I've never felt my 07 FEH AWD was underpowered. And the last two vehicles I owned before this were saddled with over 400hp, so I have a pretty good frame of reference for fast and not fast. The Escape has never made me feel in danger due to lack of power to merge onto an expressway or anything. The only weird thing was getting used to the CVT. You keep expecting your body to be subjected to shift changes but they never come!

As for the AWD, I would skip it for SoCal. You'll save money on the sticker, you'll get better MPG, and you'll get a better tax credit (if you qualify).

Best trip: 48.9 mpg over 17.9 miles (scangauge)
Best tank: 40.7 mpg over 606 miles (calculated)