Subaru Forester v Honda CR-V 2019 Comparison

When growing families are in the market for a medium SUV up to about $30,000, the dilemma that always arises is the question of value versus priorities. Will the buyer settle for a car that comes close enough to the purchasing criteria while remaining under budget? Or is it worth the financial stretch of an extra two or three grand for a vehicle that has everything the buyer demands?

The Honda CR-V Vi and the Subaru Forester 2.5i present a unique opportunity to find out how this sort of dilemma plays out in reality.

Relatively new to the market, the Honda CR-V Vi is the most affordable variant in the range – and its performance takes a hit to match the lower price. Honda has chosen a 2.0-litre naturally-aspirated engine in lieu of the 1.5-litre turbo unit powering other variants in the CR-V range. If you like the Honda CR-V and don't care about straight-line acceleration, the CR-V Vi is an attractive proposition at just $28,290.

Its nemesis for this comparison is the basic Subaru Forester 2.5i, which is mechanically identical to most variants in the range. Priced at $33,490, the Forester in this trim level is positioned $5200 higher than the CR-V Vi, and also exceeds that $30,000 threshold that may be the budget ceiling for many buyers.

Can the Forester peg back that shortcoming with extra features – and are those features key to the Subaru's appeal? It's not enough to load up the Forester with $5200 worth of headlight protectors, floor mats and mud flaps. The Subaru has to be more convincing than that.

One aspect of these vehicles (medium SUVs in general, as a matter of fact) that strikes the right note is the generous rear-seat accommodation. For a family comprising two parents and two kids, a medium SUV will be comfortable and spacious enough for both kids right through to adulthood.

Beyond that, the CR-V will draw in buyers familiar with the badge, buyers who know and respect Honda's reputation for reliability, safety and low running costs. The Forester – along with other Subaru models – has raised the stakes recently with advanced safety technology complementing its well-established longitudinal all-wheel drive traction. Buyers will gravitate to the Forester for its innovation and its practicality.

In an unusual convergence of events, the two cars tested here cost no more with metallic paint. That's because you can't specify flat paint for the CR-V (so the 'cost' is built into the price) and Subaru abides by a policy of not charging extra for cars with metallic paint. That means that the Honda costs $28,290 with no options fitted, and the Subaru costs $33,490, also with no options fitted.

Both cars offer five-year warranties with unlimited-kilometre coverage, and neither car needs to be serviced more than once a year, although if you rack up a lot of kilometres, the Honda will have to be serviced sooner than the Forester – 10,000km versus 12,500km for the Subaru.

Combined-cycle fuel consumption is 7.6L/100km for the CR-V with this engine, and 7.4L/100km for the Forester. In urban running the official figures are 10L/100km (CR-V) and 9.3L/100km (Forester). Both cars return the same highway figure of 6.3L/100km.

In reality, we found the CR-V to be consistently more economical than the Forester, which is hardly a surprise from a vehicle with fewer drivetrain components and a smaller-displacement engine.

Both vehicles are roomy, quiet and easy to drive. At a steady speed of 60km/h on a section of coarse-chip bitumen, road noise was equally subdued for both cars, but audible at a higher pitch in the Honda. At open road speeds noise from both powertrains was suppressed very well in the cabin.

There are adjustable vents for the rear-seat passengers and adults of average height will sit comfortably back there, with plenty of headroom and legroom available.

While these two cars are easy to load, the Honda's floor is lower than the Subaru's, and there's more space, measured up to the window line of the CR-V's boot, but the Forester's tailgate aperture is wider for loading bulkier items. At a volume of 522 litres of boot space the Honda has the edge, but the Subaru is not far behind at 498 litres – a decent figure for a four-wheel drive wagon of this size.

Importantly, for vehicles like these, the Honda's tailgate is light to lift, and each car comes with its own full-size spare on a matching alloy rim.

The pair are not only easy to drive – with the Forester a particular stand-out for its field of vision – but they were surprisingly safe and secure, in dynamic terms. While the CR-V offers marginally better road-holding and body control on dry bitumen, the Forester is certainly in the same ballpark and its ride/handling balance is better than its rival's.

Of the two, the Forester delivers spritely performance in a straight line – with exploitable torque on hand across the rev range – but as mentioned above, the CR-V is more economical in terms of fuel use.

The Honda has a large, practical cubby hole and removable tray in the centre console for storing knick-knacks, and its seats are very comfortable and well-shaped for longer trips. The Forester has a lot of safety equipment, such as the Eyesight suite, which is very sophisticated and 'alerts' the driver with gentle but persistent chimes rather than bowel-loosening alarms and flashing lights. Also included in the suite is a forward-facing left front camera that is genuinely useful when parking.

The Subaru is equipped with excellent headlights that are adaptive to light up the inside of corners at night.

Additionally, the Subaru offers the comfort of climate control and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto connectivity, and the convenience of USB ports for the rear-seat occupants.

At full throttle the Forester's continuously variable transmission shrieks like a banshee.

Honda's transmission, also a CVT, isn't as well calibrated for the naturally-aspirated four-cylinder in the CR-V and needs its sport mode (and in extreme situations the 'low' mode) to optimise performance. On occasion the Honda CVT was jerky and inclined to hunt for the right ratio in hilly country.

For all its refinement – zero vibration at idle – and its sporty exhaust note, the CR-V engine feels lethargic at low revs and there's a small but distinct gain in performance at around 4000rpm and higher, which is where most drivers won't want the engine revving in a family-oriented SUV. Even then, the CR-V in this variant cannot keep up with the base-spec Forester.

From the start, the CR-V presented as a downmarket rival to the Forester, with little things like the smaller infotainment screen and the monochromatic instrumentation detracting from the overall ambience. The fuel gauge uses a digitised bar-graph format, rather than a straightforward needle to show at a glance how low the fuel level is.

In other ways too, such as lack of acoustic guidance, the absence of a starter button and the clunky shift lever, the CR-V was playing second fiddle to the Forester, and particularly on hotter days, when the Honda's manual air conditioning struggled maintaining a cool cabin temperature once the temperature rose above 30 degrees.

Both cars featured a three-point seatbelt for the centre/rear position, with belt and buckles retracting into the headlining when not in use. It's less convenient than an anchorage point behind the rear seat.

The CR-V's headlights are dim and yellowy, also lacking the adaptive (active cornering) facility of the Forester's lights.

An incident near the end of the week placed these two vehicles in perspective.

Rounding a right-hand bend late at night I noted an adult kangaroo on the road, standing stock still. It was occupying a spot on the centre lines, right at the apex – and just 40 metres away.

No damage was done. I brought the vehicle safely to a halt in plenty of time, honked the horn twice and Skippy hopped off the road.

I was driving the CR-V at the time. If I had been in the Forester, with its brighter, adaptive headlights, I would have seen the roo a lot earlier.

And that was the decider. For the $5200 extra, the Subaru easily justifies its higher price tag with safety gear that works, with an engine that performs and with standard comfort and convenience features that the family will welcome.

How much does the 2019 Honda CR-V Vi cost?
Price: $28,290 (plus ORCs)
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol
Output: 113kW/189Nm
Transmission: Continuously variable
Fuel: 7.6L/100km (ADR Combined); 8.5L/100km (as tested)
CO2: 174g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP, 2017)

How much does the 2019 Subaru Forester 2.5i cost?
Price: $33,490 (plus ORCs)
Engine: 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol
Output: 136kW/239Nm
Transmission: Continuously variable
Fuel: 7.4L/100km (ADR Combined); 9.4L/100km (as tested)
CO2: 168g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: TBA