Hi! As the new owner of an AWD FEH, I am wondering how many others out there have the AWD model, and what kind of mileage you are getting. The mileage database isn't broken down into separate stats for FWD or AWD models, and some people haven't indicated which model they have. Are folks getting the advertised mileage of 29 HWY/33 CITY? or better?

I also find it interesting that I have seen little reference to the AWD capability of the FEH. Myself, living here in the "great white north", will not own a vehicle that is not 4WD-capable, and so was avidly awaiting the release of the FEH, as the first 4WD hybrid. Anyone else select the FEH for that reason? Of course, I would LOVE the MPG of the Prius, but until they make it capable of getting up and down my driveway in a blizzard, I will be "making do" with the Escape! (Not that it's really "making do", I LOVE it - my other car is a 2002 V6 Escape, which I bought because I couldn't wait for the Hybrid and figured I'd make sure I could live with the Escape itself before taking the plunge, and I love that one too. But not as much as the FEH!)

I guess my dream car would be a 4WD FEH that gets 50 MPG... even at zero degrees, on snowy hills... and still lists at under $30K.

My perspective is it's easy to get the EPA highway mileage, but harder to get the 33MPG city mileage.

A large part of the problem is the nature of the EPA city test.

Have not had an opportunity to test the AWD capabilities yet but everything I've heard about the 2005s in general is that it works quite well.

Hi there,

I just finished driving my brand new Escape Hybrid - 4WD from just outside Santa Fe, NM to an hour north of Denver.

The screen showed 29-32 mpg throughout the trip.

I bough my first tank of gas in Raton, NM. 11.45G, 323 miles. That puts it in the neighborhood of 28.2 mpg. And that's pretty fantastic for the altitude I had to gain on the way there.

At several points of the trip, I was seeing 34-MAX on downhill stretches, and never lower than 28 on uphills.

I still have 180 miles left on the tank before my 2nd fill up.

We'll see how it turns out over time, but so far, I'm ecstatic with that kind of mileage in those conditions.

I spoke to my dealer in Albuquerque, and he said the only other one they sold is driven around Alb and is reporting 40mpg in the city. That one should also be a 4WD.

Have a great day,

JoeB

I've been on the road driving around the country, and I've been pleasantly surprised that my mileage has really improved. Compared to the low 20s I was getting when it was new in Feb. in NYC. I'm now getting what seems to be better than EPA. Tank before last was 35.0mpg! (mixed highway and city).

I spent an entire tank at 75mph on the interstate, and got almost 31mpg - though I think this is largely due to the fact that it never had to warm up once during that tank.

I'm also seeing that the more I drive it, the better everything seems to get, for example the max speed I can achieve in EV keeps rising, from less than 20 when it was new to 35 yesterday.

Can't wait to get it back to NYC and put it through it's "everyday" paces and see what mileage I get.

After my first 1500 miles (in 2 weeks) of mixed city/highway driving with a HEAVY lead foot, I'm quite happy to be right between 28-29mpg. I haven't yet been able to get 30+mpg in city, but as I said I tend to accelerate heavily.

Quick note: 2nd tank, 340 miles, 10.7 Gal, 32 MPG.

hee hee.

FEH 4WD: up to 700 on the odometer.

Got a nice, 500-mile tank today. Combined city/slow rural/**** fast highway mileage. That's about 33 MPG on the 15 mile tank. And yes, I was doing 80 in the fast lane of the L-I-E heading out to Shelter Island.

This is a heartening thread. I just got my 4WD '06 today. 37 miles and I'm up to over 20 mpg. I'm well aware of the prep time needed to get good milage, and I'm in no rush. Even if I don't get 33, as long as I'm above 18 or so, I'm happy.

Haha. At 37 miles I wouldn't be surprised if you were at 10 MPG or 40. Definitely too little to tell Good luck bringing it up!

Visit my newly-acquired website, Volconvo Debate Forums!

I get high mileage (33) even though I have AWD. The weight of the drive shaft and attachments for 4WD (300 lbs.) is the only consideration when not using 4WD and it subtracts about 1 MPG. When actually using 4WD (off-road, snow, and weather) you will lose about 10% mileage.

The downside is that there are some conditions of high loss of torque (the wheel or wheels are stationary and the engine starts to increase power input but for some reason cannot overcome the torque required to move forward) the engine will get to a certain point (as directed by the software) where it will decide to start shutting down power output so as to not hurt the engine. The software in the original is too conservative and there are reports of vehicles coming to a stop or not being able to pull itself onto pavement. This has happened to me. It may have been fixed in firmware updates. The self-fix is to reboot (turn off the car and turn back on) and every bit of power comes back. I hope this is understandable.

Mike

Mike Maline - Sdctcher
2005 Ford Escape Hybrid Owner
California School Teacher