Anyone towing with a 2013 Ford Escape?

[floyd]

Originally Posted by LeonardS

At the FORD website, there is a document regarding Ford Escape towing. I have attempted to attach it here.

The document brings up "Frontal Area Consideration". Specifically, the 2.0 Ecoboost with towing package has a "limitation/consideration" of 30 square feet total for "moving vehicle and trailer".

30 square feet doesn't seem like that much, especially if one has to add in the Escape's frontal area. Wouldn't that "limit" one to pulling a small boat, or pop-up camper?

I'm all for choosing a economic, relatively high mpg vehicle, and appreciate that many choose Ford Escapes for their tow vehicles, and tow successfully, and have done so for years. But reading this "Frontal Area Consideration" certainly puts a different light on the Escape's stated capabilities. Maybe there is more to the towing equation than simply a weight rating.

I personally backed away from the Escape, maybe prematurely, as a tow vehicle after reading this guide. I was looking to upgrade from my wife's Forester's 2400 lb. rating in order to tow a 15 or 16 or even a 17 foot FGRV, but the "Frontal Area Consideration" brought up by Ford made me wonder if I was going to be unhappy with the results. I certainly didn't want to be burning up a new tow vehicle, which is sort of what they are suggesting.

So what is the Frontal Area Consideration for the Subaru? I couldn't find a word about it in their literature.

[LeonardS]

Floyd, I don't know either, I haven't found it in any Subaru documentation. I mentioned "Frontal Area Consideration" only because Ford mentions it for the Escape, and it seems pretty limiting. They mention it for the Edge and Flex also. I haven't done the research to determine just exactly what model year they started mentioning a "Frontal Area Consideration". Seems to me like they are finding a way to hedge their weight rating, ie. advertise one thing then take it away with with a "Consideration" later.

For me, i was willing to go up to the very edge of the Forester's weight rating until I factored in it's 200 lb. tongue rating and squishy rear suspension, and the "no WDH" rating. (forgive me if I use the word "rating" wrong, gets dizzy considering semantics). Upgrades to the Forester's suspension are not common, as the US version has some sort of frame/sub-frame rubber isolation that has to be taken into account.

(figured out that the file is too big...)

http://www.ford.com/resources/ford/g...&tt_escape.pdf

http://www.ford.com/towingguides/

[Brian B-P]

Frontal area is a common limitation. It is the auto manufacturer's attempt to account for the sustained rate of work the tow vehicle must do to overcome aerodynamic drag of the trailer, and is not unique to Ford. Honda has provided different trailer weight ratings for trailers in general and for boats - the idea is that a boat has less frontal area and air drag than a similar weight of box-shaped cargo trailer or travel trailer.

The Escape's area does not need to be added to that of the trailer. Imagine you are looking at the tow vehicle and trailer head-on, with light coming from behind them so all you see is a silhouette - the area of the outline you see is the frontal area.

[LeonardS]

Thanks Brian. That helps explain this "Frontal Area" issue. So a 6 foot wide Scamp that is 6 foot tall would likely overlap the Ford Escape's frontal area, negating having to add it in. And the 6 foot width of the Scamp might be counted a bit less since it has rounded corners. Close enough to the 30 square foot "consideration", which really only warns about performance loss.

Except for that not being exactly how air flows around any vehicle (one shadowing the other), which there is no way Ford or any other company is going to try to explain in an online brochure, at least it is a good starting point for consideration. Maybe I should have kept the Ford Escape in mind.

Too late for me, I just bought a new 2012 Frontier as the dealers were very anxious to get rid of them, and the factory was throwing lots of money in as an incentive. Now if I can just convince our dog to ride in the king cab part...

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by andix

I had a 2008 Escape 3-spd AWD with a 3.0-liter engine and touted 200HP@4000RPM.

I should have caught this earlier...

Andy, if you were expecting 200 horsepower at 4000 rpm, you might operate the vehicle at a very low engine speed and be disappointed with performance. The actual ratings for the 2008 3.0L V6 are:

power: 200 hp @ 6000 rpm
torque: 193 ft-lbs. @ 4850 rpm

At 4000 rpm, this engine isn't even up to its peak torque, let alone peak power. At 4000 rpm, it might make 120 horsepower at full throttle.


The entirely different top engine in a 2013 Escape (2.0L L4 turbo) is rated:

power: 240 hp @ 5500 rpm (premium fuel) or 231 hp @ 5500 rpm (regular fuel)
torque: 270 lb-ft @ 3000 rpm

This engine would not need to run as fast as the old 3.0 V6 to produce the required power. At 4000 rpm this engine would be able to produce about 200 horsepower; 120 hp would take only 2700 rpm or so.

The new model has much more power, more readily available. Despite likely performing much better in terms of acceleration and grade climbing, the 2013 has no higher maximum trailer weight rating than the 2008. This demonstrates that an arbitrary rule such as limiting trailer weight to half of the rated maximum for performance doesn't make sense; one vehicle might be safe and performing very well at its rated trailer weight, while another might be still safe but performing barely adequately at its rated trailer weight.

[ONEFORD]

Here are pics of my 2013 Escape 2.0 4WD tow package, Fiberglass RV - ONEFORD's Album: 2013 ford Escape Travel Lite I17

[frank_a]

Boy, nice looking rig! How does it do on steep hills and mountainous terrain?

Frank

[ONEFORD]

It does better than my Econoline E-350 with the 5.4L. The escape has a better weight to power ratio and more gears with a flat torque curve and alot better mpg's. With the 6 speed trans, even if it does kick down on hills, the rpm's dont screem. Cant wait untill manufactures start coming out with 8 and 9 speed transmissions.

[frank_a]

Boy, that is good to know. Tell me, what does your trailer weigh? Not dry weight, but what you figure you're towing when going camping?

Thanks!

Frank

[ONEFORD]

3500lbs is the max (loaded) rating for my trailer. unloaded (dry) is 2795lbs. I tow around 3200lbs when I go camping. I have towed it at max with no problem even on hills.

[frank_a]

That is absolutely fascinating Daniel. We should add that Titanium Escape to vehicles we are considering. I wonder how it would do pulling a boat out of a steep launch? That is one of the reasons we are looking primarily at 4wd vehicles with primary rear drive. Hmmmm....

Frank

[ONEFORD]

Yes I have 4WD because some norhtern Michigan camp sites are a little rough and morning dew on the grass willl disable many a 2 wheel drive. The 5.4 Liter V8 Econoline only had 225HP/ 286T (had to be high rpm to get that)and weight was 5000LB. The Escape has 240HP/ 270T (@ low rpm) and weight is 3700lb. So half the engine with 15 more HP and only 16 lbs less of torque and weigh's 1000lbs less. Did I mention twice the gas millage ...

[ONEFORD]

I pull the trailer out of a wet grass backyard with out wheel spin. The Escape is labled as smart "4WD" not "AWD". In the rain you can floor it and it hooks up and will show where the power is going and where wheel spin is and account for it.

[frank_a]

The egg we're looking at it the 17' Casita Sirit Deluxe, which their website says has a dry weight of 2,480#s and 365#s of tongue weight. That sounds like less than what you're hauling Daniel, so we're gonna have to test drive one of those. One of the things I really like about them is the mileage is so much better than most of the stuff we're been considering. Thanks!

Frank

[ONEFORD]

Yes, I am towing more than you. Remember I use trailer brakes and a weight distribution hitch with anti sway. I probly has 400lbs tongue weight. My profile pic shows how the trailer will ride(no sag) . The realistic MPG's numbers I have seen are; Mpg's towing 11-16. Mpg's un-towing 21-27.

[frank_a]

I use trailer brakes and have sway control on my trailer. When I look at the 2014 Titanium, they only come with a Class II hitch. So I would need to get an aftermarket Class IV? How did you get your Escape wired for a 7 pin RV plug?

Thanks!

Frank

[David Tilston]

Daniel, Did you get the factory tow package, and if so, what is included, besides a receiver?

[Mike Magee]

I would consider towing my trailer with one of those. However, my 16 footer from KZ is only 350 lb tongue weight when loaded. Isn't the Ford Escape hitch receiver spec'd at 3500 lb tow/350 lb tongue weight? If so, have you considered having the receiver modified so it attaches more securely? A good welding shop could ensure that it won't separate. Anyway, I hope you'll crawl underneath every so often and inspect it to make sure it is not tearing the Escape's underside anywhere or damaging the receiver.

[Brian B-P]

Originally Posted by frank_a

I use trailer brakes and have sway control on my trailer. When I look at the 2014 Titanium, they only come with a Class II hitch. So I would need to get an aftermarket Class IV?

Class 4 is over 5000 pounds, and up to 10,000 pounds, gross trailer weight; I don't see why any trailer within the Escape's 3500 pound rating would need that.

Frank, you don't mention a weight-distributing hitch (WDH) but Daniel is using one (an Anderson No-Sway). Any commercially available WDH will require a 2" hitch receiver, which is usually a Class 3 (or higher) product. If the Escape only comes from the factory with a 1.25" receiver (which is likely) and a WDH is used, an aftermarket 2" receiver would be required.

[Christin]

Funny thing today, called Scamp because i needed to order a few parts for "trashy egg" and we talked about my towing vehicle, he mentioned that that is exactly the car they recommend..

Did everything consider a Diesel engine for towing? I would go the next time with a VW Diesel, i think the 42miles/gallon are awesome and the more on torque should do it.