Ford My Touch | That Mom Blog

Last week Ford invited a bunch of Social Media influencers out to “Escape for the day” and learn all about the new 2013 Ford Escape.

Photo Credit – Ford of Canada

We started off with a quick meet and greet and lunch at Arta in the Distillery District in Toronto. They had a short presentation on the Escape to let us know what is so great about it. Did you know, the Ford Escape is the best selling vehicle in it’s class for the past 8 years? Pretty impressive!

Photo Credit – Ford of Canada

After the presentation we were paired up with partners and ready to hit the road. For our first stop we were off to the Drive to Discover event at Square one in Mississauga. They had a few stations for us to visit allowing us to learn more about what Ford has to offer. Our first challenge was a Cargo Challenge in the new Escape where we had to pack it up as fast as we can with Tetris style blocks. We got to test out the new feature of being able to open the rear lift gate hands free -by using your foot – how cool!

The other interactive displays included an iPad driving trivia game, making our own Ford Escape commercial where we got to pretend we were doing an extreme sport (I chose skydiving, which I will do one day), and getting to test out the Active Park Assist to parallel park a car. This is a feature that I could really get used to. Just the other day I found myself wishing I had it while trying to parallel park in a tight spot.

Photo Credit – Ford of Canada

I won’t lie, I may have let out a couple of nervous squeals when it was my turn to try it out. It was a weird sensation allowing the car to take over the steering, while you are still working the gas and the breaks, but it worked perfectly. Once you activate the the park assist, the directions are displayed on the My Ford Touch screen right in front of you – easy peasy!

Once we were done at the Drive to Discover event, we hopped back into our Escapes and headed towards the International centre to drive a closed test course – Can you say FUN? This was my most favorite part of the day. The first two times we went around we had a professional driver at the wheel. His first lap (below) he took it a little ‘slow’, if you could call it slow. His second… well if you think our squeals and screams were loud in this video, double it. SO much fun! And to think that as fast as he drove for us, he still would be driving a lot faster if we were not in the car. (Thank you Wendy AKA Mapsgirl (@Mapsgirl on twitter) for sharing the video with me for my blog)

I was so excited when it was my turn to drive, and I think I ROCKED it! I only hit one pylon, and that was only because someone ahead of me knocked it out of line and they didn’t get it back up before I went through. It was so fun being able to put the pedal to the medal and drive as fast as you can, take the corners as sharp as you can, and scare the pants off the lucky person that gets to be in the passenger seat beside you. Unfortunately they video’s of me driving the course got lost in the shuffle, but if they do turn up, I will be sure to post them!

I couldn’t believe how well the Escape handled our crazy driving. It was so easy to keep control of, even flying around those cones at the speed of light (well, maybe not THAT fast, but it sure felt like it!). The curve control definitely came in really handy.

Photo Credit – Ford of Canada

If driving on the closed course wasn’t enough fun, we were next off to Rattle Snake Point in Milton for ROCK CLIMBING! We found out about this a couple days before the event, and I was stoked. I have been doing a lot of really fun things over this past year, pushing myself to places I never thought I would go. Rock climbing was definitely something really awesome to add to that list. Helmet and gear on I walked down that steep path to the cliff base and then, I froze. Not going to happen. Yes, after talking two other people into doing it, I chickened out. It was STEEP. Someday I will do this, but maybe I will try one of those indoor rock climbing places first. You know, the ones that have those bright coloured ‘rocks’ that give you specific places to put your hands and feet? Ya. Didn’t see that coming!

Photo Credit – Ford of Canada

After we were done there we headed back to the Distillery District for some dinner and cocktails. A nice time to reflect and catch up with some of the other bloggers and tweeters about the fun day we just had. We got to see some of the pictures taken throughout the day (the same photos I have been sharing on this post), as well as a great little video montage they had quickly put together for us. It was the perfect way to end such a great day.

Thank you once again Ford Canada for the ‘Escape’. It was a really fun day out. I absolutely loved the Escape, and would gladly drive one of those over my mini van (seriously, I can’t wait to upgrade to something that is NOT a mini van). Once again, Ford has proven to me that their vehicles rock. The features, the handling, and the LOOKS. You have to give it to them, they have been putting out some fine looking vehicles lately!

If you would like to ask me any questions about my thoughts on the Escape, or any of the other Ford vehicles I have had the pleasure of driving, please send me an email, or find me on Twitter (@ThatMomTweets). Of course, you can always direct your questions straight to ford at @FordCanada or on the Ford Canada Facebook page!