How is the Badlands at Highway Speeds?

[Econoline]

I'm curious what people think of the BL freeway performance at 70-85mph. What rpm's do you see, is there still power in reserve, and is it a relaxed cruise at speed?

I'm coming from an Escape hybrid that is unpleasant and stressful to run at those speeds (think 4k rpm), so I'm hoping the BL will be a big improvement in that area.

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[Chief of the Boat]

I traded our 2014 Escapee Titanium 2.0 4WD for the Badlands. The Badlands is a blast to drive more power I think better mileage if I run the ECO mode. Running 70 right around 2k.

 

[MKohlman]

Badlands with the 2.0L is a great road trip vehicle. Quiet, comfortable and very good power at any reasonable highway speed.

 

[Bronco II]

The Badlands is great at highway speeds 70 - 80 miles per hour are easy and stress free

 

[Econoline]

Thanks guys, that's what I was hoping to hear. ?

 

[retiredguy]

I drove my BL from NJ to FL, about 1100 miles, and it has great power and I was cruising between 70-75 for part of the trip.

 

[stoopidrookie]

At 73 mph the revs are under 2k. It’s smooth, relaxed, and ready to jump when needed.

 

[ZeroCool]

I obviously agree with all here I think it performs great!

 

[Big Kahuna]

Like the others have said, this thing is great on all roadways. My wife actually commented on how she really liked the stiffer ride compared to her old Nissan... although she may be a little more accustom to bumpy rides since she spends a lot of time riding in my kidney bustin', full leaf sprung, '04 F250. The Baby Bronco performs well on our mountain twisty roads but also not too stiff for downtown or highway travels. Cabin is quiet at all speeds and the 2.0 seems always ready to kick it up a notch.

 

[Mark S.]

I'm curious what people think of the BL freeway performance at 70-85mph.

I’m going to go a bit against the grain on this one. The BS is an attempt at an all-round vehicle, which means compromises. It’s good at a lot of things, but not really great at anything—other being an all-rounder. It’ll take you places you can’t get to with your average family sedan, and it’s comfortable on the road, but not as comfortable as your average family sedan.

You can cruise comfortably all day at 70 mph, and it has the power to easily do 85 mph. But I think 85 mph would get tiresome quickly, mainly because the car has a short wheelbase—which makes the steering a bit twitchy at high speed—it sits higher—which means it’s more affected by the wind—it and doesn’t handle as well as a car made to cruise on the highway. Additionally, the boxy design is much less aerodynamic, which means fuel economy will be very sensitive to speed.

I think 70 mph is much more realistic expectation for a comfortable, relaxed, economic highway speed. But your comfort, relaxation, and dollar tolerance may be higher than mine.

 

[Monkey]

Works great at 75-85 MPH. And we have the upgraded 235/65-17 Falken Wildpeak AT tires.

 

[RSH]

The Badlands has great hiway/freeway power and performance, it never works hard, loaded or unloaded makes no difference.

 

[69cuda340s]

Mine goes down highway smooth and quiet with a lot of power in reserve if needed.

 

[Orin]

I know it ain't much of a comparison but it's much quieter than my 2015 Toyota Camry and a lot faster.

 

[Colorado Bronco]

I'm curious what people think of the BL freeway performance at 70-85mph. What rpm's do you see, is there still power in reserve, and is it a relaxed cruise at speed?

I'm coming from an Escape hybrid that is unpleasant and stressful to run at those speeds (think 4k rpm), so I'm hoping the BL will be a big improvement in that area.

I traded in a 2018 Escape 2L Titanium that had way more power than I needed....

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