When planting the gas pedal from a dead stop, there was a slightly delayed response, but in normal driving the lack of lag made it easy to forget there was a turbo under the hood.

Twelve years ago, SUVs remained popular, crossovers were virtually unheard of, and car companies were attempting to keep a straight face while presenting 4-wheeled atrocities such as the Pontiac Aztek. The market was ripe for the all-new Ford Escape, a ruggedly boxy rig that wasn’t as big and thirsty as a Chevy Suburban. In the years since, the number of quality competitors has nearly doubled, prompting the debut of the redesigned 2013 Ford Escape, a European-inspired crossover delivering bold styling, modern powertrains and a bounty of technology.