Havent done a ton of driving myself but this is been the experience thus far.

The five speed tranny and four cyl 2.5 are fairly peppy on the low end. The shifter location could have been further forward and gear spacing slightly greater but is easy to shift with the clutch. Speed shifting even with a warm tranny is more akin to driving a heavy truck. Having to let the engine slow down before laying into it.

In town it has been pulling about 22 mpg, hwy at least 30. No lack of torque when loaded with the whole family of four and a load of christmas loot. The zero to 40 is very good for the engine displacement above forty it is not bad but lackluster compared to the '05s 3.0 six.

The interior is nice for a less then $20k vehicle and the ride is great. The long wheelbase realy makes rougher roads good and it is fair at isolating washboard gravel. It aint no marquis but it whoops every F100/150 I have ever had.
The E-brake should have been center column. The foot pedal is ok but the release requires you to reach down and pull with your hand. I'm six foot four and cannot hook it with my toe as I tend to do on other vehicles.
First gear could also stand to be slightly lower but the rest of the tranny ratios are good.

Engine access is great for a modern vehicle! Plugs, oil, and air filter all are easy to access. Bravo to ford on that one.

Warmup on the engine is fairly quick. The mechanical lifters on the 2.5 are noisy. I have a 64 F100 with a mechanical lifter 292 in it and the lifter noise in that ancient piece is much lower. You do not notice it from the cabin but outside you hear it big time!

Great heater output. Unlike the four bangers of the 80s and 90s this thing cooks! It has been unseasonably warm here in ND but at 19F the fan on the lowest setting keeps every window clear and the cabin warm. Cant remark on AC performance at all though.

Bigest gripes-
Delay lighting. I hate that the lights in the cabin as well as the running lights stay on for about a minute. Why? Do I realy want my lights on for no reason other than I got the dog leash out of the back seat?

Stereo, Why?, oh why?, is my radio display a foot above the controls. Wife listes to the I pod thingy or CDS and I listen to radio. I hate having to figure out the controls and the screen at such distant locals.

Overall,

Great family vehicle if you enjoy manual transmissions and are willing to sacrafice some high speed passing power for economy. We have pulled 32 with me and the wife at 70mph. 15 years ago that was escort and cavalier country. This is a car big enough for a family of four with teens. Legroom in the rear is decent but not great. We tested an auto version and found that to be ok but high speed power was downright laging. The stick shift allows you to stand on third and fourth for a while to get the zoom you need. Great cargo space and better seats then the '05 xlt.
Buy it if you want good economy and a larger family car.

So much for a quick review.

 

6F35=six speed transaxle

 

The manual is still a 5spd.
2012 Ford Escape | View Full Specification Library | Ford.com

Also this motor does not have "Mechanical Lifters" everything is hydraulic and has been for quite some time. What you are hearing is the OHC valvetrain and some injector noise.

 

The OP didn't specify "manual".

 

Also this motor does not have "Mechanical Lifters" everything is hydraulic and has been for quite some time. What you are hearing is the OHC valvetrain and some injector noise.
__________________
Explain to me how "mechanical bucket lifters" is hydraulic? I am a mechanic and can tell the dang difference between an electro servo injector noise and a metal on metal contact. This would be the noisest hydraulic lifter OHC engine I have ever heard and most are no where nearly this loud. I just mentioned it in the event somone gets skittish thinking that they are buying a loud car.

 

I mentioned shifting with the clutch though.

 

Got me there!

 

The 2.5 4cyl engine in the non-hybrid vehicle is a DOHC engine that uses hydraulic lash adjusters as opposed to lifters, it also makes use of valve tappets over top of the valve. This combined with the roller cam followers(rockers) and hydraulically operated, solenoid controlled variable cam timing system as a whole, can induce some noise. It is far more involved than mechanical bucket lifters. The later model injectors can be very noisy. If you look close at the fuel rail you will see a rubber insulator to help muffle some of the noise from the system. If you care to open the FSM, Alldata or Mitchell at your shop, you can verify this info in the cylinder head teardown and inspection section

 

Industrial mechanic, not auto. I perform all my own maintnance up to the point where I need application specific tools like computers and alignment racks. I do my own OBD diagnostics and repairs but some stuff is just cost prohibitive.

I am going to look into this. A fella dont site alldata as a reference without some salt. Kinda funny that the owners manual and the sales brocure both cite "mechanical bucket lifters.". They are noisy, very noisy for a modern vehicle. I know I am not hearing injector noise as that is of a different pitch entirely. This is metal on metal.

So no $&*!, vairiable cam timing. Wow!

 

Most likely you are hearing the follower slap on the tappet, kinda like an old Toyota inline 6. Ford runs 'em a little loose, less friction and better MPG that way i guess. Here are some screen clips to show you the layout and components. Yeah, VCT, a blessing and a curse... You have to make sure what the oil going in is as the motor relies on proper viscosity to work the cam phazers.

 

Kinda funny, The goal was to minimize parts and reciprocating mass with the OHC engines.

Seems to be almost as many parts.

Never realy understood how that phaser realy works.

 

Here is the alldata info on it in a pdf.

 

Great overall analysis! I've got a 2009 equipped exactly the same and agree w/ almost everything you say. The first gear comment is spot on, in any kind of low traction situation I have to take off in 2nd or it just spins. I also wonder if a 6th gear would be beneficial for higher speed cruising to lower the rpms down a bit. I'm used to driving a pickup and I find myself reaching to shift again just based on the engine revs. Also, you'll find the A/C works as well as the heat, I'm in Kansas and we had a record setting 50+ days over 100deg last summer and never did I have to run the A/C at higher than the 2nd fan speed, and that's only in town, on the highway that would almost freeze you out.

Have to disagree though w/ the above comment about giving up high speed passing power - if I need more "umph" (which i rarely do) I just downshift manually like an auto trans would do when you floor it. I've never gotten 32mpg either, but that's likely b/c of my driving style, I'm sure it's possible.

Also, I've got the same engine and mine is very quiet, certainly no metal on metal noise like you describe, that or my ear isn't tuned enough. Maybe they changed something but I think the engine is identical.

 

Sorry, Compared to the 3.0 auto passing power is lacking. I do find it much more zippy around town then the slush box based 3.0 though.

Noisy, Very noisy if you are standing in front. I am a mechanic by trade so I notice alot of funky noises and such that would neither bother nor cause notice in most folks. I spotted a bad bearing on a steam traction engine from 25Ft once. They guy was amazed that I knew right where it was.

Good to hear that the A/C is awseome though. Thanks.

 

Fair enough, I've never driven one w/ the 3.0. I've never had a problem passing w/ the 2.5 though, downshift to 4th and it will scoot from 70 to 80+ pretty quick. A treat would be the 3.0 and a manual! Want to see something lacking in passing power, I test drove a couple of the smaller Jeeps, a Patriot and a Compass w/ the CVT transmission before I found the Escape - lets just say you'd better have A LOT of room before you attempted to pass. I pulled out and was honestly afraid it wouldn't make it in time. That little experience led me directly back to Ford.

I'm far from a mechanic so I'll take your word for it. I'm going to listen closer though to see if I can hear anything.

I'm honestly a bit disappointed they hadn't fixed any of that stuff you complained about b/c I've had the same complaints about my '09.