2022 Buick Encore GX vs 2023 Ford Escape

The 2022 Buick Encore GX bore a striking resemblance to its sibling, the Encore, making it difficult to distinguish between the two, especially in the same color. Both SUVs featured Buick's trapezoidal "waterfall" grille, high beltline, and similar headlight styling, front fascia designs, and fog light locations. The Encore GX, however, had a slightly longer wheelbase and additional length, which helped it appear less tall and stubby. The optional ST (Sport Touring) appearance package enhanced the Encore GX's aesthetics with body-color bodyside and rocker moldings, custom grille, sport bumpers with red accents, 18-inch aluminum wheels, and an "ST" badge on the liftgate.

Inside, the Encore GX offered an attractive cabin with soft-touch materials and minimal hard plastic. Cloth seats were standard on base models, while leather seats were standard on the top Essence trim. The test vehicle featured heated seats covered in Whisper Beige leather with Ebony accents, adding a touch of elegance. The heated, leather-wrapped steering wheel was well-sized and featured handy redundant controls, though the rotary toggles embedded in the spokes were somewhat cumbersome. Overall, the controls and instrumentation were straightforward and user-friendly.

The 2023 Ford Escape adopted a more European design language, moving away from the blocky exterior of its predecessors. The 2023 refresh replaced the cartoonish grille with a more traditional front end, featuring the Ford blue oval logo and a stylish LED light bar. The Escape offered various trim levels, with the ST-Line Elite being the top trim tested. Despite not looking rugged, the Escape's sleek design, 19-inch wheels, and body-color mirror caps gave it an upscale appearance.

Inside, the ST-Line Elite flaunted diamond-stitched leather upholstery, which, while visually appealing, felt hard and plasticky. The seats were comfortable and softly padded, making the Escape suitable for long drives. The 10-way power adjustable driver's seat allowed for easy customization. However, the interior featured a lot of plastic, some of which felt scratchy and poorly reinforced. The center console had a nice textured appearance, but overall, the plastic materials felt cost-cutting.

The 2022 Buick Encore GX offered two turbocharged three-cylinder engine options: a 1.2-liter unit producing 137 horsepower and a 1.3-liter motor making 155 hp. The 1.2-liter engine was standard on the Preferred and Select trims, while the 1.3-liter unit was standard on the top Essence trim and optional on the Preferred and Select. Front-wheel drive (FWD) was standard on all trims, with all-wheel drive (AWD) available as an option. FWD models used a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT), while AWD models employed a traditional nine-speed automatic.

The 1.3-liter turbo engine and CVT in the test vehicle proved to be surprisingly capable, though a bit buzzy and harsh. The power was adequate for merging and passing, but the engine stop/start feature was somewhat annoying. The Encore GX's ride was not as settled as expected from a Buick, and the interior was noisier than anticipated. Despite Buick's QuietTuning and active noise cancellation technologies, noise, vibration, and harshness levels were intrusive. The CVT, however, did not drone, which was a positive aspect.

The 2023 Ford Escape stood out with multiple powertrain options. The base engine was a 1.5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder, delivering 180 horsepower and 199 pound-feet of torque via an eight-speed automatic transmission. This engine could be paired with either FWD or AWD. The ST-Line Select, Platinum, and ST-Line Elite trims featured a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, producing 250 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque, exclusively with AWD.

The 2.0-liter engine provided impressive acceleration and high-speed passing capabilities, but the Escape was not a performance crossover. The suspension remained soft and compliant, and the transmission lacked performance tuning. The Escape's brakes offered predictable and linear stopping power, and the soft suspension was beneficial on rough roads. The steering inputs were well-weighted, avoiding the twitchiness found in some competitors.

The 2022 Buick Encore GX, despite its small size, provided a comfortable and easy-to-live-with experience. Ingress and egress were effortless, and the controls were clearly marked and legible. The slightly elevated ride height improved visibility, aided by the optional rear camera mirror. Front-seat headroom and legroom were adequate, though rear-seat knee room was tight. The cargo space measured 23.5 cubic feet behind the rear bench seat and 50.2 cubic feet with the seat folded. The two-level cargo floor created a flat load floor when the rear seats were folded, accommodating items up to eight feet in length.

The 2023 Ford Escape offered comfortable and supportive seats with excellent ergonomics. The steering wheel felt great to hold, and the armrests were well-positioned. The test vehicle featured a head-up display, which was easy to adjust. The Escape's cargo space measured up to 37.5 cubic feet behind the second row and 65.4 cubic feet with the second row folded. While this was close to competitors like the Chevrolet Equinox and Mazda CX-5, it fell short of the Honda CR-V, Hyundai Tucson, Nissan Rogue, and Toyota RAV4. Rear-seat legroom was slightly less than some competitors, but headroom was impressive, and the front-seat backs were softly padded and deeply scalloped.

The 2022 Buick Encore GX came with an eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, Bluetooth audio streaming, Buick Connected Services with a built-in WiFi hotspot, front and rear USB ports, OnStar telematics, and SiriusXM satellite radio. A navigation system was available on Select and Essence trims, along with built-in Amazon Alexa capability. The test vehicle had a basic audio system, despite the tech-related options.

Driver-assistance features included blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, automatic emergency braking, front pedestrian braking, following-distance indicator, forward-collision warning, lane-keeping assistance with lane-departure warning, and automatic high-beam headlights. The Advanced Technology package added HD surround vision, a head-up display, adaptive cruise control, and a memory card receptacle. The Convenience package included automatic parking assist with braking, wireless phone charging, a rear camera mirror and washer, and rain-sensing windshield wipers.

The 2023 Ford Escape featured Sync 4, with an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment display on lower trims and a larger 13.2-inch screen on higher trims. Sync 4 was well-organized, with individual tiles for navigation, music, and Bluetooth pairing. The system was easy to navigate, and the native navigation system looked similar to Google Maps. A static "Home" button made it easy to jump between applications.

However, Sync 4 was occasionally slow to respond, and the volume knob's placement on the far-right side of the stack was inconvenient. Despite these minor annoyances, the feature set, layout, and ease of use were impressive.

The 2022 Buick Encore GX came standard with several driver assistance features, including Teen Driver technology and a tire-fill alert system. The Encore GX performed well in NHTSA crash tests, earning five stars for overall crash protection, frontal and side crash protection, and four stars for rollover resistance. The IIHS awarded the Encore GX "Good" ratings in all crash tests, with "Superior" ratings for front crash prevention. However, the headlights received mixed ratings, with the top Essence trim's LED headlights rated "Acceptable" and the halogen headlights on lower trims rated "Marginal."

The 2023 Ford Escape received a five-star overall rating from NHTSA, with five stars in frontal and side crash tests and four stars in the rollover test. The IIHS did not grant the Escape a Top Safety Pick designation, noting a "Marginal" score in the updated side-impact test. The Escape received "Good" ratings in all other tests.

Ford's Co-Pilot360 suite of advanced driver assistance systems included forward-collision warning with pedestrian detection, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assist, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and automatic high beams. Co-Pilot360 2.0 added adaptive cruise control, road sign recognition, lane-centering technology, and a surround-view camera view.