Ride
With these two vehicles in our possession, we took the opportunity to get away from the urban and suburban confines of our usual test loop and headed north, aiming for cottage country. Between gas stops, a quick wash (yes, believe it or not we washed the cars, as fruitless as that was since it started snowing and kicking up slush the minute we left the car wash), and photography, we only made about halfway to our intended destination before hitting our cutoff time. Still, we meandered through the suburban outskirts of the GTA, then traversed some horribly maintained country highways, and even found a steep gravel sideroad with a fair dusting of snow.
  2013 Honda CR-V LX AWD & 2013 Toyota RAV4 XLE FWD. Click image to enlarge |
Out here, we had a chance to pick apart the ride of these two vehicles, and this provided one of the biggest surprises. The RAV4 was rough. The suspension was simply too firm, leading to a jittery ride, and brakes that seemed a touch grabby. Yes, the steering was sharp and the responsiveness was good, but it did not come off as sporty, just rough and twitchy. It’s like Toyota has forgotten all about the gazillions of customers who have flocked to it for that pleasant, novocaine ride and aimed to please a few overeager enthusiasts. Granted, it is better overall than the previous generation, which seemed completely lost whenever making a turn, but this seems to have taken the sportiness need too far, even going so far as to offering a ‘Sport’ button to remap transmission and throttle – I doubt that will really appease all those V6 loyalists Toyota claimed with the last RAV4.
The CR-V was a complete softy and absorbed washboard roads with minimal fuss in the cabin aside from a generous serving of noise. Everywhere else, the CR-V demonstrated supreme comfort without feeling sloppy in the corners. To go back to our first Crossover Comparison Test, in which the CR-V proved victorious, “The nearly perfect ride balance between comfort and sport is unexpected in this class of vehicle and the steering wheel sends a surprising amount of feedback to the driver.”
And when arriving at your destination, both have a reasonable turning circle (though the RAV4’s is slightly better), and both were equipped with back-up cameras in this test, with reasonable visibility out of the side windows and the same restrictive D-pillars to work around. No real advantage here.
Almost everything about driving the CR-V feels just right, while the RAV4 seems to have confused firmness with sport. And, of course, with Honda having spent its upgrade budget on AWD, it also offered superior traction in slippery conditions (hey, if the RAV4 gets points for all its features, the CR-V deserves a nod here). We don’t doubt that the RAV4 would have equaled the CR-V for traction capability if so equipped, and even in FWD configuration, still pulled away smartly after traction control took over and meted out appropriate engine and wheel braking, further convincing me I have no need for AWD. Others may feel differently. Suit yourself.
