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Car #1
Make
Model
Variant
Engine
Car #2
Make
Model
Variant
Engine

compare selected cars
2003. - 2006.
J - SUV
suv, 5 door
4 x 4
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2002. - 2005.
J - SUV
suv, 5 door
4 x 4

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4265 mm
1785 mm
1715 mm
400 liters
1500 liters
57 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4450 mm
1735 mm
1590 mm
387 liters
1629 liters
60 liters
2003 Toyota RAV4
2002 Subaru Forester

Engine

Petrol
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1998 cc
150 hp
200 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Subaru
2.0 EJ20
Petrol
4 - Boxer, 4 valves per cylinder
Nat. Asp.
1994 cc
125 hp
184 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1245 kg
10.6 s
185 km/h
11.4 l/100km
7.3 l/100km
8.8 l/100km
211 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 5 gears
1335 kg
11.4 s
180 km/h
11.6 l/100km
6.7 l/100km
8.5 l/100km
204 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 4 gears
1280 kg
10.8 s
175 km/h
12.4 l/100km
7.6 l/100km
9.3 l/100km
224 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 4 gears
1350 kg
13.4 s
168 km/h
11.9 l/100km
6.7 l/100km
8.6 l/100km
206 g/km

Expenses

6000 EUR
Price from
4000 EUR

Virtual Adviser's™ opinion

Overview

Well, these are two pretty similar cars we have here! It's only details that could potentially make the difference. Considering they both belong to the suv segment and utilize the same 5-door suv body style and the 4 x 4 wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific petrol engine choice they offer. The first one has a Toyota-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 150hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 125hp engine designed by Subaru.

Safety

Unfortunatelly, neither of the two vehicles was submitted to the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) testing. This makes it virtually impossible for me to pick one over the other and I'm generally against buying such cars as the safety should really always come first. Still, apart from the official crash test results there are other things we need to be aware of. Both vehicles belong to the suv segment, which is generally a very good thing safety-wise, but it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. On the other hand, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, Forester offers a marginal difference of 7% more metal.

Reliability

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Toyota does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Toyota with an average rating of 4.6, and models under the Subaru badge with 4.3 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed RAV4 as average reliability-wise, and Forester is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as RAV4 rank it on average as 4.6, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.6 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Toyota is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.8 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 185 kilometers per hour, 5km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 8.7 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (33 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

Toyota 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, Forester offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different direction, with Toyota offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... No mistake, whatever you decide here, but I'd still go for the Subaru. Nevertheless, let's not forget that people have different preferences and needs, so what really counts is your personal feel. I'm only here to help. 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, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.

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