This is the 2023 Toyota RAV4 and we just did a video with the new Honda CRV Sport Touring Hybrid so this video will focus a lot on how these two stack up to each other
Bad
1 – MPG
If you’re looking for outright bets MPG the CRV will technically deliver better fuel economy, at least according to the EPA
However, that’s for a FWD hybrid CRV AND this week I’ve actually been outperforming the EPA rating with about 43 mpg in combined driving…and that’s WITH AWD
2 – No LED running taillights
This one feels very nitpicky, but the CRV gets really cool LED taillights and these are incandescent. I think on some trim you can get LEDs, but they’re still this boring design. Ok nitpick over
3 – Cargo space
The CRV’s trunk is technically 2 cuft larger than this one, but by no means is this trunk small or impractical
So the 3 things I said are wrong with this car is the taillight, the fuel economy which isn’t actually the case, and the trunk size, which is still huge..kinda sounds like nitpicking and gives you an idea of how complete this platform is..so let’s talk about the best things
Good
1 – all the things this has the CRV doesn’t
You’ll recall from the CRV video we started with a list of surprising things the new CRV was mising that competitors have…well here’s a list of all the stuff you can get on a RAV4 that you CANT on a CRV
Panoramic roof
Cooled front seats
Heated rear seats
Fully digital gauge cluster
360 camera
Digital rear view mirror
HUD
I mean this is a pretty long list of in-demand features that you CAN get on a RAV but CANT get on a CRV
2 – the looks
I will say the CRV may looks more premium and expensive, but this looks more aggressive and muscular and I quite like the look here
Silver sky metallic is nice, but it’s no cavalry blue
LED running lights
look cool
LED fogs
Blue Toyota logo
Black lower fascia
Looks mean
Boxy profile
Black wheel arches..kinda
Black wheels
Running boards
Black wing mirrors
Black window treatments and A pillar
but with chrome accent
Black roof
Roof rails
PANO ROOF – can’t get in the CRV
NOT LED TAILLIGHTS – WACK
Silver bumper
Dual exhaust
To be honest I like the look of both the CRV and RAV4 it’s just different flavors
3 – The driving experience
We won’t spend a bunch of time on this point because it’s ultimately a family hybrid SUV – it’s not a sports car
Although this is the XSE and get’s “sport tuned suspension” and to be honest it does feel like I have a lot of front end
IDK if it’s good grip from the tires or just a fast steering rack, but there’s a sharpness from the front end that feels very satisfying
But other than that, it’s just thoroughly fine
It doesn’t sound that good, but you have good power and good fuel economy
The ride is soft and comfy
The visibility is pretty dang good
The cabin is quiet enough
Than transition from electric to gas is very smooth and hard to notice
AND when you get on the highway the driver assist is really nice
It’s a perfectly good driving experience here
4 – The engine
This kinda of goes in tandem with what we were just talking about but this point is specifically about the powertrain
Here you get what we’ve seen all over Toyota’s lineup
It;’s the 2.5L N/a 4 cylinder WITH the hybrid system
That means about 176 hp from teh engine
And then 3 electric motors and all combined it makes 219 hp
That’s more than the CRV btw
It’s also very efficient as I’ve been getting 43 mpg this week even in the cold with AWD
Power goes through a CVT and 0-60 is done in the low 7 second range. SO it’s not going to set your heart on fire, but when has a RAV4 ever done that in the past?
5 – The new screens
This is a big one for buyers and a place the 2023 update to the RAV4 really shines
You get 2 big screens on your dash now – one being your gauge cluster
It’s fully digital unlike in the CRV AND you get cool animations when you switch drive modes
And then you get a totally updated 10.5 inch center infotainment screen
Its big, it looks nice, AND it’s running the new software which is very good
It gets you things like wireless ACP
OTA updates
Dual bluetooth connections
You get 360 cameras that look WAY better thna the last Rav4 I was in
Again you dont get 360 cameras in the CRV
You do still get the weird 360 egg view tho – why?
Oh, and I guess technically you get another screen which would be your rear view mirror – in some trims you can get the digital rear view mirror
6 – The safety suite
This point actually takes me back to 2018 when I got my first press car
It was a RAV4 adventure and THAT was the first car I ever really got to truly test out the active lane keep and whatnot and it was really impressive
And now this 2023 has an even more advanced system than that and it’s still probably like a top 5 system
I always like Toyota’s safety sense on their unibody cars
7 – Materials and practicality
This one is a weird mishmosh of random stuff that I just LIKE in the interior
The design is really well executed where they’ve found a way to maximize space and storage without sacrificing the design
Everything here is wrapped in SOftex and has blue stitching
From the door card to the dash to the seats it’s all great and looks expensive
Then there’s thoughtful cutouts like you’d normally have like oversize water bottle holdes in your door bins, a cutout for your phone and wireless charger
But then you have the Toyota Family Cavern
That’s not a real thing it’s just what i call it, but it’s the cut out in the dash itself for you to put your phone or wallet or whatever
It’s rubberized so things dont fly around
It’s like this sort of thing is just such a simple piece of design, but shows you the engineers really understood the assignment
8 – rear seats
And then we have something all buyers care about here and it’s the rear seat and they’re awesome
They’re super spacious both legroom and headroom
You get the pano roof bringing in light and making it feel bigger
Again you dnt get pano roof on CRV
You CAN get heated seats back here
Can’t on CRV
And your rear seats can recline a little bit here
A simple space, but again it’s done with humans in mind. It’s not super flashy or gimmicky but it just makes sense
9 – Odds and Ends
Sometimes I get to the end of these highlight videos and I’ve covered the main points, but there are a handful or weird random small things in my notes that don’t really fit anywhere
So here are some of the weird small things I noticed during my week so let me know if you like hearing about these things and I should include them in future videos
First, the sealing on the doors, windows and body panels must be REALLY good because there were a few times where I went to close a door and it wouldn’t becaus eof the back air pressure in the cabin
Second, the trunk is great and is power operated, but on some power tailgates there’sa button to close AND lock, this one is just close
Third, is another door one and maybe this goes with the first one, but the door pulls on the inside are really far forward on the door so i have to pull harder to get the door to close
Fourth, I don’t think i mentioned this, but you get a heated steering wheel and it gets REALLY hot, like REALLY FAST
Fifth, you get your drive mode dial and at night it lights up green for ECO, red for SPORT and blue for normal – but then there’s this Trail button and in the gauge cluster when you select trail it shows you in normal so they just didnt design an animation for trail mode
Sixth, EV mode – this is the most useless button. It only works under 26 mph, sometimes it would turn off at like 22 mph. AND you can’t push the throttle down more than like 15% – so it’s literally just for bumper to bumper traffic
Seventh, is the roof rails that look like teh sunroof is open
eighth, is towing capacity – i would have put this on a main point but i dont see many people towing with their RAV4, but if you did you could tow 1750 lbs which is almost double the 1000 lbs you get in the CRV
Conclusion
And that’s it, the best best and the rest of the 2023 Toyota RAV4. I honestly struggled to find things I didn’t like or that were bad. It’s not the glamorous or sexy choice, but it’s just faultless
So, with all that we covered here would you get this RAV4 hybrid over a CRV hybrid?