With the 2020 Ford Escape being revealed today, we thought we’d try our hand at rendering a 2020 Ford Escape ST sports version.
The fact that Ford has created ST versions of the Endura (nee Edge) and Explorer make the Escape or Kuga ST all but an inevitability. Using the same platform as the 2020 Ford Focus ST, the new Escape could easily accommodate that car’s 2.3-litre Ecoboost four-cylinder engine, which generates 206kW and 420Nm.
While the Focus ST is front-wheel drive, the Escape ST would no doubt be all-wheel drive, so could easily handle the 261kW/475Nm output of the Focus RS- which donated its engine to the new Focus ST. This also opens up the possibility of using GKN’s Twinster rear differential that gives the Focus RS its torque vectoring and famed ‘Drift Mode’. Combined with the eLSD as seen in the upcoming Focus ST, this could make the Escape ST an all-weather hero, despite its SUV stature.
There are plenty of performance SUVs on the horizon, which is a byproduct of the market’s shift to the higher-riding vehicles. Volkswagen and Skoda already have high performance SUVs on the market, while Hyundai is believed to be developing an N version of the Tucson. Stay tuned for more.