With two comparatively new medium SUVs entering the market in recent months, we thought some of you would like to know the skinny on each as they stand shoulder line to shoulder line.
Of the two combatants, one is more likely to align better with the fleet buyer requirements according to the manufacturer, while the other sidles more towards the user chooser.
We’ll let you work out which is which, but it’s kind of important as one of these mid-liners makes a good case for itself as a leased vehicle, the other – apparently – not so much.
You won’t be proving us wrong if you disagree, and lease companies, your opinion is valid here too. We’d love to hear any feedback on the points of, who’d be interested in what and would they lease or buy? We have our opinion, but we’d appreciate yours.
In the meantime, let’s see who squares off in the ring:
Over in the blue corner – naturally – we have the 2021 Ford Escape while over in the hot orange highlight corner, we have the Subaru Forester X Sport (is that X Sport Gold?).
As the Escape got away from the gate first launching in the final quarter of 2020, its fair to start with Father Ford’s finest, so here’s our take on the new(ish) Escape.
FORD Escape ST-Line X
This is such a far cry from the previous generations of Escapes, it beggars belief.
Ford has moved away from the American boxy-styled mid-sized SUV to a contemporary organic design, giving the impression this SUV has been grown rather than built.
The new Escape has grown progressively longer over its four generation, it’s also become a little wider, but it has dropped significantly in height.
Escape’s wheelbase has also grown considerably, all of which contributes to a much roomier interior, allowing for greater passenger comfort and greater cargo carrying capability.
Engines across the range have now been rationalised to the two-litre GDTi turbo petrol with EcoBoost tech to maximise efficiency and reduce emission levels.
The engine is strong and smooth and while most would opt for the surety and security of All-Wheel-Drive, the engine works much more enthusiastically – in terms of its response – with the Front-Wheel-Drive only model.
OK, so how does it stack up in terms of the drive overall? Well, having that lowered height has done wonders for the Escape’s handling. Its a very sure-footed ride, which is reminiscent of the Ford Focus.
This shouldn’t really come as a surprise as they share the same platform and therefore – despite the larger body size of the Escape – the handling will be comparable and your rear seat passengers are going to have a very pleasant ride, thanks to the extended space back there which has come about through the larger dimensions Ford has found.
But its up the front where comfort really counts, and Ford has contrived a beautiful split-suede/leather seat covering for the heated front seats. They look good, feel great and you can drive on them all day long.
In fact, Ford, my couch is getting tired, think you could spare a few Escape seats for the living room? Ta.
Infotainment wise, the Escape ST-Line X is pretty loaded. It gets SYNC3 for the tunes; you have satellite navigation for directions, voice interaction with the vehicle or the eight-inch colour touchscreen if you’d rather.
Naturally, there’s Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to go with the BlueTooth bits and Ford’s new shiny toy, FordPass connectivity which allows you to use your phone to talk to the Escape’s on-board modem as well as being able to turn the SUV on for pre-conditioning the cabin and being able to tell the Escape to go lock itself if you forgot.
And if FordConnect makes your phone go flat, you have inductive charging backing up Escape’s twin front USB charge ports, the USB charger in the rear cabin and the two 12-volt round sockets because no one ever seems to have enough charging ports.
Safety is a big thing with Ford, and unfortunately, there’s never enough room to mention everything, but given the five-star ANCAP safety rating and that the ST-Line X is the top-of-the-line model, yep, it’s got everything – 34 listings in the safety suite in fact, including adaptive cruise control with Start/Stop functionality.
Highlights include blind spot monitoring, lane departure and lane keeping, automatic emergency braking, forward collision warning, evasive steer assist, front and rear cameras and parking sensors, cross traffic alert, traffic sign recognition and intelligent speed assist, airbags front, rear and side and my personal favourite, tyre pressure monitoring.
While the Escape can live up to its name as a getaway/go anywhere vehicle – especially with the selectable drive modes of eco, normal, slippery and sport – its best kept to ‘mild off-roading’ in reality.
Tackling the Nevis Road in Queenstown is a little bit more than you could expect of the Escape, but State Highway ‘Beach’ on the upper west coast is fine.
One last strength of the Escape – and you won’t find this comment in a glossy car mag – is its professional demeanour.
The Escape was, at one time, all about adventure and very little else. With the fourth generation, the Escape is as at home in the lawyer’s parking space as it is at the top 10 Holiday park.
This is the Ford which suits every and any customer. It’s the most universally appealing vehicle Ford has ever produced, and as I recall, that was just what Henry was looking to provide. Job done.
Subaru Forester X Sport
How to describe that certain something which rekindles the enigmatic spirit of the original ugly truckling?
If you thought that was a little unkind, cast your mind’s eye back to the first time you saw a Forester – that would have been around 1997, when design aesthetics were very different.
The Forester arrived and everyone went “hmm, it might get better with age” and it did, though there would be those who found the 97 model’s eccentric look endearing.
The SF model went through to 2002 with the SG and that led to the SH (third generation) which arrived in 2009 to 2013. Then we saw the SJ in 2014 through to 2018, leading to the current SK four variant model line-up, which was launched in 2019.
And just when we thought that would be something of a swan song for the Forester, given its “this vehicle has everything Subaru can possibly put into it, including hybrid tech” credentials, along comes the Forester X-Sport – something strangely subtle from Subaru.
Nothing has been done to the ‘Subaru normal’ 2.5-litre, four cylinder, horizontally opposed engine.
Forester still puts out 134kW and 239Nm of torque via the Lineartronic SLT seven-speed transmission with manual mode.
The X Sport also retains All-Wheel Drive engineering and X-Mode, which improves traction and handling, when driving on low-grip surfaces, like mud or snow.
Then there is Eye-Sight, the second pair of eyes crash avoidance system and also the driver monitoring system which uses facial recognition to identify the driver and monitor their behaviour and trends.
And passengers find the Forester a particularly pleasant vehicle to be in the back of, with lots of legroom, lots of visibility and an inherent feeling of security.
With all these features onboard then, what’s so special about the X Sport?
Orange you glad we’re here to tell you?
The big thing with the X Sport Subaru is orange – more specifically, orange highlights in sometimes unusual places.
For instance, the supports for the roof rails are orange, there’s orange accents for the front, side, and rear under guard and inside, the orange highlight treatment is found around the air vents, the central gear shift command and control set-up. And yes, there’s orange piping on the water-repellent seats and orange stitching on the wheel.
Which is all well and good, but is that it? Orange highlights? Well, no, not exactly.
In addition to everything which led the Forester to gain numerous Vehicle of the Year awards: safety, technology, drivability and Subaru DNA, the Forester X Sport gains some premium specifications like the eight-inch touchscreen, which allows for satellite navigation display, and you get push button start and a power tailgate. As well, The X Sport boasts black 18-inch alloys to match the black grille and the black driving light surrounds.
The orange highlights are technically called performance aesthetics, and while they don’t contribute to performance, they do contribute to the Forester getting its mojo back.
For all the SK’s technical brilliance – and it really, really is brilliant – some have felt its excellence has come at the expense of the X factor which the Forester has always had in its previous incarnations in one form or another.
This must have given the designers a real headache: “look, we’ve loaded this SUV to the max when it comes to safety and traction; there’s even stuff onboard which customers didn’t know they wanted. What more can we do?”
I reckon the engineers fell into the trap of functionality without aesthetic consideration and ended up producing a bewildering cabin with split screens and an overload of driver information, buttons and controls.
Probably in frustration, the engineers went to the designers and fed them some form of energy drink after which, the designers had a massive sugar rush, then went and amplified on what the engineers had done.
I guess the logic of introducing multiple textured surfaces and throwing orange paint everywhere was that it would have the effect of balancing the driver’s logical left-brain lobe with the creatively inspired right.
But guess what? It works.
While still carrying everything it did, the cabin has become, not relaxing exactly, but perhaps more ‘comfortably’ engaging.
I’d say the driver gets ‘comfortably numb,’ but I’d get a lawsuit from Pink Floyd and it wouldn’t be fair to Subaru who has always – and I mean always – produced engaging vehicles to drive.
Final analysis? The X Sport allows drivers and passengers to appreciate the overall excellence which the Forester has always had as a hallmark. It’s just gotten better now.
VERDICT
Despite these two SUVs competing against each other for your affection, they really are quite disparate in their roles. The Escape is trying to be all things to all comers while the Forester is trying to be the best four-pawed vehicle that’s not an XV or an Outback.
With its superior ground clearance, the Forester is more for the adventurously inclined, which would lead one to think the Escape would be the better on road.
On tarmac, the Subaru is a tad quieter, but the Ford comes up trumps when it comes to the least body roll.
The Forester looks better for its fuel use and CO2 emissions, but the Escape delivers in physical size and greater power and torque from a smaller engine.
This perhaps sends a message that the Forester is more fleet-friendly in terms of its performance while the Escape is geared more to the private sector.
You couldn’t be more wrong, as it’s the other way around according to the distributors. Your fleet provider will be able to coach you more on residuals and cost of ownership, where we suspect the Ford might edge out the Subaru.
Servicing sees the Ford win on a standard package, but Subaru is also offering a revised extended servicing and warranty plan, so ask about that if you are buying direct.
Do we then, have a winner? Depends on what you want and how much you read into the bottom-line price.
At RRP the Forester eats the Escape all day long, but if you consider list price, well, you won’t always get the full story.
Technically, bang for buck says ‘go Subaru’ and while our evaluation gives a pretty good assessment of what’s onboard, compare the basic Forester with the X Sport to see everything that you have access to.
As an interesting exercise, we priced the base model AWD Escape and the base model Forester and found the same pricing difference, about $8,500, the difference you’ll find between the X’s.
We felt the two vehicles, as similar as they appear, actually appeal to different markets and certainly to different buyers.
This being the case, some will be looking to the Escape and thinking it’s a little too conventional while others will view the Forester as a little too far left of centre (despite having symmetrical AWD).
Kudos should go to Ford for design which is radically different. The Forester is subtle evolution, compared to the Escape’s revolution.
Our pick has to go with the vehicle which will best serve the needs of the fleet buyer and while we love the Forester for all it has to offer, it’s individuality is its undoing, compared to the Escape.
We’d be putting the screws on our lease provider, however; $8 and a half k buys an SUV load of lattes!
