2013 Escape: Intelligent AWD Gets Smarter
When the brand-new 2013 Ford Escape debuts later this year, it will offer an intelligent all-wheel-drive system that truly lives up to its name: Capable of analyzing road conditions up to 20 times faster than it takes to blink your eyes, the sophisticated AWD system will optimize traction and handling whether drivers are faced with rain, sleet or snow—or a perfectly fine sunny day.
That’s because after the available, always-on AWD setup uses advanced Ford-developed software and components to read the road—gathering input from 25 different external signals and making corrections every 16 milliseconds—and split the engine’s torque between the Escape’s front and rear axles for ideal performance on both wet and dry surfaces alike. And it also does the same on no road surfaces at all, to deliver excellent off-road traction.
Just as importantly, the system is enhanced by Ford’s Torque Vectoring Control and Curve Control technologies, which analyze the driver’s steering angle and compare it to the vehicle’s current path, then adjust torque to help keep it on its intended course. The result: Maximum cornering confidence and minimized understeer/oversteer situations.
Yet for all its high-tech components, drivers won’t have to worry about durability. Ford engineers put the new Escape’s new AWD system through rigorous testing around the world, from the mountains of New Zealand to California deserts, to ensure customer satisfaction.
Bolstered by a powertrain lineup that will feature two EcoBoost engines, including the first U.S. application of Ford’s 1.6-liter EcoBoost I4, the 2013 Ford Escape will go on sale this spring.