FORD has taken the scalpel to its Escape SUV for the first time since it appeared relatively late on Australia’s compact SUV scene in February 2001. The five-year-old model’s midlife facelift may be well overdue, but it’s amazing what a difference a new-look front-end, an all-new interior, revised engines, extra safety features and locally-developed refinement package has made. Available for under $30,000 for the first time, the cleaner-running, more flexible and more sophisticated Escape is now better equipped to turn heads in the booming compact SUV sector.