Great Escape

It’s every motorist’s nightmare. You’re cruising along the freeway. You squeeze on that accelerator pedal, trying to dig deep into your vehicle’s throttle. Your car wheezes and pants, and short of actually stalling, its engine heaves a loud sigh of desperation as if to say, "Sorry, that’s all I’ve got". Then the bastard who’s been trying to squeeze in on your lane from the highway shoulder finally breezes past you while sporting a ridiculous smirk — the kind which you wouldn’t mind plastering on the pavement, if only you could.

Oh, it’s happened to this writer once or twice. It never did, however, while we were behind the wheel of the Ford Escape V6. Ford Motor Company Philippines was gracious enough to lend us a unit over a weekend when we were scheduled to take a southern sojourn. FMCP’s president Henry Co, VP for Sales and Marketing Dave Macasadia and Fleet Business manager Sunny Medalla were all confident that their baby wouldn’t disappoint. And they had every reason to be more than just a bit cocksure. The 3.0L V6 DOHC 24-valve SEFI powerplant capable of up to 206 ps/6000 rpm is housed in practically the same body that the slightly underpowered 2.0L 4-cylinder version calls home. So essentially what we drove was a mini-SUV with the ability to fly. In fact, the ultra-responsive accelerator pedal impressed even this writer’s wife!

Our first encounter with the Ford Escape V6 actually occurred far from Philippine shores. On a not-so-recent business trip to Thailand, we came across an Escape V6 which was plying the very well-paved roads of Pattaya with such ease that we just couldn’t resist swaggering — if only just a bit (Escapes in Thailand are manufactured in Ford’s Philippine facility). As the Escape effortlessly overtook our ASEAN journalist-filled tourist bus, we gave one of our Malaysian companions a slight nudge and while pointing at the fast-disappearing Escape said, "That car’s made in the Philippines! (Take that Proton!)". Not that the everyday Sarao is capable of reaching speed-limit level velocity but what the heck — at least we had one vehicle that we produced in our country that could.

By the way, the Escape V6 is slightly heftier than its 2.0L counterpart since it has a more than adequate moonroof and added trimmings like molded-in integrated twin vertical bumpers and sturdy side step bars (which obviously account for added weight). Another thing that’s standard in the Escape 3.0 that’s an improvement from the Escape 4x2 2.0 is the Anti-Lock Brake System — a welcome and necessary addition considering the extra power that the vehicle has.

Inside, the Escape 3.0 continues to impress. The leather trimmed interiors and the leather seats may be a bit conservative for some (forget the woodgrain finish — or in the case of the Escape V6, the lack of it — it’s a love-it or leave-it feature, anyway) but for this writer at least, it worked wonders. After all, you don’t go inside a Ford vehicle to be wowed no end by opulence (you’ve got European sedans a-plenty for such thrills). You go inside a Ford vehicle to be comfortable and confident enough of a steady, sturdy ride that will be slightly more palatable than accepted norm. The bottom line is that the juxtaposition of black and beige and the just-the-right-amount of leather vis-a-vis plastic works. Plus, the interiors are pretty roomy for a mini-SUV.

Did we mention the word "European" somewhere in that last paragraph? Well, the way the Escape V6 is put together on the safety end, you’d think FMCP was trying to live up to European safety standards. We already mentioned that it has ABS, but along with excellent braking capabilities come other safety features not normally found in cars produced for the Philippines. It’s got dual airbags, side impact beams and seatbelt pretensioners to boot.

So you’re assured of speed, safety and good looks. What else can be said about the Escape V6? The in-dash 6 disc CD player is simple to operate and packs a substantial wallop in power, so that’s another plus. A simple switch for the Control Trac II, which gives you easy access to total 4-wheel drive control, is also a great addition to the user-friendly dashboard. Is there anything wrong with it? Well, worry warts and tightwads could find the Escape V6’s seven to eight kilometer per liter consumption quite bothersome, but again, such is the price for power. Also, this writer has never been a big fan of column shift-equipped vehicles — but that is only a matter of personal preference. Heck, the Escape V6 shifts smoothly on pavement or on rough roads — and that’s the bottom line.

All in all, the Escape V6, despite its small imperfections, is a vehicle Pinoys can be proud of. It has addressed it predecessor’s shortcomings and offers a number of standard-setting improvements, at least in its class. It’s a vehicle that’s truly world-class — one proudly made in the Philippines at that.