TO GIVE you an idea of
what the current Ford
Escort is like, a little history
is in order.

Friday, March 13, 1992 - North Shore News - 41

Ford Escort

Roomy, fuel-efficient and fun-to-drive sedan

fuel-saving
transmis-

modifications) until 1990 even
though Japanese manufacturers
were redesigning and improving
their cars every four of five years.
The result was that by the late

4&4 Beyond the Ford Escort’s standard list
of features is that hard-to-define
characteristic usually described as being
“driver-friendly”...79

The original Ford Escort, in-
troduced in the fall of 1980, was a
practical, fuel-efficient, and inex-
pensive little hatchback. in fact,
the Escort was the top-selling car
in North America for seven years,
mainly because it was so cheap.

However, Ford continued to sell
the original Escort (with minor

‘80s, the Escort became outdated,
losing its lofty position in the sales
charts.

Then came the redesigned
Escort in the spring of 1990, a
drastically improved automobile
that uses a Mazda Protege plat-
form and a Ford-designed body,
interior, and base 1.9-litre engine.

data

Price as tested: $16,986

Base price: (LX-E) $15,195
Type: four-door, five-
passenger sedan
Layout: transverse
engine/front wheel drive
Engine: 1.8-litre four-cylinder,

front

The new Escort is on par with
the best Japanese and European
subcompacts; however, it resem-
bles the old (and outdated) Escort
and is now up against at least a
dozen new competitors. In my
opinion, the new Escort is one of
the better subcompacts on the
market and deserves more recog-
nition.

On a strict comparison basis,
the Escort scores well. {nterior
room, trunk space, fit and finish,
performance and price are all
equal to, or better than, other
subcompacts. The Escort is avail-
able with all the features that sub-
compact buyers want, including a
roomy interior with seating (and
seatbelts) for five passengers, split
fold-down rear seats for access to
the trunk, power steering, intervai
wipers, and an economical 80-
horsepower 1.9-litre four-cylinder
engine mated to a standard five-

DOHC, (6-valve, multi-port
electronic fuel injection
Horsepower: 127 @ 6,500 rpm
Torque: 108 @ 3,000 rpm
Transmission: five-speed man-
ual (four-speed automatic)
veka weight: 1,118 ke/2,464
S.
Wheelbase: 2,499 mm/98.4 in,
Length: 4,341 mm/170.9 in.
Width: 1,694 mm/66.7 in.
Height: ,339 mm/52.7 in.

speed manual or
four-speed automatic
sion.

Beyond the standard list of
features is that hard-to-define
characteristic usua!ly described as
being ‘‘driver-friendly’’ or ‘‘fun-
to-drive.’’ The Escort's precise
steering, stable handling, and
responsive engine give the driver a
feeling of confidence and security.

Its excellent outward visibility
and low hoodline makes lane-
changing easier’ and helps vision
on those dark, rainy nights when
general visibility is poor. The
Escort is also small enough to fit
into most parking spaces and easy
to get in and out of.

Its large (343-litre) trunk has a
flat, carpeted floor, low liftover
height, and a trunk lid that lifts
up past 90 degrees to lessen the
chance of the head hitting the
lower lip. Fold-down, 60/40-split

Tires: P185/60 R14 steel-belted
radials
Trunk space:
cu.ft.

Fuel economy: City 9.0 1/100
km, 31 mpg; Hws 6.8 1/100
km, 42 mpg
Warranty: Complete
yrs/60,000 km

Check out the Ford Escort at
Dave Buck Ford, 879 Marine
Dr., North Van.

343 litres/12.1

three

D

NEWS photos Cindy Goodman

Greg
Wilson

TEST DRIVE

rear seats substantially increase
cargo-carrying capacity.
Escorts are also priced com-

petitively, particularly when com-

See LX-E sedan page 47