So, took a drive to local Toyota dealer one saturday morning, in my perpetual search for... i don't know what, something to drive around, i guess.
all the CUVs in this class used to be underpowered, but with the Honda's Turbo motors, and in Rav4's case, Hybrid drivetrain, prompted me to take another look.
i test drove the Honda 1.5L CVT CRV couple weeks ago. Rav4 Hybrid, last saturday.
Power: Rav 4, hands down. damn, that drivetrain was smooth.. i know with the Rav4, they aren't doing any transmission magic to blend power together from electric motor and gas motor, but it was impressive how the surge of power felt like a much bigger motor. that's not to say the CRV was weak. the low end torque of the turbo motor and the CVT (which was unnoticeable) was well matched and it was spritely enough. not a lot of power up top, but then neither did Rav4.
Handling : CRV. CRV was like driving a lifted Honda, but with little more body roll than i'm used to, perhaps?
Good steering accuracy, good planted feel, just nice car to drive.
Rav4 Hybrid, it leans in corners, and steering is absolutely dead in feels, it was little more difficult to gauge how much steering angle to input on corners. it wasn't bad, but it drove like SUVs.
Ride, cabin comfort : Rav4 Hybrid. i think is much better than the "normal" Rav4. lower centre of gravity may be contributing to that. there's body roll, but on straight line, the ride is subdued, smooth and dare i say, germanic.
i think i detected slightly less cabin noise in Rav4 as well. of course, when you start off, Rav4's engine isn't even on, so maybe that's why it felt quieter.
CRV's engine is very quiet as well, but it does get a little noisier when you floor it. Ride was good. i thought it did better than Mazda or VW tiguan(not the new new version). at low highway speed cruise, cabin noise was much better managed than previous CRVs.
Entertainment stuff : CRV? ... with new volumn knob, CRV's centre stack looks better. not sure how it functions, didn't test them, but Rav4's bettery display is entertaining as well. I actually liked Rav's 4's instrument cluster more as well, even though CRV's one looks more modern and cleaner.
Braking : .....Tie.
CRV is just normal braking. Rav4's hybrid regen braking was .. seamless, and more entertaining in that i could hear the eletric motor noise.
Design : CRV x million. Rav4 looks like crap.
Cost and Value : don't know. I know that Rav4 Hybrid gets little more expensive. both are too expensive for my tastes. honestly, I liked Rav4 Hybrid better as potential purchase. but i would be happy with either.
i know that Toyota doesn't know how to engineer things to fail at certain intervals, so I would not be worried with Rav4's longevity, and i think Toyota's Hybrid drivetrain has proven itself more than worthy.
Honda, well... I like hondas in general, but it does get quite expensive as you spec top trim, but it does come with few more bells, i think than Toyota.
Dealership experience : Honda. of course, it's individual dealer/salesman specific.
At honda dealer, i spoke with relatively new sales guy, who took me for a test drive, talked cars, gone over features, and no pressure.
Toyota, made an appointment to see the hybrid, as they only have 2, sales person i had appointment for apparently wasn't in at all that morning, waited around for half hour, as different sales people asking me what they could do, i tell them i have appt with such and such, they say oh, i'll fetch that person for you, then disappear, no answer.... finally, a young, relatively new sales guy show up, he hands me the keys to Rav 4 H, talk car, featuers, some small talk, no pressure, seemingly going well.
then he shows up with this older sales guy, he brought a print out of price sheet.
funnily enough, it's got a line in the quote for "Block heater (not available currently)" . i ask him what's up with that, and he says it's mandatory in AB to have block heaters........
Fck. seriously?..... how come none of the german cars have block heaters then?...
