Compare the2023 Ford EscapeVS 2023 Honda Passport

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Brakes and Stopping
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Ergonomics
Model Availability
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 Honda Passport doesn’t offer pretensioners for its 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 Passport 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 Passport 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 Passport doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.

The Escape (except Base) offers an optional 360-Degree Camera to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Passport only offers a rear monitor and front and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the sides.

Both the Escape and Passport have rear cross-traffic warning, but the Escape (except Base) offers optional Cross Traffic Braking (automatically applies the brakes) to better prevent a collision when backing near traffic. The Passport’s Cross Traffic Monitor doesn’t automatically brake.

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 Passport doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Escape and the Passport have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, 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, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning and available all wheel drive.

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 Honda Passport:

	Escape	Passport
OVERALL STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	143	149
Neck Injury Risk	22.5%	28%
Neck Stress	185 lbs.	189 lbs.
Neck Compression	23 lbs.	36 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
HIC	102	216
Chest Compression	.5 inches	.6 inches
Neck Compression	58 lbs.	69 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	220/169 lbs.	478/436 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 Honda Passport:

	Escape	Passport
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Hip Force	240 lbs.	269 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	97	233
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	11 inches	15 inches
HIC	344	406
Spine Acceleration	32 G’s	45 G’s
Hip Force	462 lbs.	838 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 Passport last would have qualified as a “Top Safety Pick” in 2017.

Warranty

There are almost 3 times as many Ford dealers as there are Honda 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 Passport 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’ 2022 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Ford vehicles are better in initial quality than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Ford above average in initial quality. With 16 more problems per 100 vehicles, Honda is rated below average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Ford vehicles are more reliable than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Ford above average in long-term dependability. With 4 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, Honda is rated below average.

Engine

The Escape’s optional 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 18 lbs.-ft. more torque (280 vs. 262) than the Passport’s 3.5 SOHC V6.

Fuel Economy and Range

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

			MPG
Escape
	FWD	1.5 turbo 3-cyl.	27 city/34 hwy
	AWD	1.5 turbo 3-cyl.	26 city/32 hwy
		2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	23 city/31 hwy
Passport
	AWD	3.5 SOHC V6	19 city/24 hwy

Environmental Friendliness

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Ford Escape higher (7 out of 10) than the Honda Passport (3). This means the Escape produces up to 24.5 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Passport every 15,000 miles.

Brakes and Stopping

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

	Escape	Passport
Front Rotors	13 inches	12.6 inches

The Escape stops much shorter than the Passport:

	Escape	Passport
70 to 0 MPH	161 feet	181 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	123 feet	135 feet	Motor Trend
60 to 0 MPH (Wet)	137 feet	143 feet	Consumer Reports

Suspension and Handling

The Escape has standard front and rear gas-charged shocks for better control over choppy roads. The Passport’s suspension doesn’t offer gas-charged shocks.

The Escape AWD handles at .87 G’s, while the Passport Elite pulls only .78 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 Passport Elite (27.7 seconds @ .64 average G’s vs. 28.1 seconds @ .62 average G’s).

For better maneuverability, the Escape’s turning circle is 2.1 feet tighter than the Passport AWD’s (37.2 feet vs. 39.3 feet).

Chassis

The Ford Escape may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 700 to 950 pounds less than the Honda Passport.

The Escape is 9 inches shorter than the Passport, making the Escape easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The front grille of the Escape uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Passport doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

As tested by Car and Driver while at idle, the interior of the Escape AWD is quieter than the Passport Elite (37 vs. 39 dB).

Passenger Space

The Escape has .5 inches more front headroom, 1.5 inches more front legroom and 1.1 inches more rear legroom than the Passport.

Cargo Capacity

A low lift-over cargo hatch design makes loading and unloading the Escape easier. The Escape’s cargo hatch lift-over height is 28.1 inches, while the Passport’s liftover is 32 inches.

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 Passport doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Escape’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Passport’s parking brake has to be released manually.

The power windows standard on both the Escape and the Passport have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Escape is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Passport prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

The Escape Select/Elite/Platinum’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 Passport’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’s available exterior PIN entry system (not available on Escape Base). The Passport doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its HondaLink Assist 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 power mirror controls are mounted on the armrest for easy access. The Passport’s power mirror controls are on the dash where they are possibly hidden by the steering wheel and are awkward to manipulate.

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 Passport doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Model Availability

The Escape is available in both front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive configurations. The Passport doesn’t offer a two-wheel drive configuration.

Economic Advantages

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the Ford Escape will be $9359 to $11610 less than for the Honda Passport.

Recommendations

The Ford Escape outsold the Honda Passport by over three to one during 2022.