Honda CR-V vs Toyota RAV4 Comparison

The Honda CR-V and the Toyota RAV4 are two of the most popular compact SUVs.

The compact SUV class is one of the most competitive, freshness plays a significant role in a car’s overall success. In this article, we are going to review the 2018 models.

We are going to compare these two models’ interior, exterior, engine, and practicality. We hope this comparison will help you decide between the Honda CR-V and the Toyota RAV4 which one is right for you.

Honda CR-V vs Toyota RAV4 Side-By-Side Comparison

(*Prices are reflective of average BE FORWARD pricing as of May 2021)

Honda CR-VToyota RAV4
Generations5 (RD 1-3, RD 4-9, RE, RM, RW)5 (XA 10, XA 20, XA 30, XA 40, XA 50)
Production Year1995 - Present1994 - Present
Performance184 HP - 215 HP153 HP - 181 HP
Fuel Consumption13 KM/L - 22 KM/L12.5 KM/L - 17 KM/L
DrivetrainFWD and AWDFWD or 4WD
Key FeaturesRear Spoiler, Power Steering, Power Windows,

Airbag, A/C, ABS, ESC, Fog Lights, Radio,

Keyless Entry
CD Player, Power Steering, Airbag, Radio, ABS,

Rear Spoiler, Fog Lights, Keyless Entry,

A/C, Power Windows
Seating Capacity5 Passengers5 Passengers
BE FORWARD priceUS$ 700 - US$ 31,760US$ 2140 - US$ 41,250

Interior/Exterior Comparison

Honda CR-V

BROWSE LOW COST HONDA CR-V MODELS

Interior

The CR-V has a very well-designed and spacious interior.  As standard, it comes with fine cloth upholstery with leather as an option and standard on higher trims. The front seats are spacious and comfortable, providing great support, enough legroom, and headroom.
The rear seat has good shoulder room, legroom, and headroom for adults on the window seats, while the center seat is a bit limited due to the presence of a transmission tunnel.

The selling point of the CR-V is its storage ability. You get a glove box, door pockets, cup holders, center console cubby, and front-seat jacket pockets. There is an 1110-liter boot at the back that can be extended to 2146-liters by folding flat the rear seats. The boot has a low liftover height for ease of loading and offloading. More storage space can be found underneath the carpeted cargo area.

BROWSE LOW COST HONDA CR-V MODELS

Exterior

The exterior of the CR-V is not that appealing but it’s fine. Upfront, you find a grille that is part chrome part black plastic, flanked by wraparound LED headlights. Underneath the grille, the bumper protrudes out like an underbite with LED drive lights on its extreme ends. On the sides, theirs a beltline that sweeps upward and upsized alloy wheels. At the rear, Honda continued the tradition by mounting the taillights high.

Safety

The CR-Vs standard active safety features include stability control, six airbags, anti-lock brakes, while higher trims come with Honda’s Sensing suite package that encompasses: active lane control, automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, and a road departure mitigation system.

Toyota RAV4

BROWSE LOW COST TOYOTA RAV4 MODELS

Interior

The RAV4 is a five-door five-seater SUV hardtop, with a roomy cabin, good storage space, and luggage capacity. 

The seats are nice, comfortable, and supportive. The front seats are spacious with enough headroom and legroom, while the rear seats are generous as well with enough space for three adults although legroom is a bit limited but good.

The RAV4 comes with a 6.1-inch multimedia touchscreen that controls the sound system and includes a DAB radio, CD player, and six speakers.

Passengers are afforded plenty of storage compartments which include four cup holders, door pockets with bottle holders, and a decent-sized cubby box.

The RAV4 has a 550-liters boot with the rear seats in place. Folding the rear seats flat increases the boot space to 1760-liters.

BROWSE LOW COST TOYOTA RAV4 MODELS

Exterior

Upfront the RAV4 has a  pinched front grille flanked by two narrow automatic LED headlights on each end. The rear end features a tiny rear spoiler and bulky taillights that protrude outward above a bulging rear end. The RAV4 comes with 17-inch steel wheels as standard with alloys as an option.

Safety

The RAV4 received a five-star overall safety rating from the NHTSA and the Top Safety Pick+ award from the IIHS after it scored Good on all crash tests.

The RAV4 comes fitted with Toyota’s Safety Sense-P suite of active safety and driver assistance features that include forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, pedestrian detection, lane departure alert, adaptive cruise control, and automatic high beams.

Engine and Fuel Efficiency Comparison

Honda CR-V

The 5th generation (2016 – present) CR-V comes fitted with a choice of a turbocharged 1.5-liter, 2.4-liter, or 2.0-liter hybrid as listed below.

  • The 190 HP 1.5-liter L15B7 engine with average fuel consumption of 13 KM/L
  • The 184 HP 2.4-liter K24W engine with average fuel consumption of 12 KM/L
  • The 215 HP 2.0-liter LFA1 hybrid with average fuel consumption of 22 KM/L

These engines transfer power to the wheels via a CVT, e-CVT (Hybrid), and 9-speed automatic transmission.

BROWSE LOW COST HONDA CR-V MODELS

Toyota RAV4

The 4th generation (2013 – 2018) RAV4 comes fitted with a choice of a 2.0-liter, 2.5-liter, and 2.5-liter hybrid as listed below.

  • The 153 HP 2.0-liter 3ZR-FAE engine with average fuel consumption of 12.5 KM/L
  • The 177 HP 2.5-liter 2AR-FE engine with average fuel consumption of 13 KM/L
  • The 181 HP 2.5-liter 2AR-FXE hybrid with average fuel consumption of 17 KM/L

These engines transfer power to the wheels via a 6-speed manual, 6-speed automatic, and e-CVT (hybrid) transmission.

BROWSE LOW COST COST TOYOTA RAV4 MODELS

The Verdict

Two of the most important aspects that buyers who buy crossovers are practicality and efficiency. From this article, we can see that these two models are very practical and efficient with regards to passenger room, luggage room, and engine performance. So whichever choice you make it actually will be a valid choice, because these two are very nice cars and cheap to run, especially the hybrid models. The infotainment system of the CR-V is a little better than the RAV4’s as it has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but both cars have an almost similar amount of standard kit and safety technology. Please visit BE FORWARD  and choose from our large list of your next car.

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Written by: Samuel H. Mponezya

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