2021 Toyota Venza vs 2021 Ford Escape

The 2021 Toyota Venza was a sleek and stylish SUV, shorter and closer to the ground than the Toyota RAV4, yet sharing the same wheelbase. Critics often remarked that the Venza resembled a Lexus, with its grille and elongated profile blurring the lines between the brands. The design was reminiscent of the Lexus LF-1 Limitless concept, showcased at the 2018 North American International Auto Show. Available in three trim levels—LE, XLE, and Limited—the Venza offered a choice of seven paint colors and a long list of standard features, including LED headlights, dual chrome-tipped exhaust, and 18-inch alloy wheels. The interior boasted a wireless charging pad, dual-zone automatic climate control, and an 8-inch infotainment touchscreen, among other amenities.

In contrast, the 2021 Ford Escape straddled the line between SUV and hatchback, with a curved snout and sleek roofline that made it look more like an engorged Focus. Despite its car-like appearance, the Escape maintained the tall ride height of a proper SUV. For 2021, the Escape introduced new appearance packages for three of its four trim levels, including the SE Sport Appearance Package, SEL Stealth AWD Package, and Titanium Elite Package. These upgrades featured 19-inch alloy wheels, ActiveX upholstery with Miko Suede seat inserts, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel. However, the interior design choices were less cohesive, with materials that felt low-rent, even in the top Titanium model.

The 2021 Toyota Venza came standard with a 2.5-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine paired with a lithium-ion battery pack and electric motors, resulting in a combined 219 horsepower and 163 pound-feet of torque. The hybrid system, coupled with an electronically-controlled continuously-variable transmission (eCVT), provided smooth acceleration, though it was not particularly rapid. The Venza's handling was confident and typical of a Toyota, with a quiet cabin once up to speed. The Venza excelled in fuel economy, achieving an EPA-estimated 40 mpg on the highway, 37 mpg in the city, and 39 mpg combined. Toyota backed its hybrid powertrain with a 10-year/150,000-mile hybrid battery warranty and an eight-year/100,000-mile Hybrid System warranty.

The 2021 Ford Escape offered a variety of powertrains, including two gasoline engines, a hybrid, and a plug-in hybrid. The base 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine produced 181 horsepower and 191 pound-feet of torque, paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission. An upgrade to the 2.0-liter turbo-four engine increased output to 250 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque. The hybrid and plug-in hybrid models used a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine with electric assist, delivering a total system output of 200 horsepower. The plug-in hybrid's larger battery pack allowed for significant electric-only driving. However, the Escape's chassis tuning left much to be desired, with sloppy suspension and steering making it feel like a chore to drive. The 2.0-liter engine models could tow up to 3,500 pounds, but towing figures for the hybrid and plug-in hybrid were not provided.

The 2021 Toyota Venza was known for its practicality, with a unique interior design that set it apart from both Lexus and Toyota models. The center stack featured premium appointments, including piano black capacitive buttons for climate and infotainment controls, and a deep center console with resizable cup holders and a wireless charging pad. The Venza's seats were comfortable for both front and rear passengers, making it suitable for extended drives. While the Venza had less cargo space than the RAV4, its 55.1 cubic feet of maximum cargo space was still ample for daily use. The quick-flip releases on the 60/40 split-folding rear seatbacks made arranging the cargo space easy.

The 2021 Ford Escape, despite its car-like styling, offered competitive interior space. The first-row and second-row headroom and legroom were near the top of the segment, with a standard sliding rear seat that could be moved to expand legroom or cargo space. The gasoline Escape had 33.5 cubic feet of cargo space with the rear seat up, which could be increased to 37.5 cubic feet by sliding the seat forward. Folding the rear seat provided 65.4 cubic feet of cargo space. However, hybrid and plug-in hybrid models had slightly less space due to the battery pack placement. Most competitors offered more cargo space, with the Nissan Rogue and Subaru Forester exceeding 70 cubic feet.

The 2021 Toyota Venza featured the Entune infotainment system, with an 8-inch touchscreen on the LE and XLE trims, and a 12.3-inch touchscreen on the Limited trim. While the larger screen had good response time and could display three sections of information, it was not the easiest to use. The Venza came standard with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Amazon Alexa, and a Wi-Fi hotspot. The XLE and Limited trims offered a nine-speaker JBL premium audio system. Toyota also included connected services like Safety Connect, Remote Connect, and Service Connect, with varying trial periods.

The 2021 Ford Escape used the older Sync 3 infotainment system, with a 4.2-inch touchscreen on the base S model. Upgrading to the SE trim added an 8-inch touchscreen with pinch-and-zoom capability and SiriusXM satellite radio. The Titanium trim level included a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a 10-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system. While Sync 3 was user-friendly, the Escape lacked some standard tech features offered by competitors and missed out on the wireless versions of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto available with the newer Sync 4 system.

The 2021 Toyota Venza came equipped with the Toyota Safety Sense 2.0 suite, which included features like a pre-collision warning system with pedestrian detection, lane-departure alert with steering assist, lane-tracing assist, automatic high beams, adaptive cruise control, and road sign assist. Blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert was standard, with an upgrade to automatic braking available on the XLE and Limited trims. The Venza also had two full sets of LATCH connections on the rear outboard seats. The safety features performed well, though the lane-keeping assist tended to keep the SUV further to the right within the lane.

The 2021 Ford Escape received a "Top Safety Pick" rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), with top scores in all crash tests and for LATCH child-seat anchor ease of use. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) awarded the Escape a five-star overall safety rating. Standard safety features under the Ford Co-Pilot360 banner included automatic high beams, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, lane-keep assist, lane-departure warning, forward collision warning, and automatic emergency braking. The optional Co-Pilot360 Assist+ package added adaptive cruise control, traffic-sign recognition, park assist, and Evasive Steering Assist.