Small SUV Comparison Overview

[Music] when Subaru introduced the cross Trek it seemed little more than an Impreza hatchback lifted off the ground with some extra body cladding added on but with so-called compact SUVs not being all that compact anymore like the Forester Honda CRV and Toyota Rav 4 Subaru saw an opportunity people wanted a smaller SUV that was more in line of the size of the original Forester from the 9s and the original CRV they wanted something more like like this and it worked the cross track success did not go unnoticed by other mainstream Brands and now virtually everyone has joined The Fray in the small SUV segment now to figure out who has really nailed the formula we've gathered 11 competitors to face off against one another just about everyone is here except the Jeep Compass and the upcoming Nissan kicks which is a little smaller and well not quite out yet after a week of evaluating we added up all the scores to see which one of these vehicles is the best so let's get this countdown started [Music] we'll get you back to the battle of the small SUVs in a second but let's take a moment to talk about protecting your vehicle customade for an exact fit WeatherTech offers complete protection for your vehicle's interior especially ones like these there's the original WeatherTech floorliner and new floorliner HP made from a more flexible material both work with with your OE floor mat clips and protect up the side of your footwell plus the floorliner HP comes with these spikes for even better grip and let's not forget the cargo liner which is great to protect your vehicle from everything you might need to throw in the back of your allnew SUV all WeatherTech products come with a lifetime guarantee you can order online at weather.ca shipping is free anywhere in Canada or for those who are local you can visit their retail showroom at 1164 Walkers Line in Burlington and get your order the same day the Mitsubishi Eclipse cross finishing last in this comparison has a lot more to do with its age than anything else and the 6 years since it was introduced to our Market every other vehicle in this comparison is either brand new or has undergone a complete redesign like a lot of us father time has caught up with the eclipse cross the eclipse cross did get a refresh a few years ago and it got a new rear end design that we like a lot better that got rid of that split window look that said the exterior interior and quality of materials all R pretty low on our scorecards then there's the infotainment system and the heated seat buttons which both feel about a decade old but one carryover item I do like in this vehicle is it still has the uh Evo style paddle shifters attached to the steering column all that stated there are some big wins for the Mitsubishi unlike most competitors it offers heated rear seats a dual sunroof power driver's seat a power lift gate and one of the more accommodating rear seats but some modern technology is missing like a wireless phone charger Wireless Apple carplay and a digital dashboard front seat Comfort is mid pack as is cargo capacity the raake rear roof line angles off an otherwise sizable cargo area but we still did find it's one of the deeper ones the eclipse cross drives well enough but it doesn't excel in either handling or ride Comfort the 1.5 L turbo engine is punchy and quite enjoyable to rev out but the CVT feels a little more elasticy compared to the other ones here in the test the final two things that really hamper the eclipse cross once again are related to the vehicle's age it has the lowest safety rating from the IHS and it's not all that particularly fuel efficient the Mitsubishi Eclipse has been eclipsed by a lot of the competition here that said it does have some options not offered on any other vehicle and it does have a great warranty it's just not enough to make up for all of its [Music] shortcomings the Buick Encore GX may seem a little out of place here Buick is a more premium brand that usually battles the likes of Acura infinity and Volvo but the Encore GX does fit in with this crowd offering a more Posh option it may have the highest price but it's not that far off the HRV or the cross Trek inside the Encore GX does have one of the nicer Interiors in term of materials although The Styling is a bit subdued there are some nice elements like the metal look band that runs across the dashboard the HVAC controls also look premium as well the Buick is one of the better equipped vehicles with options like a power passenger seat panoramic sunroof full digital display and a rear 110 volt Outlet the rear seat area is quite nice and cargo capacity falls about mid pack in this comparison so what's the Encore doing down here in 10th Place well besides its high price it's not overly fuel efficient and The Styling was a mixed bag where some liked the exterior interior and others did not when it came to the infotainment system same story some like using it and some found it not that great the little turbo 3-cylinder makes a good amount of power for its size with the tendency of building revs quickly the nine-speed automatic was another area of dispute but we all agreed the ride comfort from The Encore GX is one of the best the trade-off for that ride Comfort comes in the form of handling with the Encore GX ending up near the back of the pack in terms of driving manners the steering also was a area of dispute as some of us didn't mind it and actually liked it While others found it a little odd one cool party trick The Encore GX has is there's a button down here that allows you to put it into front-wheel drive only so you save a little bit of fuel on those warm summer days The Encore gx's biggest detriment might be its corporate cousin the Chevrolet Trail Blazer many of our testers preferred its style usability and drivability over the Buick the really nice interior here wasn't enough to overcome its price tag but if price isn't a huge factor for you this might be a vehicle worth checking out nowhere is the compact SUVs aren't really compact anymore argument clearer than with this the Honda HRV so not only is this the longest vehicle here it's actually within an inch of where the CRV was when that last generation debuted in 2017 now that's an important distinction to make because driving the HRV is a bit like time traveling and just as the case is with those sorts of movies the results aren't always good so what drags the HRV down the rankings well it has a pretty weak power plant in fact it was rated the worst in the group it has the lowest horsepower figures of any of the all-wheel drive cars and it tied the Mitsubishi for the lowest speed in our Highway merge test around here if I floor it it's more a volume knob than an actual speed control around town you're also missing the torque from the other turbo engines so the HRV doesn't feel particularly quick there either and because this little 2 L engine is working so hard all the time fuel economy is pretty poor the other problem is price the HRV has one of the heaviest stickers on either side of the Border yet is one of the most sparsely equipped cute Utes here power driver's seat not in Canada but at least there is in the US power tailgate NADA on both accounts we'd excuse the short feature list if it had value on its side but Honda continues to price its models comfortably higher than the competition and the HRV is no exception now it isn't all bad that large footprint does give the HRV one of the roomiest cabins in this comparison with genuine adult-friendly space in the back seat only the Kia and the Volkswagen really beat it on that front it also had has a simple but effective infotainment system which has smart color coding so you only have to look for a quick glance to use it and it does do the whole wireless phone mirroring thing now it might be slow but the Honda does have one of the better rides here in that typical Honda way it's comfortable and confidence inspiring it also got one of the highest ratings for its cabin design too we like this fun center console with its twole approach and I have to always mention the clicky clim control dials that debuted on the Civic a few years ago and that's the other challenge that the HRV faces the Civic hatchback if you don't need ride height or all-wheel drive Honda will happily sell you a car that's better to drive better on gas and better equipped the HRV just feels outclassed in this competition big but not especially clever in Mike's words I love the tracks and you know what it's true when I first drove the second gen model late last year I called it and I quote one of the very best sub $30,000 cars that you can buy and like I said with the HRV not everyone needs all-wheel drive so we brought this front drive model here to see just how high above its weight it can punch now this doesn't feel like the car with the least amount of horsepower and torque and that's probably because it also has the lowest weight thanks front-wheel drive now a torquey triple and a trusty six-speed automatic ensure that the tracks keeps up with the rest of the pack here right up to about Highway passing speeds the tracks is also one of the better handlers here again because of that weight advantage and front-wheel drive but also because it's basically a car and SUV cosplay as you'd expect of something costing approximately 3/4 everything else here the tracks does have to make some sacrifices there's a lot of leg room in the second row but the space itself is dark claustrophobic do you like looking at the roof and the pillar because that's what you're going to be doing back there so interior quality does take an expected hit but maybe not as much as you might be thinking Chevy makes the most of its limited budget with splashes of color and interesting texture choices it's fine there's also the dual highdefinition screens and they look pretty good although there is limited functionality as far as I'm concerned it seems like Chevy wants you to use your phone and well that's fine by me too now none of us really expected the tracks to come home with the crown but Chevy's baby has had a major glow up and if you don't mind sacrificing some features or just really want all those savings it's a choice that you can't ignore placing highest amongst the GM entries is the Chevrolet TrailBlazer more than that it came just a little bit behind the Hyundai Kona for sixth place this is a vehicle with no glaring weaknesses but no standout features either it plays it safe finding the middle ground in most categories aside from the angled rear glass the Trailblazer has a more traditional boxy SUV shape this leads to decent amounts of rear seat and cargo space and the giant panoramic sunroof makes it feel Airy inside those that do sit in the back seat though will notice there's a massive seat Piller right beside their head that blocks a lot of outward visibility and can make you feel claustrophobic the two-tone paint job really suits this little SUV and I especially like the rear end treatment notably the tail lights and the exhaust finisher I'm not as crazy about the front end but nothing about this vehicle is overly offensive inside I like how Chevy finish some of the Plastics like the matte red strip across a dashboard for more style and interest like the Buick the cup holders in here are a bit small and the steering wheel doesn't come out far enough for my liking I feel like I'm driving straight armed what's interesting is the engine and transmission are the same in here as the Buick but the feel feel a little more responsive in this vehicle for whatever reason I don't know if it's tuning gearing or or just maybe it's all in my head and it's the same story with the chassis the Trailblazer is a little flatter when cornering and handles a bit better but the Encore is more comfortable if you want to get real sporty there is the cheered flag button here in the Trailblazer but it doesn't really do much the Trailblazer is a very competent small SUV that's just a few tweaks here and there away from battling the Front Runners of this segment as it stands there is still a lot of appeal we just preferred some of the other entries a little bit more one of the newest members of this Mega comparison the second generation Hyundai Kona now properly fits in with a significant stretch while still maintaining a tidy footprint now it has a long list of standard features that should help it compete very well but does it have the secret sauce it really is a much better small family car this new Kona so while it still does have one of the tiniest Footprints the back row is actually a surprisingly spacious place if not well a little dark now cargo room in the old model could best be described as essential but this new one's also pretty good on that front also more good cargo news the load lip is low and it's a wide opening yay in Canada unfortunately there is no power tailgate option although folks in America can still spec one the rest of the tech Suite is better Hyundai's new ccnc infotainment screen is big suitably sharp and responsive best of all it's been designed to not need a ton of menu diving the brand has finally adopted USBC ports and includes a clever switchable one up front for either smartphone pairing or charging the wireless charging pad is raised to reduce heat buildup too we like Hyundai's driver assist Suite as well including a welldone adaptive cruise control the column mounted shifter does does take some getting used to but frees up space for a truly useful center console the kona's Turbo Power Plant is something of a mixed bag when it's on boil it's a genuinely quick thing looking like the world's quickest RoboCop helmet I'd buy that for a dollar and props to Hyundai for ditching the DCT for an 8-speed Auto which has smoother shifts when you're moving around at parking lot speeds unfortunately this automatic does suffer from some truly tar response times on more than a few occasions if I put my foot to the floor I have to wait a long time to get any sort of response yeah the paddle shifters do help a little bit but it still doesn't fix the problem entirely it isn't the most exciting car to drive either we know we know most people buy vehicles like this aren't exactly itching to head to the next autocross but the outgoing model was a playful little hatchback on stilts and the cx30 and cross Trek both have charm here the Kona just kind of exists Kona 2.0 better addresses the wants and needs of this segment it has more space for people in their things it's more comfortable and it's designed screams Cutting Edge at least here in 2024 in the process it's become less interesting to drive and well it's lost that value play Blink 182 probably said it best I guess this is growing [Music] up don't think of the Mazda cx3 is coming in fifth place think of it more like third third place that's because it the to and the cross Trek are all separated by just point2 of a point which is less than 1% of our overall scoring it's pretty amazing considering all three SUVs are very different Mazda has a reputation of building vehicles that handle well and are a bit fun to drive and the cx30 is no exception as it ran away with the handling category of our comparison unfortunately Monza also has a reputation for building cars that have a stiff ride and the cx30 once again is no exception as it finished last when it came to ride Comfort the engine and transmission surprised us a bit as it only finished about mid pack and it couldn't quite measure up to the one in the Kona and the SOS or the hybrid system in the Corolla cross the natur aspirated engine and the six-speed automatic transmission seem at odds at times as the vehicle is hunting around looking for the right gear to be in the cx30 scored top marks in terms of interior style and material material quality we really like all the soft touch non shiny materials used throughout the dash and it's very conservative in a very German sort of way we also really like the red seats that are available on this Trim in Canada but not in the US to get them in the US you have to pick a different trim the cx30 is also feature-rich with items like head-up display 360° view cameras a power lift gate and navigation front seat Comfort was voted best in test a further Testament that this is a great choice for one or two people maybe the best in the test even when it comes to a full family it's not so accommodating rear seat comfort and real world cargo carrying capacity scored last ultimately keeping the cx30 off the podium the cx30 is stylish and fun to drive it just seems to be about a half sizee too small for the competition here if space isn't a big concern for you this might be your next SUV if you do need more room for more people we have four more options to consider [Music] I'm going to level with you I kind of forgot about the Volkswagen to now that's not to say this is a bad car in fact it's anything but as this finishing position shows it's just that it doesn't have a whole lot of standout features instead the VW does just about everything well and that gives you one of the better allround experiences here so the t's on paper stats put it near the back of the pack here almost with the Mitsubishi Eclipse cross but it uses it powers for good not evil that seven-speed dual clutch makes the most of all that turbo torque and it's even pretty sippy on gas now of course the drawback is that dual clutch transmission they're notoriously jerky and the t's unit is no exception around town in traffic is where it also gets dinged this isn't even the top to trim yet it comes with a competitive list of features Dual Zone climate control a wireless phone charger and an auto dimming mirror are typically top shell features in this segment the same goes for that big panoramic roof and the Adaptive headlights also the snappy digital instrument cluster have certain other VW models been chastised for their cumbersome infotainment setups good thing the tus runs the comparatively foolproof previous one this is the best back seat in this entire comparison not only is the roof line really tall but there's plenty of glass which makes the whole Space downright inviting not to mention there's a good amount of leg room adding on to that even the seats are pretty comfortable and if you fold those down the house has more cubic space in the back than anything except the Toyota and the Koreans unfortunately having the biggest back seat and being pretty good at everything else isn't enough to get the Tous gold here nonetheless the Dark Horse of the comparison has proven itself and we won't underestimate it again it's hard to believe the cross Trek is already in its third generation they grow up so fast part of the reason maybe times flown by is the fact that the cross Trek has never really changed its look in all those years with all of its success though can you really blame Subaru for not wanting to mess with it despite how common place the cross trk has got on our roadways I still think it's a pretty good looking little SUV the vehicle we have on hand here is the Wilderness which is their off-road trim it takes the exterior design and amps it up a couple notches is it over the top yeah but it's the right kind of over the top for this baby Overlander and unlike a lot of the so-called off-road specials the cross trk Wilderness has the goods to back it up it has 9.3 in of ground clearance which is a ton more than anything else here the suspension has been retuned and chunky allterrain tires are mounted on 17-in Wheels the tires in ground clearance lead to firing away the best ride comfort of the bunch surprisingly though even with the off-road biased tires and a body purged way up in the air the driving Dynamics are of the best in the test still maybe there's more than just marketing to Subaru symmetrical all-wheel drive layouts the engine can be a bit noisy but it's quick to build power and this is probably the best CVT in the test so what kept this from first place well besides a high price and not so great fuel economy it's the interior when it came to the overall design style and quality materials it rated closer to the back of the pack and although I actually really like this infotainment system quite a few testers do not at all one of The Originators of this small in between SUV segment the cross Trek remains one of the best options and we didn't even get into its messy weather capability if the extra style and capability aren't needed you could trade in a little bit of ride comfort for way better fuel economy and get a regular cross Trek as well what a difference electrification Mak when the Corolla cross first debuted a few years ago we weren't big fans of the little SUV I'm pretty sure the term vehicular oatmeal was banding about but Toyota being Toyota it shoved a Hybrid Power Trin behind that revised nose last year and the result is a much better vehicle with better Road manners and way way better fuel economy than anything else in this comparison now hybrid hasn't meant slow for quite a while now in fact the corac cross hybrid is the most powerful vehicle in this test it's not the quickest that title is reserved for the Koreans but in our Highway merge test the Toyota is right up there around town the Toyota is in its element with that Tor electric motor making it an assertive little SUV there's also no real weight penalty so this is still a pretty agile and Whisper it even kind of fun SUV and again that fuel economy the official City figure is 45 MP gallon or 5.2 L per 100 km and our little fuel economy test loops on an even better combined figure if you're buying a small SUV we're guessing affordability is kind of a concern and nothing saves you money at the pumps quite like the Corolla cross now there are some sacrifices to get you there the rear seat is one of the most cramped here with not a lot of head room or leg room the Toyota's interior ain't nothing fancy either it has everything you need but not much else in terms of comfort and convenience and things like the seat heater controls still look like afterthoughts Toyota's infotainment while far better than before still does have a few hits against it too the 8 in screen is a little on the small side especially if you get the satellite radio screen which is just jammed and there are no physical buttons so it takes a little few extra pokes to get to the home screen but on a whole other subject uh props to Toyota for including a power tailgate which is still an unfortunate Rarity in this class now in a Switcheroo the Corolla cross hybrid actually loses out to The One remaining vehicle in this comparison the one that it beat the last time that we paired those two against each other so I'm going to hand it over to Mike to let him [Music] explain it's not always the flashiest brightest or fastest vehicle that wins these Mega comparisons often it's the well executed wellth thought out properly designed vehicle that comes out on top Kia SOS is one of those Vehicles the SOS is a conservative design especially for a Kia it has the sort of style and shape that should age well inside it's much the same story as it's a premium yet restrained look the materials look nice and feel premium and overall we voted this the second best interior behind the Mazda the driver does sit quite high but I'm 6 feet tall and I still have a ton of Headroom despite being one of the lowest pric Vehicles here the CTO still comes with a lot of highend equipment it's the only one here with ventilated seats the only one with a full power passenger seat as the Buick is only partially powered and it has dual digital displays behind a single screen oddly it's missing Dual Zone climate control though as good as it is up here it's even better in the back the rear seat area was voted second best behind the to and the cargo area has the most usable space and there's even a power lift gate the only real weak spot for the SOS is the chassis although it does get deep decent marks for ride Comfort handling on the other hand is at the lower end we do quite like the drivetrain though as we discussed with aona the 1 16 turbo and 8-speed Auto combo deliver lots of smooth power oddly in the seltos it gets slightly better fuel economy than the Kona and we prefer its performance in the Kia more no vehicle is all things to all people but the Kia seltos comes close it combines Comfort space style performance and a lot of high-end features for an affordable price for now the Kia SOS is the champion of the small [Music] SUVs so when all the scores were added up in average the Kia SOS is the best overall choice but Kyle I have to ask you what would you personally pick well Mike if I had to go home with one of the 11 SUVs it would be the Toyota corac cross hybrid because I figure if I'm buying a small SUV I really care about gas prices and that is Far and Away the best in that regard I'm a little torn I like the cool factor and capability of the Cross Trek but I also like the sophistication of the to so for me it would be those two well there you have it that is the end of our small SUV Mega comparison brought to you by WeatherTech and don't forget to hit like And subscribe a [Music]

[Music] when Subaru introduced the cross Trek it seemed little more than an Impreza hatchback lifted off the ground with some extra body cladding added on but with so-called compact SUVs not being all that compact anymore like the Forester Honda CRV and Toyota Rav 4 Subaru saw an opportunity people wanted a smaller SUV that was more in line of the size of the original Forester from the 9s and the original CRV they wanted something more like like this and it worked the cross track success did not go unnoticed by other mainstream Brands and now virtually everyone has joined The Fray in the small SUV segment now to figure out who has really nailed the formula we&#39;ve gathered 11 competitors to face off against one another just about everyone is here except the Jeep Compass and the upcoming Nissan kicks which is a little smaller and well not quite out yet after a week of evaluating we added up all the scores to see which one of these vehicles is the best so let&#39;s get this countdown started [Music] we&#39;ll get you back to the battle of the small SUVs in a second but let&#39;s take a moment to talk about protecting your vehicle customade for an exact fit WeatherTech offers complete protection for your vehicle&#39;s interior especially ones like these there&#39;s the original WeatherTech floorliner and new floorliner HP made from a more flexible material both work with with your OE floor mat clips and protect up the side of your footwell plus the floorliner HP comes with these spikes for even better grip and let&#39;s not forget the cargo liner which is great to protect your vehicle from everything you might need to throw in the back of your allnew SUV all WeatherTech products come with a lifetime guarantee you can order online at weather.ca shipping is free anywhere in Canada or for those who are local you can visit their retail showroom at 1164 Walkers Line in Burlington and get your order the same day the Mitsubishi Eclipse cross finishing last in this comparison has a lot more to do with its age than anything else and the 6 years since it was introduced to our Market every other vehicle in this comparison is either brand new or has undergone a complete redesign like a lot of us father time has caught up with the eclipse cross the eclipse cross did get a refresh a few years ago and it got a new rear end design that we like a lot better that got rid of that split window look that said the exterior interior and quality of materials all R pretty low on our scorecards then there&#39;s the infotainment system and the heated seat buttons which both feel about a decade old but one carryover item I do like in this vehicle is it still has the uh Evo style paddle shifters attached to the steering column all that stated there are some big wins for the Mitsubishi unlike most competitors it offers heated rear seats a dual sunroof power driver&#39;s seat a power lift gate and one of the more accommodating rear seats but some modern technology is missing like a wireless phone charger Wireless Apple carplay and a digital dashboard front seat Comfort is mid pack as is cargo capacity the raake rear roof line angles off an otherwise sizable cargo area but we still did find it&#39;s one of the deeper ones the eclipse cross drives well enough but it doesn&#39;t excel in either handling or ride Comfort the 1.5 L turbo engine is punchy and quite enjoyable to rev out but the CVT feels a little more elasticy compared to the other ones here in the test the final two things that really hamper the eclipse cross once again are related to the vehicle&#39;s age it has the lowest safety rating from the IHS and it&#39;s not all that particularly fuel efficient the Mitsubishi Eclipse has been eclipsed by a lot of the competition here that said it does have some options not offered on any other vehicle and it does have a great warranty it&#39;s just not enough to make up for all of its [Music] shortcomings the Buick Encore GX may seem a little out of place here Buick is a more premium brand that usually battles the likes of Acura infinity and Volvo but the Encore GX does fit in with this crowd offering a more Posh option it may have the highest price but it&#39;s not that far off the HRV or the cross Trek inside the Encore GX does have one of the nicer Interiors in term of materials although The Styling is a bit subdued there are some nice elements like the metal look band that runs across the dashboard the HVAC controls also look premium as well the Buick is one of the better equipped vehicles with options like a power passenger seat panoramic sunroof full digital display and a rear 110 volt Outlet the rear seat area is quite nice and cargo capacity falls about mid pack in this comparison so what&#39;s the Encore doing down here in 10th Place well besides its high price it&#39;s not overly fuel efficient and The Styling was a mixed bag where some liked the exterior interior and others did not when it came to the infotainment system same story some like using it and some found it not that great the little turbo 3-cylinder makes a good amount of power for its size with the tendency of building revs quickly the nine-speed automatic was another area of dispute but we all agreed the ride comfort from The Encore GX is one of the best the trade-off for that ride Comfort comes in the form of handling with the Encore GX ending up near the back of the pack in terms of driving manners the steering also was a area of dispute as some of us didn&#39;t mind it and actually liked it While others found it a little odd one cool party trick The Encore GX has is there&#39;s a button down here that allows you to put it into front-wheel drive only so you save a little bit of fuel on those warm summer days The Encore gx&#39;s biggest detriment might be its corporate cousin the Chevrolet Trail Blazer many of our testers preferred its style usability and drivability over the Buick the really nice interior here wasn&#39;t enough to overcome its price tag but if price isn&#39;t a huge factor for you this might be a vehicle worth checking out nowhere is the compact SUVs aren&#39;t really compact anymore argument clearer than with this the Honda HRV so not only is this the longest vehicle here it&#39;s actually within an inch of where the CRV was when that last generation debuted in 2017 now that&#39;s an important distinction to make because driving the HRV is a bit like time traveling and just as the case is with those sorts of movies the results aren&#39;t always good so what drags the HRV down the rankings well it has a pretty weak power plant in fact it was rated the worst in the group it has the lowest horsepower figures of any of the all-wheel drive cars and it tied the Mitsubishi for the lowest speed in our Highway merge test around here if I floor it it&#39;s more a volume knob than an actual speed control around town you&#39;re also missing the torque from the other turbo engines so the HRV doesn&#39;t feel particularly quick there either and because this little 2 L engine is working so hard all the time fuel economy is pretty poor the other problem is price the HRV has one of the heaviest stickers on either side of the Border yet is one of the most sparsely equipped cute Utes here power driver&#39;s seat not in Canada but at least there is in the US power tailgate NADA on both accounts we&#39;d excuse the short feature list if it had value on its side but Honda continues to price its models comfortably higher than the competition and the HRV is no exception now it isn&#39;t all bad that large footprint does give the HRV one of the roomiest cabins in this comparison with genuine adult-friendly space in the back seat only the Kia and the Volkswagen really beat it on that front it also had has a simple but effective infotainment system which has smart color coding so you only have to look for a quick glance to use it and it does do the whole wireless phone mirroring thing now it might be slow but the Honda does have one of the better rides here in that typical Honda way it&#39;s comfortable and confidence inspiring it also got one of the highest ratings for its cabin design too we like this fun center console with its twole approach and I have to always mention the clicky clim control dials that debuted on the Civic a few years ago and that&#39;s the other challenge that the HRV faces the Civic hatchback if you don&#39;t need ride height or all-wheel drive Honda will happily sell you a car that&#39;s better to drive better on gas and better equipped the HRV just feels outclassed in this competition big but not especially clever in Mike&#39;s words I love the tracks and you know what it&#39;s true when I first drove the second gen model late last year I called it and I quote one of the very best sub $30,000 cars that you can buy and like I said with the HRV not everyone needs all-wheel drive so we brought this front drive model here to see just how high above its weight it can punch now this doesn&#39;t feel like the car with the least amount of horsepower and torque and that&#39;s probably because it also has the lowest weight thanks front-wheel drive now a torquey triple and a trusty six-speed automatic ensure that the tracks keeps up with the rest of the pack here right up to about Highway passing speeds the tracks is also one of the better handlers here again because of that weight advantage and front-wheel drive but also because it&#39;s basically a car and SUV cosplay as you&#39;d expect of something costing approximately 3/4 everything else here the tracks does have to make some sacrifices there&#39;s a lot of leg room in the second row but the space itself is dark claustrophobic do you like looking at the roof and the pillar because that&#39;s what you&#39;re going to be doing back there so interior quality does take an expected hit but maybe not as much as you might be thinking Chevy makes the most of its limited budget with splashes of color and interesting texture choices it&#39;s fine there&#39;s also the dual highdefinition screens and they look pretty good although there is limited functionality as far as I&#39;m concerned it seems like Chevy wants you to use your phone and well that&#39;s fine by me too now none of us really expected the tracks to come home with the crown but Chevy&#39;s baby has had a major glow up and if you don&#39;t mind sacrificing some features or just really want all those savings it&#39;s a choice that you can&#39;t ignore placing highest amongst the GM entries is the Chevrolet TrailBlazer more than that it came just a little bit behind the Hyundai Kona for sixth place this is a vehicle with no glaring weaknesses but no standout features either it plays it safe finding the middle ground in most categories aside from the angled rear glass the Trailblazer has a more traditional boxy SUV shape this leads to decent amounts of rear seat and cargo space and the giant panoramic sunroof makes it feel Airy inside those that do sit in the back seat though will notice there&#39;s a massive seat Piller right beside their head that blocks a lot of outward visibility and can make you feel claustrophobic the two-tone paint job really suits this little SUV and I especially like the rear end treatment notably the tail lights and the exhaust finisher I&#39;m not as crazy about the front end but nothing about this vehicle is overly offensive inside I like how Chevy finish some of the Plastics like the matte red strip across a dashboard for more style and interest like the Buick the cup holders in here are a bit small and the steering wheel doesn&#39;t come out far enough for my liking I feel like I&#39;m driving straight armed what&#39;s interesting is the engine and transmission are the same in here as the Buick but the feel feel a little more responsive in this vehicle for whatever reason I don&#39;t know if it&#39;s tuning gearing or or just maybe it&#39;s all in my head and it&#39;s the same story with the chassis the Trailblazer is a little flatter when cornering and handles a bit better but the Encore is more comfortable if you want to get real sporty there is the cheered flag button here in the Trailblazer but it doesn&#39;t really do much the Trailblazer is a very competent small SUV that&#39;s just a few tweaks here and there away from battling the Front Runners of this segment as it stands there is still a lot of appeal we just preferred some of the other entries a little bit more one of the newest members of this Mega comparison the second generation Hyundai Kona now properly fits in with a significant stretch while still maintaining a tidy footprint now it has a long list of standard features that should help it compete very well but does it have the secret sauce it really is a much better small family car this new Kona so while it still does have one of the tiniest Footprints the back row is actually a surprisingly spacious place if not well a little dark now cargo room in the old model could best be described as essential but this new one&#39;s also pretty good on that front also more good cargo news the load lip is low and it&#39;s a wide opening yay in Canada unfortunately there is no power tailgate option although folks in America can still spec one the rest of the tech Suite is better Hyundai&#39;s new ccnc infotainment screen is big suitably sharp and responsive best of all it&#39;s been designed to not need a ton of menu diving the brand has finally adopted USBC ports and includes a clever switchable one up front for either smartphone pairing or charging the wireless charging pad is raised to reduce heat buildup too we like Hyundai&#39;s driver assist Suite as well including a welldone adaptive cruise control the column mounted shifter does does take some getting used to but frees up space for a truly useful center console the kona&#39;s Turbo Power Plant is something of a mixed bag when it&#39;s on boil it&#39;s a genuinely quick thing looking like the world&#39;s quickest RoboCop helmet I&#39;d buy that for a dollar and props to Hyundai for ditching the DCT for an 8-speed Auto which has smoother shifts when you&#39;re moving around at parking lot speeds unfortunately this automatic does suffer from some truly tar response times on more than a few occasions if I put my foot to the floor I have to wait a long time to get any sort of response yeah the paddle shifters do help a little bit but it still doesn&#39;t fix the problem entirely it isn&#39;t the most exciting car to drive either we know we know most people buy vehicles like this aren&#39;t exactly itching to head to the next autocross but the outgoing model was a playful little hatchback on stilts and the cx30 and cross Trek both have charm here the Kona just kind of exists Kona 2.0 better addresses the wants and needs of this segment it has more space for people in their things it&#39;s more comfortable and it&#39;s designed screams Cutting Edge at least here in 2024 in the process it&#39;s become less interesting to drive and well it&#39;s lost that value play Blink 182 probably said it best I guess this is growing [Music] up don&#39;t think of the Mazda cx3 is coming in fifth place think of it more like third third place that&#39;s because it the to and the cross Trek are all separated by just point2 of a point which is less than 1% of our overall scoring it&#39;s pretty amazing considering all three SUVs are very different Mazda has a reputation of building vehicles that handle well and are a bit fun to drive and the cx30 is no exception as it ran away with the handling category of our comparison unfortunately Monza also has a reputation for building cars that have a stiff ride and the cx30 once again is no exception as it finished last when it came to ride Comfort the engine and transmission surprised us a bit as it only finished about mid pack and it couldn&#39;t quite measure up to the one in the Kona and the SOS or the hybrid system in the Corolla cross the natur aspirated engine and the six-speed automatic transmission seem at odds at times as the vehicle is hunting around looking for the right gear to be in the cx30 scored top marks in terms of interior style and material material quality we really like all the soft touch non shiny materials used throughout the dash and it&#39;s very conservative in a very German sort of way we also really like the red seats that are available on this Trim in Canada but not in the US to get them in the US you have to pick a different trim the cx30 is also feature-rich with items like head-up display 360° view cameras a power lift gate and navigation front seat Comfort was voted best in test a further Testament that this is a great choice for one or two people maybe the best in the test even when it comes to a full family it&#39;s not so accommodating rear seat comfort and real world cargo carrying capacity scored last ultimately keeping the cx30 off the podium the cx30 is stylish and fun to drive it just seems to be about a half sizee too small for the competition here if space isn&#39;t a big concern for you this might be your next SUV if you do need more room for more people we have four more options to consider [Music] I&#39;m going to level with you I kind of forgot about the Volkswagen to now that&#39;s not to say this is a bad car in fact it&#39;s anything but as this finishing position shows it&#39;s just that it doesn&#39;t have a whole lot of standout features instead the VW does just about everything well and that gives you one of the better allround experiences here so the t&#39;s on paper stats put it near the back of the pack here almost with the Mitsubishi Eclipse cross but it uses it powers for good not evil that seven-speed dual clutch makes the most of all that turbo torque and it&#39;s even pretty sippy on gas now of course the drawback is that dual clutch transmission they&#39;re notoriously jerky and the t&#39;s unit is no exception around town in traffic is where it also gets dinged this isn&#39;t even the top to trim yet it comes with a competitive list of features Dual Zone climate control a wireless phone charger and an auto dimming mirror are typically top shell features in this segment the same goes for that big panoramic roof and the Adaptive headlights also the snappy digital instrument cluster have certain other VW models been chastised for their cumbersome infotainment setups good thing the tus runs the comparatively foolproof previous one this is the best back seat in this entire comparison not only is the roof line really tall but there&#39;s plenty of glass which makes the whole Space downright inviting not to mention there&#39;s a good amount of leg room adding on to that even the seats are pretty comfortable and if you fold those down the house has more cubic space in the back than anything except the Toyota and the Koreans unfortunately having the biggest back seat and being pretty good at everything else isn&#39;t enough to get the Tous gold here nonetheless the Dark Horse of the comparison has proven itself and we won&#39;t underestimate it again it&#39;s hard to believe the cross Trek is already in its third generation they grow up so fast part of the reason maybe times flown by is the fact that the cross Trek has never really changed its look in all those years with all of its success though can you really blame Subaru for not wanting to mess with it despite how common place the cross trk has got on our roadways I still think it&#39;s a pretty good looking little SUV the vehicle we have on hand here is the Wilderness which is their off-road trim it takes the exterior design and amps it up a couple notches is it over the top yeah but it&#39;s the right kind of over the top for this baby Overlander and unlike a lot of the so-called off-road specials the cross trk Wilderness has the goods to back it up it has 9.3 in of ground clearance which is a ton more than anything else here the suspension has been retuned and chunky allterrain tires are mounted on 17-in Wheels the tires in ground clearance lead to firing away the best ride comfort of the bunch surprisingly though even with the off-road biased tires and a body purged way up in the air the driving Dynamics are of the best in the test still maybe there&#39;s more than just marketing to Subaru symmetrical all-wheel drive layouts the engine can be a bit noisy but it&#39;s quick to build power and this is probably the best CVT in the test so what kept this from first place well besides a high price and not so great fuel economy it&#39;s the interior when it came to the overall design style and quality materials it rated closer to the back of the pack and although I actually really like this infotainment system quite a few testers do not at all one of The Originators of this small in between SUV segment the cross Trek remains one of the best options and we didn&#39;t even get into its messy weather capability if the extra style and capability aren&#39;t needed you could trade in a little bit of ride comfort for way better fuel economy and get a regular cross Trek as well what a difference electrification Mak when the Corolla cross first debuted a few years ago we weren&#39;t big fans of the little SUV I&#39;m pretty sure the term vehicular oatmeal was banding about but Toyota being Toyota it shoved a Hybrid Power Trin behind that revised nose last year and the result is a much better vehicle with better Road manners and way way better fuel economy than anything else in this comparison now hybrid hasn&#39;t meant slow for quite a while now in fact the corac cross hybrid is the most powerful vehicle in this test it&#39;s not the quickest that title is reserved for the Koreans but in our Highway merge test the Toyota is right up there around town the Toyota is in its element with that Tor electric motor making it an assertive little SUV there&#39;s also no real weight penalty so this is still a pretty agile and Whisper it even kind of fun SUV and again that fuel economy the official City figure is 45 MP gallon or 5.2 L per 100 km and our little fuel economy test loops on an even better combined figure if you&#39;re buying a small SUV we&#39;re guessing affordability is kind of a concern and nothing saves you money at the pumps quite like the Corolla cross now there are some sacrifices to get you there the rear seat is one of the most cramped here with not a lot of head room or leg room the Toyota&#39;s interior ain&#39;t nothing fancy either it has everything you need but not much else in terms of comfort and convenience and things like the seat heater controls still look like afterthoughts Toyota&#39;s infotainment while far better than before still does have a few hits against it too the 8 in screen is a little on the small side especially if you get the satellite radio screen which is just jammed and there are no physical buttons so it takes a little few extra pokes to get to the home screen but on a whole other subject uh props to Toyota for including a power tailgate which is still an unfortunate Rarity in this class now in a Switcheroo the Corolla cross hybrid actually loses out to The One remaining vehicle in this comparison the one that it beat the last time that we paired those two against each other so I&#39;m going to hand it over to Mike to let him [Music] explain it&#39;s not always the flashiest brightest or fastest vehicle that wins these Mega comparisons often it&#39;s the well executed wellth thought out properly designed vehicle that comes out on top Kia SOS is one of those Vehicles the SOS is a conservative design especially for a Kia it has the sort of style and shape that should age well inside it&#39;s much the same story as it&#39;s a premium yet restrained look the materials look nice and feel premium and overall we voted this the second best interior behind the Mazda the driver does sit quite high but I&#39;m 6 feet tall and I still have a ton of Headroom despite being one of the lowest pric Vehicles here the CTO still comes with a lot of highend equipment it&#39;s the only one here with ventilated seats the only one with a full power passenger seat as the Buick is only partially powered and it has dual digital displays behind a single screen oddly it&#39;s missing Dual Zone climate control though as good as it is up here it&#39;s even better in the back the rear seat area was voted second best behind the to and the cargo area has the most usable space and there&#39;s even a power lift gate the only real weak spot for the SOS is the chassis although it does get deep decent marks for ride Comfort handling on the other hand is at the lower end we do quite like the drivetrain though as we discussed with aona the 1 16 turbo and 8-speed Auto combo deliver lots of smooth power oddly in the seltos it gets slightly better fuel economy than the Kona and we prefer its performance in the Kia more no vehicle is all things to all people but the Kia seltos comes close it combines Comfort space style performance and a lot of high-end features for an affordable price for now the Kia SOS is the champion of the small [Music] SUVs so when all the scores were added up in average the Kia SOS is the best overall choice but Kyle I have to ask you what would you personally pick well Mike if I had to go home with one of the 11 SUVs it would be the Toyota corac cross hybrid because I figure if I&#39;m buying a small SUV I really care about gas prices and that is Far and Away the best in that regard I&#39;m a little torn I like the cool factor and capability of the Cross Trek but I also like the sophistication of the to so for me it would be those two well there you have it that is the end of our small SUV Mega comparison brought to you by WeatherTech and don&#39;t forget to hit like And subscribe a [Music]

Transcript for:Small SUV Comparison Overview

Transcript for:
Small SUV Comparison Overview