cr-v vs rav4 vs Santa fe

[pylon]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Why do they affect ride height? The Mazda5 seems reasonably low and it's not like minivans are exactly jacked up and they seem to cope fine with sliding doors.

They require rails above the rocker panel to roll along on mini vans. The floor height is about 3 inches higher from the bottom of the car because of this. Not gonna work in a Porsche...lol. In a lot of cars it wouldn't be such an issue, but in any performance application, it would be a nightmare.

I don't see how they'd affect aerodynamics.

Try and picture in your head a long door on a 2 door coupe, with a very low long sweep on the A-pillars. The door, would have to slide so far back to gain entrance, it would be a nightmare sliding the thing, unless it was electric. And in that case, what do you do when the motor fails, when it is open, in 30 below weather, in the middle of nowhere? The only answer is a system where the door folds under the car, and Lincoln tried a prototype with a MKVII, and it was an utter failure. Sliding doors only work practically if they are big and square.

For wrecks, I think if they were that bad they would be banned. The fact that they're not means they're safe enough IMO.

There is no vehicle with exclusively sliding doors. The all still have at least 2 hinged doors and a hatch to get in and extricate people. I have seen sliding doors jam because a tiny rock gets in the track. Try opening an electric door on a minivan all the way, with one hand without using the motor. It is VERY difficult. Now bend the door, and the track, and cut off the power to the car, and set the car on fire. Very dangerous recipe. Hinged doors can still be pried open in a number of manners, from multiple angles using simple leverage even when heavily damaged. There is no way to use leverage to pry open a sliding door. It has to slide on a perfectly straight track, or it is jammed. There is no middle ground.

Weight, you may have a good point, but good engineering could probably get around that.

No matter why you design, it will be substantially heavier than a simple hinge. If sliding doors were the more sensible, reliable solution, cars would exclusively have them. There are too many variables that can go wrong with them that make them useless for all around use. Jammed or kinked sliding doors is a very common problem in minivans. And it is usually one or only two doors per van. Now make every vehicle on the road, have this same potential failure point, and it is a recipe for disaster. Putting sliding does on cars would be like designing a giant Rube Goldberg device with a fly swatter on the end to swat flies. When all you really need, is the fly swatter. It makes no sense, except for the door ding thing.

[Red John]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I just don't believe you're as experienced with cars as you pretend to be. You're the only guy saying the things you are about Ford, Hyundai, etc. Even your love for Japanese sounds outdated. Ten and 15 years ago you were right, but not now.

Also, I'm going to defend Chrysler for a minute since nobody else ever does.
Also, I have an AWD 300c. I was raised hating Chryslers, but as I got older and started thinking for myself I was able to look beyond that. Sure they have a lot of lame cars, but my 300 is killer.

As soon as I hear people write off a maker, I instantly know they're unqualified to be giving car advice. There's one poster that has consistently done that on CP.

While you make a good point regarding the writing off of car makers in general, the quotes above are just dripping with fan-boyism, bias and objective declarations on a subjective topic. Not to mention calling a guy out as pretending to be knowledgeable about cars just because he has a different opinion.

Personally, the Chrysler 300 is a super lame car. So is the 4.6L mustang. Not going to call you a car fraud over it though.

It's a good thing we all like different cars - this world would stink if everyone drove the same thing!

[Sliver]

I don't think you know what fanboism is because I'm the farthest thing from a fanboi of any car lol.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by Sliver

But what's the point of throwing seven seats in a small SUV? Even in my friend's Rondo, there is a third row, but it's completely useless. I wouldn't ever let my kids sit in the back of that thing. They'd be dead in an accident. If you need seating for seven and care about the comfort of your family, get a Sienna, Odyssey or Caravan. They are actually comfortable for every occupant. Shoehorning a third row into a small vehicle may be a selling feature, but living with it is an entirely different story.

My needs are when Family comes to visit say 6-10 times per year I want to be able to drive around the city in one car or maybe out to banff. So I really don't care about the comfort factor on these short trips. I just the option to do it in a pinch. Mini-Vans are huge and what I am trying to get away from, I have a Chevy Traverse which is too large and want a smaller vehicle. Those seats have also been crash tested and past so I am not too concerned with the differential safety level between them and other seats in the car.

So for me the 3rd row in those vehicles is exactly what I am looking for.

[automaton 3]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Also, I have an AWD 300c. I was raised hating Chryslers, but as I got older and started thinking for myself I was able to look beyond that. Sure they have a lot of lame cars, but my 300 is killer. It has a ridiculous amount of options, is stupid fast, sounds awesome, looks cool and is very comfortable for tall people, which is very important to me. Japanese cars, unfortunately, don't fit me very well at all. I wanted an Acura TL for a long time, but they're just not built for people over 6'1". There aren't many Japanese cars I fit in.

I had a similar experience - after owning a series of 70's and 80's Dodge and Chrysler products which were brutal my dad swore off them for good and I was raised into that attitude. We recently were shopping for a new SUV and looked at many different options. We ended up buying a Jeep Grand Cherokee and we are really happy with it.

[Clarkey]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I wanted an Acura TL for a long time, but they're just not built for people over 6'1". There aren't many Japanese cars I fit in.

Humble brag about being over 6'... just kidding!

[Fozzie_DeBear]

@pylon

All I mean is that big 3 row SUVs should have sliding doors on the rear like vans do to facilitate access...in a SUV weight+aesthetics < practicality

On any other type of car it doesn't make much sense...except the Mazda5

[-TC-]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I instantly know they're unqualified to be giving car advice. There's one poster that has consistently done that on CP.

...yeah.

None of that is worthy of a response except to clarify that I wasn't bashing buddy's Ford, just pointing out he probably wouldn't drive what I drive and I wouldn't drive what he drives, we have different tastes. But you go ahead and assume what you want, you pretty much just confirmed everything I suspected about you in one post.

I hope you enjoy your Chrysler as much as I enjoy my Lexus.

I'm done with you.

[Sliver]

Fair enough.

[smoothpops]

We test drove a 2012 rav-4 today, (we're looking at the 2010 model, but this was there and the pretty much the same). We thought it was ok, nothing amazing, slightly overpriced and came with no features. tomorrow, we have an appointment to test drive a 2010 fully loaded crv. Got miserably stuck at the bottom of the hill, infront of the house once again. stupid corolla/terrible streets. thanks for all the info so far, really appreciate it!

[FlamesAddiction]

I have never driven a Santa Fe, but CRV > Rav-4 IMO.

[Calgary14]

I wish Toyota still made the V6, the newly redesigned Rav looks ugly and has no power

[smoothpops]

Test drove a 2010 crv today, was the EX-L package. night and day compared to the rav-4. We would have taken it, but it was 90Kms on it, and from the research we did it was a bit overpriced. We have an appointment next weekend with a family friend, we'll see if we can make a deal then.

This is the one that we saw today:
http://calgary.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehi...AdIdZ559197600

[Calgary14]

Originally Posted by smoothpops

After getting stuck about 4 times in the last 2 weeks in her corolla, my mom wants to make the jump to an suv. I was wondering if you guys could give me some input on cr-v vs rav 4 vs Santa fe. We're probably looking for the 2011 models. So far we're leaning towards the cr-v, but we just started doing our research. Any thoughts on pricing?

Just curious, did the Corolla have winter tires? We have one with good winters and have never got stuck. We do stick to the main roads, but even in residential areas our car has no problems with snow/ice

[Jayems]

Not sure if it's been discussed yet or not (i'm lazy) but we just traded in our 2010 Rav 4 for a minivan as the family expands.

What I DESPISED about the Rav was that the back door hinges are on the passenger side, so the door swings towards the sidewalk, as opposed to the road. If someone was parked close behind, you have to walk all the way around the front of the car to get around if you're lugging groceries in.

Other than that, it was a good little car, loved the all-wheel drive. Had some A/C issues with it and had to fight with Toyota for them to realize it was their problem/warrantied, but we didn't have AC for two summers, which sucked. (Was some sort of freon leak)

[Calgary14]

Originally Posted by Jayems

Not sure if it's been discussed yet or not (i'm lazy) but we just traded in our 2010 Rav 4 for a minivan as the family expands.

What I DESPISED about the Rav was that the back door hinges are on the passenger side, so the door swings towards the sidewalk, as opposed to the road. If someone was parked close behind, you have to walk all the way around the front of the car to get around if you're lugging groceries in.

Other than that, it was a good little car, loved the all-wheel drive. Had some A/C issues with it and had to fight with Toyota for them to realize it was their problem/warrantied, but we didn't have AC for two summers, which sucked. (Was some sort of freon leak)

Toyota got rid of the swinging back door starting in 2013 and it now goes up rather than out to the side. The only downside is that they substantially decreased the power. Our Corolla is faster than the 2013 Ravs

[zamler]

Toyota didn't decrease power per say, they still offer essentially the same 4 cylinder engine. The V6 was dropped for some odd reason. I see so many new RAV4's on the road these days that if I was looking for an SUV, it would probably deter me from getting a RAV.

[Jayems]

Originally Posted by OurBigFatWallet

Toyota got rid of the swinging back door starting in 2013 and it now goes up rather than out to the side. The only downside is that they substantially decreased the power. Our Corolla is faster than the 2013 Ravs

I did not know that. That is good news.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by zamler

Toyota didn't decrease power per say, they still offer essentially the same 4 cylinder engine. The V6 was dropped for some odd reason. I see so many new RAV4's on the road these days that if I was looking for an SUV, it would probably deter me from getting a RAV.

Yeah I have noticed a lot of the new ones on the streets. Just goes to show that Toyota could build the crappiest CUV ever made and just putting the RAV4 badge on it would ensure big sales. It's been a middle or back of the pack CUV for a few generations now but it sells like hotcakes.

[Calgary14]

Funny, we know a salesperson at the dealer we go to here in town and they said Rav sales are down 35% since the new redesign came out. The HP may be the same but they are much slower - as slow as our Corolla. I am starting to see a few more on the road these days but nothing like before