Which compact SUV delivers the best blend of power, efficiency, and everyday comfort — the 2025 Ford Escape or the Honda CR-V? Our buying guide helps you select the best model for your busy Colorado lifestyle!
Key Takeaways
- With their supportive seats and available luxury features, both compact SUVs are comfy choices!
- The Escape has the edge when it comes to technology, offering bigger and better options.
- Choose the Escape for mountain-friendly power and performance.
- Shopping for fuel savings? The Escape offers the thriftiest ride!
Interior Comfort: It’s a Tie!
The 2025 Ford Escape has your comfort in mind, delivering the kind of seating support and generous legroom everyone wants in a commuter vehicle. This small SUV also gets high marks for its quiet, well-insulated ride. Available features, like heated front seats and dual-zone climate control, keep you cozy throughout our changing Colorado seasons. And the Escape’s ergonomic design makes you feel both comfortable and in command!
Like its Ford competitor, the 2025 Honda CR-V makes life a little simpler with its smooth, composed ride. Its two rows of seating check every box: they’re roomy, supportive, and nicely cushioned. To keep from feeling like you’re cruising through a freezing mountain pass, check out the CR-V’s available heated steering wheel and heated front seats!
Street-Smart Tech: 2025 Ford Escape
Compared to the CR-V, the Escape offers the best list of tech features at no extra cost. In other words, this small SUV comes standard with the biggest touchscreen and the most stereo speakers! Ford’s SYNC 4 infotainment software, featuring intuitive menus and quick responses, is another big plus. To help you stay safe on dangerous winter roads, the standard lineup also includes driving aids like forward collision mitigation and blind-spot warning!
Inside Honda’s small SUV, you’ll find a pretty modern tech layout. Like the Escape, the CR-V delivers wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity and a reliable central touchscreen. Its standard list of safety aids doesn’t include blind-spot monitoring, but this technology is available on more expensive trim models. However, the CR-V lacks a few of the Escape’s optional features, including a digital gauge cluster and bigger central touchscreen. (That is, the Escape’s optional 13.2-inch display is preferable to the CR-V’s 9-inch upgrade.)
Mountain-Friendly Power: 2025 Ford Escape
Anyone shopping for confident passing power in elevated terrain would be wise to start with the Escape. With its powerful engine options, Ford’s small SUV outperforms the competition on steep mountain inclines and city streets alike! Add all-wheel drive to your model for extra agility in rugged terrain and a safer ride on slick winter streets.
2025 Ford Escape Powertrain Options
- Active, ST-Line: turbocharged 1.5L three-cylinder engine (180 hp, 199 lb-ft)
- ST-Line Select and up: turbo 2.0L four-cylinder engine (250 hp, 280 lb-ft)
- Optional for the ST-Line and up: 2.5L hybrid powertrain (192 hp, 155 lb-ft)
- PHEV: 2.5L plug-in hybrid powertrain (210 hp, 155 lb-ft)
- Eight-speed automatic transmission
- Continuously variable transmission (with hybrid or plug-in hybrid)
- Front-wheel drive or available all-wheel drive
While the CR-V doesn’t offer as many engine options as the Escape, it is available with a peppy hybrid upgrade. And that’s more than we can say for most compact SUVs! Sure, this Honda won’t win many races, but it’s a reliable option for city streets and dirt roads. We also recommend its available all-wheel-drive system for both your summer adventures and winter safety.
2025 Honda CR-V
- LX, EX, EX-L trims: turbocharged 1.5L four-cylinder engine (190 hp, 179 lb-ft of torque)
- Sport, Sport-L, Sport Touring: 2.0L hybrid four-cylinder engine (204 hp, 247 lb-ft)
- Continuously variable transmission
- Front-wheel drive or available all-wheel drive
Best Road-Trip Fuel Economy: 2025 Ford Escape
With both classic hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains available, the Escape wins this category handily. The Escape PHEV trim model takes pump savings to their limits, earning 101 MPGe! Its powerful hybrid engine, available for the ST-Line and up, helps you earn 39 mpg (42 city/36 highway) without toning down its Colorado-friendly performance!
Of course, the 2025 Honda CR-V is available with its own hybrid powertrain! With it, the CR-V gives the Escape a run for its money, earning up to 40 mpg combined (43 city/36 highway). Even if it’s not as thrifty as the competition, this little Honda is an economical option in its own right.
Your New Compact SUV
In the end, what makes the 2025 Escape different from CR-V also makes it the best choice for Colorado drivers! Thanks to its turbocharged power and hybrid efficiency, this Ford SUV feels at home in Colorado’s changing terrain. Meanwhile, you’ll feel at home inside its cozy cabin! Come see what all the fuss is about — visit us at Brighton Ford to test-drive the new Escape.