Compare the2023 Ford EscapeVS 2023 Chevrolet Equinox

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

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 Chevrolet Equinox doesn’t offer pretensioners for its 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 Chevrolet Equinox doesn’t offer height-adjustable 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 Equinox 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 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.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Escape (except Base) offers an optional Reverse Brake Assist that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Equinox doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

The Escape has a standard blind spot warning system that 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 Escape has standard Cross Traffic Alert to warn the driver of approaching traffic and automatically engage the brakes to help avoid a collision. Chevrolet charges extra for Rear Cross Traffic Alert on the Equinox and the Equinox’s Rear Cross Traffic Alert does not include automatic braking.

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 Equinox doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Escape and the Equinox 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, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

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 Chevrolet Equinox:

	Escape	Equinox
	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 Chevrolet Equinox:

	Escape	Equinox
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Chest Movement	.9 inches	1.1 inches
Abdominal Force	191 lbs.	195 lbs.
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 Safety Pick” for 2022, a rating granted to only 177 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Equinox has not been fully tested, yet.

Warranty

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

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

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 Escape’s standard 1.5 turbo 3-cylinder produces 6 more horsepower (181 vs. 175) than the Equinox’s 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder. The Escape’s optional 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 75 more horsepower (250 vs. 175) and 77 lbs.-ft. more torque (280 vs. 203) than the Equinox’s 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder.

As tested in Car and Driver the Ford Escape turbo 3 cyl. is faster than the Chevrolet Equinox:

	Escape	Equinox
Zero to 60 MPH	7.7 sec	8.9 sec
Zero to 100 MPH	23.5 sec	26.8 sec
5 to 60 MPH Rolling Start	8.3 sec	9.6 sec
Quarter Mile	15.9 sec	16.9 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	87 MPH	83 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

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

			MPG
Escape
	FWD	1.5 turbo 3-cyl.	27 city/34 hwy
	AWD	1.5 turbo 3-cyl.	26 city/32 hwy
Equinox
	FWD	1.5 turbo 4-cyl.	26 city/31 hwy
	AWD	1.5 turbo 4-cyl.	24 city/30 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 Equinox doesn’t offer a system that can shut down part of the engine.

Transmission

An eight-speed automatic is standard on the Ford Escape, 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 Escape’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Equinox:

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

The Escape stops much shorter than the Equinox:

	Escape	Equinox
70 to 0 MPH	161 feet	182 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	128 feet	135 feet	Consumer Reports
60 to 0 MPH (Wet)	137 feet	145 feet	Consumer Reports

Suspension and Handling

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

The Escape has vehicle speed sensitive 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.

The Escape AWD handles at .87 G’s, while the Equinox LT AWD pulls only .77 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The Escape AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Equinox LT AWD (27.7 seconds @ .64 average G’s vs. 28.1 seconds @ .59 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Escape’s turning circle is .2 feet tighter than the Equinox’s (37.2 feet vs. 37.4 feet). The Escape’s turning circle is 4.4 feet tighter than the Equinox RS’ (37.2 feet vs. 41.6 feet).

Chassis

The Escape is 3 inches shorter than the Equinox, making the Escape easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

Passenger Space

The Escape has 1.5 inches more front legroom, 1 inch more front hip room, .4 inches more front shoulder room, .8 inches more rear headroom, .8 inches more rear legroom, 1.6 inches more rear hip room and .5 inches more rear shoulder room than the Equinox.

Cargo Capacity

The Escape has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the Equinox with its rear seat up (37.5 vs. 29.9 cubic feet). The Escape has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Equinox with its rear seat folded (65.4 vs. 63.9 cubic feet).

The Escape’s cargo area is larger than the Equinox’s in every dimension:

	Escape	Equinox
Length to seat (2nd/1st)	37.8”/68.5”	34.9”/67.4”
Max Width	57.3”	53.7”
Min Width	41.4”	40.7”
Height	34.8”	31”

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

Towing

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

Ergonomics

The Escape Elite/Platinum 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 Equinox doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Escape Select/Elite/Platinum’s 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.

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 Equinox’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted. The Escape Elite/Platinum’s standard wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically according to the amount of rainfall on the windshield.

The Escape Elite/Platinum’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 Equinox Premier’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 Equinox is rated higher at a number “8” rate.

The Escape will cost the buyer less in the long run because of its superior resale value. The IntelliChoice estimates that the Escape will retain 49.35% to 49.88% of its original price after five years, while the Equinox only retains 44.91% to 45.97%.

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Escape is less expensive to operate than the Equinox 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 Equinox, including $161 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.

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