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 Chrysler-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 170hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 230hp 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, the Japanese car offers a marginal difference of 2% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that Subaru does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Jeep with an average rating of 4.0, and models under the Subaru badge with 4.2 out of 5. The same official information place Compass as average reliability-wise, and Forester 7% below the first one. That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as the American car rank it on average as 2.5, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.0 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

Subaru is way more agile, reaching 100km/h in 4.7 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 216 kilometers per hour, 33km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy an obvious choice would be the American car, averaging around 8.7 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (32 mpg), in combined cycle. That's 23% difference compared to the Japanese car!

Verdict

Subaru 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 Japanese car offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. It all continues in the same direction, with Subaru outracing its opponent in any situation possible, making it better choice for boy racers. 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. In case you have two minutes to spare I invite you to define your needs, desires and budget and see which car would be chosen by the virtual adviser™, out of 12.000+ vehicles we currently have in our database.