Toyota RAV4 vs Honda CR-V vs Hyundai Tucson Comparison Review // Compact SUV Battle!

Welcome back to Sleepy Garage guys. Today we're having the ultimate showdowns of compact SUVs. Got three powerhouses including the RAV4 hybrid, CR-V hybrid, and the Hyundai Tucson hybrid. It is the battle of the best so you won't want to miss a second of this clash for compact SUV supremacy. So grab your popcorn, hit that subscribe button, and let's begin. Alright let's do a quick launch control. Let's put the vehicle in sport mode, a little bit of brake boost, and let's go. Okay, CVT transmission of course is just holding the revs up pretty high and that's about 60 miles per hour which it does in 7.6 seconds from a 2.0 liter 4 cylinder naturally aspirated engine with two electric motors that push out a combined 204 horsepower and 247 pound-feet of torque. Alright, in the RAV4 Hybrid, we do have a little bit more horsepower but we are down in torque. It does get a bigger 2.5 liter naturally aspirated 4-cylinder engine, mated to two electric motors that makes 219 horsepower and 221 pound-feet of torque, and it's rated to 60 miles per hour in 7.3 seconds. Step on it, engine is actually pretty loud when you're flooring it. But it's actually quick. The only turbocharged option here is the most powerful. It is the Tucson Hybrid with turbocharge. 1.6 liter inline four with a gas engine and the electric motors that make a combined 226 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. It is the most powerful on paper. But it is technically the slowest of the bunch with a 7.8 seconds 0-60 time. All right we're gonna do a quick little race between these three SUVs. All three cars are in sport mode. Ready? Yeah. The RAV4 is just gone. The Tucson feels fast but the RAV4 is just a little bit faster than all these SUVs. But what's more important is how they drive and how well they do on feel. Sport mode. Little bit of brake boost. I don't know. It is a continuously variable transmission and it does simulate gears sometimes, especially when you're not on full send. So it'll mimic an automatic transmission But it's not really a full like six-speed auto. You do get all-wheel drive in the CR-V and this model we're driving today here is the touring model. There is a normal and an eco and a snow and of course a sport mode. But let's throw it in normal and see how it drives. It does transition between all-electric mode and gasoline mode whenever you let off the gas or you're just rolling pretty slowly or you're just lightly on the gas. The EV logo on the dashboard will light up. and the engine will shut off and then once you're heavy on the throttle again the engine will kick on and it does it pretty seamlessly. Coming around this bend it actually handles quite well and the brakes are pretty good. Accelerating it you do get the electric torque right off the bat so it helps accelerate and it's such a comfy car. I think out of the three vehicles this is the most premium feeling ride quality. It does have double paned windows so I think the ride is a little bit quieter than a Tucson and the RAV4. The steering is relatively on the lighter side. It is a bit heavier than the RAV4 but not quite as heavy as the Tucson. And there is a B mode which is your braking mode and it's regen braking so you can brake the vehicle by just using the paddles like how you do in an all-electric vehicle. This is the only SUV out of the three that you can do that with. It's actually pretty cool. This is a little bit comfier than the RAV4 and I think this handles better than the other two SUVs. And if you were to get any of these SUVs in the non-hybrid format, I think the CR-V with the turbocharged engine is the best one to get. All right, I'm in sport mode. Let's accelerate. Yeah, this handles really well actually. We are on winter tires, and it grips the road. It feels pretty planted. Not very much steering required either. And let's put it in B mode and use that regen braking to slow the vehicle down. All right, next up, we have the RAV4. Let's do a quick launch, actually. Put it in sport mode, and let's go. Oh, it's actually quick. You have quite a bit of torque from that electric motor and the engine. It is paired with a CVT transmission just like the CR-V and it does have all-wheel drive. There is a plug-in version available it's called the RAV4 Prime and the Tucson also has a plug-in available but the CR-V does not. There are no paddles here in the RAV4. But it does have a sport transmission mode which you can simulate the gears I guess but I don't think anyone's really going to be driving with that. You do have your drive mode selector, you got your eco, you got your normal, you got your sport, and you also have a trail mode because this is the woodland trim. It's the most capable off-road SUV out of these three. Let's put it in sport mode. Oh also there is an EV mode which I think you have to be going under 35 kilometers an hour so we'll try to stay in EV mode pretty much the entire time and of course you can hear that electric hum but once you step on it it will deactivate and go back into combustion engine mode. It handles these turns quite well. It is very planted. It feels very sure-footed and these all-terrain tires here make these bumps feel very Comfortable. I feel like you don't have to slow down for manholes and potholes and speed bumps in the RAV4. I feel like the ride quality in general, the CR-V is more comfortable, but they soak up the bigger bumps better. With the Woodland Edition, you do get your roof racks with the crossbar on top, and you do have TRD-specific suspension, which makes us a little bit more capable when it comes to off-roading. The ride is quite refined, and power kicks on Really quickly, actually, even for Just a naturally aspirated inline-four. Setting it through this corner, whoa, lots of grip. Let's say it's planted. You have like very minimal body roll, surprisingly, for a RAV4. You step on it and it just codes. Out of all three SUVs, I think this has the best powertrain. In terms of road noise, there is a little bit more wind noise. These are not double pane like CR-V is. The engine is pretty quiet most of the time, but When you're on the gas it is rather loud. It's not as refined as a Tucson motor where you basically don't really hear anything. Transition between EV mode and combustion engine mode is super seamless. Toyota has been making hybrid vehicles for years now and yeah you really can't tell unless you're looking at the dashboard and if you're really paying attention to the sound. Also when it comes to electric sounds they all sound a little bit different. Let's see how they all sound. In the Tucson, you'll immediately notice how refined the vehicle feels, especially because it doesn't have a CVT transmission. It uses a traditional six-speed automatic. So you don't really get that rubber band feeling that you do get with the other vehicles. Instead, it shifts like a normal car. It doesn't just stay at the highest RPM. It will actually shift and it feels pretty good. You even have paddle shifters. And it's definitely the quietest engine of the bunch. You don't hear that engine noise that you feel and hear in the other vehicles. This remains pretty quiet even if you're revving it out. Yeah, it feels good. Let's do a quick launch control though. Let's put it into sport. You do get your drive mode selector here. Got your eco, smart mode, which automatically figures it out. You got your terrain button, which has a snow, mud, and sand mode. But let's put it in sport. The gauges are different. We cannot brake boost the car, it won't really do anything, but let's launch it anyways. Get that boost kick on and it actually feels fast. Plenty of grip from that H-track all-wheel drive system. This car also has what Hyundai calls e-handling all-wheel drive, which uses the electric motor to vector torque around when you're coming around a corner. And you can definitely feel that. I don't think in terms of chassis tuning, it's as good as a CR-V. But that technology really helps you stay really planted in the corner. Yeah, let's give it a bit of gas through here. Wow, actually almost no understeer here. Very planted, the brakes are good, quick acceleration. What I do like is that unlike the naturally aspirated vehicles, where the power tends to die out at the end of torque band, the turbocharger here kicks in and it feels like it has much more to give. But let's put it into eco mode right now. It's in EV mode which means the engine completely turned off. Now it feels like a great daily car. It's comfortable. There's a little bit more road noise than the CR-V. The engine is much quieter than the other two vehicles. So in terms of just refinement and the premium feeling of like a luxury vehicle, this is better than the other two. Especially because it doesn't have a CVT. The steering in the Hyundai is on point. I think it's a little bit heavier than the other two vehicles but not It's not overly heavy, you feel the road very nicely. I'd say it's kind of tied with the CR-V in terms of how much you actually feel the road, quite responsive. Alright, last e-handling test around this corner. Yeah, it feels like a rear wheel drive car almost. I like it. Yeah, it just yaws the rear wheels. Doesn't feel like a front wheel drive base SUV. Kind of just pitched around the corner and it just stays planted. Hyundai definitely did a really good job utilizing that electric motor to actually do the torque around. The technology that I haven't seen in very many cars yet, especially in normal daily vehicles, and it works great here. I think all three vehicles here handle quite well for a compact SUV, and they all have more than adequate power. All three of these SUVs have the exact same combined MPG of 37 miles per gallon, except if you do go for the non-woodland trim on the RAV4 without the additional all-terrain tires and the roof rack and all that, you'll get an additional 3 miles per gallon, which would be better than the CR-V and the Tucson, but for the Woodland trim, they all do the same mileage. The city and highway mileage does vary between the three cars. So you can hit pause right now and see the comparison. Every vehicle here does come with a suite of safety tech. All vehicles have blind spot monitors, your lane departure warning, cross traffic alert in the rear, your forward collision warning with braking intervention, and they all have adaptive cruise control with lane keeping assist. There's also a left turn junction assist where it can help you avoid turning into a vehicle when you're making a left turn in this Hyundai and in the RAV4 but that feature is not found on the CR-V the Hyundai also has safety exit assist if you were to be parked on the side of the road and there's a vehicle coming it will notify you in the dashboard as soon as you open the door so you don't hit them by accident it also notifies the people All three vehicles have Pretty good adaptive cruise control systems and they all follow the lines really well. You can use the lane keep without adaptive cruise control in the Hyundai and the Honda, but for the Toyota system, for lane tracing you need to have adaptive cruise control on. In terms of how they work, because this isn't equipped with the The HDA Highway Driving Assist package, which the upper trim levels have on the Tucson. This is okay. I think the Honda does a little bit better in terms of centering you in the lane and I think the adaptive cruise control system and the Toyota is a little bit smoother especially in a traffic low speed situation but if you were to get Tucson with the HDA option then I believe this would be the best. All right let's hear how all the horn sounds on these SUVs Honda, Hyundai and Toyota. I think that one sounds best. I don't really like how that one sounds that much though. All these SUVs look pretty good to be honest. You get a more luxury and premium high-end look on the CR-V. It looks kind of like a German car, very modest. While on the RAV4, you get a more rugged and tougher squared off appearance. Much more adventure ready and outdoorsy especially in this trim. Then you got the Tucson which looks the sleekest and the most modern especially with urban design and those cool headlights and taillights. But I do hate the fact that rear turn signals sit at the bottom of the Tucson which is kind of hard to see by drivers behind you. It is pretty hard to pick which SUV looks better because it's all personal preference. I think all of them look pretty damn good. The interior on the RAV4 is pretty nice. Since this isn't a higher trim level one though, we're not going to see leather seats here, although they are optional. The CR-V does have a little bit more luxury. It is more premium. It looks a bit nicer, especially in this touring trim. It's got the new interior like all the new Hondas. But it might just be out beat by how nice the Tucson feels even in the N-line trim which isn't fully loaded. The Hyundai interior feels a bit more premium than the others. You get an 8-inch infotainment screen on the Toyota with an available 10.5-inch screen on an upper trim level. You get 9 inches here in the CR-V but the base model comes with a 7-inch screen. Meanwhile, in 2024, the Tucson comes with a standard 10.3-inch digital screen. It is nice that you can get that without pain. Paying extra. RAV4 gets a semi-digital dashboard with an available full digital dashboard, while the CR-V only has a seven inch digital display and the rest is analog. And again, the Tucson wins here because you get a full digital dash, except for the very, very base model. The dashboard is also the best quality in the Hyundai. The RAV4 dash is a little bit hard to see, especially in direct sunlight, unless you get the full digital one, which works way better, but you're going to have to get a higher trim level RAV4. The Honda CR-V could do better, given the fact that the Civic, with the same interior, can be specced with a full digital dashboard. There are available Bose speakers in the Honda and the Hyundai, while the Toyota has available JBLs. You do have different shifters in each car. The Hyundai is a push-button style. The CR-V is a very familiar vertical stick. And the RAV4, which is my favorite shifter here, feels pretty nice in the palm of your hands. All vehicles have wireless charging. And they all have an available panoramic sunroof, except for the CR-V, which you can't even equip with one. The Tucson panel roof is particularly massive as well. No ventilated seat option in the CR-V while it is available in the RAV4 and the Tucson. No 360 camera option in the CR-V, although it is available again in the RAV4 and the Tucson. Sounds like the CR-V is missing a lot of features that you can get for the Tucson and the RAV4, especially given that it is the most expensive one here when you spec all three out in Canada. RAV4 has an available digital mirror, which is a nice feature. In the Hyundai, you also have available Smart Park, which means you can move your vehicle with your key fob, such as in and out of a garage, which we got a chance to try out in the Kona and it actually works pretty good. In terms of features and tech, Especially for the money, the Hyundai has a slight upper hand. Well, the CR-V is missing a few things that I'd like to see. Coming to the rear, you do have very wide opening doors. They open pretty much 90 degrees. They are also very long, which means you have a great entry point to get in the vehicle. Lots of space back here. Very nice eye support is what you'll notice immediately and the seats are relatively high. You sit a little bit higher than the driver's seat so it's kind of like a theater seating style where you can still kind of see the windshield from here. You got your two USB-C ports back here and your vents and these seats do recline quite a bit actually. Look at where You can be quite comfortable back here. Lots of headroom, lots of legroom. This is the best in class interior in terms of space. I did wish they have sunshades back here, but you do get heated seats and your auto up-down windows, which is a very nice feature for a Honda. Hopping into the rear of the Tucson, it is quite a wide opening, low entry point. These doors open almost 90 degrees, which makes burying anything in pretty easy. Getting on in, these seats are actually really nice. They are quite supportive for your thighs because you are a little bit higher up. Barely a transmission tunnel as you get your two USB-A ports. You got your vents back here. No sunshades though. The materials in the front carry over to the rear which is nice to see. They didn't cheap out back here. You also got quite a bit of head space given that there's such a big panoramic sunroof as well. And these seats also recline. It is a little bit bigger than the RAV4, but also a little bit smaller than something like the CR-V. Coming to the rear of the RAV4, these doors do not open nearly as wide as some of the competitors, but it is a nice entry point to get in the vehicle. Quite a bit of space back here, just not as much as something like the CR-V. You get your two USB-C ports down here though, and you got your vents back here, your center console. There's no sunshades back here, and the materials back here are actually the same materials that you get up front, which is nice that they didn't cheap out. These seats are also reclinable, so you can move this lever. And they reclined just a little bit. In terms of headroom, it's actually pretty good. You also got auto up-down windows back here, which some of the competitors do not get. You do get a completely hands-free tailgate because this is a fully loaded Touring model. It does open to 39.3 cubic feet of space, which is better than the RAV4 and the Tucson Hybrid. You don't get any spare tire back here because you do have your hybrid system down below. And once you do fold the second row down, Which there is no lever on the side like the Tucson but once they are folded it opens to 76.5 cubic feet of space which is again more space than the RAV4 and the Tucson. Also you have two LED lights one on each side which is pretty nice. Coming to the rear, you do not have a hands-free tailgate, but it is powered though, which is nice. It does open up to 38.7 cubic feet of space, which is a little bit bigger than something like the RAV4, but a little bit smaller than a CR-V. You do get your 12-volt outlet back here. You got your light here. And what's nice is that you have a lever to fold down the second row seats, which something like the RAV4 or CR-V does not have. Once you do get the second row folded, You can use this cover. You don't get a spare tire, but you do have a fix-a-flat kit. And then you can raise this and it'll make this entire thing flat. You will have 74.5 cubic feet of space with a second row folded. And then you have space down here now. No hands-free tailgate on this Woodland trim, but it is a powered trunk. And it opens to 37.6 cubic feet of space. It's got your Woodland Edition mats back here, which is really cool. And it's also on the back of the second row seat. It's got your tonneau cover. And what's cool about the Woodland trim is that you do get a 120-volt outlet back here on your 12-volt. It makes it really good for camping and stuff. And underneath here, you do get a spare tire and a jack, which is pretty nice nowadays. No levers to fold down the seats, though. So, you gotta do it manually. It now opens to 69.8 cubic feet of space, a little bit smaller than a CR-V or the Tucson. Depending on trim and specifications, they are pretty close to the price. All these SUVs are more similar than not. They all basically do very similar fuel mileage, although the RAV4 can be slightly more efficient without the Woodland trim, making it the most efficient option. And the RAV4 is also the quickest with its renowned reliability. The CR-V is the most practical with the most space and the most comfortable ride, while the Tucson is the more premium-feeling car, especially the interior and how it drives, and it also has the most tech and features per dollar. And it's the only one here with a 5-year 60,000-mile warranty, rather than the 3-year 36K warranty you get in the Honda and Toyota. In terms of tech, safety, and feature comforts, they have a few unique pros and cons, but they are pretty similar. The best SUV? Well, there is no best because ultimately, it boils down to personal preference and specific priorities, and with whichever path you choose in this battle, rest assured that you really can't go wrong with either. Stay tuned as we'll be releasing a full review on all three of these SUVs, so hit the subscribe button and as always, thanks for watching. Three row SUVs to choose from, like the Hyundai Palisade and the Honda Pilot, both of which basically do the same thing. But let's see which one is better and what the differences are.