Compare the2023 Lincoln CorsairVS 2023 Ford Escape

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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The Lincoln Corsair has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Escape doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

Both the Corsair and the Escape have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee 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, post-collision automatic braking systems, 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 side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Lincoln Corsair is safer than the Ford Escape:

	Corsair	Escape
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	11 inches	11 inches
HIC	344	344
Spine Acceleration	32 G’s	32 G’s
Hip Force	462 lbs.	462 lbs.

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

Warranty

The Corsair comes with a full 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck. The Escape’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 14,000 miles sooner.

Lincoln’s powertrain warranty covers the Corsair 1 year and 10,000 miles longer than Ford covers the Escape. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 6 years or 70,000 miles. Coverage on the Escape ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

Reliability

A hardened steel chain, with no maintenance needs, drives the camshafts in the Corsair’s engine. A rubber cam drive belt that needs periodic replacement drives the Escape’s camshafts. If the Escape’s belt breaks, the engine could be severely damaged when the pistons hit the opened valves.

A reliable vehicle saves its owner time, money and trouble. Nobody wants to be stranded or have to be without a vehicle while it’s being repaired. Consumer Reports rates the Corsair’s reliability 49 points higher than the Escape.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2022 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Lincoln vehicles are more reliable than Ford vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Lincoln above average in long-term dependability. With 12 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, Ford is rated lower.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Lincoln vehicles are more reliable than Ford vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Lincoln 8 places higher in reliability than Ford.

Engine

The Corsair’s standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 69 more horsepower (250 vs. 181) and 85 lbs.-ft. more torque (275 vs. 190) than the Escape’s standard 1.5 turbo 3-cylinder. The Corsair Grand Touring’s standard 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid produces 16 more horsepower (266 vs. 250) than the Escape’s optional 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder.

As tested in Consumer Reports the Lincoln Corsair turbo 4 cyl. is faster than the Ford Escape turbo 3 cyl.:

	Corsair	Escape
Zero to 30 MPH	2.8 sec	3.3 sec
Zero to 60 MPH	7.2 sec	8.9 sec
45 to 65 MPH Passing	4.8 sec	5.2 sec
Quarter Mile	15.7 sec	16.9 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	90 MPH	85 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Corsair running on electricity gets better mileage than the Escape:

			MPGe
Corsair
	AWD	Grand Touring Electric Motor	83 city/72 hwy
Escape
			MPG
	FWD	1.5 turbo 3-cyl.	28 city/34 hwy
	AWD	1.5 turbo 3-cyl.	26 city/31 hwy
		2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	22 city/31 hwy

On the EPA test cycle the Corsair running its gasoline engine gets better mileage than the Escape:

			MPG
Corsair
	AWD	2.5 4-cyl. Hybrid	34 city/32 hwy
Escape
	AWD	1.5 turbo 3-cyl.	26 city/31 hwy
		2.0 turbo 4-cyl.	22 city/31 hwy

The Corsair Grand Touring can travel with zero emissions for 28 miles. The Escape can’t move without running its internal combustion engine.

Regenerative brakes improve the Corsair Grand Touring’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Escape doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

Transmission

The Corsair Grand Touring has a standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The Escape doesn’t offer a CVT.

Brakes and Stopping

The Corsair stops much shorter than the Escape:

	Corsair	Escape
60 to 0 MPH	118 feet	128 feet	Motor Trend

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Corsair’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Escape (245/45R20 vs. 225/65R17).

The Corsair Standard’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 60 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Escape’s standard 65 series tires. The Corsair’s optional tires have a lower 45 series profile than the Escape’s optional 55 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Corsair Standard has standard 18-inch wheels. Smaller 17-inch wheels are standard on the Escape. The Corsair’s optional 20-inch wheels are larger than the 19-inch wheels optional on the Escape.

Suspension and Handling

The Corsair offers an available driver-adjustable suspension system. It allows the driver to choose between an extra-supple ride, reducing fatigue on long trips, or a sport setting, which allows maximum control for tricky roads or off-road. The Escape’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Corsair is .2 inches wider in the front and 1.6 inches wider in the rear than on the Escape.

The Corsair Reserve AWD handles at .80 G’s, while the Escape AWD pulls only .76 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Corsair Reserve AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Escape (27.3 seconds @ .67 average G’s vs. 28.2 seconds @ .62 average G’s).

Chassis

The Corsair uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Escape doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

Passenger Space

The Corsair has .8 inches more front legroom, .4 inches more front hip room and .3 inches more rear shoulder room than the Escape.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the Corsair’s rear seats recline. The Escape’s rear seats don’t recline.

Cargo Capacity

Pressing a button automatically lowers the Corsair’s optional rear seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The Escape doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the Corsair’s available liftgate can be opened and closed just by kicking your foot under the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Escape doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its liftgate, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

Towing

The Corsair Grand Touring can be flat towed on all four wheels (dinghy towed), allowing recreational vehicle owners to bring it with them on the road. When they reach their destination, the Corsair can be unhitched and driven around locally. The Escape can’t be towed flat on the ground.

Servicing Ease

The Corsair uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Escape 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 Corsair’s standard easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. An easy entry system costs extra on the Escape, and is not available on all models.

The Corsair’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 Escape’s standard power window switches have to be held the entire time to close them fully. Only its driver’s window opens automatically.

If the windows are left open on the Corsair 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 Escape can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

Consumer Reports rated the Corsair’s headlight performance “Very Good,” a higher rating than the Escape’s headlights, which were rated “Good.”

To help drivers see further while navigating curves, the Corsair Reserve offers optional adaptive headlights to illuminate around corners automatically by reading vehicle speed and steering wheel angle. The Escape doesn’t offer cornering lights.

The Corsair’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Heated mirrors cost extra on the Escape and aren’t offered on the Escape Base.

The Corsair’s standard rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Escape offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

The Corsair has standard heated front seats. Heated front seats cost extra on the Escape, and aren’t available on the Escape Base. The Corsair also offers optional heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the Escape.

Optional air-conditioned seats in the Corsair keep the driver and front passenger comfortable and take the sting out of hot seats in Summer. The Escape doesn’t offer air-conditioned seats.

The Corsair has a standard center folding armrest for the rear passengers. A center armrest helps make rear passengers more comfortable and it can provide a boundary between children. The Escape S doesn’t offer a rear seat center armrest.

The Corsair Reserve/Grand Touring offers optional massaging front seats in order to maximize comfort and eliminate fatigue on long trips. Massaging seats aren’t available in the Escape.

The Corsair has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning is only available on the Escape Active/ST-Line/Platinum.

For greater rear passenger comfort, the Corsair has standard rear a/c vents to keep rear occupants more comfortable. The Escape S doesn’t offer rear vents.

Economic Advantages

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Corsair is less expensive to operate than the Escape because typical repairs cost much less on the Corsair than the Escape, including $935 less for a muffler and $110 less for a timing belt/chain.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends the Lincoln Corsair, based on reliability, safety and performance. The Ford Escape isn't recommended.

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