Compare the2025 Ford EscapeVS 2025 Chevrolet Equinox

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.

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 and rear seatbelt pretensioners, 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, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

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

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.

The Escape’s standard 1.5 turbo 3-cylinder produces 5 more horsepower (180 vs. 175) and 15 lbs.-ft. more torque (199 vs. 184) than the Equinox FWD’s standard 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder. The Escape’s 1.5 turbo 3-cylinder produces 5 more horsepower (180 vs. 175) than the Equinox AWD’s standard 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 AWD’s standard 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder.

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.

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 is 3.1 inches shorter than the Equinox, making the Escape easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The Escape has 1.5 inches more front legroom, 1 inch more front hip room, .1 inches more rear headroom, .8 inches more rear legroom, 1.6 inches more rear hip room and .2 inches more rear shoulder room than the Equinox.

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

The Escape has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the Equinox with its rear seat up (37.5 vs. 29.8 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. 63.5 cubic feet).

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

The Escape’s standard towing capacity is much higher than the Equinox’s (2000 vs. 800 pounds). Maximum trailer towing in the Chevrolet Equinox is only 1500 pounds. The Escape offers up to a 3500 lbs. towing capacity.

Standard Trailer Sway Control on the Escape uses the AdvanceTrac® sensors to detect trailer sway, then uses individual brakes to counteract any swaying and help keep the tow vehicle and trailer steady. The Equinox doesn’t offer electronic trailer sway control.

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.

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. The Equinox doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its OnStar® 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 Equinox’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

The Escape Elite/Platinum’s standard rear view mirror has an automatic dimming feature. This mirror can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on it, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Equinox doesn’t offer the luxury of an automatic dimming rear view mirror.

The Escape 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 costs extra on the Equinox.

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 doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

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