Toyota RAV4 VS Subaru Forester Comparison // RAV4 Trail (Adventure) or Subaru Forester Sport?

Car Costs Canada provides the dealer cost, a list of rebates, plus discounted interest rates. The link is in the description below. Okay Andrea, we're doing a comparison between the Forester Sport and the RAV4 Trail or Adventure in the United States and we picked the worst day of the week. Why? But it is bright. We've got a nice bright day and guess what? These are outdoorsy vehicles so we're in a real outdoorsy day. Yeah absolutely. So which one do you want to drive first? I'll take the RAV4 Trail. Because it's blue. It's my favorite color. Okay Andrea, what are you working with? I've got the Toyota RAV4 Trail here and it has got a 2.5 liter four-cylinder engine, 203 horsepower and it's got 184 pound-foot of torque. I've got a two and a half liter four-cylinder as well but of course because it's a Subaru, it's a boxer engine. It has 182 horsepower and 176 pound-feet of torque but one of the biggest differences is this has a continuously variable transmission and yours has an automatic but we're going to talk about that in a moment. So before we get into all of the engine, what it can do, let's start with styling. What do you think of the RAV4? The look of this trail is just great. It has a meaty look to it, 19-inch wheels and it has contrast coloring so we've got this beautiful bright blue and a white roof and I think that would appeal to people who are older but also people who are younger. So I'm driving the Forester and I would say that it looks like an evolution of what they've been doing. I don't think Subaru really ever wins the beauty contest. Their vehicles really aren't about being great looking, they're about being practical and I think that's what Subaru really wins with, with huge windows, big doors, big hatchback around the back. So yeah, it looks like an extension of what they've done with Forester already but you have the Trail Edition which by the way is called Adventure in the United States. This is the Sport Edition from Subaru and it has a similar kind of vibe. It's got the dark wheels, the orange trim. These two vehicles are probably the closest I picked them to review because I think they're very similar in what they're trying to achieve. Now you have a slightly different front and rear on the Trail to give you better what are called approach and departure angles, meaning that you can go in and out of you know hills and ruts easier but Subaru always had that. This vehicle has 220 millimeters of ground clearance. In fact all of them have that much ground clearance in the Subaru family. So it's to me kind of like RAV is trying to hedge in on what Subaru's been doing. They've had the mainline cars, now they're trying to get into that rugged look. Do you agree? I agree and I think it's a great idea. I mean they have the regular RAV4. Why not take it to the next level? There's a lot of people that are outdoorsy and they want to be able to have a vehicle that not only suits their needs but their lifestyle. Okay now what about the inside? I think that both of them have a similar kind of approach. They have a dark interior with orange accents. You start with yours first. Okay well I think it's well trimmed out. I think they've done an amazing job with the interior. I love the contrasting orange trim. Also with of course the silver detailing. I like the orange stitching. The seats are comfortable. They've done a nice job with that. Our kids sat in the back seats. They felt like there was plenty of leg room for them. So I think that Toyota's done a great job on this trail and I also like the fact that you can set it into different modes. You know you whether you're in the snow, whether you're in the city, whether you're on more of a bumpy terrain. I think that's a wonderful option. All right now I'm going to talk about the Forester because it has a similar kind of approach as I mentioned. It's got the black, it's got the orange accents but Subaru. I was at the launch event in Japan last year and they made a big deal about how Subaru has the functionality down. This is a clear winner for getting in and out of. It's got the bigger doors. It's got the mirrors on the doors and not on the windows. Massive windows. A big tailgate around the back but they needed to really focus on the creature comforts. Make it a little bit more upscale. So they've got better padding on the doors. Better padding on the armrests. They made the seats a little bit bigger but the orange in this sport. As I mentioned I think these two vehicles are very closely aligned when it comes to the attitude they're trying to project and Subaru was first to do this. They did it with the Crosstrek a few years ago with this orange stitching. So it seems to me like Toyota's trying to play catch up. But here's one thing this has. It's got the eight inch screen. It has Apple CarPlay but it also has Android Auto. Do you have Android Auto in the RAV4 Andrea? I knew you were going to mention that. No I don't have Android Auto and I have an Android phone. So for people who own Apple phones that's great but I don't have one and I think it's important that that's available. If you've got one you should have the other in my opinion. Okay here's the good news. Recently Toyota announced with the new Tacoma that they're adding Android Auto finally into that vehicle which means that they're going to be able to hopefully add it in the future to other Toyota products. So they've obviously bought the license to use Android. The question is is your RAV4 going to be reverse compatible? Are you going to be able to add it in after the fact? I don't have the answer to that but they are heading begrudgingly in that direction. Also keep in mind if you if they do allow you to add it back what's the cost of adding that in? It should be free if you ask me but we'll have to wait and see. You want to switch? Let's do it. I'm gonna I'm really curious to see the differences between these two vehicles. Okay Andrea it's a pretty crappy rainy day. I want you to look up. Look way up. What do you see? It is so open. It is brighter. Everything just seems bigger and wider doesn't it? The cabin of that Forester just seems so much more open. It's like you're in a fishbowl. The windows are huge but what do you have? You got a panoramic roof. No panoramic roof in this RAV4. Yeah you know what? What a disappointment in that it needs a larger sunroof and I know some people couldn't care less but when you're comparing two vehicles like these two I think you've got to have that larger sunroof. Okay at the beginning we talked about the horsepower and all that but we didn't really talk about the drive. Now we're just switching back and forth between the two. What do you think of that Subaru compared to the RAV4? Well there's a huge difference in the drive. One is sportier. The engine is much louder under heavy acceleration. That is for sure with that trail. Now this vehicle when you're driving it feels more refined. It feels smoother and definitely not as sporty. There isn't that sporty feel but it's a really nice drive and it feels like there's plenty of power. I would never think that the trail has more power than this Subaru. I agree with you. I think the way to describe the two is the RAV4 has a bit of rawness to it like under hard acceleration. I'm going to hit the accelerator now. It's got a buzziness to the engine. It actually sounds like the RAV4 we've enjoyed for many many years. Where with the Forester I think it's a much more polished car. So if you're somebody that puts a premium on smoothness and refinement I think the Subaru is the way to go and the inverse is true of this. If you're somebody that likes a little bit of noise this is the one you want to get right? Hey look one of our friends Lindsay who lives in Alberta he used to drive a Subaru. He really is brand loyal and he's an outdoorsy guy. He'll drive to his different destinations with his mountain bike. So I think I can understand because this is quite a spacious vehicle and very open why he would be drawn to the Forester. Well the thing is that's what Toyota's trying to do with this. They're trying to hedge in on what Subaru's had. So they make this a little bit more off-road capable to basically try to achieve with torque vectoring what Subaru already has. They have a torque vectoring all-wheel drive system standard equipment in that Forester and now Toyota's trying to add it and with the accents and the orange and the attitude it just seems like to me they're going after their mainline buyers and the buyers that may be considering a Subaru and good for them. And then they have the layer on top this this is available not this trail but the RAV4 is available with a hybrid and Subaru doesn't have that at all. I think that they've done a nice job with this Forester. It feels like it has plenty of power. I know that you've said in the past that this system isn't always great but I don't see it in this Forester. They've done a really nice job with the power. Yeah what I mean is that some brands have continuously variable transmissions and they're crap and other brands have them and they're so seamless you really can't tell anything. Subaru falls into that category. They have their that the one you're driving it's their own in-house system. It has eight I think it's eight preset sort of shift points that mimic what I'm driving here. So when you drive it in everyday situations it feels like a regular automatic right? It really does for sure. Okay you want to pull over and give our sort of score on the outside the inside and all those things? Let's do it. Let's go through all the different categories and see which one you think is the winner and we'll add in the x-factor at the end. Styling on the outside which do you think wins? For me I'm I'm drawn to a sportier car so I would have to go with the Trail. I'm going to take the RAV4 as well. I mean the Forester is all about utility it does that but you know not the best looking utility on the road. Let's get into utility which one has the best use of space and interior and doors and all that? Well I think that the Forester has that only because it's more open, the windows are more open, it's brighter, the doors are larger. I think it wins it on that category. Absolutely the best utility on the market in my opinion for ease of use so we both agree on that. So the inside which one do you like? I'm more attracted to the RAV4 Trail. All right I'm going to take the opposite on this one. I know that the the RAV4 is you know a big upgrade from the previous version but the outside of the Forester is continued on the inside. Those big windows play a big factor on the inside. It's more more welcoming if you ask me. The overall drive which one do you like? I like the sportiness of the RAV4 but I like the quietness of the engine of the Forester. I agree with you. I think that the Forester is going to appeal to a wider spectrum of buyers. It's smoother, it's quieter, just feels more refined. However I'm attracted to the eight speed in the RAV4. Me too. Now safety. This one's pretty straightforward. You don't have to give your opinion on it because this RAV4 hands down has the Toyota Safety Sense on every single trim. With that Forester you need to buy the EyeSight package. Starts around $31,000 so RAV4 gets the advanced safety out of the box. Okay price. The Forester is $4,000 less than this RAV4. This is $38,000 that's one's roughly $34,000. Really good value on the Forester but you can buy a RAV4 for less than the price of the Trail. But you're not getting the Trail. X-Factor. Which one would you put your money on to buy? I've got to go with the RAV4 only because it's sportier, more fun to drive and it really has a modern look to it. But for me it's just style. This thing just looks better and and you know what owning a vehicle for four or five years you got to look at it every day this one wins. All right Andrea there's the comparison of the RAV4 and the Forester. Which one do you guys like? And good job by the way. Oh you're always so complimentary but can you do a better job at predicting the weather? Maybe some sunshine? I used to be the weather man but obviously not doing that any longer. Maybe because the weather sucked. Car Cost Canada provides the dealer cost, a list of rebates, plus discounted interest rates. The link is in the description below.