I think people consider the Outlander to be bigger than it really is. Is the Outlander just a big compact or has the RAV4 approached what we used to consider mid-size proportions?
They are the identical height and their wheelbases are also identical. The Outlander is 10 cm longer, but the RAV4 is 6 cm wider. And the RAV4's cargo capacity is measurably bigger than the Outlander's. I would consider them to be in the same class.
You’re right, they do appear similar in size in the photos. But the Outlander offers 7 passenger capacity in the gas version while the RAV4 doesn’t.
My Regal TourX 2.0T with torque vectoring AWD is seeing 7.0l/100 mixed commuting and 6.3l/100 highway at 65 mph. All on 87 octane.
Your idea of mixed commuting is probably not the same of ours. Put your Regal in Toronto or Vancouver and you’re at about 10. The TourX is averaging 9.5 L/100km on Fuelly which is higher than the gas RAV4 at 7.4 L/100km and hybrid RAV4 at 6.1 L/100km.
The Outlander appears to be inefficient in hybrid mode so people should be planning to use it in EV modes or consider something else.