This medium sports utility goes heavy on spaciousness, specification and sizzle, but a touch more character and driver appeal wouldn’t go amiss.

Price: $55,990

Powertrain and economy: 2.0-litre turbo petrol four cylinder, 184kW/387Nm, 8-speed automatic, AWD, combined economy 8.6L/100km.

Vital statistics: 4620mm long, 1666mm high, 2178mm wide, 2710mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 556 litres, 19-inch alloy wheels.

We like: Hefty tech implementation, improved interior space over Kuga, strong powertrain.

We don't like: Lacks the Puma’s charisma, some iffy interior plastics.

MEDIUM and compact sports utilities have been all the rage for the past couple of years and with more adding in-vogue electric-assistance to their fossil-fuelled drivetrains, what’s to bet against strong demand continuing this year. 

Conceivably, then, Ford New Zealand has timed its run nicely with the new Puma and next-size-up Escape.

Respectively aimed at the small and medium sectors, these are new models based off well-respected hatchbacks – the Puma off the Euro-centric Fiesta, Escape off the more globally-sorted Focus – landing with the attraction of fresh stylings and strong specifications.

 Though they are not quite sister ships in different sizes, they certainly arrive as a double act opportunity with good chance of drawing interest from SUV-hungry customers keen to venture beyond the usual Japanese and South Korean opportunities.

We’ve already tested the Puma and found it hugely likeable. Now the Escape comes under the spotlight. Same again in a larger serving?

Well, to a degree. Think of these less as blood brothers and more like slightly estranged cousins. There are various reasons why the larger model delivers a different ambience, mainly relating to the DNA. Escape, like the Focus, is more of a Ford for global consideration than Fiesta and Puma; the latter really being engineered and designed for Europe, within that market. Whereas Escape, like Focus, has felt the hand of influencers within the make’s home office, in Detroit.

So, regardless of high commonality in general design flavour, they do take different paths in all sorts of ways, well beyond the obvious disparities of North America’s favouritism for shiny leather, wider and less form-fitting front seats and allowance for some harder plastics than you tend to find in Euro fare.

Beyond that, there’s the on-road feel. Puma is very driver-centric and fun-focused; as much as compact crossovers often tailor to appeal as urban hard-roofed couples-suited sports cars, this one really does raise the bar. 

The Escape is more circumspect in how it delivers on that front. Some of this is probably due to it being a more family-minded product, but you cannot help sense that the car’s attitude is also reflective of it having to find acceptance in a place Puma doesn’t tread, North America.

It’s not as laidback as the even larger and now-departed (yes, after just two years here) Ford Endura, which came to us from Canada, yet neither does it have the Puma’s energetic vitality and, if measured against the Focus, might seem less involving. 

That’s a bit of a shame, but it doesn’t scupper the Escape’s changes, and not just because it’s highly probable the targeted customer might not really care about sportiness so much as good spec, spaciousness and sensibility.

If those are more important boxes to tick, then the Escape does look very worthy of further investigation. It has good chance of establishing coherent crossover competence because it avails in useful formats across a reasonably wide price span and has the option – across all but the base specification - of an all-wheel-drive element.  

While the relevance of this has to be tempered with the reality of how that will be used – frankly, it’s a provision more useful for on-road aptitude than in enhancing any ability beyond – it does at least give this model a degree of additional usefulness.

Beyond that, the attractions are that it builds, just as the preceding Kuga did, off the underpinning and mechanicals of a popular car with a good reputation, that it is usefully-sized – having grown 89mm longer and 44mm wider than the Kuga, yet becoming lithe (6mm lower, up to 80kg lighter) – that it shares strong styling similarity with the donor Focus and that it is stacked in respect to the specification.

The latter deserves consideration. As much as we’re used to ‘modern’ cars now coming out with features that were hardly a given for high-priced prestige products less than a decade ago, the Escape really does provision richly across a lineup representing in base (just called ‘Escape’), ST-Line and ultimate ST-Line X level that’s on test here.

At face value the base $42,990 car seems good enough to make the more expensive variants seem unnecessary, given it delivers with 17-inch alloy wheels, wireless phone charging, embedded satellite navigation, adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, a reversing camera, traffic jam assist, traffic sign recognition.

It also features Ford’s embedded FordPass modem, which provides data connectivity to the car, and enables remote unlocking, a find-my-car feature, fuel level checking, and remote start with air-conditioning function, all from your smartphone. Not a function we could enable for this test, unfortunately, yet one that will be useful in genuine ownership expertience.

The additional expense of the ST-Line ($47,990 in front-drive, $50,990 with AWD) buys in a 12-inch digital instrument cluster that is a mine of information, plus it achieves ambient LED lighting, rain sensing wipers, an auto-dimming rear view mirror, keyless entry, tyre pressure monitoring, a rear spoiler, roof rails, an ST-Line body kit and 18-inch alloy wheels. Again, a really complete suite of sweet stuff.

So you’d go to the $55,990 ST-Line X because …? Well, basically to establish a ‘top trumps’ status.

The only edition that occasions without the front-drive option, it alone also achieves partial leather upholstery, clever “dynamic bending” LED headlights, a power tailgate, a 10-way power-adjustable driver’s seat with heating/memory for the front chairs, a panoramic sunroof, a 10-speaker B&O audio system, full self-parking ability and 19-inch rims.  

Worth the extra or simply over-egging an already rich recipe? You decide. Ford NZ concurs the flagship probably won’t be the biggest volume edition and, personally, though it is certainly handsome at the kerbside, there’s nothing here that I’d absolutely want. 

Whichever model is chosen, you’re sitting behind the same engine – a 2.0-litre petrol turbo four that produces 184kW of power and 387Nm of torque, hooked up to an eight-speed automatic transmission.

There’ll ultimately be an alternate choice plug-in hybrid version set to furnish across the mid and highest grades and offering 50km or so of pure electric propulsion. It’s a car Ford NZ is very eager to lay hands on, but unfortunately that’s not going to happen for some months yet; NZ hasn’t the priority status of key markets where such technology is incentivised and required to avoid emissions penalties, and now there’s an issue with the battery being subject to overheating issues.

In the here and now, then, it’s the ST-Line X carries the title of tech king and also stands as the best dressed of the family, having been loaded with all the body design enhancements.

Apart from having the largest diameter and best-looking alloy design, it achieves body-coloured plastic side cladding, which helps create the visual effect of a lower stance. Black window strips in lieu of chrome items, square-tipped exhaust shrouds are another element that lifts its perceived quality. 

Notwithstanding the iffy quality of some of the plastics, the cabin looks and feels well considered. That 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster is abetted by an 8.0-inch central infotainment screen, which features Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (usefully, the Escape has both wireless and USB-C device charging) and has crisp resolution and good colour. You get a head-up display that, unlike many, remains clearly visible through polarised sunglasses.

The Jaguar-esque circular gear selector, also a feature of the Puma and Focus, is a bit of a love-or-hate item; yes, I agree that it is brilliant for freeing up room in the lower console (and thus creating space for a large, open storage tray and decent-sized cupholders) but, as in those other recipient cars, over a week’s driving I never found it intuitive. I constantly found myself having to check that I’d engaged the correct drive mode.

Fortunately, the greater part of the technology provision isn’t so challenging. That’s a great thing to say, because this car really delivers excellent focus on driver assistance features, even beyond the … erm … Focus.

 Adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist, traffic sign recognition, and blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert all feature as standard. As a colleague pointed out it would be even better with a 360-degree camera, but overall you have a host of useful assists that are easy to understand, operate and adjust to suit your preferences. It’s just a shame a touch more effort wasn’t put into making the cabin aesthetic as smart as the tech. Even though the materials feel durable and hard-wearing, it lacks the quality seen in some rivals. 

Kuga proved to be a good choice of car for family use but Escape might be even better; the doors open that little bit wider and there’s just so much more room in the back – considerations that will appeal to those who need to fit in a couple of child seats.

In terms of adult occupant space, it’s also good. The back of the front chairs has been scalloped to provision optimal legroom and the boxy roof line allows for decent head room. While I just couldn’t get the front driver’s chair quite low enough for my taste – that’s a major change from the Puma, which offers much more adjustment - had I been sitting behind it I would not have complained about the generous foot room that results from the slightly high-set placement.

Rear seat occupants also achieve access to a fast-charging USB-C and regular USB port but might wish for more storage options. The rear door pockets are far from generous and the absence of a centre armrest means no cupholders or ski-flap.

The boot’s storage space varies between 412–526 litres depending on how deeply you adjust the sliding second row. The cavity is wide, though the load sill is high. 

Driven with four aboard or simply with a driver, the Escape doesn’t lack for power. It’s a strong engine from the get-go and has decent mid-range torque attributes; the elasticity of the delivery means so rolling on the power in higher gears doesn't always require dropping a gear. All in all it evidences as a brisk SUV.

The transmission gear changes are positive and the all-wheel-drive goes about its business unobtrusively, primarily sending power to just the front wheels, decoupling the rear axle for fuel saving until it is required. This setup means that for the vast majority of day-to-day driving it’s a front-wheel drive SUV, but should you hit a slippery surface – not just mud but even seal affected by torrential rain - drive is instantly sent to the wheels with the highest grip levels. Most drivers will never notice the system operating as it does so seamlessly, and it is always active, so there is no particular need to select a particular mode, though some are provided.

In Ford-speak, the ST-Line designation is only expected to signal ‘sporty’ in look rather than feel; if you want the full-out performance experience, the idea is to look to the ST model line, which means either a Fiesta or a Focus.

With that in mind, the ST-Line crossovers shouldn’t be expected to come across as hot hatch alternates. And, yet, for all that … well, the Puma in that form really could.

It’s a different story for Escape. It’s not too bad, but even with a firmer suspension setting than the base edition, there’s no Puma-esque corner-challenging cheekiness to be found here and, all in all, the chassis feels less polished.

When you slip into the Puma, it takes very little time to discern that everything about how it drives has been very carefully calibrated. You can drive it quickly, and appreciate the fun factor, but it can also be operated entirely normally and you’ll still come away thinking it’s just a bit special.

The Escape lacks that element and so struggles to be memorable in the way the Puma does, largely because it just doesn’t communicate anything like as coherently through the chassis and the controls.

The ride quality is an awkward subject. Obviously, with the lowest-profile tyres and the largest wheels, the ST-Line X is set to be most prone to being beset by road noise and even jitter from our notoriously unforgiving coarse chip surfaces. And, sure enough, those factors are evident. Yet, even on smooth tarmac ride quality seems a bit hit-and-miss.

Given the performance pep, it’s a pity the Escape wasn’t a bit more intuitive and interesting. You sense this factor could well undermine the pluses, not least that great packaging and tech credentials, which would be a pity. Yet, as is, if you pitted this car against the likes of the Toyota RAV4, a car which has really stepped up considerably in respect to driving character, and the Mazda CX-5, it’d deliver less driver enjoyment.

Still, in overall terms, even though it lacks the Puma’s spunk, the Escape is very much a good consideration for crossover and SUV fans. If the ST-Line X seems a bit rich – and it might be, unless you intend to cross-ship against the VW Tiguan and Volvo XC40 – then the $5000 cheaper ST-Line would be a decent choice.

Once the PHEV includes, Ford’s hand will be all the stronger, notwithstanding that it is set to carry a $11k premium over the ST-Line X. There’s always a stern price to pay for savings at the pump when batteries are included, sadly.

Even so, having this car and the Puma at least gives Ford a chance to divorce from being known for selling Rangers, some Mustangs and little else. As much as the ute and the Pony car have done the Blue Oval proud, there’s nothing wrong with having a properly full house hand.