Crv, hrv, cx3, cx5??

[duckley]

Looks like I will be needing to do a lot more highway driving for a recent promotion that I received - including winter diving. I drive along Alberta highways - which can be windy....I currently have a 2008 Mazda 3 sport, and I am thinking that a small SUV would give me good weight and something more solid and substantial than my beloved Mazda.

I don't like big cars and never thought I would consider a SUV - so definitely looking for a small SUV. Gas mileage is not the biggest factor at this time unfortunately - just need something that is safe in all road conditions. Price is an issue - so can't go too expensive.

The four most promising choices seem to come down to Honda and the Mazda... whats the scuttebut - which one would you recommend for safety? Are the CX3 and HRV too small? I hear they are made from the Fit and the Mazda 2? Any other choices I should consider

Any advice you have is great!

[Darkane]

I really like the new CRV. It's not small anymore so I'd really check it out.

The CX5 from all I've read is the best handling but can't compare with crv for power at our elevation.

If you're not deadset on awd checkout the civic hatch.

[tonytiger55]

How long do you plan to keep the vehicle?

I test drove the HRV(Manual) and CRV. I found the CRV better in terms of power and handling. The HRV's power to weight ratio is shite. Especially the second gear, not sure how the automatic drives. The HRV gives the same fuel milage as the CRV. The HRV is built on the FIT platform.

Check out: http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings
CRV comes up top with the Mazda. Ive not driven the Mazda so can't comment.

Would the Suberu Cross trek be a option? People at our company do a lot of driving around the province and one of the company vehicles is the Crosstrek.

[duckley]

I will check out the Subaru - my brother has one and I understand they are pretty good. I do plan to keep the vehicle for as long as possible, I actually wouldn't even be considering trading in the Mazda 3 if it weren't for the job change.... just want some thing small but safe and sturdy for the highway and the mazda 3 is just too light.....

[OTown]

My buddy just bought a CX5 and he loves it. Says it drives like a car, but with ample room and neat features for a decent price.

[zhao]

I drive along Alberta highways - which can be windy...

and I am thinking that a small SUV would give me good weight and something more solid and substantial than my beloved Mazda.

I don't like big cars and never thought I would consider a SUV - so definitely looking for a small SUV. just need something that is safe in all road conditions.

What gets blown around more: A sail boat, or a submarine?

What handles better in emergency maneuvers: A double decker bus, or a miata?

What stops better on ice: a 4x4 with a big brake kit and crazy brake pads on allseason tires, or a rwd car with drum brakes on nokian winter tires?



Buy winter tires for the mazda 3 and drive that. Buying something that is taller, that you will likely not buy winter tires for, and handles worse is only safer in your mind, not in reality.

And if you really care about being safe invest in some advanced driving lessons. Learn not to panic brake on black ice or if the car loses grip in half its wheels. Learn to straighten the car out and coast to stabilize the car if half your car goes off pavement or into deep snow. Learn what happens to a car on the limit of grip and how to manipulate it when its on the edge or exceeds it. Learn the long list of defensive driving lessons. The biggest factor for safety is the person behind the wheel.

[ercchry]

Have a buddy that traded in his old mazda 3 for a cx5 and loves it... he got the manual, so not sure how the auto is, but it leaves something to be desired for hwy passing

[max_boost]

CRV has more cargo and more powerful engine but I love the compact design of the CX-5. if you drive a lot, that unlimited mileage during warranty period is a winner.

[duckley]

What gets blown around more: A sail boat, or a submarine?

What handles better in emergency maneuvers: A double decker bus, or a miata?

What stops better on ice: a 4x4 with a big brake kit and crazy brake pads on allseason tires, or a rwd car with drum brakes on nokian winter tires?



Buy winter tires for the mazda 3 and drive that. Buying something that is taller, that you will likely not buy winter tires for, and handles worse is only safer in your mind, not in reality.

And if you really care about being safe invest in some advanced driving lessons. Learn not to panic brake on black ice or if the car loses grip in half its wheels. Learn to straighten the car out and coast to stabilize the car if half your car goes off pavement or into deep snow. Learn what happens to a car on the limit of grip and how to manipulate it when its on the edge or exceeds it. Learn the long list of defensive driving lessons. The biggest factor for safety is the person behind the wheel.

Good advice - I do have winter tires - a must have on a Mazda 3 sport. Not sure how much taller the Mazda CX3 is for example.... I am a fairly experienced winter driver (40 years) but wouldn't AWD and a heavier vehicle help in tough weather conditions....I have been blown around in the Mazda3 in windy conditions - don't recall that happening as much when I had a heavier vehicle....

[SoSlowDx]

I've driven on Highway 2 from Calgary to Central Alberta for work M-F for the past 8 + years. Honda civic first and now an Impreza. Didn't have any issues with the weather so far although there were some scary moments.

[eblend]

As someone who has test drove a CRV, a CX-5 and a Subaru Crosstrek less then 4 days ago, here is my verdict:

CVR - Looked at the touring version. Nicely equipped, but in my opinion ugly from the outside, and all the inside trim is cheap as hell. The super fake wood and fake dashboard stitching was enough for me to drop it from my list. It was also the most expensive of the bunch. I was looking at all the top trims by the way.

https://c.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/CRV17-024-1280x720.jpg

https://i2.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/20170414_123429-1280x960.jpg

CX-5 GT - This was my favourite mini SUV. I loved the heads up display, drove like a car, great looks, and had most of the features. This was one of my top picks among the cars I drove. Things I didn't like is lack of Panoramic sunroof, and no Android auto, or kick tailgate, which seems to be common now. Everything else was great. Unlimited kms warranty would very much benefit someone who does a ton of driving. For the record, I test drove a Nissan Qashqai (no power), Nissan Rogue (how long does one have to wait for power to show up when stopped?), Hyundai Tuscon (too expensive for a Hyundai..might as well get something better) and Chevy Equinox (actually really good, was tied with Cx-5 for me, had more features but didn't look as good outside).

CX-3 - Didn't test drive it but it was also on my list a few month ago when I first started looking. I wrote it off as it's very small. I go snowboarding, I don't know if my snowboard would fit in the back with seats folded. Felt much bigger when I saw it on the road. Seems nice, but small.

Subaru Crosstrek - This is what I ended up with. I put a deposit down for a brand new 2018, freshly redesigned. It's about 5k fully loaded cheaper than any of the other options. I have always wanted one, but started looking bigger....only to end up right back at it. My problem with all the small SUVs were that I couldn't find one with all the features I wanted, they all were missing something that I wanted. At the end of the day, I figured why spend so much money for a car that won't have 100% of things I want, when I can get one for 5k cheaper, with an amazing AWD system, that has 95% of the features I want.

Real stitching....surely Honda could have spend a couple of bucks on a top of the line model at least..
http://s3.amazonaws.com/images.wheels.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Subaru-Crosstrek-2018-Dash.jpg

http://o.aolcdn.com/dims-global/dims3/GLOB/legacy_thumbnail/750x422/quality/95/https://s.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/469/566/6/S4695666/slug/l/01-2018-subaru-xv-geneva-1.jpg

[zhao]

the curb weight is actually almost identical, so the higher profile means if anything you should get tossed around more by wind in the cx3. I wouldn't be surprised if the cx3 has a shorter wheel base too which wouldn't help. same goes for all the tiny 'suv's.

IMO these tiny SUVs are all about the feels. People feel they need a suv, but really want something car sized, and quickly realize modern suv's are gigantic, so manufacturers made 'crossovers'. They're a taller hatchback car. You really need to get near 30g to get 'awd' too, which is more like FWD 99% of the time and awd 1% of the time. You could literally buy a one year old 320i awd or audi a3 awd for less than 30g. Now those are a safe cars in an accident and are a better highway cruiser (there are other reasons not to buy those, like if you plan to keep the audi 10 years GFL with maintenance). As far as I'm concerned if it can be labeled as an 'suv' in anyway shape or form, add 10g on to the price.

There was a video about honda's 'awd' not even being able to engage the rear wheels on crvs. Now after reprogramming it apparently is more awdish, but in 2014 you could put that sucker's front wheels on a dyno and WOT it, and it would fall off sideways before the backwheels did anything. that means the drivetrain to the rear was just for show.

I personally really like the CX3, but I would never buy one because of how much it costs for a tall economy entry level car. ...and for what you want, i'd look at something else, or keep your current car.

[eblend]

Regarding AWD systems, very interesting to know about the Honda AWD.

This 6:47 of this video is Subaru's X-Mode, pretty impressive


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar3cAAQExAI&t=2s

[duckley]

Thanks all for the advice - really appreciated the info eblend and the subaru seems very nice amd worth checking out////
Zhao - the curb weight is the same for the Mazda 3 sport and the CX3? Well that would defeat the purpose of considering the CX3.

[zhao]

mazda cx3 weight:
awd 1339kg
fwd 1275kg


2008 mazda 3 sport weight:
sport GT 1340kg
even the base model sedan manual = 1250kg

[Mitsu3000gt]

One nice thing about the Honda's if you do a lot of highway driving is they have autonomous cruise control, lane departure with steering/brake abilities, and lane keep assist that can drive the car all by itself including corners. If you have a momentary lapse in attention while on a long boring drive, it's nice to know the car is looking out for you, especially on undivided roads. Automatic on/off high beams is nice too based on oncoming traffic or the proximity to the vehicle in front of you. The Honda sensing stuff all works incredibly well, especially the highway features. I don't think anyone else is putting that level of safety tech in their vehicles at the same price points. The CRV is pretty nice, I have driven the new one a few times now. The turbo adds a very noticeable flat torque curve right where most people like to drive so it feels totally adequate. Interior is totally fine for a car in the $30K range IMO, and it has a ton of features which is for sure part of the higher price. Yes it has fake stitching on the dash but you probably wouldn't know unless someone showed you - based on the above photo there is no way you could tell for sure if that was fake if nobody had said anything.

Only thing I don't like about the Subaru's is that awful gutless N/A 4cyl they put in pretty much every vehicle they have. I like the look of the Crosstek a lot but the motor is a total deal breaker IMO, good for about 125 crank HP at our altitude which is pretty anemic. For 2018 I am not sure how the autonomous tech and cabin tech compares with Honda's offerings.

You also might want to look at hatchbacks if you aren't dead set on an SUV.

[13TTFX4]

I've put 40000km on my CX3 in the last year with no issues. Being a single guy I thought the size of the cx3 wouldn't be an issue unfortunately unless you are willing to buy a bunch of accessories(currently have a thule box and bike racks) there isn't much more usable room than a coupe. I will say with my winter tires and the awd it is very sure footed in winter time and had no issues going wherever I wanted. it's actually pretty fun to drive in sport mode but don't expect it to be fast, if I was doing it again I would have bought the CX5 for the additional room and the 2.5l engine.

[duckley]

Thanks zhao... looks can be deceiving. CX3 is out.

[gpomp]

Isn't the CX3 based off the Mazda2 platform? The Mazda3 based SUV would be the CX5.

[jutes]

I was cross shopping those options a few months ago, drove a used CX3 and HRV. Around town they are pretty peppy up to 80km/h but on highway driving they are fairly gutless - it is a tiny 4 cyl though. I can't stand passing someone on the highway and taking half a province length to do it, coming from two E9X M3s I guess I was spoiled. My gf has a 15 CX5 and while its bigger than the other two it still drives like a car. Power isn't much more than the tiny utes, but you won't get killed passing someone either.

I don't mind large cars so I ended up with a "fully loaded" '10 3.7L TL AWD and saved myself $15k over buying new. This is the most comfortable thing I've driven, just soaks up the km's on the highway and has ample power for passing. With winter tires I'm sure I'll have no problem in the snow, so far I'm glad I didn't go with a small SUV I would have regretted it.

Oh - forget the crosstek, until Subaru puts a decent engine in that thing I wouldn't bother. My 98 forester has more guts.

[redblack]

I test drive a crosstrek and it was a huge disappointment, totally gutless and boring to drive. The cvt just compounded the lack in performance. It really needs the FA20dit from the wrx.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[OU812]

What about a V60?