So a week after I turned back the vehicle, I finally have time to write a conclusion.
Over the course of 2 months, I put about 4700km on the vehicle. No terribly long trips; longest was my drive to the Rheinland and back via Frankfurt a.M. I got some snow, lots of rain, and plenty of cold raw weather along my time. And with aside from one notable exception, there isn't really much to fault with the Kuga errr.....Escape.
I already mentioned the reasonably intuitive Infotainment, well-mannered sat nav, and easy-to-use controls. The traffic updates were detailed and timely, and the speed limit display would even account for the time of day (in Germany, there are time-based speed limits to reduce noise pollution). The basic Sync voice control understood and reacted promptly to my voice in French nearly 100% of the time. I wish there was a way to shut off the main screen at night though.
The diesel was a powerful operator yet never loud or unruly even under full throttle towards the 4250rpm redline. The DCT was smooth, well-calibrated, and quick to shift. Indeed I had plenty fun of hearing the shifts bang off faster than the tach could react !
. The AWD worked well enough for most intents and purposes; even in slick conditions I could mash the throttle, summoning 400 Nm of torque and have no wheelspin. Not quite xDrive, but better than many others in its class. The steering was direct and reasonably communicative, and the brake pedal feels firm, notably better than the Tiguan, even if automotive tests complained about the long-ish braking distances.
Comfort was good even for 3h straight drives, the heated windshield eliminated the need to scrape frost, and the xenon headlamps had lovely cornering lights that were very helpful and bright. The LED taillights/brake lights were also a nice stylistic touch.
Really, the only complaint I had, aside from a not-quite-perfect fitting piece at the interior base of the windshield, was subpar fuel consumption. In normal driving, one will probably see 6,5 to 7,5 l/100km depending on speed. An aggressive throttle coupled with standard AWD, winter tires, and perhaps more power than necessary meant that consumption never saw anything close to ECE numbers (in contrast to the Mondeo).
So you should really just get a normal hatchback or wagon. But if you must get a crossover, the Escape/Kuga is right up with the Tiguan on my list of best crossovers in the segment.
