Compare the2022 Ford EscapeVS 2022 Hyundai Tucson

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 Hyundai Tucson doesn’t offer pretensioners for the rear 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 Tucson 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 Tucson 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.

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. Only the Tucson SEL/N Line/Limited offers a blind spot warning system.

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. Only the Tucson SEL/N Line/Limited has a rear cross-path warning system.

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

There are almost 4 times as many Ford dealers as there are Hyundai dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Escape’s warranty.

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 Tucson doesn’t offer a lost coolant limp home mode, so a coolant leak could strand you or seriously damage the truck’s engine.

The Escape’s standard 1.5 turbo 3-cylinder produces 12 lbs.-ft. more torque (190 vs. 178) than the Tucson’s 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder. The Escape’s optional 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 63 more horsepower (250 vs. 187) and 102 lbs.-ft. more torque (280 vs. 178) than the Tucson’s 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder.

As tested in Motor Trend the Ford Escape is faster than the Hyundai Tucson:

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

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 Tucson doesn’t offer a system that can shut down part of the engine.

The Escape AWD’s standard fuel tank has 1.4 gallons more fuel capacity than the Tucson (15.7 vs. 14.3 gallons).

The Escape has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Tucson doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

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

The Escape stops shorter than the Tucson:

The Escape has variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Tucson doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

For better maneuverability, the Escape’s turning circle is 1.4 feet tighter than the Tucson’s (37.2 feet vs. 38.6 feet).

The Escape has 1 inch more front legroom and .7 inches more front hip room than the Tucson.

Maximum trailer towing in the Hyundai Tucson is limited to 2000 pounds. The Escape offers up to a 3500 lbs. towing capacity.

The Escape Titanium offers an optional heads-up display that projects speed and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Tucson doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Escape SEL/Titanium’s front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Tucson SEL/N Line/Limited’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or 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 Tucson doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its Blue Link 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 Tucson’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

Both the Escape and the Tucson offer rear vents. For greater rear passenger comfort, the Escape offers optional rear air conditioning vents to keep rear occupants cool in summer or warm in winter. The Tucson doesn’t offer rear air conditioning vents, only heat vents.

The Ford Escape outsold the Hyundai Tucson by 7% during the 2021 model year.