Tires: 235/70/16 VS 255/70/16?

Ive never done it on a ford escape, but numerous toyotas, chevys and jeeps. keep in mind your speedometer will read different, also it uses an optical or megnetic pickup sensor to determine wheel speed, if you have ABS brakes they will start to come on at a different minimum speed, anything speed related will happen at the wrong time except probably shifting, the logic for the PCM(the car computer) to tell the transmission when to shift is based off numerous sensors and information and it will choose the best result from everything...

Taller tires will change your performance characteristics, but what you lose in acceleration, you make up for in better highway gas mileage. The bigger the diameter of your overall wheel, the fewer RPM's it has to make to go a mile. That equates to lower fuel consumption.

It won't stress the driveline, but it might knock your speedo out of whack, a bit. I wouldn't be too concerned about it though, as it's unlikely to be more than a few MPH at high speed.

Taller sidewalls will affect your cornering as well, but in a Ford Escape, you're already fighting gravity and I doubt you'd notice any difference.

The 255/70/16 is better for road hugging. but easily get puncture if not careful enough to hit a kerbs or bump, It consume more petrol.