[manwiches]

I'm not sure if I said it in the thread I started a while back regarding my car purchase experience, but I found that the CX5 was above and beyond better than all the comparables. It had one of the best exteriors, clean and sleek. The interior felt like a BMW. Simple and elegant, with high end finishings. The seats are great, and the dash is clean. The dash is relatively easy to use, and doesn't stick out like a sore thumb. Most important, it was a great drive. My favorite out of all the Crossovers I test drove (The Escape was actually comparable)

- Nissan Rogue - Underpowered and underwhelming inside. Front screen was also tiny as hell. That being said, they redesigned since, and I haven't seen it.
- Toyota Venza - Nice outside, gorgeous inside, but drove too heavy and felt like a couch on wheels. I'm not 65 yet.
- Honda CRV - Not a bad car, drive is expected from a Honda (i.e. nothing flashy or underwhelming, just right). Interior is alright (I used to own a new generation Civic back when they came out, and it's similar to that) But man that backend is huge...
- Ford Escape - The second best car we test drove. Beautiful exterior, really nice front seats and dash (albeit a bit too busy for my liking). It seemed Ford cheaped out on rear seats though, and the steering wheel felt like it was built from Fisher Price (Cheap). The ride was equal to the CX5 though.
- Buick Encore - Gorgeous car. There's no doubt about it. Exterior and interior. The drive was horrendous though. So underpowered, and felt clunky.
- Mitsubishi RVR - Expected exterior (nothing flashy or underwhelming), Interior was a little more sporty and not as high end. The dash was probably my favorite out of any car though. Mitsu is doing something right with their MiVEC system. If I could swap that into my CX5, I'd be happier than a pig in ****.
- Hyundai Santa Fe - To be honest, never looked at it. I wanted to, but my wife was adamant about not getting a Hyundai, so I never bothered. I've heard nothing but great things though, and have heard from friends that have bought a Santa Fe that the CX5 and Escape were close competitors for them also.

Anyhow, my two cents on the Crossover front, as I recently test drove almost all of them.