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That's standard. A mini-spare is optional on both hybrid configurations. It goes on top of the 12v battery in the spare tire well, per the video reviews. Frank 2020 Escape Order Guide.pdf

Pan heater was the Toyota suggestion; I didn't talk to anyone at Ford, so no idea. Frank

So... there is a 1 MPG AWD penalty! See post 68 for a Mulroney of the AWD; 40/43/37. Visited the Toyota dealer across from the Ford dealer today. I promised myself I'd check out all three small hybrid SUVs, and the RAV4 is the only on on the street. My first impression is that it seems to be channeling an F-150 vibe. Big and chunky upfront, lots of hood to look at before the road appears. Very similar interior layout to the Escape, unsurprisingly. I didn't drive anything, just asked for a brochure. I was surprised to find there are no specs in the brochure. Lots of pretty pictures... lots of pictures. There is a version with a sport suspension, too. Prices north of the Escape, for 2019s. We had an interesting conversation about block heaters (recommended magnetic). So I went across the street and happened upon a row of 5 2020's without a bunch of cars in front of them, and with a 2019 Escape next in line. The front end is far lower and cleaner than it seems in photos. It's nothing like 2019, and about 8" lower than Toyota's. Sort of a catfish version of the 2-grill C-Max redesign the US didn't get. I have also changed favorite colors, now that I see them. There's another blue-green isomer, Persian Green, that I have to see in direct sunlight. In the shade, it's blue. Popular, too. HAve fun, Frank

Welcome! C-Max has a lot in common with Focus, so the wheels look like a good deal. I have Tire Rack's 16x6.5 steel wheels with the 215/60's and it's a match to the OEM speedometer calibration running Michelin X-ice 3. But I see you're in Syracuse... they may not be aggressive enough if you regularly drive north at all. You may find it confusing that Tire Rack's spec tables show two rim widths, a "rim width" and a "measurement rim." Any wheel within the former range will work with the tire. The "section width" data that follows, however, is specific to one rim width, so TR also tells you what rim size was used to mount the tire for the measurement. The X-Ice 215/60-16 wheel range is 6-7.5, so your 7's would be fine. The section width will be a little wider on the 7" wheel, but you're starting 0.5" narrower than OEM. HAve fun, Frank

You're no idiot, Ford is. I did the same thing, dropping my car at the dealer for service. Left the key in the car for the service guys, and it locked itself. The really bad part was that they're solution was to bend the window frame and break into the car. We had both keys; I called my wife. I hope you get in the same way! Best of luck, Frank

For those interested in towing! The first official documentation I've seen .... https://www.ford.com/cmslibs/content/dam/brand_ford/en_us/brand/resources/general/pdf/guides/20Towing_Ford_Escape_Oct15.pdf Nothing new, just confirmation: 1500 lb. What's odd is that the gross combined weight ratings (GCWR) only leave 325 lb. for cabin load... if the trailer's full, no luggage for you! HAve fun, Frank

I see 38.4 ft. in my notes, vs. Rav 4's 36.1 and the 2019's 38.8 ft. It's one downside of FWD; my Volvo 940 was 32.2 ft. Frank

FYI First hybrid Mulroney https://blueovalforums.com/forums/index.php?/topic/68154-epa-estimate-for-escape-hybrid-is-out-40-combined-mpg/ Yes, they made 40/43/37 with AWD. Frank

Since it sounds like you're on the original tranny, what's your mileage? Frank, who's quiet at 64.4K

Some interesting links... https://www.motortrend.com/cars/ford/escape/2020/2020-ford-escape-first-test-review-cr-v-fighter https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a29077713/2020-ford-escape-drive/ And it looks like Ford is holding Escape Hybrid deliveries... I saw a post from someone with a 10/2 Escape Hybrid build date that shows still at the plant. I'll wager there's a story behind that... like being extra careful about EPA ratings this time around? epa.gov still rates only the 1.3L engine. Have fun, Frank

Your OEM tire size options are 225/65R17 225/60R18 225/55R19 You can't get a hybrid with the 18's, but they fit. The engine is just another engine option... Frank

That's one reason I'm only at 41.5 MPG...

Then get the base model; ES/AS only fit in 17". No 18's are close and they don't list a 19" version. And remember this product line is over a decade old. I suspect that Michelin has engineered LRR into most of their product line. For example, I see no difference when running snow tires. MPG vs Temp Rural 2014 only.pdf It looks like there's a -2 MPG shift with the snows, until you look for the green points (ES/AS) at low temperature, and they overlay. The full curve becomes non-linear at low temps because the vehicle occupant requires some heat at 15F ambient. The tires make no difference. I've posted before about Michelin's new CrossClimate product line. The wife's noticed no loss in mileage in her Sonata Hybrid, but she keeps no data. The non-Ecopia Escape OEM tire in the videos is the Michelin Premier LTX, which looks promising.... Wow, I found the full ratings at Tire Rack for "Crossover/SUV Touring All-season" tires. The CrossClimate, Premier and Ecopia placings are telling. https://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=CSTAS Note the Premier "life" correlates with "would recommend" at Tire Rack (both poor), and they note a new, extended-life version is marked "DT" on the sidewall. There's a similar situation with the CrossClimate (early Euro-only tire) and the CrossClimate + we got. It would appear Michelin is having issues achieving comparable life with the new compounds. Have fun, Frank

Amen!

There are two tests with the P7... both with similar overall results for that tire, so no change in design. I would conclude that the Firestone Champion Fuel Fighter is very low RR, and that's about it given the variability. 8/12/16 test % vs. Most Efficient BFGoodrich Advantage T/A Sport -4.5% Firestone Champion Fuel Fighter -- General AltiMAX RT43 -2.5% Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus -3.8% and 8/29/2017 test % vs. Most Efficient Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady -1.0% Michelin CrossClimate+ -0.7% Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus -0.7% Vredestein Quatrac 5 -- Plus 3, how did you like the Ecopias? I looked at a 2020 Escape and it had Ecopias, so I'm wondering what you thought. Have fun, Frank

Mine switches from FM to BT, but only occasionally. Every time would deserve a fix or work-around, like turning BT off on your phone. HAve fun, Frank

That would have been a very easy fix to implement at their dealerships. The fixes Ford did implement were in software, changing the start-up behavior. My ICE provides near-zero torque when first started from cold. It's EV-only regardless HVB status for about 10 seconds. I suspect this reduces the load on the problem bearing until oil flow is established. This behavior showed up in 2015, the third and last PCM update. I'm no longer hoping that applying this fix at 40K miles will get me way past 100K, my intent when we inherited the car. We'd never lost a Volvo below 200K... Have fun, Frank

Set up a thermal siphon so you get passive flow through the system's radiator when the HVB is hot? You got 5 qts. to play with. Use active Peltier devices to cool the HVB when it's hot? Given I don't see EV+ listed in the manual, I'll wager Ford's using GPS data to map where the car is stored, so the control system can draw down HVB charge level when it thinks you're about to park it. Some things we won't know until someone's driving one. Have fun, Frank

Interesting review that actually mentions the C-Max! Twice!! They think Ford's aiming for RAV-4 mileage, and the reviewers report 41.2 MPG. https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1125120_review-the-2020-ford-escape-se-sport-hybrid-makes-perfect-sense-for-now And given it's a RAV-4/CR-V/Escape year in this segment, here's a nice piece on Honda's no-tranny, clutch-based system. https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1125111_confirmed-2020-honda-cr-v-hybrid-arriving-for-us-in-early-2020-will-top-40-mpg-city and the drivetrain. https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1087518_2014-honda-accord-hybrid-has-no-transmission-how-it-works Have fun, Frank

FWIW, here's the service history for mine. Lines separate invoices, oil changes highlighted at 5.6K, and every 10K after. The only thing that jumps out is brakes - rust issues up front, caliper issues in the rear - and the large number of recalls from Day 1... three PCM updates, one per year through 2015. Service Actions 2013 CMax.pdf And then there's the INL AVT data, 130-170K miles on four 2013's in heavy service in Az. All got trannies, none got batteries (2-year test). https://avt.inl.gov/vehicle-button/2013-ford-c-max This data isn't impressive until you look at some other electric vehicles. They don't fit on 1 page. I see the slow roll-out as a good thing. Today's paper had articles on it and Honda's CR-V Hybrid, noting that the Escape shares the Focus platform, as the C-Max had, and that Ford plans to build it in 5 plants, worldwide. We know FWD Hybrids are a Spring item, plug-in later than that. A slow but hopefully quality rollout. For me, a C-Max repeat would be excellent! Have fun, Frank

I notice the top tire in the CR table, and three others, are part of a Tire Rack test. They're listed in the same order... partly by chance; the middle two are tied. https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=231 Continuing the thought, I looked for other popular tires that might have a TR test, and sure enough, there's one with four from the table, including a repeat from above. https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=237 Now thing are muddled; TR reports 1% differences between tires that are effectively equal RR on the CR chart, 10.0, 10.1 and 10.2. Still a ~1% effect, though. HAve fun, Frank

Thanks for the compliment. While I agree that max sidewall pressure will not give you peak traction, it is still advisable across all brands of tires, if you're looking for minimum rolling resistance. Most drivers of unconventional drivetrains understand the huge effect of parasitic loses, and the primary ones are aero drag and rolling resistance. The reason suboptimal traction is OK, is that traction varies tremendously on a continuous basis, as road surface changes. You adapt to that very quickly if you're a good driver. And unless you test and adjust your tire pressure every day to verify you're at today's optimum pressure, you're always suboptimal. That makes the failure modes important. At too-low pressure, the tire rolls and the tread lifts, and traction disappears, or the tire gets hot and disintegrates (Ford's Explorer problem). At too-high pressure, the tire slides, but remains in contact so the driver retains far more control, with no risk of overloading. Easy choice. Lower tire pressure will give smoother ride over your poorly maintained roads. Given the braking problems you describe, you may need very low pressures to see improvement. Changing tires might help, but the fix is in upgraded shocks, to change the suspension hop resonance. Very true. When I was autocrossing, pressure varied from 25-45 psi depending on the tire design. Normal street tires ran close to 45/35 front/rear. Then BFG introduced asymmetric-sidewall tires that wouldn't roll at 25 psi. The trick was that every event, you would want to check tire pressures every run so you could tweak it for the next run. It wasn't unusual to move 2-4 psi due to weather and course conditions. The argument for sidewall rated pressures still stands. Have fun, Frank

Small comfort, Paul. You're besting the C-Max EPA mileage by 25%, so by your logic, it'll come in at 35 MPG! Note that on older cars like ours, the EPA site posts an average mileage (39.6 MPG) and links to the data. It reinforces my belief that folks will use as much fuel as their car allows; high mileage cars just don't allow fuel use. "Fun to drive" and high mileage requires driver participation. Have fun, Frank

More tread depth does something else, too. It stiffens the tread, increasing rolling resistance. That might be a factor if you'd stay with the same tire or manufacturer. Over several lines, Michelin seems to be invariant; I never see the snow tire transition, and the wife's getting good mileage out of the CrossClimate. Frank

Then consider these points about static and dynamic behavior. Static There are a couple relationships involved here. Pascal's Law tells us the force caused when pressure is applied to a surface. F = P x A for area A. - Force is the sprung weight on the tire's axle, plus the wheel and tire - Pressure is the "normal" force in the friction calculation, a measure of how hard the tire bites the road - Area is variable as pressure varies. The dry friction equation ( F = u x N) relates this "normal" force (N) to traction (F), through a "coefficient of friction (u)."We'll assume the friction coefficient is constant (this is where road surface matters). We'll also assume a level surface, no hills. The trick is that pressure changes affect the normal force, how much force is applied to the road by the tire. As pressure rises, contact area falls, but normal force increases by exactly the amount needed to maintain the same maximum friction. In a straight line, there's a small effect; braking and acceleration aren't very sensitive. Lateral acceleration is another story. Dynamic All consumer vehicles have more traction laterally than in a straight line, and all tires create traction by slipping. Let's look at what happens when you turn the wheel. Tire are never pointed where you're going, they're pointed past it, so they can slip a little and still get you the turn you expect. The chart shows how the amount of slip varies as you ask for more traction. - the slope of this line changes with tire design and rubber compound. Race rubber gets very steep while consumer tires are shallow. - the roll-over before max. traction is due to geometry changes in the tire. Race tire sidewalls are very stiff and fall off a cliff at the limit, while consumer tires deform and only drop slightly. Tire pressure will change a tire's behavior as you approach max. traction. Maximizing traction is all about keeping the tread on the road. At low pressure, the tire will deform significantly and the tread will lift off the road and traction will fall. At high pressure, deformation is much lower, but contact area diminishes eventually. In both cases, the tire tells the tale. At too-pressure, you'll see treadwear on the sidewall of the tire. That's bad. At too-high pressure, you'll wear-out tires in the center. That's bad. too. Optimum tire pressure maintains tread contact with the road under high slip conditions (hard cornering). From many users here, we know 50 psi isn't too-high or folks would report tire wear issues. You can find the low-pressure limit by marking the edge of your tread with white shoe polish, and doing donuts in the parking lot. You want it removed from tread area, but just to the edge. Make sense? Similar arguments apply to snow tires. Only a few odd cases where it doesn't (eg. dragster wrinkle-walls). Have fun, Frank