My 2003 Prius has had it.\u00a0 At 230,000 miles it was time to trade it in.\u00a0 It served me well and we went places I had no business taking it (read \u201csome pretty nasty dirt roads\u201d).\u00a0 But it wasn\u2019t really a good car for landscape photography.\u00a0 Nevertheless, it never complained.<\/p>\n
So around the end of last year I started thinking about a car that would be great for the kind of photography I do.\u00a0 I had some basic requirements:<\/p>\n
A survey on the internet turned up several makes and models but the Ford Escape hybrid was at the top of the list.\u00a0 I visited the dealer and none were to be found in all of Southern California so on January 11th I placed the order.\u00a0 The decision looked good on paper but would the actual vehicle measure up?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Well, it took Ford a while to get around to building it and finally six months later (to the day) I finally got my hands on it on July 11th.\u00a0 Now, I have to add very quickly that patience is a virtue and pays off.\u00a0 And this experience only served to reinforce this notion.\u00a0 Here\u2019s why\u2026.<\/p>\n
So far, so good.<\/p>\n
The car is really nice looking.\u00a0 It rides well and as a small SUV has somewhat limited cargo space.,\u00a0 But drop the back seats and then there\u2019s more than enough.\u00a0 It has SYNC and XM satellite radio so I jokingly call it the largest computer I ever bought.\u00a0 The ride is firm as you would hope for heading out on, yep, you guessed it, those rugged dirt roads.<\/p>\n
The big question in my mind was what kind of gas mileage I\u2019d get.\u00a0 Ford claims 30 mpg but other sources said it was more like 26.\u00a0 I was really hoping for 30.<\/p>\n
Initially, driving in city and on freeways to and from work I was getting 30-32 mpg.\u00a0 Hey, not bad.\u00a0 But I wondered how it would perform on an actual workshop.<\/p>\n
Well, last week I got to try it out up in Big Sur, California<\/a>.\u00a0 I drove up on a Friday afternoon right through downtown LA (yes, I\u2019m going to schedule an appointment to get my head examined) and got 32 mpg but there was a lot of stop and go driving (DUH!) which is something the Escape excels at.\u00a0 So, while I was pleased, I still didn\u2019t know how it would actually perform on long distance freeway driving.<\/p>\n And while the workshop itself had a lot of driving it was along highway 1, the spectacular Cabrillo Highway, where average speeds are between 35 and 40 mph.\u00a0 And again I was getting 32 mpg but that wasn\u2019t the real test.<\/p>\n It was on the drive home this past Friday that I was able to put it on a freeway, set the cruise control at 65 mph and just go.\u00a0 And I was not disappointed.\u00a0 Again the mileage came in at 32 mpg.\u00a0 OK, I admit.\u00a0 I was driving 65 and not my usual 75.\u00a0 But I wanted to do kind of a best case scenario.\u00a0 I\u2019ll get it on the road and see how it does at 75 one of these days,<\/p>\n Oh, and I got it on a dirt road.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t a bad one at all, nothing close to where the Prius and I went but it was a start.\u00a0 It laid a good layer of dust on the car and that felt right (although I\u2019ll admit I got it washed just as soon as I got back home).<\/p>\n So we\u2019re off to a really good start.\u00a0 I\u2019m very pleased with this choice.\u00a0 I\u2019m looking forward to many good miles together.\u00a0 Oh, and the XM radio \u2013 how did I ever get along without it.\u00a0 Now I can drive the Cabrillo highway with the moon roof open and the classical music cranked way up (yes, classical music lovers like to crank it up too)!\u00a0 Perfect.<\/p>\n