2021 Toyota RAV4 vs. 2021 Ford Escape

2020 Toyota RAV4 ・ Photo by Brady Holt

A good compact crossover SUV is a remarkably multitalented vehicle. For a similar price to a mid-size sedan, it has tons of cargo space, a higher seating position, and at least a modicum of towing and off-road capability. What’s more, today’s crossovers can rival or even beat many sedans for on-road driving dynamics and fuel economy.

Two of the most popular compact crossovers are the 2021 Toyota RAV4 — America’s best-selling vehicle that’s not a big pickup truck — and the 2021 Ford Escape. They’re fundamentally similar: Both start at around $25,000, are about the same size, sip fuel (especially with their optional hybrid powertrains), and are pleasant to drive. But there are key differences as well, meaning each crossover might be ideal for a different type of customer. Read on to explore how the Escape and RAV4 stack up in different areas, and which one is our overall winner.

Exterior Design

The differences between the RAV4 and Escape begin at the very first glance. The RAV4 borrows cues from the Toyota 4Runner, the company’s hardcore off-road SUV. It’s boxy and aggressive, looking purposeful and capable — though not over-the-top, either.

In contrast, the Escape is rounded-off and gentler, more like a taller car than a smaller SUV. It’s friendly and approachable, without trying to look like it’s trying to dominate either the road or the trails. It looks smaller than the RAV4 despite actually being slightly bigger. Some might find the Escape to be dull and anonymous compared with the RAV4. On the other hand, we asked a friend of ours who normally prefers sedans to SUVs, and she found the Escape’s design refreshing and downright cool. As tastes will differ between these different-looking crossovers, we’ll call this category a tie.

Tie

Photo by Brady Holt

Interior Design

The RAV4 and Escape continue to have a different design aesthetic inside, though their interiors are more similar than their exteriors are. The main difference is that the Toyota has sturdy rubbery trim on its door pulls and even its dashboard knobs, while the Ford takes a more conventional approach with the typical mix of plastics and vinyls. On some trim levels, the RAV4 also has funky interior color swatches, like red trim on our test car’s center console and dashboard. On the other hand, the Escape has an uncommon (but easy to use) rotary gear selector rather than the RAV4’s traditional one.

Otherwise, both vehicles have infotainment touchscreens that perch in the middle of their dashboards, with user-friendly controls around or below them. Functionally, the differences are in the details, and that’s where the Toyota generally comes out on top. The RAV4 carves out more storage spaces, it has bigger cupholders, and — while neither of these vehicles is a luxury car — the Escape has more areas of extra-cheap plastic.

Toyota RAV4

Photo by Brady Holt

Interior Comfort

This is another close call. Both SUVs are similarly comfortable and spacious. Both can seat four adults and squeeze in a fifth without forcing a death wish. Once again, though, the RAV4 ekes out a win.

Up front, the RAV4’s driver seat feels slightly wider and more accommodating than the Ford’s. In the back, the Escape’s fore-aft-adjustable bench seat and higher cushion would seem to give it the edge — but you need to slide it all the way back to offer as much space as Toyota gives you from its fixed-position seat. Lastly, the RAV4 offers a couple of premium options that the Escape does not: ventilated front seats and heated rear seats.

Toyota RAV4

Photo by Brady Holt

Capability and Utility

The 2021 Ford Escape’s fore-aft-adjustable rear seat also cramps its real-world cargo space. Slide the rear seat all the way forward, and Ford provides an excellent 37.5 cubic feet, virtually a tie with the 2021 Toyota RAV4’s 37.6 cubic feet. But slide the rear seat all the way back for sufficient legroom, and the Ford’s cargo capacity drops to a less impressive 33.5 cubic feet. With their rear seats folded, the RAV4 manages a decent but unremarkable 69.8 cubic feet while the Escape’s 65.4 cubic feet is among the smallest in the compact crossover segment.

The RAV4’s capability advantage extends beyond paved surfaces, especially in its Adventure and TRD Off-Road trim levels. They can also tow the most of any RAV4 models: 3,500 pounds. The Escape can also tow up to 3,500 pounds with its optional larger engine, while its base engine can tow 2,000 pounds versus the base RAV4’s 1,500. Still, the RAV4’s greater cargo space and superior off-road performance give it a clear win here.

Toyota RAV4

Photo by Brady Holt

Driving Experience

As part of its latest redesign, for the 2019 model year, Toyota improved the RAV4’s ride and handling and gave it class-leading standard horsepower: 203 hp from a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine. But it’s still no match for the latest Escape, which debuted for 2020.

The Escape has sharper handling than the RAV4, and its steering is the perfect balance of extra-light at parking lot speeds yet tauter when you pick up the pace. And although the Escape’s base engine makes 23 horsepower less than the RAV4 and has one fewer cylinder, the three-cylinder Ford feels zippier and quieter than the Toyota — which can roar harshly under all but gentle acceleration. What’s more, you can upgrade the Escape to an extra-zippy 250-horsepower four-cylinder. The base three-cylinder engine can suffer from excess vibration at low RPMs, especially if you’re coasting and then suddenly dig in a bit to the throttle, but we found even the three-cylinder Escape more enjoyable to drive than the RAV4 overall.

Ford Escape

Photo by Brady Holt

Fuel Economy

Both the RAV4 and the Escape get good gas mileage for SUVs, with EPA ratings of up to 30 mpg in mixed driving in their most-efficient configurations. The Escape drops to 28 mpg with the base 181-hp three-cylinder engine and all-wheel drive, as do some RAV4 trim levels, while other RAV4 models have ratings of up to 30 mpg even with all-wheel drive. The 250-hp four-cylinder Escape gets 26 mpg combined, pretty good considering its zesty performance. We tested a RAV4 trim level that’s rated for 28 mpg combined, and we averaged about 30 mpg; our AWD three-cylinder Escape, also rated for 28 mpg, managed about 29 mpg in similar driving conditions.

For maximum fuel savings, you can also buy hybrid versions of each SUV. The RAV4 Hybrid gets 40 mpg with AWD as standard equipment, while the Escape Hybrid manages 41 mpg with front-wheel drive and 40 mpg with AWD. And an upcoming Escape plug-in hybrid manages an EPA-estimated 37 miles of all-electric driving, while the newly introduced RAV4 Prime plug-in hybrid manages 42 miles. Both these SUVs get respectable mileage, but the Toyota has the edge.

Toyota RAV4

Photo by Brady Holt

Safety

When it comes to safety, both of these SUVs are once again impressive. In this case, though, it’s the Ford Escape that slightly outperforms the Toyota RAV4.

Both vehicles earned an IIHS Top Safety Pick status from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and a top five-star overall rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. NHTSA gave the Escape a slightly higher frontal-impact score than the RAV4, though. Also, while both SUVs’ generous lists of standard features include automatic emergency braking and lane-keeping steering assistance, Ford further includes blind-spot monitoring and a rear cross-traffic alert as standard equipment on all Escape models while it’s an extra-cost option on the base RAV4.

Ford Escape

Photo by Brady Holt

Pricing and Features

The 2021 Toyota RAV4 starts at $26,065. The 2021 Escape’s pricing hasn’t yet been released as of this writing, but the near-identical 2020 model undercuts the RAV4 at $24,885. The gap persists across trim levels, and it widens when you consider that Fords typically sell at greater discounts off their sticker prices than Toyotas do.

The RAV4 does have a wider range of models, including the higher-capability Adventure and TRD trim levels, and we’ve mentioned before how it offers a few features that the Escape does not. Still, the Escape also has a trick up its sleeve with the option to choose a more powerful engine. And its price advantage is clear.

Ford Escape

Photo by Brady Holt

Final Thoughts

If you want your small crossover to look and feel like an SUV, the 2021 Toyota RAV4 is a strong choice. Its decent off-road ability lives up to the promise of its tough styling cues, yet it’s also spacious, comfortable, and fuel-efficient in everyday use. The 2021 Ford Escape, meanwhile, is a lighter-duty SUV that looks and feels more like a car. It’s gentle-looking and agile, and its peppy engines feel happier to accelerate than the powerful yet thrashy Toyota’s.

While we won’t tell you to prefer a more SUV-like crossover over a more car-like one, we will give a narrow overall win to the RAV4 in this comparison. It’s a little more expensive than the Escape, it’s noisier, and it’s not as agile. But it’s roomier, more fuel-efficient, and more capable, yet it’s still a generally easygoing companion for daily commutes or road trips. Of the two, it’s the more well-rounded option.

Toyota RAV4

Photo by Brady Holt