Compare the2023 Ford EscapeVS 2023 Hyundai Santa Fe

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Brakes and Stopping
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Cargo Capacity
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 Hyundai Santa Fe 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 Santa Fe 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 Santa Fe 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.

Both the Escape and the Santa Fe 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, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors, 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 Hyundai Santa Fe:

	Escape	Santa Fe
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	143	296
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	102	244
Neck Compression	58 lbs.	89 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	220/169 lbs.	222/167 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 Hyundai Santa Fe:

	Escape	Santa Fe
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Chest Movement	.9 inches	1.1 inches
Hip Force	240 lbs.	415 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	97	148
Spine Acceleration	43 G’s	54 G’s
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	11 inches	14 inches
HIC	344	376
Spine Acceleration	32 G’s	44 G’s
Hip Force	462 lbs.	576 lbs.

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

Warranty

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.

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 Santa Fe 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 Hyundai vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Ford above average in initial quality. With 18 more problems per 100 vehicles, Hyundai is rated below average.

Engine

The Escape’s standard 1.5 turbo 3-cylinder produces 9 lbs.-ft. more torque (190 vs. 181) than the Santa Fe’s standard 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder.

As tested in Consumer Reports the Ford Escape turbo 3 cyl. is faster than the Hyundai Santa Fe 4 cyl.:

	Escape	Santa Fe
Zero to 30 MPH	3.3 sec	3.6 sec
Zero to 60 MPH	8.9 sec	10 sec
45 to 65 MPH Passing	5.2 sec	6.4 sec
Quarter Mile	16.9 sec	17.6 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	85 MPH	83 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Escape gets better mileage than the Santa Fe:

			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
Santa Fe
	FWD	2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	25 city/28 hwy
		2.5 turbo 4-cyl.	22 city/28 hwy
	AWD	2.5 turbo 4-cyl.	21 city/28 hwy
		2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	22 city/25 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 Santa Fe doesn’t offer a system that can shut down part of the engine.

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 Santa Fe doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

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 Hyundai Santa Fe (5 to 7). This means the Escape produces up to 8 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Santa Fe every 15,000 miles.

Brakes and Stopping

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

	Escape	Santa Fe
Front Rotors	13 inches	12.8 inches

Suspension and Handling

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 Santa Fe doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

Chassis

The Ford Escape may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 350 to 500 pounds less than the Hyundai Santa Fe.

The Escape is 8.3 inches shorter than the Santa Fe, 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 Santa Fe doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

Cargo Capacity

The Escape has a much larger cargo volume than the Santa Fe with its rear seat up (37.5 vs. 36.4 cubic feet).

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

Ergonomics

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 Santa Fe 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 Santa Fe SE/XRT/SEL’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

Economic Advantages

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the Ford Escape will be $1582 to $5752 less than for the Hyundai Santa Fe.

Recommendations

The Ford Escape outsold the Hyundai Santa Fe by 15% during 2022.