Ford Escape

Hybrid Sales Continue To Climb In United States

The total sale of all hybrids in U.S last month was the second-highest ever, falling only behind the May 2007 total. The total pushed hybrid to a total sales share of 2.8 percent. Toyota reported 20,635 sales of the Prius in March 2008, an increase of eight percent over March 2007 and the model’s second-best month’s results to date. The Camry Hybrid sold 6,930 units, up 35 percent, and representing 17.1 per cent of all Camry sales. The Highlander Hybrid sold 2,239 units, down 10 per cent from March 2007, and representing 20.7 per cent of all Highlanders sold. The Lexus RX400h sold 1,570 units, up seven percent, and representing 20.3 percent of all RX models sold. The GS450h sold

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Suzuki Grand Vitara, 2008: The Weekly Driver Car Review

My weekly drive was the Grand Vitara X-sport. It had a 2.7-liter V6 engine, 185 horsepower and a five-speed automatic transmission. With its two-wheel drive and sunroof additions, it’s one of eight configuration of the vehicle positioned in the class featuring more heavily marketed and more expensive competitors like the Honda CR-V, Ford Escape, Toyota Rav4, Mercury Mariner and Jeep Liberty. Despite varying marketing campaigns, many compact SUVs seem remarkably similar. None are touted as speed burners or comfort machines. But as utilitarian vehicles for outdoors enthusiasts and families, the Grand Vitara stands out among its competitors in a few areas. The Vitara has good overall vision, a spacious cabin, and straightforward controls. Its side-hinged, rear cargo door provides quick

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Safety Institute Determines 2007 Buick Rendezvous Most Dangerous Car In Crashes

The IIHS evaluates automobile safety via front and side-impact protection, stability control and rollover risk. The four-door Rendezvous had an abysmal three-star (out of five) NHTSA frontal impact rating. The 2008 Buick Enclave, a crossover SUV with a full roster of standard safety equipment, replaced it. Here’s the list of the most dangerous cars to be in during a car crash in 2007, according to IIHS. It’s an organization that represents the interests of the insurance industry. 1. Buick Rendezvous SUV 2. Ford Ranger/Mazda B-Series 3. Nissan Frontier 4. Ford Escape/Mercury Mariner 5. Toyota Yaris 6. Hyundai Accent 7. Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe 8. Kia Rio 9. Chevrolet Aveo 10. Suzuki Reno/Forenza 11. Ford Focus 12. Jeep Liberty 13. Dodge Dakota

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Ford Escape, 2008: The Weekly Driver Car Review

Ford debuted a smaller, less expensive alternative to The Explorer, its vastly popular sports utility vehicle, in 2001. In North America, it was called The Escape and in Europe it was called The Maverick. The new compact SUV was developed in conjunction with Mazda, which in turn is owned in principle by Ford. Thus, the Escape, the Mazda Tribute and Ford’s Mercury division SUV, the Mariner, are not surprisingly quite similar. A hybrid version of the Escape was introduced in 2004 and this year with the 2008 model, the Escape and its SUV siblings have all been redesigned. Why? The SUV market has expanded so dramatically in recent years, even industry leaders have had to adjust to retain their share

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Honda CR-V, 2007: The Weekly Driver

There wasn’t much to complain about with the previous Honda CR-V. It provided a keen balance of versatility, comfort and utility vehicle refinement. But with the 2007 redesign, the manufacturer has done what Honda always seems to do. It took something good and made it better. For starters, the new CR-V has a restyled exterior. Its previous boxy appearance has been streamlined with elements of BMW and Audi. The new CR-V is also three inches shorter than its predecessor, but the wheelbase and interior dimensions are nearly the same as previous models. Honda further upgraded the vehicle by removing the exterior tire from the the tailgate, thus eliminating some slight rear window vision issues. Gone also is the swing out

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Ford Escape (Hybrid), 2007: The Weekly Driver Car Review

With its hybrid model, the Escape and its close hybrid sibling easily overcome the the SUV stigma — poor gas mileage. The Escape features a “full” hybrid electric system. It works in three different ways — as pure electric power, pure gasoline power or a combination of the two systems. While braking or decelerating, the Escape’s hybrid system relies on regenerative braking. The electric motor operates as a generator and coverts the vehicle’s momentum back to electricity for storage in the batteries. The system may sound complicated, but it all worked well in my weekly driver, one of four available 2007 Escapes.Like other hybrid vehicles, the Escape has a better city driving mph average than its freeway rating. It’s the

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Honda CR-V, 2006: The Weekly Driver Car Review

It seems only a short time ago when Honda introduced its first Sport Utility Vehicle to American buyers. But it’s now been a decade, and the CR-V, its first offering, has been revamped several times — sometimes subtly, other times drastically. Another model revision is set for 2007. But that’s not to discredit the current model. The 2006 CR-V (Compact Recreational Vehicle) model is spacious, thoughtfully designed and versatile as a family car for weekend projects, a youth sports team transporter, a sporty work vehicle and well-suited for recreational getaway weekends. In short, it’s an ideal, economical SUV. My weekly driver model was the SE 4-door with all-wheel drive (Honda calls its system is Real Time 4-Wheel Drive.), It’s among

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Mercury Mariner (Hybrid), 2006: The Weekly Driver Car Review

The Mercury Mariner is among several nearly interchangeable compact sport utility vehicles. In fact, the Ford Escape, Mazda Tribune are remarkably similar vehicles, but the Mariner gains an advantage with its luxury-trimmed, hybrid edition for 2006.And it was the upgraded hybrid model I drove for my weekly test during a recent favorite journey, an estimated 500-mile round-trip excursion from Sacramento to California’s central coast. Traveling to the oceanfront cities of Santa Cruz, Aptos and Rio Del Mar not only provides a great getaway, but the route offers numerous driving scenarios — high-speed, open-road sections along Interstate 5 to winding, two-lane steep mountain inclines and descents on single-lane roads. The Mariner is available with three engine options, with the hybrid teaming

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Mitsubishi Outlander, 2005: The Weekly Driver Car Review

In a popular category that includes best-buy choices like the Ford Escape, Honda CR-V and Subaru Forester, the Outlander doesn’t offer any outstanding qualities that could sway potential buyers. My test drive for the week was the new all-wheel drive limited edition Outlander. It joins the previous LX and XLS models and features an impressive list of upgrades from previous models. All Outlanders offer a 4-cylinder, 160-horsepower, 2.4-liter engine. With its standard automatic transmission, the vehicle performs adequately in city driving. But it lacks acceleration for highway journeys, and it struggles on long inclines, even with only two adult front-seat passengers. Steering and handling are adequate and the automatic transmission shifts smoothly. Mitsubishi’s all-wheel drive system is a plus and

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Ford Escape (Hybrid), 2005: The Weekly Driver Car Review

Combined, it offers 155 horsepower and it’s rated at 33 mpg gallon in city driving and 29 mpg in highway conditions. That’s the best SUV mileage available. For those still new to hybrids, the Escape is another prime example of the advancement of the combined gas-electric presentation . The electric motor helps save gas by powering the vehicle at lower speeds and complementing the gas engine during acceleration. The notion of recharging a hybrid battery is no longer relevant; the system recharges the motor’s batteries when the vehicle is decelerating or coasting. Beyond its combined engine, the 2005 Escape has a larger base engine (28 more horsepower than in ’04) and its interior and exterior styling has been “tweaked” to

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Saturn Vue, 2004: The Weekly Driver Car Review

My test drive was the 5-speed automatic AWD V6 Vue. Its straightforward exterior and interior and top-of-the-line options and design are impressive. But every time I drove the vehicle, I couldn’t help stare at the odometer and other instrument panel. The white background is accentuated with gold-colored numbers in a retro font — like the face of a vintage wristwatch. Likewise, the frontseat map pockets are not plastic or rubber, rather tightly woven net, another cool retro design feature. Of course, there’s a lot more important Saturn features to consider. The 3.5-liter, 250-HP engine packs plenty of power and the vehicle’s acceleration — among the quickest in the SUV market — is complemented by AWD, electronic power steering and 17-inch

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