2011 Ford Escape Overview Change Vehicle

This 2011 Ford Escape overview explains changes for the model year, provides a summary of the 2011 Ford Escape, and includes Ford Escape safety, reliability, and fuel economy information.

After three years of continuous improvement, the 2011 Ford Escape is unchanged except for the addition of HD radio technology in combination with the optional navigation system, and the availability of a new Sport Appearance Package for XLT models that adds black exterior trim in place of chrome, black 17-inch alloy wheels, black interior trim panels, and a rear spoiler.

The most affordable version of the 2011 Ford Escape is the XLS model, which comes with everything you need including air conditioning, power door locks, power windows, power blind-spot mirrors, remote keyless entry, cruise control, and a tilt steering wheel. A set of simple alloy wheels is also standard, and the XLS has a CD player and an auxiliary audio input jack in addition to MyKey programmable technology which allows parents to set speed and volume limits for teenaged drivers. The XLS can be equipped with an automatic transmission and 4WD, along with Sync wireless technology and floor mats.

Typically, buyers upgrade to the Escape XLT for its power driver’s seat, dark tinted rear glass, auto-dimming rearview mirror, keypad entry system, floor mats, and standard automatic transmission. The XLT is also decked out with fog lights, automatic headlights, and roof rails in addition to a leather-wrapped steering wheel, satellite radio, a compass, and an ambient temperature display. Options include leather, heated front seats, premium sound, a navigation system with HD radio, a reversing camera, Sync, ambient interior lighting, a power moonroof, and a towing package. You can also dress the Escape XLT in the Sport Appearance Package, which includes a rear spoiler and a whole bunch of blacked-out trim.

If you seek leather, heated front seats, Sync wireless communications and entertainment technology, a chrome-encrusted front end, and body-color exterior trim, the Escape Limited is the model you want. Ambient interior lighting, unique interior trim, and cargo solution upgrades are also included with the Limited model, which can be identified by its machined-finish alloy wheels. Parking sensors, an Active Park Assist system, and dual-zone climate control are optional on the Limited, along with chrome 17-inch wheels, a navigation system with HD radio, a premium sound system, a reversing camera, a power sunroof, and a towing package.

Ford equips the Escape Hybrid like the Escape XLT, adding a 110-volt power outlet, Sync technology, and a dual-zone automatic climate control system as standard equipment. The Escape Hybrid Limited includes all the goodies that come on the Escape Limited, plus a standard power sunroof, a reversing camera, and parking sensors. A navigation system with HD radio is optional on both hybrid models, while the standard Hybrid can be equipped with a power sunroof and the Hybrid Limited can be optioned with Active Park Assist technology.

A 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine comes standard on the 2011 Ford Escape XLS, XLT and Limited, generating 171 horsepower and fuel economy ranging between 20 mpg in the city and 28 mpg on the highway. A five-speed manual gearbox is standard on the XLS; a six-speed automatic is optional on the XLS and standard on the XLT and Limited. Front-wheel drive is the norm, but there’s a four-wheel-drive system available as an option.

If you choose the XLT or the Limited, you can get a 240-horsepower, 3.0-liter V6 engine connected to a six-speed automatic transmission and either front- or four-wheel drive. Naturally, fuel economy drops a bit with this setup, coming in at 19 mpg in the city and 25 mpg on the highway with front-wheel drive, and 18 mpg in the city and 23 mpg on the highway with 4WD.

If fuel economy is a major concern, consider the Escape Hybrid for its 2.5-liter Atkinson cycle gasoline engine and continuously variable transmission teamed with an electric drive motor powered by a battery pack recharged by a regenerative braking system. Total horsepower output with this setup is 177 ponies, and fuel economy is rated at 34 mpg in the city and 31 mpg on the highway with front-wheel drive, and 30-mpg city/27-mpg highway with 4WD. Top speed running on battery power alone is about 25 mph.

Like all modern crossover SUVs, the 2011 Ford Escape comes with a full complement of airbags, antilock brakes, and stability and traction control. A reversing camera and parking sensors are optional. One feature that Ford offers but the others don’t is an Active Park Assist system that can automatically steer the Escape into a parallel parking space while the driver operates the foot pedals.

More important than getting into a tight parking space is a vehicle’s ability to protect occupants in a crash. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which revised its testing procedures this year, the Escape is in need of a structural redesign, which it hasn’t received since the first Escape went on sale for the 2001 model year. In the new tests, the Escape receives an overall rating of 3 Stars. Of particular concern is a 2-Star rating for driver protection in a frontal impact. Not good.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) offers a more favorable accounting of the Escape’s crashworthiness, with top ratings for frontal offset-, side-impact, and rear-impact injury prevention. In fact, the only thing keeping the Escape from achieving a Top Safety Pick rating is a Marginal performance in the roof crush strength test.

Consumer Reports drops its reliability prediction back down to below average this year, a disappointing step back. J.D. Power and Associates continues to predict that reliability will prove to be slightly better than average over time.

A year after we were finally able to recommend this versatile SUV, we’re forced to remove it from our recommended list once again for poor crash-test performance coupled with a below average reliability prediction from Consumer Reports. True, the Escape’s bones are aged, and the yesteryear structural design certainly contributes to the Escape’s poor showing in NHTSA testing. But on the other hand, the IIHS says the Escape is quite crashworthy, and J.D. Power thinks reliability will be slightly better than average over time. We’re still fans of the Escape, but given diverging research on the vehicle’s safety and reliability, we’ll leave the decision to you. Just know that for 2013, the Ford Escape is going to be completely redesigned.

By Christian Wardlaw