Ford Escape off road capabilities?

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C

Chenz759

Guest
Hello,

I'll be in the market for a new car in the next few months and
I'm thinking about a 4x4. Since I'm a 20K+ mile per year commuter,
I want something that is comfortable and fun to drive, gets decent
gas mileage and is under $30K. I do a fair bit of surf
fishing, so I'd like to get something I could drive on the beach.
That's about the toughest off roading I'd be doing besides maybe
some rough, sandy fire roads in some of the local state parks.
No real off roading or rock crawling.

The Escape seems like it might fit the bill.
It has a manual center differential that can be locked but it
doesn't have a low range. The last time I owned a 4x4 (15 years ago)
I always drove the beach in low range, I never tried high range.
(BTW, the beach I'd be driving is Island Beach State Park in NJ.)

Does anyone have any experience with this vehicle?
Think it could handle this kind of driving?

Thanks in advance,
VI
How

 

"Chenz759" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello,
>
> I'll be in the market for a new car in the next few months and
> I'm thinking about a 4x4. Since I'm a 20K+ mile per year commuter,
> I want something that is comfortable and fun to drive, gets decent
> gas mileage and is under $30K. I do a fair bit of surf
> fishing, so I'd like to get something I could drive on the beach.
> That's about the toughest off roading I'd be doing besides maybe
> some rough, sandy fire roads in some of the local state parks.
> No real off roading or rock crawling.
>
> The Escape seems like it might fit the bill.
> It has a manual center differential that can be locked but it
> doesn't have a low range. The last time I owned a 4x4 (15 years ago)
> I always drove the beach in low range, I never tried high range.
> (BTW, the beach I'd be driving is Island Beach State Park in NJ.)
>
> Does anyone have any experience with this vehicle?
> Think it could handle this kind of driving?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> VI
> How
>

Get an '03 Izusu trooper, they've stopped making troopers in preference to a
new platform made in the USA instead of japan, but the last of the '03s are
going dead cheap, sure theres not going to be any resale 5 years in the
future, but if you by one to keep they last forever, are reliable and can do
anything you ask them to. Far more than the Escape.




 

"Chenz759" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello,
>
> I'll be in the market for a new car in the next few months and
> The Escape seems like it might fit the bill.
> Does anyone have any experience with this vehicle?
> Think it could handle this kind of driving?

We had one come along on a 4WD trip run by our 4WD club.
It didnt' make it through the first part of the weekend.
And all we'd done was a fire-trail.

The problem was the humps they put on the tracks to make water flow across
the track rather than down it.
It kept bottoming out on these humps. And it wasn't long before a bashplate
was driven up into the works.
We had to stop 3 times, about 30 minutes each time, to bash the thing back
down again - not made any easier by the difficult access, and the fact that
it's mounted on rubber, so all attempts to bash it back were absorbed by the
rubber.
They had to come home on the blacktop on the second day, while we all
continued on with the 4WDing.


Can't say anything about it's sand capabilities, but it's ground clearance
was woefully inadequate even for a basic Australian Fire Trail.
It wouldn't likely have a hope in hell of doing anything more severe.

Trentus


 
They sell Escapes in Australia?

Ed

Trentus wrote:

> "Chenz759" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Hello,
> >
> > I'll be in the market for a new car in the next few months and
> > The Escape seems like it might fit the bill.
> > Does anyone have any experience with this vehicle?
> > Think it could handle this kind of driving?
>
> We had one come along on a 4WD trip run by our 4WD club.
> It didnt' make it through the first part of the weekend.
> And all we'd done was a fire-trail.
>
> The problem was the humps they put on the tracks to make water flow across
> the track rather than down it.
> It kept bottoming out on these humps. And it wasn't long before a bashplate
> was driven up into the works.
> We had to stop 3 times, about 30 minutes each time, to bash the thing back
> down again - not made any easier by the difficult access, and the fact that
> it's mounted on rubber, so all attempts to bash it back were absorbed by the
> rubber.
> They had to come home on the blacktop on the second day, while we all
> continued on with the 4WDing.
>
> Can't say anything about it's sand capabilities, but it's ground clearance
> was woefully inadequate even for a basic Australian Fire Trail.
> It wouldn't likely have a hope in hell of doing anything more severe.
>
> Trentus

 
Trentus wrote:
> "C. E. White" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> They sell Escapes in Australia?
>
> Can't guarantee it's the same thing called the Escape over there, as
> companies name things differently in some countries, but we do have a
> soft-roader (I like the term "faux-wheel-drive") made by Ford, called
> the Escape here.
>
> This is what the Aussie Fords call the Escape.
> http://www.ford.com.au/showroom/passenger/escape/Image_Gallery.asp
>
> Trentus

It is sold as a Maverick in the UK! It's not very good though and very few
have been sold.

http://www.ford.co.uk/ie/maverick/-/-

--
Julian
---------
= Pretentious Sig required =


 
Don't know about sand or off road, ( I have a CJ7 for that ) but as for
snow and ice, the Escape is fantastic, we put 2800 Km on it over Xmas
through the rockies, most roads had an inch of packed snow/ice on them, I
couldn't get this thing to slip.

"Chenz759" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello,
>
> I'll be in the market for a new car in the next few months and
> I'm thinking about a 4x4. Since I'm a 20K+ mile per year commuter,
> I want something that is comfortable and fun to drive, gets decent
> gas mileage and is under $30K. I do a fair bit of surf
> fishing, so I'd like to get something I could drive on the beach.
> That's about the toughest off roading I'd be doing besides maybe
> some rough, sandy fire roads in some of the local state parks.
> No real off roading or rock crawling.
>
> The Escape seems like it might fit the bill.
> It has a manual center differential that can be locked but it
> doesn't have a low range. The last time I owned a 4x4 (15 years ago)
> I always drove the beach in low range, I never tried high range.
> (BTW, the beach I'd be driving is Island Beach State Park in NJ.)
>
> Does anyone have any experience with this vehicle?
> Think it could handle this kind of driving?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> VI
> How
>


 
Exit <[email protected]> wrote:
> Trentus wrote:
>> "C. E. White" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>> They sell Escapes in Australia?
>>
>> Can't guarantee it's the same thing called the Escape over there, as
>> companies name things differently in some countries, but we do have a
>> soft-roader (I like the term "faux-wheel-drive") made by Ford, called
>> the Escape here.
>>
>> This is what the Aussie Fords call the Escape.
>> http://www.ford.com.au/showroom/passenger/escape/Image_Gallery.asp
>>
>> Trentus

> It is sold as a Maverick in the UK! It's not very good though and very few
> have been sold.

> http://www.ford.co.uk/ie/maverick/-/-

How bizarre. In Oz, the Ford Maverick is a rebadged Nissan
Patrol GQ!

http://www.gregorys-online.com/Greg...productdetail.asp?productId=314&AutoMakeId=25

--
*--------------------------------------------------------*
| ^Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool^ |
| Heath Raftery, HRSoftWorks _\|/_ |
*______________________________________m_('.')_m_________*
 
Both the Australian Escape and the Maverick look like the same vehicle as the
US Ford Escape.

Thanks for all the advice. I think I'll get a car for commuting and look into a
second hand 4x4 for the beach. The extra insurance for a second vehicle is
cheaper than trashing a brand new truck by pushing it beyond it's capabilities.
 
"Exit" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Trentus wrote:
> > "C. E. White" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:[email protected]...
> >> They sell Escapes in Australia?
> >
> > Can't guarantee it's the same thing called the Escape over there, as
> > companies name things differently in some countries, but we do have a
> > soft-roader (I like the term "faux-wheel-drive") made by Ford, called
> > the Escape here.
> >
> > This is what the Aussie Fords call the Escape.
> > http://www.ford.com.au/showroom/passenger/escape/Image_Gallery.asp
> >
> > Trentus
>
> It is sold as a Maverick in the UK! It's not very good though and very few
> have been sold.
>
> http://www.ford.co.uk/ie/maverick/-/-


The Maverick here is the next step up.
It's the Patrol/Landcruiser competitor.

Trentus


 
Hee - I love the name - "faux-wheel-drive" - think I'll try to see if I can
get it adopted here in the colonies.


"Trentus" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "C. E. White" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > They sell Escapes in Australia?
>
> Can't guarantee it's the same thing called the Escape over there, as
> companies name things differently in some countries, but we do have a
> soft-roader (I like the term "faux-wheel-drive") made by Ford, called the
> Escape here.
>
> This is what the Aussie Fords call the Escape.
> http://www.ford.com.au/showroom/passenger/escape/Image_Gallery.asp
>
> Trentus
>
>


 

"Trentus" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:eek:[email protected]...
> "Exit" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > Trentus wrote:
> > > "C. E. White" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > > news:[email protected]...
> > >> They sell Escapes in Australia?
> > >
> > > Can't guarantee it's the same thing called the Escape over there, as
> > > companies name things differently in some countries, but we do have a
> > > soft-roader (I like the term "faux-wheel-drive") made by Ford, called
> > > the Escape here.
> > >
> > > This is what the Aussie Fords call the Escape.
> > > http://www.ford.com.au/showroom/passenger/escape/Image_Gallery.asp
> > >
> > > Trentus
> >
> > It is sold as a Maverick in the UK! It's not very good though and very
few
> > have been sold.
> >
> > http://www.ford.co.uk/ie/maverick/-/-
>
>
> The Maverick here is the next step up.
> It's the Patrol/Landcruiser competitor.
>
> Trentus
>

I believed that Aussies preferred the LandCruiser because there was less
chance of it breaking down in the outback.. and that LandRovers are used in
a mine someplace in Aus because the mine is so wet that everything rusts
like all hell and they are relatively cheap.. maybe the Ford Escape will
find its niche 'down under''.. lol


 
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