Looking for a small affordable SUV? The 2020 Chevrolet Equinox and 2020 Ford Escape are two similar styles and options to consider; but with subtle differences that will help you choose. Let’s look at the differences.
Design and Style
The Chevrolet Equinox has numerous strengths and does SUV well. It’s striking exterior with its aerodynamic sculpting and accents combines style and function. There is plenty of legroom and cargo space and is a sure competitor to its rivals. This SUV seats five people comfortably with spacious seating and great visibility. Its solid handling offers the Equinox a smooth ride around the town and feels secure on winding roads. The Equinox provides enough room for vacation luggage and storage with 29.9 cubic feet of space behind the rear seats and 63.9 cubic feet of space when the rear seats are folded down. With a hidden storage compartment underneath the rear floor, your cargo stays secure and organized. It also comes available with a convenient hands-free liftgate.
The Ford Escape doesn’t lack for space either, but its interior isn’t as impressive with lots of hard plastics, even in their higher trims. At first glance, it seems there are plenty of soft-touch materials, but the hard plastics are apparent even from the rear seats. It offers similar cargo space as its competitor, with 33.5 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats and 65.4 cubes with the rear seats folded down; though its new rear liftgate design compromises some cargo capacity. The Escape seats five comfortably. Finally, its handling is similar to the Equinox around turns and through the town.
Quality, Power, and Engine
You have two engine options with the Equinox: the base 170-horsepower 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, and an available 252-horsepower 2.0-liter powerful turbo-four engine. The impressive large turbo-four feels strong and provides great acceleration. The Equinox’s base engine earns an EPA rating of 26/31 mpg in the city on the highway, which is competitive in the compact SUV market. When equipped with the larger turbocharged engine, the Equinox gets 22 mpg in the city and 29 mpg on the highway. Chevrolet added that “based on experiences of real owners, Equinox quality topped the competition in initial and long-term quality.” That is backed by J.D. Power studies, reporting the lowest rate of reported problems among the compact SUVs.
The Escape comes standard with a 180-horsepower three-cylinder EcoBoost turbocharged engine. A 250-horsepower turbocharged four-cylinder is available. Both engines provide plenty of power for day-to-day driving, and helps the Escape deliver quick acceleration also. However, the turbo-four feels much more energetic than the base engine. There are also two hybrid powertrains available. The Escape earns ratings of 27 mpg in the city and 33 mpg on the highway with its base engine. Though Ford offers quality in their vehicles, the Chevrolet Equinox’s top notch quality is backed by proven studies.
Safety, Tech, and Price
The Equinox standard driver assistance features include a rearview camera, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, forward collision warning, forward automatic emergency braking, pedestrian detection, a rear seat reminder, and Chevy’s Teen Driver system. This system lets you do things like set speed and audio volume limits for secondary drivers, as well as monitor their driving performance. Technology features include the Infotainment 3 system with a 7-inch touch screen, a six-speaker audio system, two USB ports, Bluetooth, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, and a Wi-Fi hot spot. The starting base price for the Equinox is an affordable $23,800 and ranges to $31,400 for the Equinox Premier. That’s lower than top-trim prices for many competitors.
Escape’s safety features include Ford’s Co-Pilot360 technology which include standard driver assistance features with blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert, and lane keep assist. The Escape comes standard with an 8-inch touchscreen, navigation, android Auto, Apple CarPlay, a 10-speaker Bang & Olufsen audio system, satellite radio, a Wi-Fi hot spot, and a SYNC system. Starting price for this SUV is $24,885 for the S and ranges to $33,400 for the Titanium.
Overview
These two compact SUVs are similar in many ways with their style and performance, but with higher quality ratings for the Chevrolet Equinox, it’s a solid choice.
