Compare the2022 Ford EscapeVS 2022 GMC Terrain

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Suspension and Handling
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Ford Escape have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The GMC Terrain doesn’t offer pretensioners for the rear seat belts.

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Ford Escape are height-adjustable to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages passengers to buckle up. The GMC Terrain doesn’t offer height-adjustable front seat belts.

The Ford Escape has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Terrain doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The Escape has standard Post Collision Braking, which automatically apply the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Terrain doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Escape Titanium has a standard backup collision prevention system that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The Terrain doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

The Escape has a standard blind spot warning system which uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the Terrain’s blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Escape has a standard rear cross-path warning system, which uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. Rear cross-path warning costs extra on the Terrain.

The Escape’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Terrain doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Escape and the Terrain have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive and front and rear parking sensors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Ford Escape is safer than the GMC Terrain:

	Escape	Terrain
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	143	159
Neck Stress	185 lbs.	190 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	188/315 lbs.	363/349 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	102	376
Chest Compression	.5 inches	.6 inches
Leg Forces (l/r)	220/169 lbs.	264/236 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Ford Escape is safer than the GMC Terrain:

	Escape	Terrain
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Chest Movement	.9 inches	1.1 inches
Abdominal Force	191 G’s	195 G’s
Hip Force	240 lbs.	357 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	97	288
Spine Acceleration	43 G’s	55 G’s
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	11 inches	13 inches
HIC	344	377
Spine Acceleration	32 G’s	40 G’s
Hip Force	462 lbs.	730 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its available headlight’s “Acceptable” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Escape the rating of “Top Pick” for 2021, a rating granted to only 137 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Terrain last would have qualified as a “Top Pick” in 2017.

Warranty

The Escape’s corrosion warranty is unlimited miles longer than the Terrain’s (unlimited vs. 100,000 miles).

There are over 78 percent more Ford dealers than there are GMC dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Escape’s warranty.

Reliability

The Escape has a standard “limp home system” to keep drivers from being stranded if most or all of the engine’s coolant is lost. The engine will run on only half of its cylinders at a time, reduce its power and light a warning lamp on the dashboard so the driver can get to a service station for repairs. The Terrain doesn’t offer a lost coolant limp home mode, so a coolant leak could strand you or seriously damage the truck’s engine.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2021 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Ford vehicles are better in initial quality than GMC vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Ford 14th in initial quality. With 2 more problems per 100 vehicles, GMC is ranked 17th.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2021 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Ford vehicles are more reliable than GMC vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Ford 22nd in reliability. With 13 more problems per 100 vehicles, GMC is ranked 25th.

Engine

The Escape’s standard 1.5 turbo 3-cylinder produces 11 more horsepower (181 vs. 170) than the Terrain’s 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder. The Escape’s optional 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 80 more horsepower (250 vs. 170) and 77 lbs.-ft. more torque (280 vs. 203) than the Terrain’s 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Escape gets better mileage than the Terrain:

			MPG
Escape
	FWD	1.5 turbo 3-cyl.	28 city/34 hwy
	AWD	1.5 turbo 3-cyl.	26 city/31 hwy
Terrain
	FWD	1.5 turbo 4-cyl.	25 city/30 hwy
	AWD	1.5 turbo 4-cyl.	25 city/28 hwy

An engine control system that can shut down some of the engine’s cylinders helps improve the Escape 1.5 Turbo’s fuel efficiency. The Terrain doesn’t offer a system that can shut down part of the engine.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the Escape’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Terrain:

	Escape	Terrain
Front Rotors	13 inches	11.8 inches
Rear Rotors	11.9 inches	11.3 inches

Suspension and Handling

The Escape has standard front and rear stabilizer bars, which help keep the Escape flat and controlled during cornering. The Terrain’s suspension doesn’t offer a rear stabilizer bar.

For better maneuverability, the Escape’s turning circle is .2 feet tighter than the Terrain w/17” wheels’ (37.2 feet vs. 37.4 feet). The Escape’s turning circle is 4.4 feet tighter than the Terrain w/19” wheels’ (37.2 feet vs. 41.6 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Escape has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Terrain SLE (7.3 vs. 6.9 inches), allowing the Escape to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

Passenger Space

The Escape has 1.5 inches more front legroom, .8 inches more front hip room, .4 inches more front shoulder room, .8 inches more rear headroom, 1 inch more rear legroom, 1.5 inches more rear hip room and .4 inches more rear shoulder room than the Terrain.

Cargo Capacity

The Escape has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the Terrain with its rear seat up (37.5 vs. 29.6 cubic feet). The Escape has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Terrain with its rear seat folded (65.4 vs. 63.3 cubic feet).

Towing

The Escape’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Terrain’s (2000 vs. 1500 pounds). Maximum trailer towing in the GMC Terrain is only 1500 pounds. The Escape offers up to a 3500 lbs. towing capacity.

Ergonomics

The Escape SEL/Titanium’s front and rear power windows all open or close with one touch of the switches. The Terrain’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to close them fully.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Escape SEL/Titanium’s exterior PIN entry system. The Terrain doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its OnStar® can’t unlock the doors if the vehicle doesn’t have cell phone reception or the driver can’t contact the service.

The Escape’s standard speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Terrain’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted. The Escape Titanium’s standard wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically according to the amount of rainfall on the windshield.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Escape’s available headlights were rated “Acceptable” by the IIHS, while the Terrain’s headlights are rated “Poor.”

The Escape Titanium’s optional Active Park Assist 2.0 can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. The Terrain Denali’s automatic parking system requires operating the brakes and transmission to safely park.

Economic Advantages

Insurance will cost less for the Escape owner. The Car Book by Jack Gillis rates the Escape with a number “5” insurance rate while the Terrain is rated higher at a number “10” rate.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Escape is less expensive to operate than the Terrain because it costs $527 less to do the manufacturer’s suggested maintenance for 50,000 miles. Typical repairs cost much less on the Escape than the Terrain, including $171 less for a water pump, $139 less for front brake pads, $40 less for a starter, $281 less for fuel injection and $373 less for a fuel pump.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the Ford Escape will be $597 to $1225 less than for the GMC Terrain.

Recommendations

The Ford Escape outsold the GMC Terrain by over two to one during the 2021 model year.

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