Comments by "Stephen Hendricks" (@stephenhendricks103) on "" video.

  1. No question that the Toyota has significantly improved and broadened the range of trims for the RAV4 in this new generation. But no one should hold their breath hoping that Toyota will add a turbo option or a V6 to the mix. Toyota is allergic to turbocharging in their mainstream vehicles, believing that turbochargers would threaten the brand's all important reputation for reliability and durability. That's the company line as far as the Camry and Avalon are concerned and they're not likely to abandon it in their best selling mainstream model in the US. A V6? Toyota has been there and done that in a previous generation of the RAV4. They dropped it because V6 RAV4's sat unsold on dealer lots for months. As a Toyota salesperson put it to me in 2012, it was a little embarrassing that the quickest model on the lot was a compact SUV that appealed primarily to those who didn't want a compact SUV.
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  2. Kudos to Sofyan for pointing out just how cramped the interior of the CX-5 is. In fact, it has about the same overall cargo space as a Honda HRV, not the CR-V, the HRV. But "enthusiasts" will sacrifice some actual "utility" in a compact sport UTILITY vehicle for driving dynamics and performance, right? Well, consider that a GTI provides only six cubic feet less overall cargo space than the CX-5 (53.7 cubic ft vs 59.6), in a vehicle that's a foot shorter in length. Performance and handling? The GTI will outhandle and outperform the CX-5 by virtually any metric. All at a price comparable to the CX-5 even in the top trims (Autobahn vs Signature) and with better fuel economy to boot. And for those that care, the GTI offers an excellent manual transmission, an option not found in the CX-5. But the CX-5 offers AWD vs the GTI's FWD. If that's a critical priority, there's the Golf R. Same advantages as the GTI but with FAR better performance than either the GTI or the CX-5 and with AWD. Its MSRP is about $2K more than a comparable CX-5, a relatively small price to pay if driving "engagement", dynamics, and performance are top priorities. As Sofyan points out, the CX-5 is more comparable to a hot hatchback than a compact SUV. But even by that standard there are better choices.
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