elCheapoDeluxe

I just took another spin. Actually, i guess the handling isn't that bad when it is smooth and dry. It just corners with way too much understeer for my taste.

bigguyinpasadena

Just got one of these at BUR for a week of running errands between SoCal oan Las Vegas.
VERY impressed! And for a six foot fella with a backside that should have a "WIDE LOAD" sign on my pants ( ) I am finding the heated ( ^ )leather seats super comfortable!

Now I just have to sync up the MySync feature from my subscription on my 2012 Focus. Any tips on this? TIA

dtremit

Unfortunately I think tire complaints like these are going to be more and more common as fuel economy standards get stricter -- low rolling resistance tires boost fuel economy enough to be significant, but on anything but dry, warm pavement they're pretty lousy. Easily fixed if you own the car, not so easily on a rental.

brendog

I just drove a 2013 SEL from BNA to DCA via the Smokies to pick up a new dog, and it was, amazingly, a pretty good car. I averaged 26.5mpg over 775 miles, with a ton of mountain driving, and the AWD actually did ok on some moderately muddy dirt roads heading up to a friend's cabin.

The MyTouch, however, is godawful. It crashed 5 or 6 times in 3 days.

drzoidberg

That's pretty good; was it the 2.0L engine or the 1.6L?

brendog

It was the 2.0L. As I had a new dog in the back, I took it pretty easy, particularly in the mountains, but I did keep a pretty consistent 75mph all of the way from the Tri-Cities to DC on 81 and 66.

One thing I disliked, and forgot to mention, is that the gas tank is tiny (15 gallons, I believe), and the range is only 300-350 miles per tank. Having driven several Camrys and Altimas lately, plus being very used to my A4, I'm used to a cruising range of 450+ miles.

bigguyinpasadena

I think the tank might be 12 Gallons! It is very small. But it is a pleasant suprise when you go to fill it up.

brendog

It's only a pleasant surprise until you have to fill it up again 3.5 hours later. I prefer having a cruising range greater than my bladder range.

elCheapoDeluxe

I have another one of these right now. I don't remember mentioning it before, but there are some serious blind spots going on trying to look over your shoulder around headrests and the B pillar. In my parking garage I have a big concrete post with nice red paint that would show up distinctly on a rental car if I happened to wander into it Trying to avoid that backing up is seriously more difficult because of this vehicle's side visibility.

seats21

I rented a 2013 Escape and drove it for a day and it seemed comfortable, so I bought one. After driving the car for a week, I am in a great deal of pain . For the first time in my life, I now have lower back issues and have been having trouble walking after driving this car for a week straight. I can only drive the car for 2 days without being in pain and then have to switch to my husbands car to allow the pain to subside. Everyone who drives my car or drives with me for a day or two comes to the same conclusion. Ford redesigned the 2013 Escape, but these newly designed front seats don't allow for proper alignment and have very poor ergonomics. Ford mentions scalloped front seats, but if the back is upright your head is forced forward and it is completely uncomfortable. These front seats need to be redesigned so there is back support and your head is not tilting forward when the back of the seat is upright! I wanted to warn people to watch out if buying this vehicle.

tkyoshi

This may not apply to your rental but Ford seats have a tiltable headrest feature. Have you tried un-tilting it? Sometimes when I pick up rentals they are in an awkward super forward angled position. If you push it forward all the way it will snap back to a more natural setting.

But unfortunately due to new safety regulations, some headrests put you in awkward uncomfortable position.