New car comparison review: Toyota RAV4 v Mazda CX-5 v Honda CR-V
The mid-size SUV is the most popular car in Australia with makers fighting hard for your dollars, but which is the best choice for your family?
You get a lot of car for your cash these days. Medium-sized SUVs are a great example. In 2000, the top Toyota RAV4 cost $35,740. For that, you got a CD player and two airbags.
Buyers who walk into a Toyota showroom with less cash in their pocket today can take home a car packed with seven airbags, clever driver aids, satnav, climate control, smart keys and a sophisticated hybrid engine.
Spending a little more, they’ll get into the mid-range versions tested here, the sort preferred by many families today.
The original RAV4 faced few rivals. Today, just about every brand on the road has a high-riding family wagon to chase thousands of hearts, minds and wallets.
HONDA CR-V VTI-L7
Having arrived a few months after the original RAV4 of 1994, the CR-V has been a sparring partner for a quarter of a century.
Honda successfully targeted the US with successive generations of the CR-V. Larger-than-average for its class, the wagon has suspension tuned for comfort rather than poise.
Heavier and higher-riding than its rivals, the Honda has a tendency to lean more than the others through the corners. But it makes up for that with a big boot, calm demeanour and willing engine.
Powered by a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo (140kW/240Nm), the CR-V claims to use 7.3L/100km, in the process delivering reasonable grunt. The engine feels strong in real-world driving, even if driver input is somewhat hampered by a continuously variable transmission that takes time to respond to driver inputs.
Our test example is the only front-driver in this trio, as the bulk of Honda’s range eschews all-wheel drive.
As such, it’s the cheapest here. The VTI-L7 grade, normally priced from $38,990 plus on-roads, is currently on sale for $42,950 drive-away with a two-year extension to its five-year warranty.
Honda’s machine makes a strong first impression with leather trim, panoramic sunroof and powered tailgate that you won’t find on the equivalent Toyota and Mazda.
It’s the only car here with seven seats, thanks to an extra pair of chairs — suitable only for kids — tucked into the boot. Clever touches include roof-mounted air vents for the third row and middle seats that fold and slide to allow rearward access — but a closer look at the spec sheet reveals important omissions.
Though it earns a five-star crash rating, the Honda is the only car here to miss out on safety tech such as autonomous emergency braking, active cruise control and lane departure warning fitted to the RAV4, CX-5 and other rivals.
MAZDA CX-5 TOURING
Safety is a modern Mazda hallmark — it was the first brand to put auto emergency braking in all of its SUVs. These days, the CX-5 is also loaded with such clever gear as rear cross traffic alert and reverse auto braking.
A head-up display is a welcome addition, displaying vital information on the windscreen in front of the driver. The infotainment is a mixed bag. The menus are controlled by an easy-to-operate dial rather than the hit-and-miss touchscreens but the screen went dark and unresponsive during our week with the cars — not the first time we’ve seen that in a Mazda.
Tech in the CX-5 includes rear USB points tucked into a cubby hole in the flip-down rear armrest — convenient, unless you have five passengers on board. In those circumstances, the Toyota and Honda solution, with USB outlets on the back of the centre console, makes more sense.
Supportive seats trimmed in faux leather and suede furnish the sportiest driving position of the trio, positioning you lower in the car with a high wheel. They provide superior rear headroom to the Honda, which is compromised by that sunroof.
Clever touches include levers in the boot to remotely drop the rear seats and expand the smallest cargo area here.
Priced from $39,470 plus on-road costs, the Touring grade has a 2.5-litre engine, all-wheel drive and six-speed automatic as standard.
You have to work the Mazda harder to get the most of its 140kW/252Nm potential, but the six-speed auto does a better job keeping it on the boil than the elastic-feeling CVTs of the other pair.
Easily the driver’s pick of this trio, the Mazda is lighter and more willing on the road, deft in direction changes and composed when pressed into cornering. The trade off is you’ll notice the bumps more than you will in the Toyota and Honda.
TOYOTA RAV4
There’s a degree of compromise to the Toyota’s dynamics. Less agile than the Mazda but more rewarding than the Honda, the RAV4 blends a well-sorted, comfortable ride with impressive composure in a variety of conditions.
Toyota reckons as many as half of RAV4 customers will plump for hybrid drive, representing $2500 of the smartest dollars you can spend.
We tested the RAV4 in all-wheel drive GXL form combining a 2.5-litre, 131kW petrol engine with an 88kW electric motor on the front axle and a 40kW motor driving the rear wheels. Combined outputs are “only” 163kW, that sum is more than enough for the RAV4 to feel spritely, helped by instant torque from the electric motors.
Better still, it delivers the most impressive fuel economy of the trio — the claimed 4.8L/100km translates to mid-6L in the real world. That’s a good 50 per cent less than the Mazda and Honda, which normally sit toward the front of the pack.
The servicing outlook is similar — Toyota customers pay about $100 less a year for maintenance and service intervals stretch to 15,000km compared to just 10,000km for the others.
Priced from $41,140 plus on-roads in mid-spec GXL Hybrid form, the RAV4 matches the rivals’ five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. Standard kit is solid — it gets an eight-inch screen (the others make do with seven-inch jobs) loaded with satnav and digital radio.
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto will be part of a free update due before the end of the year. They’re standard on the other two.
There’s plenty of room thanks to a big body and the largest boot here, along with a high roofline accommodating taller folk.
If we’re nit-picking, the Toyota’s touchscreen is a bit fidgety and its cloth seats look a little cheap alongside the leather and vinyl finishes of its competitors.
VERDICT
Honda’s machine is well-rounded, spacious and stretches your dollar further but its lack of active safety gear relegates it to third. The Mazda is the most fun to drive and loaded with safety kit. The Toyota wins for its impressive mix of roominess, efficiency, power and cheaper running costs.
TOYOTA RAV4 HYBRID GXL AWD VITALS
Price: $41,140 plus on-roads
Warranty/servicing: 5 years/unlimited km, $1050 for 5 years
Safety: 5 stars, 7 airbags, AEB, active cruise control, lane departure warning
Engine: 2.5-litre 4-cyl hybrid, 163kW
Thirst: 4.8L/100km
Spare: Space-saver
Boot: 580L
MAZDA CX-5 TOURING AWD VITALS
Price From $39,470 plus on-roads
Warranty/servicing: 5 years/unlimited km, $1626 for 5 years
Safety: 5 stars, 6 airbags, AEB, active cruise, lane departure warning, blind spot monitor, rear cross traffic alert
Engine: 2.5-litre 4cyl, 140kW/252Nm
Thirst: 7.4L/100km
Spare: Space-saver
Boot: 442L
HONDA CR-V VTI-L7 2WD VITALS
Price: From $38,990 plus on-roads
Warranty/servicing: 5 years/unlimited km, $1475 for 5 years
Safety: 5 stars, 6 airbags, lane watch camera
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo, 140kW/240Nm
Thirst: 7.3L/100km
Spare: Full-size alloy
Boot: 522L
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