2019 Ford Escape vs Subaru Forester
If you’re new to the auto scene, you might not know this, but SUVs used to be ubiquitously sporty. Sport utility vehicles lived up to their name. Times have changed and these weekend warriors have mostly become pavement cruisers, family haulers, and errand runners. But there are still a few SUVs that remember their roots. The 2019 Ford Escape is one of them. Though the Escape is a compact crossover, there’s still plenty of oomph in it. To show you what we mean, we’ll compare it to a very popular vehicle in the same class: the Subaru Forester.
Engine Options: 2019 Ford Escape
First off, take a look under the hood. That’s where the magic happens. And Ford makes it easy to fall in love with your engine. First of all, they give you three engine options to choose from. Do you want the base engine? That’s a 2.5-liter inline-4 making 168 horsepower and 170 pound-feet of torque. Not enough? Well, there’s also the 179-horsepower 1.5-liter turbocharged inline-4 whipping up 177 lb-ft of torque. Most people are more than happy with this one, available on the SE and SEL trim levels. Still not enough? We can see you don’t settle for second best. Let’s go see what we have in the back room. Here she is: a beautiful 2-liter turbocharged inline-4 delivering a whopping 245 horsepower and stellar 275 lb-ft of torque. This one is exclusive to the Titanium model, but well worth the expense.
What can be said of the engine options on the Subaru Forester? Well, first of all, that word shouldn’t be plural. There’s only one engine option on the Forester. And it’s a middle-of-the-pack engine that doesn’t hold a candle to the Escape Titanium’s engine. The Forester has a 2.5-liter flat-4 engine making 182 horsepower and 176 pound-feet of torque. Those are good numbers, but still they’re numbers the Escape has beat.
Closely wedded to engine output is towing capacity. And, again, this is an area where the Ford Escape really shines. Because the 2019 Escape, when properly equipped, can tow loads of up to 3,500 pounds. That’s one of the best in the compact SUV class. By comparison, the Subaru Forester taps out at 1,500 pounds. So if you have a big boat, big trailer, or big camper, almost no other compact sport utility vehicle is tough enough to tow it, except for the 2019 Ford Escape.
You’re probably wondering if this all means the Ford Escape is more expensive than its Subaru rival. The truth is the 2019 Escape is ever so slightly more affordable, starting at just $24,105. Meanwhile, the 2019 Forester starts at $24,295. That’s not a huge difference but it’s an edge the Escape maintains even as you step through the trim levels. So if you want all the bells and whistles, the Escape offers a better deal there too, not to mention better engine options and towing capacity.