2022 RAV4 hybrid v CX-5 turbo (inc. 0-100) comparison. Can Toyota trump the Mazda?

G'day, I'm Paul. So that is the Toyota RAV4. It's just been updated and so has that. That's the Mazda CX-5. And today, we're going to compare the two. So if you do want to skip ahead to other parts of this comparison, you can use the time codes on the screen or if you're on YouTube, you can scroll down and use the chapters below. But let's get started. So what have we got here? Well, they're both priced around $53,000, but this one here has around a 12-month wait list. It's the top specification RAV4. It's called the Edge Hybrid All-Wheel Drive. The Edge previously was only available as a petrol. Now it's available as a hybrid and this is the all-wheel drive trim. Over on this side though, we have the CX-5 Akira. This is also the top spec. So it's the 2.5-litre turbo petrol and it has all-wheel drive as well. While they do sound pretty similar there in terms of the way that they're laid out, the all-wheel drive systems are pretty different and I'll go into a bit more detail on that stuff later on. So let's talk exterior. The RAV4 has a bit of a rugged, menacing look to it. You've got these big edges on it and the facelift predominantly centres around the headlights. So the cluster has changed a bit. Now it has these LED daytime running light elements and then also a projector LED for the main beam. The Toyota badge over here, the blue signifies that it is a hybrid and it has a big enough grille there. It's kind of got this matte black finish on it for that rugged adventure look. The RAV4 has been kind of billed as a go-anywhere off-road SUV and the Edge is predominantly the most off-road friendly version of the RAV4 that they sell, which is why it has that type of design. The CX-5, on the other hand, is a completely different look. So this is more executive and stylish. They've got chrome, they've got a giant grille there, a big Mazda logo. It really is the more premium looking of the two and doesn't have all of those off-road elements. In terms of headlight technology, this was also updated as part of the facelift. So this comes with adaptive LED headlights, they give you superior vision at night time and also an LED daytime running light as well. Around the back, you've got similar differences. So the RAV4, again, focuses on that rugged look. You can see the darker elements down here, black badges, but I do find it a little weird that there's a black badge here and then like a chrome badge directly beneath it. I thought that was a bit strange. They also still only use incandescent globes in here. So, you know, 2022 now, let's use LED where we can and more of that blue in the Toyota logo there because hybrid. Over on the Mazda though, it is that executive theme. So they've gone all out with LEDs in the taillights, so these light up really nicely at night time. And then the sole red works really well with the classiness of the car. They've both got shark fin aerials, so you won't have any ungainly stuff sticking out the top. And while the Mazda doesn't have any roof rails, the Toyota does. So you do have a little bit more versatility there in terms of carrying things. Now, in terms of the size, how big are they compared to each other? Well, the RAV4 is longer, wider and marginally higher than the CX-5. And when they're sitting next to each other, you can kind of tell the size difference. The RAV4 looks significantly bigger than the CX-5. So you do get that impression inside as well. So it is worth keeping that in mind that the CX-5, it is a bit more compact and sporty, whereas the RAV4 is the bigger SUV. In terms of wheels, they both use 19-inch alloy wheels and have decent profile on the rubber as well. Now, what about my pick? Well, this section is like entirely subjective, styling, so I'm probably going to offend half of you, but I don't know, I'm in two minds. I think that adventurous me that likes to go outdoors, great outdoors, likes the RAV4. It looks a bit bigger out on the road as well, but older, stylish me kind of likes the look of this. So I guess it depends which mood I'm in. I think they're both really good looking cars, but probably I'm leaning a little towards the RAV4. Let's chat interior and we'll begin with the RAV4. What do you think about this? I actually quite like the design here. I don't love the infotainment system and we'll talk about that in a second, but they have really tried to add a bit of flair and colour to this. You can see all the orange elements throughout the cabin, you've got that orange stitching on the dashboard, the orange sections littered throughout, and then it flows through to the materials. So it's all rubberised and pretty soft touch throughout the cabin. That follows onto the seats as well, so those orange highlights are there, you've got perforations because they are heated and cooled and they just look nice and comfy as well, which is exactly what you want. Now we're in the Mazda and you can see this looks totally different. While the RAV4 goes for kind of that sporty, adventurer look, Mazda has gone very much down the premium path, so that includes things like real wood used along the dashboard there and also the door trims, you've got these brushed chrome highlights along there as well. The only downside to this interior is the extensive use of piano black down the bottom here, so this stuff marks easily, it gets dusty easily, it's just really hard to keep clean and there's some obsession with using it in new cars, I'm really not a fan of it, but just in general, the materials really do reflect this as the premium option in the segment. Same story with the seats, they're kind of like a dark brown, I think, they're not quite black, but they do have those perforations and then the stitching throughout them. So which one would I pick? Well, look, in terms of design, I think that this looks way classier than the RAV4. The RAV4 is youthful and adventurous, whereas this really does look very premium. I wonder if this interior would be suitable for kids with all the perforations and stuff, I'm not sure about that, but I think if you were wanting to have the nicer looking interior, this is probably it. Righto, let's talk infotainment and we'll start with the CX-5. So you have a 10.25 inch display over here, this is not a touchscreen, so it's all driven by these controls down the bottom here, a little disappointing, I wish that was a touchscreen, but it does come with AM, FM and DAB digital radio. Sound is plumbed through a 10 speaker Bose branded sound system. You also have smartphone mirroring in the form of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Both of those systems are wired and unfortunately, because it's not a touchscreen, you have to use this to navigate it, kind of makes smartphone mirroring a little bit frustrating because it's something you want to be able to flick through easily and it does also have voice recognition for that smartphone mirroring function and also for the car's native infotainment system, you also have satellite navigation built into the native infotainment system as well. And finally, our reverse camera, what is the quality like, let's have a look. That quality is really good, I can clearly see our sign, so that is a very impressive reverse view camera. And now the RAV4, it uses an 8 inch infotainment screen, you've got shortcut buttons on the side. It is a touchscreen, but it's a lower resolution screen than the one in the Mazda and in fact the functionality isn't as good either, like it's a bit slow, it's laggy at times and it just doesn't look anywhere near as impressive. And look at how much real estate they have, they really just haven't utilised that entire screen space, it kind of makes me think that there's probably a bigger infotainment screen coming and that, I don't know, they're just waiting for some point down the track to make that happen. It has a 9 speaker JBL branded sound system, in addition to AM, FM and DAB radio, you have inbuilt satellite navigation, along with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, they're both wired so no wireless setup. And on the reverse camera, let's have a look at the quality, the camera quality is significantly worse than the Mazda, so that's something else that Toyota can definitely improve. Now which one is my pick in terms of infotainment, well it's the Mazda hands down, the infotainment system, while it doesn't have a touchscreen, it's much easier to use and it just looks way better, so if you are into your technology, the Mazda is the one you're going to go for. Hey by the way, if you do want more detail on the RAV4 or the CX-5, we've actually shot detailed single car reviews and I've left links for those in the description below, don't watch them now, watch them later on. And if you do want to support us, please subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon as well, that'll tell you every single time we publish a new review, but let's get back into it. So, practicality, where are you going to charge your devices? So in the RAV4 you have a USB port down the bottom here, it has a 12 volt outlet as well, wireless phone charging pad so you can just rest your phone on there, you have two 2.1 amp charging slots here, it's worth noting that all of the charging ports in this car are USB-A so they don't have the new USB-C standard. Terms of storage, water bottle, so it fits in here, you've got teeth there to hold it in place, you have storage inside the driver's door as well, centre console, it's pretty deep actually, it's quite large, plenty of room there, you have a glove box here, also decent sized as well, you can see there's enough room to put a bottle in there even when you have the manual in place. Bottle won't fit in here but this is good storage for, I don't know, phones and other random things like that, and then you have a sunglasses holder up the top there. In terms of the seats, electric seat adjustment for the drivers, unfortunately your passenger is manually adjustable in its entirety, but both come with heating and cooling which is great news. And in terms of your steering adjustment, you have both tilt and reach adjustment for the steering wheel. So back here is where you see all of your benefits of that bigger body that I mentioned earlier, so you have loads of knee room, toe room's good and head room is excellent as well. In terms of your other creature comforts, you've got a centre armrest with a couple of cup holders, ISOFIX points for the kids with three top tether points, you've got one map pocket on this side, two 2.1 amp USB-A charging ports, air vents in the centre here. Yeah, it's not a bad place to be seated with excellent vision out the windows as well. Now we're back in the Mazda, if you do like 12 volt outlets you are in luck because there's one down the bottom here, there's also another 12 volt outlet in the centre console, two USB-A ports there as well, and an SD card outlet which is for your maps. This also has a Qi wireless phone charger like the RAV4 does. This one's interesting though, it sits on an angle, so your phone slides into there whereas the RAV4 is flat, they both have power switches which means you can put things like keys and things on there without running the risk of it doing funny electrical things. In terms of storage, the bottle fits into there well. These aren't anywhere near as deep as the RAV4's bottle holders, they sit up a little bit higher. Good if you have a short coffee cup, bad if you have a large tall bottle like that one, but they both come with teeth that hold your bottle in position. Bottle fits in the door as well without any problems. In terms of the centre console storage here, you get a coin tray here which you don't get in the RAV4. This is a much smaller storage slot though, so it is deeper but it's not quite as large with those connections eating into most of your space. Let's have a look at the glovebox. Glovebox is a pretty decent size here but you can see with the manual in there you don't really have much room to put anything else, so the RAV4's glovebox is bigger. The RAV4 also had a lot more auxiliary storage, so you can see here there isn't any of that top slated storage or anything over here on the driver's side as well. So when you do compare the two, the RAV4 gives you more places to put your things. You do get a sunglasses holder up the top here like you do with the RAV4 and both of them have sunroofs as well. In terms of seat adjustment, you get electric seat adjustment for the driver and front passenger here in the Mazda along with memory for the driver too. Like the RAV4, the seats are heated and cooled and the steering wheel is also heated. And then steering adjustment, this also has tilt and reach steering adjustment. So what you notice immediately in the second row of the CX-5 is you have less room, so you can see my knees are closer to the seat there. Toe room's excellent and headroom is still pretty good but it does feel narrower in here, which is, yeah, I don't know, it just feels narrower than the RAV4, it doesn't feel anywhere near as sort of cavernous. But you still do get some good features here, so you have your air vents for the second row, you also have mat pockets in the back of both seats compared to only one in the RAV4. Center armrests here with two cup holders like the RAV4 but you get heated seats here in the second row, none of that in the RAV4. And then inside this little nook is where you'll find your two high-powered USB outlets and then a little bit of storage there as well. And then this also has the advantage of folding in a 40-20-40 folding configuration, which I'll show you in just a sec. You also get two ISOFIX points on the outboard seats with top tether points just like you do in the RAV4. So which one is Paul's pick? Look, the CX-5 has more features and creature comforts inside, like the heated seats in the back here will be appreciated. Probably not if you have kids, they're gonna fiddle around with them and all that sort of stuff. I guess it depends what purpose you have for the car, if it's for a growing family, the RAV4's gonna offer a bit more room but the CX-5 definitely feels nicer inside. Now what about the boots? Let's start off with a boot race. So they're both powered tailgates and I think we have a clear winner there in the Mazda. Right, let's have a look at the boot here in the RAV4 first. Now one of the things I do like about these SUVs is when you get a space to store your valuables. So beneath the cargo floor here, you'll find a space saver spare tyre plus your jack and that kind of stuff. But you also have a little section under there to store your valuables, this of course being the hybrid means you do get a little less space in the boot here because there is an electric motor under the floor there but they have tucked batteries in under the passenger seat. This can also move backwards to give you a lower tier of floor as well so it gives you just a little bit more space to work with if you do have larger items. Got a 12 volt outlet off to the side, a little bit of storage there, you've got the JBL subwoofer there as well. I don't love the fact that there are no handles to release the seats here, you have to manually get in and push them down out of the way but I'll give you a little sticky beak at how much you can fit in there with our bags. So we'll pop our laptop bag in first and then our suitcase just here. So you have just under 600 litres of cargo space just in this area here but when you do drop the second row that expands to a little under 1700 litres. Now Mazda, so it's the same story under here, you've got a space saver spare tyre but instead of the Toyota which has a subwoofer off to the side, they've actually integrated the subwoofer in the spare tyre wall which I think is a pretty clever way to do things. You can pop some valuables in there if you need to but there isn't a great deal of room. This is a dual-tiered floor as well so you can get rid of this stuff by sliding it under if required. You've got a 12 volt outlet over here. Now one of the big advantages of this over the Toyota is you can drop your second row just by pulling these levers. It's a 40-20-40 split folding configuration compared to 60-40 in the RAV and that means you do get a little bit of configurability there. In terms of space with the second row up you have just under 450 litres of cargo space to work with and then when you do drop the second row it is a little under 1350 litres so it is a smaller space than the RAV4 and visually you can see that it is slightly more enclosed. Let's talk about how the cars feel on the road and we'll kick off with the CX-5. Now I'll go into a stack more detail in the single car reviews of the CX-5 and the RAV4 so today will be all about high-level stuff. Now the engine that powers the CX-5 in this particular trim, the 2.5 litre turbo four cylinder, it is really meaty. Normally we associate a lot of torque with diesels, this on the other hand is a turbocharged petrol engine in an SUV and it really has some grunt to it. When you get it sort of up in the revs and you get stuck into it, it pins you back in the seat and it kind of just torque steers a little bit while it goes. It uses an all-wheel drive system that is always active so it's always doing things and sending torque to the rear axle but it now can disengage the rear axle entirely to save fuel and that means that you're going to have a slightly lower fuel bill in that regard. Keep in mind though that it not being a diesel means that it will comparatively use more fuel than something like a hybrid or a diesel in comparison. But yeah, behind the wheel here the six-speed auto feels great and it's a really punchy engine with a great note to it as well, it almost has a sporty feel behind the wheel. You've got a few drive modes to choose from, you select them down here, you have normal, sport, the gauges all change when it goes into sport mode and then off-road mode as well. The off-road mode just tinkers with stability control and traction control to give you a bit more traction while you are off-road. OK, let's talk about sport mode, we'll pop it into that, we'll see what it feels like through our corner here. Oh, that's good, it's really nice and engaging and when you plant the throttle it just starts to hunt for the road, it has a tiny bit of torque steer there but in terms of engagement this is the sport in SUV, they've actually made it engaging to drive and interesting, it's not just going to bore you to death if you do find yourself coming up to a few corners. Let's talk about the ride, so Mazda has tried to focus on a sportier ride so it does feel a little bit firmer than some of the other cars in this segment but it's still really nice and plush so out here on a country road if you do drop a wheel off the edge into the gravel it actually still feels really nice and composed, it doesn't throw you around and it always feels confidence inspiring and that's important if you do want to go for a sportier drive because it all feels in check, it doesn't feel like it's going to tip over so they really have done a good job in terms of the suspension tune. One of the things I love about the CX-5 is how quiet it is inside the cabin, you can do lots of highway miles and you really don't hear any tyre noise coming into the cabin, it's nice and relaxing so if you do have kids in the car they're going to be able to sleep without tyre noise infiltrating the entire road trip. Being a smaller car the CX-5 has pretty decent visibility, you can clearly see down the fronts there, the wing mirrors are big enough there, you've got a blind spot monitor built into those as well and then visibility out the rear is good, the bigger the SUV gets the harder it is to place it on the road especially when you're in and around the city trying to park. On low speed driving if you are going to be doing city K's the steering is a little heavy and I don't know, they've dialled the sportiness into it even though in normal mode it shouldn't really need any sportiness so it does feel a little heavier at low speeds but it really isn't the end of the world. So we're on the road in the RAV4, now this is a completely different experience to the CX-5 mainly because this is a hybrid so at lower speeds it's able to run on EV only and when it's on EV mode it is dead silent and again unlike the CX-5 this doesn't have a turbocharger so it's just a naturally aspirated petrol engine but it does have some electric components so it has three electric motors, two that are located on the front axle and one that's located at the rear. One of the big advantages of that is unlike the CX-5 which requires a driveline down the centre of the car, this just has an electric motor at the rear so there's no driveline and you can instantly send torque to the rear axle without there being a delay and waiting for that to activate. This uses a CVT which is a continuously variable transmission. When you do punch it, it takes a moment for the engine to flare up and give you torque but then it immediately gives you that torque from the electric motors and the batteries. So it's not as punchy as the CX-5, when you do get stuck into the throttle, yeah it gets moving and does all that sort of stuff but it doesn't have that frantic acceleration that the CX-5 does. The CX-5 feels much sportier than this does in comparison. And that follows on to fuel economy, the massive difference with a hybrid is that you're using barely any fuel, Toyota has nailed the hybrid strategy and they've implemented a really good setup here. This uses around that 5 litres per 100 km mark, you're going to be using double that in the CX-5 if you are driving in and around the city and if you do like to punch it every now and then. So yeah, if you do want to save money on fuel, it is probably the hybrid that you're going to want as opposed to the turbo four cylinder. What about your drive mode? So there's a little switch down here, you can go into full EV mode, you hit that and the car will only run in EV mode, it only works up to a certain speed and if you apply too much throttle it kills that straight away. You've got an eco mode which dulls your throttle and reduces air conditioning, you've got a normal mode and then a sport mode, let's try our sport mode through our corner, yeah it's way more responsive, hey that's good, look it is sporty in the sense that it's ready to respond with those electric motors very sort of nice and sharply, but yeah it's just not quite as flat or as confidence inspiring as the CX-5 is through a corner. So how does the ride compare to the CX-5? Well this is a much softer feeling set up on the road and especially here on country roads when you do hit some of these bumps and stuff, this handles it better, it just feels more forgiving when you do hit these potholes and that kind of thing. Where that is at its detriment though is when it comes to handling, it obviously has a whole lot more body roll when you tip it into corners and look, I think that's fine, the RAV4 is obviously not marketed as a sports car so it doesn't need to have that kind of agility, but while soft suspension is good for highway touring and bumpy roads, it will sort of throw you back a little bit when it comes to handling. I mentioned earlier that one of the advantages you have with a hybrid motor on the rear axle and no sort of real driveline is instant torque delivery, well we thought that would make this better off-road because it does have a trail mode, but it actually didn't help us at all when we did our off-road comparison, we found that it was really just not very sophisticated in terms of the configuration for off-road driving, so the CX-5 is definitely superior there when it comes to the AWD system and how it interacts with those low-slip conditions. The other benefit of the hybrid system is a quieter drive, so when you are just tootling along and you're not on the throttle, it will just run in EV mode and it can do that at a wide range of speeds as well. This does have more road noise though, I'm hearing a lot more tyre noise coming into the cabin, it's nowhere near as refined as the CX-5, so even with the hybrid drivetrain, the CX-5 still is quieter. What about your visibility? This is a bigger car than the CX-5 and it does feel bigger out on the road, and that comes down to visibility as well, I do have clear vision down the front of the car there and the wing mirrors are huge as well, so they give me excellent vision, vision out the back is good as well, when it comes to low-speed driving, the RAV4 has lighter steering than the CX-5 as a comparison, and that's going to help you when it comes to things like parking and trying to get this thing into tight spaces. Now how quick are they? Okay, well we've put both of these cars up against the stopwatch to see how fast they are. So, which one are you going to pick? That's going to be the hard question, look, for me, I think ultimately the winner is the RAV4, and the reason for that is, you're getting some pretty space-age hybrid technology in that car for a relatively cheap price, they've been able to price it at the same as the CX-5 and the rest of the competitors of this segment, it is just a really good purchase in terms of size, technology and just the way that it drives on the road as well. But, there is a caveat to that, if you do love driving, and you do want to put a big smile on your face in terms of performance, the CX-5 is genuinely one of the best cars in the segment in terms of performance and the punch in the back that you get. It is a real driver's SUV, and if it is important to you, that's going to be the one that you lean for. But, at the end of the day, the RAV4 is giving you diesel fuel economy, it's still punchy enough to drive, and it has all the space that you need for a family. So, the other thing I wish it had was a head-up display, I really don't know why Toyota still can't integrate that. So, let me know in the comments section below, what did you choose? Obviously, a lot of people want to buy the RAV4 because there is a huge waiting list, and sometimes you will end up going to another brand because you don't want to wait 12 months. So, if you were shopping for the RAV4, but you bought something else, let me know in the comments section below. Now, if you did enjoy this video, please make sure you share it with your mates and hit the like button, and if you haven't done so already, subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon. But, until next time, take it easy.