Subcompact SUV Comparison-2019 Honda HR-V vs 2019 Toyota CH-R vs 2018 Jeep Renegade vs 2019 Mazda CX-3 & more!

Watch part one to this comparison here, and part two here.

Downsizing is in full effect in the American auto industry. Engines, vehicles and the carbon footprint of cars are getting smaller. However, Americans are not ready to give up their precious SUVs yet. Enter this year’s round of extremely new compact SUVs, or CUVs. Most of the nameplates you will see here today are no more than a year old. Because this segment is expanding so rapidly, today we have nine of the biggest contenders ready to be compared.

2019 Chevy Trax (allcarseveryday)

Without further ado, let’s look at value. The range in prices here is from $20,290 in the Nissan Kicks SR to $24,475 for the Hyundai Kona Limited. Let’s look at what features typically come standard in this segment. Six of the nine vehicles here have automatic climate control, the only three that don’t are all the domestic cars. Push-button start is found in all of these small SUVs except the GM twins. The Chevy is the only vehicle here without heated mirrors, and the same can be said for Bluetooth capability. Except for the GM twins and the Mazda, Apple Car play can be found in every vehicle, as can Android Auto except in the former vehicles as well as the Toyota. Aside from the Toyota and the Mazda, Sirius XM is found across the lineup. Most vehicles here have a seven-inch touchscreen in the center console housing the infotainment system. However, the Toyota and Buick both have bigger 8-inch units. That rounds out the most commonly shared features of the group, so now let’s discuss individual cars in more detail. The 2019 Honda HR-V EX starts at a reasonable $23,720. It has heated front seats, six speakers, remote entry, a moonroof, and 17 inch-wheels. The headlights are halogen, the taillights are LED, and fog lights come standard as well. The Honda has smart entry with walk away and auto lock, where the vehicle can lock or unlock depending on if the key is in range of the car—without the owner ever touching it. The EX has a wide panoply of safety features, including collision mitigation braking, lane departure and lane keep assist, road departure warning, and forward collision warning. The Honda is optioned well. Now on to the Toyota CH-R XLE, which starts at $22,980. Standard for this price are six speakers, a leather steering wheel and shift knob, auto-folding outside mirrors, remote keyless entry, and this trim is gussied up with 18-inch rims. Not to be outdone by Honda, the CH-R also comes with a lot of active safety tech. Pre-collision warning with pedestrian detection, lane departure alert with steering assist, a blind spot monitor with rear cross traffic alert and dynamic cruise control come standard. The Kia Niro is $23,650. Notable features include six speakers, 16-inch wheels, rear LED taillights, and a smart key. It’s cousin, the Hyundai Kona Limited, is the most expensive of the group at $24,700. However, it comes with a long list of standard features to compensate. LED daytime running lights, headlights and taillights are standard, as well as regular fog lights. On the interior comes heated front seats that have an 8-way power adjustable driver’s chair. A smart key, auto-dimming rearview mirror and a full leather interior round out tangible features of the Hyundai. Active safety features are slightly lacking with only blind spot warning, lane-change assist, and rear cross-traffic alert. The Mazda starts at $22,475 and has daytime running lights, 18-inch wheels, rain-sensing windshield wipers, a smart key, heated front seats, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob. Active safety tech is limited to blind spot monitoring with rear cross traffic alert. The

2019 Toyota CH-R (allcarseveryday)

2019 Chevy Trax LT is one of the older vehicles here, and it is definitely starting to show. It was lacking some of the most basic features mentioned across the segment, yet somehow is manages to be the second most expensive car here, at $24,195. Ironically, this is even more expensive than the Buick, which is supposed to be the premium version of the same car. It also has remote start, keyless entry, six speakers, and GM’s OnStar system. Notably, it is one of two cars here with LTE WiFi. On the exterior are halogen headlights, LED taillights, and 16-inch wheels. The Buick Encore 1SV undercuts the Chevy at $23,985. The exterior has 18-inch wheels, halogen headlights, LED daytime running lights, and a lot of noise cancelling material relative to the others. The interior has a 6-way power adjustable driver’s seat, smart key, and the same OnStar and WiFi as the Chevy. Nonexistent on both the Chevy and Buick are any sorts of active safety features, which must be a sign of the twin’s age. The Nissan Kicks SR is the cheapest of the group at $20,290, but it comes appointed well. The exterior has 17-inch wheels, LED headlights, and fog lights. The interior has an around view parking monitor, a smart key, remote start, six speakers and a leather steering wheel and shift knob. Safety features include automatic emergency braking, forward collision warning, blind spot warning, and rear cross traffic alert. Finally, let’s look at the Jeep Renegade Altitude, the only 2018 model year vehicle here. 2019 brings minor changes, like a revised front fascia, but for our purposes the two model years are very close and will not have a big effect on where the Jeep finishes in this segment. It begins life at $22,740 and comes with 18-inch wheels, daytime running lights, heated mirrors, and fog lights. The interior has six speakers and one piece of active safety equipment, which is brake assist.

Let’s move on from value to styling. Of course, this is the only subjective category I evaluate, and personal tastes will differ from my own. Strangely, the Hyundai Kona is my favorite exterior of the group—the camera doesn’t do it justice. It’s a cohesive, unique whole that is easily distinguishable from the other vehicles here. Some of the others try to be polarizing, such as the Honda and Toyota, which have historically been lauded for vanilla looking cars. In an effort to get rid of this stigma, the CH-R and HR-V take a more aggressive approach to the exterior. The Toyota is one of my least favorite of the group, but the Honda is executed better. The Mazda is fine looking, but I have come to expect more beautiful designs from this company. As for the rest of the vehicles, there isn’t a lot to say. The Kicks and Niro are semi-bland looking, and the Trax and Encore are downright forgettable. I will say that there are certain Encores with dark gray wheels with low profile tires that look much better, but again for the most part not a whole lot going on. Let’s move to interior styling now. The Buick has the most attractive interior of the group, by a lot. Piano black trim and soft touch materials dot the interior, and are reminiscent of the more premium feel Buick is supposed to have. On the other end of the spectrum are the Toyota, Hyundai, and Nissan, which look very plastic fantastic. The Toyota and Mazda also have screens that stand on top of the dashboard instead of being integrated into the center console, and I have never liked that look. The Jeep interior is filled with little Easter eggs, which is cute, but the rest of the interior is rather lacking, and unfortunately reminds me of a Tonka truck.

As you can see, the Nissan won the value contest easily, with the lowest price and a middling to good amount of features. The Chevy was the clear loser, lacking not only basic features, but also any additional ones that would make it stand out versus the competition. Most others fall in the six to seven range.

Passive safety can essentially be split into two categories for this segment. Those vehicles that have IIHS Top Safety Picks or Top Safety Pick Plus ratings, or those that score well but not enough to get either rank. The Buick, Chevy, Toyota, Honda and Jeep scored good ratings in most tests, but had factors holding them back from being a Top Safety Pick, which was probably a result of the weak headlights especially in the Honda and Toyota. The Jeep and Honda both had ‘Acceptable’ ratings for the relatively new small front overlap category, so they will rank worse than the Top Safety Picks and even the GM twins and Toyota. The two Koreans achieved Top Safety Pick Plus ratings, whereas the Nissan and Mazda both got Top Safety Picks.

2019 Nissan Kicks (allcarseveryday)

Every vehicle here comes with some form of an inline four cylinder engine. The biggest engines are maximum two liters, from the likes of the Toyota and Mazda. Most of the other engines are turbocharged, except for the Nissan, Kia and of course, Honda. The Honda manages to stay competitive by having the second biggest displacement engine at 1.8 liters, the Kia does the same by supplying its smaller 1.6 liter with an electric powertrain. The Nissan, however, opts not to be competitive and it significantly less powerful than all other vehicles here. Typical horsepower is about 140 for this segment, with a high of 175 for the Kia and a low of 125 for the Nissan. They are outliers, as six of the other seven vehicles range from 138-144 horsepower. The Jeep manages 160. Torque is more widely split, with the Kia and Hyundai tying for most at 195 pound-feet. It’s worth noting that the Kia’s range is better, however because the electric component of its drivetrain supplies 100% of its torque at zero RPM. The low is once again the Nissan at 115, and the rest are distributed between 126 and 146 mostly, with the Jeep coming in second again with 184. The Nissan, Toyota, and Honda all come with Continuously Variable Transmissions, which have no actual gears and shift constantly. Typically, car enthusiasts are not fond of these types of transmissions, but then again car enthusiasts don’t typically buy these cars. The Buick, Chevy and Mazda come with a basic 6-speed automatic, and the Kia and Hyundai make do with dual clutch transmissions; six speeds in the Kia, seven speeds in the Hyundai. This leaves our outlier of the group, the Jeep Renegade. The Renegade still comes with a six-speed manual, something that I would prefer over all other transmissions, but most Americans would not. To get an automatic standard in the Jeep, you’ll have to pony up to the most expensive trim. However, most people buying the Latitude will probably just check the automatic as an option. Let’s see how well each vehicle’s setup performs in a test to 60 miles per hour. The slowest of the group is, surprisingly, the Toyota, with a borderline unsafe 10.7 second time. Next is the Nissan at 9.7, a full second fast than the Toyota. The Chevy clocks in at 9.3, which is strange considering the mechanically identical Buick takes just 7.8. The fastest of the group is the Hyundai, which was also the most powerful, at a blisteringly quick 6.6 seconds. All other vehicles were in the eight second range.

Now let’s look at how these powertrains are going to empty your wallet. The Kia has an outstanding 51 miles per gallon in the city and 46 miles per gallon on the highway, thanks to its hybrid powertrain. The next best is the Nissan, at 31 in the city and 36 on the highway. The other vehicles are in the mid to high 20s in the city and low 30s on the highway. The worst is the Jeep at 24 in the city and 31 on the highway, although the other two domestics don’t fare too much better. Nissan was clearly going for efficiency with its weak powertrain, and it mostly succeeded, but clearly Kia did it better. Better performance and fuel economy from the Kia, relative to the Nissan.

Now on to the usability of each vehicle in terms of cargo capacity. With the second row of seats in the upright position, most of these cute utes have about 18 or 19 cubic feet of space for passenger’s loads. The Nissan tops the charts with 25.3 cubes, and the Mazda brings up the rear with less than half of the former with 12.4 cubes. The Mazda felt tiny to me as I stepped inside, and it was difficult for me to sit behind my driving position in the CX-3, and I’m 5’ 10”. Taller people can rule out the Mazda nearly completely. The Renegade felt spacious and had loads of extra head room for front seat occupants. The Honda and Toyota felt like a vault in the back seat, and there was extremely poor visibility in the rear. Speaking of which, if you fold the second row flat in all of these vehicles, the Honda proves the best able to hold all of the items from your Ikea shopping trip. At 55.9 cubic feet, the Honda rivals some larger SUVs. The Kia is a close second with 54.5, the Jeep is third with 50.8, and all other vehicles hover in the 40s range, except for the Nissan and Toyota. The Toyota manages 36.4, which is weak compared to every vehicle but the Kicks. Strangely, the Nissan offers only seven more cubic feet of space once the seats are down, making it the best with the seats up, but the worst with the seats down.

2019 Honda HR-V (allcarseveryday)

Finally, our last area of evaluation, reliability. I get my statistics here based on the extensive research done by Consumer Reports. The Buick and Kia scored the best here, earning a Much Better than Average rating from the magazine. The Honda, Toyota, Mazda and Chevy all got Better than Average ratings, and the Hyundai and Nissan got Average ratings. The Jeep was the only vehicle here to score below average, which a rating of Worse than Average. I am starting to notice that all Fiat-Chrysler cars score below average in terms of reliability for these comparisons, and because the weight of this area of evaluation is pretty heavy, this category always sets them back far. Just make more reliable cars, I guess.

As you can see, the Nissan won the value contest easily, with the lowest price and a middling to good amount of features. The Chevy was the clear loser, lacking not only basic features, but also any additional ones that would make it stand out versus the competition. Most others fall in the six to seven range. For powertrain, the Hyundai scored well for its small but powerful engine and quick acceleration times. The Toyota scores low because it is dangerously slow, and the Nissan has a more modern powertrain but a lack of power, resulting in its low score. For fuel economy, the Kia is the clear victor because of its hybrid powertrain, making even the next best pale in comparison. The outdated domestic cars score low here, but expect more competition from them with the introduction of the second generation Trax, Encore, and Renegade, as these vehicles are all still first generation with only mild updates. For usability, the Honda and Kia scored best for their very good overall cargo capacity. The Mazda scored poorly here because it is simply smaller than the others and more cramped. For reliability, the FCA vehicle of course scored the lowest, but the Japanese cars weren’t the kings here. Anyway, that’s it for this comparison! Thanks for reading!

Part one of the results.

Part two of the results.

2019 Tesla Model S vs 2019 Chevy Bolt vs 2019 Nissan Leaf

Watch the video here.

Every year that goes by, electric and hybrid vehicles get more and more competitive. In 2019, the playing field is even more contested--the Chevrolet Bolt is the oldest vehicle here; and it’s only been out since 2017. Late last year, Nissan introduced the second-generation Leaf, and Tesla began making deliveries of its Model 3. These three environmentally-friendly cars are increasingly interesting, as the electric technology moves down market into the less expensive price ranges. Before we start the comparison, however, let me explain how I evaluate the cars. I use a numerical points value system to evaluate each vehicle in every category on a scale from one to ten. Furthermore, all of the prices in the video are before the federal $7,500 tax credit. Let’s begin the comparison with an assessment of value. The 2019 Chevy Bolt Premier starts at $41,780. The Bolt LT is cheaper, if that’s all you look for in a green vehicle, but for the sake of the comparison, I am trying to bring all of the prices within a couple thousand of each other. SiriusXM, push-button start, and upgraded 17-inch aluminum wheels come standard on the Bolt Premier, as do roof-rails, heated and power outside mirrors, and a leather-wrapped, heated steering wheel. The instrument cluster is an 8-inch screen, and a 10.2-inch screen sits in the middle of the dash and serves as the infotainment system. The screen controls Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Bluetooth, and voice-activated technology. All seats in the Bolt Premier are heated, including the rear. It also has lane change alert and a blind zone alert system. The Bolt has other nice features like location-based charge control, which tells the Bolt when it is at home, and what hours to charge during. A 4G LTE WiFi connection, GM’s OnStar system, a rear camera mirror, rear cross traffic alert and rear park assist also come standard. Creatures comforts like remote keyless entry, remote start, and surround vision are also standard. Surround vision is an advanced backup camera that gives the driver a bird’s-eye view of the vehicle to aid maneuvering in tight spaces. The battery is covered under an 8-year, 100,000 mile warranty, but the car has a three-year 36,000 mile bumper to bumper one. The Nissan Leaf SL starts at $36,200, but again, the base model Leaf starts at just under $30,000. The SL comes with LED headlights, foglights, and heated outside mirrors. The instrument cluster is one inch smaller than the Bolt’s at 7.0 inches, and even the SL only has a 7-inch touchscreen in the dash, compared to the Bolt’s 10.2 inch screen. However, the Leaf also comes with navigation, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and SiriusXM. The Leaf also has Nissan Connect EV services, also powered by SiriusXM. The Leaf too gains the bird’s-eye view camera. The car has intelligent cruise control, and a driver alertness system that monitors the driver’s steering inputs to determine whether the driver is becoming drowsy. It has a hybrid heater system, an intelligent key with push button start and an auto-dimming rearview mirror with HomeLink, a universal garage door receiver. The driver seat is 8-way power adjustable, all seats are leather, and the steering wheel is heated and leather-wrapped. The front two seats are also heated. The Nissan has a Bose audio system with seven speakers, one more than the Bolt has, and it’s a better system anyway. The active safety systems on the Leaf include rear-cross traffic alert, automatic emergency braking, and blind spot warning. The Tesla Model 3 Standard starts at $36,000. This base model car was never actually produced in 2018, as Tesla was only taking orders for the long-range, more expensive, all-wheel-drive Model 3. However, the base 3 will go on sale soon, in early 2019. Standard exterior features are limited to 18-inch wheels, and LED tail-lamps and running lights. The inside is better, with seven speakers, and a massive 15-inch touchscreen display that Tesla cars are known for. Additionally, navigation, an LTE WiFi connection, voice-activated controls, and Bluetooth are included. The front seats are heated and manually 6-way adjustable, but the Model 3 only comes with cloth seats. It does have a dual-zone climate control system, and an auto-dimming rear-view mirror. The active safety systems in the Tesla include a blind-spot sensor, and forward collision and lane departure warning. Compared to the other two, the Model 3 is pretty barren, even for the price point, compared to the other vehicles. However, you’re paying for different things in the Tesla, like the powertrain and supercharger network that the company has set up. However, the powertrain will be evaluated now, and will not count into the value segment, otherwise it would be double counted. Speaking of which, let’s look at the batteries, motors, and kWH of each car. All 2019 Bolts come with a 60 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery that supplies power to the electric drive unit, allowing 200 horsepower and 266 lb-ft of torque to drive the front wheels. In addition, the Bolt comes with a 120-volt portable charge cord. This set-up is good for a relatively quick 6.3 second 0-60 time. The Nissan Leaf comes with a 40 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery that is connected to a 147 horsepower, 236 lb-ft motor. This set-up is good for a 7.5 second 0-60 run. The Tesla Model 3 splits the difference between the Bolt and Leaf with a 50 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery, that routes 258 horsepower through the rear wheels. The torque ratings are not published for the standard battery, but the long-range battery produces 307 lb-ft, so expect something slightly less than that. The Model 3 is the only vehicle here that is rear wheel drive, which probably aids its 0-60 time be the fastest of the group, at 5.6 seconds. After powertrain and performance, we’ll do safety. As mentioned, each vehicle has a variety of active safety features like forward collision warning, blind spot detection, etcetera. Unfortunately, the IIHS has not fully tested any car yet, except the Chevy Bolt. It received a Top Safety Pick, with a superior rating in front crash prevention, and ‘Good’ ratings in almost all other areas of evaluation, the highest mark possible. Unfortunately, I will not be taking passive safety ratings into consideration at this time, as I cannot fairly evaluate the Model 3 and Nissan Leaf. I believe the Tesla to be a strong contender in this segment, however Consumer Reports found that the Model 3’s braking abilities were atrocious, taking nearly as much time to come to a stop as a semi-truck. Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO, said that the issue can be fixed quickly via the Model 3’s over-the-air software updates. The previous generation Nissan Leaf was a mixed bag in terms of safety—but that does not matter for the new car, which has been completely redesigned. Next, let’s focus on what makes these cars so unique, their all electric driving. Range anxiety has decreased over the years as electric vehicles become more par with the industry. The 2019 Bolt has a 238-mile range on a single charge. The little car also gets the gasoline equivalent to 128 miles per gallon in the city and 110 miles per gallon on the highway. Let’s move on to the Nissan. It has a much smaller range of 151 miles. The gasoline fuel economy equivalency is 125 mpg in the city and 100 on the highway. The standard Tesla can go 220 miles per charge and has yet to be rated for its gasoline mpg equivalent but expect its numbers to be right in line with the Bolt’s, as the Model 3 long-range version gets 131 mpg in the city and 120 on the highway. The standard 120-volt Basic charging system for the Bolt only gets you about four miles per hour charging. Obviously, this is not very good, so Chevy offers two upgraded systems, the Fast and Super Fast systems. The Fast, 220-volt system gives the Bolt 25 miles per hour of charge, and the Super Fast allows the Bolt 90 miles of range in 30 minutes. The Nissan starts at the 220-volt option, avoiding the 110-volt completely. In one hour, the Nissan can acquire 22 miles at 220 volts, and the same amount as the Chevy on the DC quick charging. The Tesla gets 5 miles per hour of charging on 110-volt, 22 miles on a 30 amp, 220-volt outlet, or a maximum 125 miles in 16-minutes on Tesla’s supercharger network, although Model 3 owners will have to pay for this service. Now let’s compare our most controversial area of evaluation, which is styling. Of course, to each his own, but in my eyes the Model 3 is the best looking vehicle of the group, in terms of exterior. The interior is clean and plain, but in pictures it comes off as odd. It’s much more appealing after you have sat in the vehicle. The Leaf has gone away with its oddball styling of yore, instead looking much more like a Versa than anything else, which is strangely a compliment in this context. The Bolt looks modern, but too much like a jelly bean. The Bolt’s older brother, Volt is executed better. In the interior battle, I think the Chevy probably wins, with the dashboard integrating the screen nicely and flowing around the driver. The cabin is extremely airy and the visibility out the front is great, something not represented well in the video. The Leaf isn’t far behind interior wise, but again, I feel like the center stack could be done better. The Leaf has a good-looking steering wheel, however. Finally, let’s look at our last part of this comparison test: innovation. This is the “cool-factor” of each car, and this category is unique to this comparison. Electric cars are still a new concept to the public, and it would be unfair to avoid acknowledging this. The Chevy Bolt isn’t necessarily cool, but it does have the biggest battery of the three and GM’s extensive electric vehicle experience in its past. It’s probably the lowest maintenance vehicle of the three. The Nissan Leaf has gone from decidedly uncool to at best “not ugly” but it to does not guarantee an owner bragging rights. A very middle of the road electric vehicle, when it seems like there are two other competitors that can offer more. The Tesla of course offers the most “innovative” factor. Wireless updates to the vehicle aren’t old yet, and other little gimmicks like the big screen, seductive styling, and brand name give it big gains in this segment. However, it still takes two to four months to get a Model 3, and the rear-wheel-drive version we are comparing here isn’t even on sale yet. Tesla has continued to struggle with meeting demand and making profits, and the company still is not on stable ground, financially. However, there is no denying that the Tesla offers more innovation than the other two vehicles for the same price. That’s all for the 2019 small electric car comparison! I hope you enjoyed reading.

2018 Tesla Model 3, via allcarseveryday