Honda and Toyota used to battle relentlessly against each other on Camry versus Accord, and while that still happens today
Rav4 and CRV have become the predominant comparison for the average consumer.
These are for all intents and purposes the new go-to family vehicles
But like hundreds of thousands of people this year. It may be very difficult to decide between these two top products in the class
So for this comparison, we will be looking at a loaded rav4 and CRV
Side-by-side to see which one is the superior product
Let's get to it
So to get things going here, let's establish the pricing and option levels of these two
Starting with the 2019 CRV. We have the most expensive trim called touring as
Many of you know Honda doesn't have any factory option packages
but we do have the optional all-wheel drive system add in a few odd and end dealer accessories and the
$995 destination charge to get a total of thirty five thousand six hundred forty two dollars
For the all-new 2019 rav4 things aren't quite as simple
Like the CRV we have the fully loaded trim in this case called limited as well as the optional all-wheel drive system
That puts it at thirty four and nine. However, Toyota has several options you can add
Including our optional paint into navigation and all-weather floor mats
After the $1045 destination charge that places our equivalent rav4 at a little over
$37,000
All told that places the price difference between these two at a reasonable fifteen hundred forty-seven dollars
To compensate for this we will give one point per thousand dollars of difference and therefore start the CRV off with one point
Now a lot of the times close competitors are very similar
But as far as the power trains are concerned rav4 and CRV couldn't be more different
under the hood of the Toyota you'll find a more traditional setup a two and a half liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder engine making
203 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque
Honda goes a different route and gives you a smaller turbocharged one and a half litre four-cylinder
that makes less power at 190 horsepower and
179 pound-feet of torque
For the transmissions the same thing plays out Toyota went with a traditional 8-speed automatic while Honda chose a CVT
This is one of the biggest distinctions when driving these two
Even though Honda did an excellent job tuning the CVT
The average consumer is going to prefer the instant response a more traditional feel of the 8-speed auto in the Toyota
As far as other driving characteristics both have a fantastic ride quality as well as surprisingly nimble handling
Both also accelerate nicely though by the seat of my pants the Rav feels a little quicker and more responsive
But on the flip side the CRV has the quieter engine
The rav4 is real xfactor though is its new torque vectoring all-wheel drive system that comes standard on limited
This system allows for more options and power distribution including to the individual wheels
You usually won't find a system like this in mainstream vehicles
Lastly for fuel economy. The CRV does outdo the new rav4
But not by more than our 5% margin to get a point it gets a class-leading 29 combined with all-wheel-drive
Versus the rav4 is still great 28 combined
So with all that covered, let's move to the new exterior styling and features
Now we try to keep things as objective as possible with these comparisons, but we will still take a minute to compare the overall styling
Beginning with the all new rav4, it looks totally different from the outgoing model
This generation has a masculine and sculpted front complete with the limited special metallic gray finish
The CRV front looks a bit more suburban, but it still has a pretty aggressive face
The chrome accented grille flows right into the headlights which are fully LED on the Honda
The same goes for the Toyotas headlights in both CUV's have halogen fog lights down at the bottom
Around back again, the rav4 has the more muscular appearance, but both look very upscale wood fully loaded
They have rear chrome accents LED tail lights and dual exhaust outlets
Overall I think both vehicles are attractive in different ways and since the features are identical I won't award any points
Now as far as all the other exterior stuff starting up front, they both have nearly identical ground clearance and turning diameters
and
Then moving to the wheels, you'll find 18 edge contrast alloys on the Honda but 19 inch chrome finish alloys on the Toyota
For the mirrors, they both have heating and power adjustment as well as blind spot monitoring with rear cross traffic alert
Now as far as all the other safety systems both of them come loaded to the gills
They have full speed adaptive cruise control Lane Keeping Assist Ford emergency braking with pedestrian detection and auto high beam headlights
But the new rav4 has a few additional ones
Bicyclists detection lane trace assist and road sign assist the two crossovers also share three year
36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty and five year 60,000 mile power train warranties
However, Toyota does give you two years of complimentary maintenance
And
The last thing we'll look at on the outside is the fuel range
The CRV has a 14 gallon tank and the rav 14 and 1/2 gallons
So even though the Honda gets better mpg oddly enough they end up with the exact same 406 miles of fuel range
Well, that's it outside, so now let's move on to the more important cabin where the family will be
Getting inside the interior both crossovers have smart intrigued with nice key farms
However, only the CRV includes remote star on the key fob without a subscription
Moving into the interiors both these products have moved upscale
Especially the rav4 when compared to last year. This Honda has a gray in black color scheme and our Toyota is just straight black
Checking out the seats themselves
The rav4 gives you eight ways of power adjustment while the Honda goes for an impressive 12 ways with four-way lumbar
Additionally, you will find real leather on the seats of the Honda compared to Toyota soft
tex faux leather. Its impersonation is definitely not bad, but you can tell the difference
What's inside the cabins both have a real spacious feel as well as an upscale look
Starting with material quality the CRV gives you all soft touch materials even on the upper portions
There is also some stitching as well as some faux wood accents and all the pieces are solid and well put together
Switching to the Toyota it also has soft touch materials across the entire dashboard with stitching and
This new generation loses all the holo unsubstantial feel of the plastics at the old 1/2
The door trims are roughly equivalent
Giving you tons of love the red trim to both look attractive and give you a soft area to rest your arm on
But all-in-all these two have some of the best cabin materials in the class
As
one would expect the top-end models do have push-button start
When the cars fire up you'll see a 7-inch display on the Honda in an 8-inch display on the Toyota
And then looking at the gauges they are very similar to each other an overall design
Both have 7-inch digital displays, which are reconfigurable and then analog gauges flanking the side
Coming back to the steering wheels
Both are leather wrapped and manual tilt and telescoping neither of them have heating though. It is available on the wrap
The CRV also has rain sensing wipers, which could be added to the Toyota with the extra $1,000 weather package
Now moving on to one of the most important interior aspects let's talk storage
Honda always does something cool at the center consoles and this is no exception
With a sliding tray that allows the storage to be at least twice as big as the rafts
Up in the front both have another generously size of it
but the Toyota fights back by giving you a large storage so that the honda doesn't
Overall I'd say storage is roughly equivalent
Moving on both models have traditional shifters though. The Honda's has a non-traditional placement on the
Toyota you can't shift manually though. Neither of them have paddle
Going into reverse both have multi angle backup cameras with trajectories as
Is the case with several other features the already more expensive rav4 has an optional?
360-degree camera system available via the advanced technology
Both of them have electronic parking brakes and brake hole
Next up we have the dual zone automatic climate control systems
There's not a great deal of differences between them
But the RAV4 is more ergonomically sound since on the CRV you're required to use the touchscreen for some of the functionality
Both seats are heated though. You can get ventilation on the Toyota for an extra charge
Anyways, now let's go ahead and sample the audio systems
While the CRV does have an extra speaker on the touring trim the rav4s branded system is simply better all around
Now let's go ahead and quickly check out the infotainment system
We will start with the CRV which carries over the same older Honda link system from last year
The graphics certainly aren't the most modern looking but it is very easy to use especially with the handy shortcut buttons
Touring gives you integrated navigation and even the lower trims come with both Android auto and apple carplay
Toyota's newest in tune 3.0 system on the other hand is more modern looking and performs a bit faster
However, the actual functionality is really no different and this system only has apple carplay but not android auto
So overall, I'll call this area draw
Heading up top. Both models do have auto dimming rearview mirrors, except Toyota now includes a rear camera mirror to cut out all the obstructions
and
Then as you'd expect both have moonroof though. Once again Toyota can get a panoramic one with the highest tier
$2,800 package
Anyways that covers just about everything in the interior
So now let's go ahead and check out the areas in the back where the rest of the family will be
Heading to the rear quarters
Both models are undisputedly spacious, but the CRV continues to be pretty much the best option in the class
it has forty point four inches of legroom and
38.3 inches of headroom
Compared to thirty seven point eight inches four legs and thirty-seven point seven inches for heads in the wrap
After getting in you will notice that both give you nice rear air vents as well as smart charging USB ports for both passengers
Moving out back both have power tailgates
The Hondas is hands-free while the already more expensive Toyota needs the advanced tech package to get that
Once it opens up the CRV is also significantly more spacious here
Giving you 39.2 cubic feet with the second row in place and seventy five point eight cubic feet with it folded
comparatively the rav4 has 37.5 cubic feet which expands to sixty nine point eight cubic feet with the seats full right and
Then the last thing worth mentioning is that the CRV gives you a power passenger seat, which the rav4 does not
Well guys, that's it for this extremely close comparison video for me the big takeaway here
is that when priced equivalently these two have more or less the same features, but
if you spring for all the options on the Rav, it would have the advantage but it would also have a
$4,000 higher price tag
But overall I have to say there's a good reason why these two are the top selling products in the class
Thanks for joining us on this car confectioner's comparison and be sure to subscribe for more comparisons and our signature for review videos
Take care!