Compare the2023 Ford Bronco SportVS 2023 Chevrolet Equinox

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Transmission
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Ford Bronco Sport 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 Chevrolet Equinox doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

For enhanced safety, the front seat shoulder belts of the Ford Bronco Sport 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 Chevrolet Equinox doesn’t offer height-adjustable seat belts.

The Ford Bronco Sport 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 Equinox doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The Bronco Sport 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 Equinox 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.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Bronco Sport. But it costs extra on the Equinox.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Bronco Sport’s standard Trail Control allows you to creep down safely. The Equinox doesn’t offer Trail Control.

The Bronco Sport 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 Equinox’s blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Bronco Sport 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 Equinox.

The Bronco Sport’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 Equinox doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Bronco Sport and the Equinox have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras and available 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 Bronco Sport is safer than the Chevrolet Equinox:

	Bronco Sport	Equinox
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	140	159
Neck Stress	178 lbs.	190 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	123/237 lbs.	363/349 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	153	376
Chest Compression	.6 inches	.6 inches

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 Bronco Sport is safer than the Chevrolet Equinox:

	Bronco Sport	Equinox
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	80	109
Chest Movement	.9 inches	1.1 inches
Hip Force	205 lbs.	357 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	144	288
Spine Acceleration	33 G’s	55 G’s
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	255	377
Spine Acceleration	35 G’s	40 G’s
Hip Force	512 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 standard headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Bronco Sport its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 112 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Equinox has not been fully tested, yet.

Warranty

The Bronco Sport’s corrosion warranty is unlimited miles longer than the Equinox’s (unlimited vs. 100,000 miles).

Reliability

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

To reliably start during all conditions and help handle large electrical loads, the Bronco Sport has a standard 760-amp battery. The Equinox’s 700-amp battery isn’t as powerful.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Ford vehicles are more reliable than Chevrolet vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Ford 2 places higher in reliability than Chevrolet.

Engine

The Bronco Sport’s standard 1.5 turbo 3-cylinder produces 6 more horsepower (181 vs. 175) than the Equinox’s 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder. The Bronco Sport Badlands’ standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 75 more horsepower (250 vs. 175) and 74 lbs.-ft. more torque (277 vs. 203) than the Equinox’s 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder.

As tested in Car and Driver the Ford Bronco Sport is faster than the Chevrolet Equinox:

	Bronco Sport turbo 3 cyl.	Bronco Sport Badlands	Equinox
Zero to 60 MPH	8.2 sec	5.9 sec	8.9 sec
5 to 60 MPH Rolling Start	8.7 sec	6.5 sec	9.6 sec
Quarter Mile	16.3 sec	14.5 sec	16.9 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	84 MPH	93 MPH	83 MPH
Top Speed	125 MPH	125 MPH	124 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

The Bronco Sport has 1.1 gallons more fuel capacity than the Equinox FWD’s standard fuel tank (16 vs. 14.9 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

Transmission

An eight-speed automatic is standard on the Ford Bronco Sport, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only a six-speed automatic is available for the Equinox.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the Bronco Sport’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Equinox:

	Bronco Sport	Equinox
Front Rotors	12.1 inches	11.8 inches
Rear Rotors	11.9 inches	11.3 inches

The Bronco Sport stops much shorter than the Equinox:

	Bronco Sport	Equinox
70 to 0 MPH	163 feet	182 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	126 feet	135 feet	Consumer Reports
60 to 0 MPH (Wet)	135 feet	145 feet	Consumer Reports

Tires and Wheels

The Bronco Sport offers an optional full size spare tire so a flat doesn’t interrupt your trip. A full size spare isn’t available on the Equinox; it requires you to depend on a temporary spare, which limits mileage and speed before replacement.

Suspension and Handling

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

The Bronco Sport 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 Equinox doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Bronco Sport is 1.2 inches wider in the front and .6 inches wider in the rear than on the Equinox.

The Bronco Sport Outer Banks handles at .79 G’s, while the Equinox LT AWD pulls only .77 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

For greater off-road capability the Bronco Sport has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Equinox (8.8 vs. 7.9 inches), allowing the Bronco Sport to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

Chassis

The Bronco Sport is 10.4 inches shorter than the Equinox, making the Bronco Sport easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

Passenger Space

The Bronco Sport has 2.5 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Equinox (105.7 vs. 103.2).

The Bronco Sport has 1.5 inches more front headroom, 1.5 inches more front legroom, 1 inch more front hip room, .1 inches more front shoulder room, 3.2 inches more rear headroom, 1.7 inches more rear hip room and .1 inches more rear shoulder room than the Equinox.

Cargo Capacity

The Bronco Sport has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the Equinox with its rear seat up (32.5 vs. 29.9 cubic feet). The Bronco Sport has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Equinox with its rear seat folded (65.2 vs. 63.9 cubic feet).

An optional locking center console keeps your small valuables safer in the Bronco Sport. The Equinox doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

The Bronco Sport’s rear cargo window opens separately from the rest of the liftgate door to allow quicker loading of small packages. The Equinox’s rear cargo window doesn’t open.

Towing

Maximum trailer towing in the Chevrolet Equinox is limited to 1500 pounds. The Bronco Sport offers up to a 2200 lbs. towing capacity.

Servicing Ease

The Bronco Sport uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Equinox uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

Ergonomics

The Bronco Sport Outer Banks/Badlands’ front and rear power windows all open or close with one touch of the switches. The Equinox’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to close them fully.

If the windows are left open on the Bronco Sport the driver can close them all from a distance using the remote. On a hot day the driver can also lower the windows the same way. The driver of the Equinox can only close the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The Bronco Sport’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 Equinox’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted. The Bronco Sport Outer Banks’ standard wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically according to the amount of rainfall on the windshield.

To help drivers avoid possible obstacles, the Bronco Sport offers optional cornering lights to illuminate around corners when the turn signals are activated. The Equinox doesn’t offer cornering lights.

Economic Advantages

The Bronco Sport will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the Bronco Sport will retain 59.2% to 61.37% of its original price after five years, while the Equinox only retains 44.91% to 45.97%.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the Ford Bronco Sport will be $1606 to $1928 less than for the Chevrolet Equinox.

Recommendations

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Bronco Sport first among small SUVs in owner reported satisfaction. This includes how well the vehicle performs and satisfies its owner’s expectations. The Equinox isn’t in the top three in its category.

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