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Virtual Adviser's™ opinion
Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. Having both cars powered by petrol engines and utilizing the 5-door suv body style within the same 'SUV' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (4 x 4 for the Land Rover and front in the case of the Toyota). The first one has a Rover-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 117hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 125hp engine designed by Toyota.
SafetyThe fact that the Land Rover got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, isn't really an advantage, taken the poor 3-star rating it received. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. Both vehicles belong to the suv segment, which is generally a very good thing safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? Furthermore, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, the British car offers a considerable difference of 23% more metal.
ReliabilityReliability is not the best thing to consider on the make level, but it is worth mentioning that Toyota is significantly less fault-prone, all the models observed together. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Land Rover with an average rating of 3.8, and models under the Toyota badge with 4.6 out of 5. The same official information place Freelander as average reliability-wise, and RAV4 is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as the British car rank it on average as 4.6, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.0 out of 5.
Performance & Fuel economyToyota is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.4 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 175 kilometers per hour, 5km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be the Japanese car, averaging around 7.4 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (38 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 41% difference compared to the British car!
Verdict
Land Rover appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, the British car beats the other contender by far, making it the best choice without even considering other things. From there things take a different direction, with Toyota offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! I believe that, when we take all into account, we have only one winner here - the Toyota. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. Also, you could use the oportunity to find out which car, everything taken into account, would be the perfect choice for you in the eyes of the virtual adviser™, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.