Overview
If you're looking to purchase a compact crossover, then you might be feeling a little overwhelmed with all your options. Every automaker has at least one offering in this class, and they're all confident that their model is the best. It can be overwhelming to research your many options, just to get the choices narrowed down to what you want to test-drive. Well, we've done some research and distilled our findings here on this page. We found that the 2021 Subaru Forester leads in many of the categories that today's drivers care about most. Some of its major competitors include the Kia Sportage, Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Mazda CX-5, and Chevrolet Equinox. Let's take a look at how these rivals stack up.
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Standard All-Wheel Drive
There are quite a few benefits to owning a car that has AWD, with the main one being greater traction and control in challenging weather. AWD also improves performance and handling off the pavement, and it even provides the vehicle with better weight distribution. If you purchase the '21 Forester, you'll enjoy standard AWD - yes, without paying extra for that upgrade. While AWD is available for the other vehicles mentioned in this competition, you'd have to pay more for it. Speaking of paying extra, while all of the vehicles compared here are in the same general pricing neighborhood, the '21 Forester starts low, with a base MSRP of $24,795. The CR-V starts at $27,750, the RAV4 at $26,050, and the CX-5 at $25,270. The Sportage and Equinox may be the least expensive of the bunch, but they lack standard AWD and fall short in other important areas.
Performance and Passenger Space
The 2021 Forester returns impressive fuel economy, especially for an AWD vehicle, with an EPA-rated 26 mpg in the city and 33 mpg on the highway. In contrast, the AWD Sportage with the non-turbo engine only returns 21 city/25 highway, the AWD CX-5 gets about 24 city/30 highway, and the AWD Equinox achieves 25 city/30 highway. While the CR-V and RAV4 eke out a little more fuel economy than the Forester, their fuel tanks are smaller, meaning they can't travel as far between fill-ups. The '21 Forester has a 16.6-gallon tank, whereas the CR-V and RAV4 have 14-gallon and 14.5-gallon tanks, respectively. Like most models here, the '21 Forester is also capable of towing up to 1,500 lb.
The 2021 Subaru Forester is one of the most spacious crossovers in the bunch, so there's ample room for passengers and cargo. For passenger space, it provides 111.9 cubic feet, which is more than you'd get from the CR-V (105.9 cu. ft.), RAV4 (98.9 cu. ft.), Equinox (103.5 cu. ft.), Sportage (98.6 cu. ft.), or CX-5 (103.6 cu. ft.). As far as cargo space, the Forester yields a maximum of 76.1 cu. ft., but the Sportage only delivers 60.1 cu. ft., the CR-V 75.8 cu. ft., the RAV4 69.8 cu. ft., the CX-5 59.6 cu. ft., and the Equinox 63.9 cu. ft.
