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The rivalry between the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 is as fierce as any other, with both having helped kick off the compact, car-based crossover trend back in the late 1990s. But in recent years the CR-V has held an advantage, besting the RAV4 in comparison tests, our compact crossover rankings—and winning our SUV of the Year trophy (twice!). For 2023, the plot twists as Honda reveals the new sixth-generation CR-V. But the current fifth-generation RAV4, which went on sale in 2019, isn't exactly stale. How do the features and specs of these super-popular small SUVs compare? Read on, and you'll see that the rivalry remains.CR-V vs. RAV4: Exterior DimensionsWonder which will fit in a parking space more easily? The 2023 CR-V and RAV4 are similar in size, with the CR-V being a few inches longer but standing shorter than the RAV4. These dimensions vary based on trim and equipment. Wheelbase Length Width Height 2023 Honda CR-V 106.3 inches 184.8 inches 73.4 inches 66.2-66.6 inches 2023 Toyota RAV4 105.9 inches 180.9-181.5 inches 73.0-73.4 inches 67.0-68.6 inches CR-V vs. RAV4: Passenger and Cargo SpaceIn its new form the CR-V (rather predictably) grows larger inside. In addition to more second-row legroom, cargo space increases and is now identical between the CR-V and CR-V Hybrid; the Hybrid previously gave up some cargo space for its batteries. Its interior measurements are generally larger than those of the RAV4. Legroom (front/rear) Headroom (front/rear) Cargo Space (seats up/down) 2023 Honda CR-V 41.3/41.0 inches 38.0-40.1/39.1 inches 36.3/76.5 cu-ft 2023 Toyota RAV4 41.0/37.8 inches 37.7/39.5 inches 37.6/69.8 cu-ft CR-V vs. RAV4: Engines and Fuel EconomyIn the 2023 CR-V, the standard engine remains a 1.5-liter turbocharged I-4 producing 190 hp and 179 lb-ft of torque. Those stats match the outgoing model, but Honda says it's updated the engine for better responsiveness and less noise. A continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) and front-wheel drive is standard; all-wheel drive is available. Expect a 0-60 mph time of about 8.0 seconds, and fuel economy of 27/32 mpg city/highway with AWD.The 2023 RAV4's base engine is a 2.5-liter I-4 that makes 203 hp and 184 lb-ft, which is connected to an eight-speed automatic transmission and either FWD or AWD. Although larger and more powerful than the CR-V's engine, it sends the RAV4 to 60 mph in a similar 8.0 seconds and achieves 25/32 mpg with AWD.CR-V vs. RAV4: Hybrid ChoicesBoth the CR-V and RAV4 are available as hybrids. The 2023 CR-V Hybrid, like the previous version, utilizes a setup based around a 2.0-liter I-4 supplemented by two electric motors. The combined result is 204 hp and 247 lb-ft of torque, all sent to the front wheels or all four with available AWD. Expect a 0-60 mph time of 7.5 seconds, and fuel economy to rate at about 40/35 mpg (city/highway).The 2023 RAV4 Hybrid likewise uses an I-4 engine and two electric motors, but in a different configuration. It has a larger 2.5-liter four-cylinder, to which one electric motor is joined. The other motor turns the rear wheels, giving the RAV4 Hybrid AWD without a mechanical connection between the front and rear axles. Our test team recorded a 7.1-second 0-60 mph time from a RAV4 Hybrid. Its fuel economy is EPA-rated at 41/38 mpg (city/highway).Furthermore, the RAV4 is available as a plug-in hybrid. That model, the RAV4 Prime, has a larger battery which pushes total power to 302 hp—dropping the 0-60 mph time to a zippy 5.5 seconds. More relevant is its 42 miles of all-electric range. In hybrid driving, it achieves 94 mpg-e combined. No CR-V plug-in hybrid exists—at least, not yet.CR-V vs. RAV4: Safety FeaturesThe CR-V's Honda Sensing and RAV4's Toyota Safety Sense (TSS) safety suites give each SUV a remarkable amount of driver-assist and active-safety tech. Each is equipped with adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitoring, and automatic emergency braking. On the 2023 CR-V, sensors for these systems are said to be improved for more natural responses. Meanwhile, for 2023 the RAV4's automatic braking system was upgraded to avoid collisions when turning across an intersection. Every 2023 CR-V has hill descent control and a snow driving mode, which are found only on certain RAV4 trims.Although the 2023 CR-V has not yet been crash tested, Honda likely won't let it lose the IIHS Top Safety Pick + and and NHTSA five-star scores the previous model achieved for many consecutive years, especially considering the SUV now comes with improved front and additional side airbags. In its most recent round of crash testing, the RAV4 achieved IIHS Top Safety Pick designation and a NHTSA five-star overall score.CR-V vs. RAV4: In-Car TechnologyFor 2023 the RAV4 was updated to have an 8.0-inch infotainment touchscreen as standard, or a 10.5-inch unit on higher-end models, both running Toyota's latest software that debuted in the Tundra pickup. Meanwhile the 2023 CR-V's basic touchscreen measures 7.0 inches, and grows to 9.0 inches on higher trims. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are a common feature between them, but only the RAV4 has dual-device Bluetooth connectivity. Both have a 7.0-inch gauge cluster display, but the RAV4 offers a 12.3-inch all-digital gauge cluster.The 2023 CR-V has two USB ports as standard while the RAV4 has three. Depending on trim, two more USB charge points are added in the second row, as well as a front-row wireless charger. Both SUVs are offered with a premium sound system: An 11-speaker JBL setup in the RAV4, and a 12-speaker Bose arrangement in the CR-V.CR-V vs. RAV4: Prices and Trim LevelsPricing for the 2023 CR-V has not been announced, but you can expect its base price to go up slightly (if it's anything like the new Civic launched last year, that bump might be minimal). That's partially due to the fact that the previous entry-level LX trim has been discontinued, leaving EX as the CR-V's starting trim. Expect the 2023 CR-V to start at a few bucks under $30,000, while the Hybrid model will likely go for approximately $3,000 more. The range-topping CR-V Hybrid Sport Touring could command about $38,000.Thanks to the low-frills LE trim which costs about $28,000, the RAV4's starting price will likely be less than that of the CR-V. Similarly, the RAV4 Hybrid starts in LE trim, at just under $31,000. At the high end of the range, the RAV4 Prime XSE costs nearly $45,000.So, New CR-V or RAV4?On paper, the RAV4 has certain advantages over the CR-V: More power, larger screens, additional powertrain choices, and a diverse range of trims. However, in its prior iteration the CR-V earned our praise with its good driving manners, which the RAV4 hasn't always been able to muster. Will the new 2023 CR-V remain so enjoyable that it makes up for any potential shortcomings compared to the RAV4? We'll find out soon when we drive it, and as the CR-V lineup surely expands in the years ahead.

In honor of Independence Day, we're bringing back this 2015 story on the greatest American cars of all time. Did your favorite make the list?America may not have invented the automobile. That honor goes to German engineer Karl Benz and his Patent Motorwagen of 1886. But America quickly made the automobile its own. By 1904 the United States led the world in automobile sales and production, and by 1913 80 percent of all the cars made in the world were made right here. American automakers — there were 253 of them active in 1908 alone — were pioneering new technologies and new vehicles at an astonishing rate.So as we celebrate the Fourth of July, why not celebrate the 10 greatest American cars of all time? You can define greatness is many ways, but these are all automobiles that were hugely influential in terms of their technology, design, engineering, and their impact on society and popular culture. These are machines that changed our world.There are other cars that are perhaps equally deserving of inclusion on this list. So let the arguments begin. If you think we've missed an all-time great, let us know.Ford Model THenry Ford's Model T was produced for 19 years, from 1908 to 1927, and almost 15 million were made, with prices falling from $825 to $260 by 1925 as Ford refined the mass-production process. But the Model T was more than just a car. It put America on wheels and so changed the way Americans worked, the way they lived, and the way they played. Shopping malls, motels, planned suburbs with affordable housing, well-paid manufacturing jobs, and an emerging middle class eager to enjoy the perks of prosperity — this was modern, 20th-century America, and the Model T helped create it all.Ford Model 18Launched in 1932, the Ford Model 18 was the first mass-market car in the world with a V-8 engine, and created a paradigm for American cars that continues to this day. In the 1930s Ford V-8s were prized for their performance—gangster John Dillinger wrote to thank Henry Ford for building "as fast and sturdy a car as you did"—and after World War II they formed the backbone of the nascent hot rod movement, being cheap, plentiful, and easy to modify for extra performance. With '32 Fords—Deuce Coupes—still regarded as the most desirable of all hot rods, this is a car that's remained a pop-culture icon for more than 80 years.Duesenberg Model SJAlso launched in 1932, the Duesenberg Model SJ was the antithesis of the cheap and cheerful Fords and Chevys most Americans drove through the depths of the Depression. The Duesenberg SJ was, simply, a hand-built, money-no-object supercar, the 1930s equivalent of a Bugatti Chiron. With their twin-cam, four valves per cylinder, supercharged straight-eight engines, Duesenberg SJs were said to be capable of 104 mph in second gear and 140 mph in top; in 1934 a lightweight roadster averaged 135 mph for 24 hours on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Just 36 SJs were built between 1932 and 1935. Gary Cooper and Clark Gable owned the only two short-wheelbase SSJ Duesenbergs ever built.Jeep MB"The Jeep, the Dakota airplane, and the landing craft were the three tools that won the war," claimed Dwight D. Eisenhower, Allied Supreme Commander during World War II. More than 700,000 Jeeps had been built by the war's end, giving Allied troops overwhelming superiority of movement on the ground. Post-war, the tough, nimble, go-anywhere Jeep enjoyed a second, more peaceful career as a recreational vehicle, establishing the nexus between capability, style, and functionality that still underpins 21st-century car buyers' love affair with crossover vehicles. The Jeep is the car that saved democracy. And it was the seminal SUV.Oldsmobile "Rocket" 88Rock 'n' roll began with a song about a car: Elvis Presley was still driving a gravel truck when 19-year-old Ike Turner walked into a tiny studio owned by Sam Phillips in Memphis in 1951 and recorded "Rocket 88," a paean to the fastest American sedan you could buy at the time, the Oldsmobile 88 powered by the 135-hp Rocket V-8 engine. Launched in 1949, the Rocket-powered 88 was America's first muscle car, proving almost unbeatable in stock car racing through 1951. The record "Rocket 88" was an unexpected hit, and the royalties enabled Phillips to start Sun Records, the label that gave musicians such as B.B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and, of course, Elvis their starts.Chevrolet Corvette Making its debut in 1953, the Corvette is 10 years older than Porsche's 911, and every bit as iconic. Like the Rolling Stones, the Corvette has had a patchy track record—the asthmatic 165-hp C3 of the mid-'70s is the equivalent of disco-era Mick and Keef phoning it in. But when it's been good, the Corvette has been breathtaking. The beautiful Bill Mitchell-designed C2 Sting Rays, particularly the fuel-injected 327s with four-speed manual transmissions, were arguably better cars than the contemporary Jaguar E-Type, while today's mid-engine C8 is a true high-performance sports car with leading-edge technology and performance equaling that of rivals costing two or three times the price.Ford Mustang The Ford Mustang not only created a new automotive genre—the ponycar—but was also one of the first cars designed for a specific demographic. When Ford's Lee Iacocca realized the first wave of baby boomers were coming of driving age, and that they would want to drive something very different from the big, soft land yachts their parents loved, product planner Hal Sperlich proposed wrapping mundane Falcon mechanicals in sporty sheetmetal. The Mustang proved an overnight sensation, with more than 1 million sold in the first 18 months of production. But performance that truly matched the style wasn't really unlocked until the Shelby GT350 appeared in 1965, establishing the formula that has kept the Mustang alive for more than 50 years.Ford GTHenry Ford II thought he had a deal. Nine months of negotiation were over, and on July 4, 1963, he was planning to be in Maranello, Italy, signing a $10 million deal with Enzo Ferrari that would give Ford Motor Company a half share in the storied Italian sports car maker. A Ferrari-Ford sports car was already being planned, with an Italian V-12 engine in an American chassis. But the deal never happened—Enzo Ferrari pulled out at the last minute. An enraged Henry then authorized the development of the Ford GT40, with the express goal of humiliating Enzo's blood-red racers in the Le Mans 24 Hour race. Which it did, convincingly, in 1966. The icon inspired two generations of successors, including the latest Ford GT powered by a twin-turbocharged V-6.Plymouth Voyager, Chrysler Town & Country, and Dodge CaravanOthers had toyed with the concept, notably VW's Microbus of the '60s and Lancia's 1978 Megagamma, but it was Lee Iacocca and Hal Sperlich—the same team who'd made the Mustang happen at Ford 20 years earlier—who at Chrysler in 1983 revealed the perfect combination of size, seating, and drivability that came to define a new segment-busting family vehicle, the minivan. Within a decade almost every mainstream automaker offered a minivan in the U.S., making traditional station wagons obsolete. The segment has declined in recent years, but the basic formula established by Chrysler remains the definitive one: front drive, sliding side doors, and a highly flexible seating package for seven or eight passengers.Tesla Model SThe mere fact the Tesla Model S exists at all is a testament to innovation and entrepreneurship, the very qualities that made the American automobile industry the largest, richest, and most powerful in the world. We've not yet become a nation of bankers or burger-flippers. America can still make things. Great things. But what marks the Tesla Model S as one of the all-time great American cars is that it has single-handedly changed the tenor of the conversation about electric vehicles. The Model S made electric cars cool for auto enthusiasts. How? It's good-looking and quick. Very, very quick. In Plaid guise, we clocked the Model S at just 2.07 seconds to 60 mph. That's monumentally impressive—the quickest production vehicle we've ever tested, and an American-made EV at that.

Like it or not, it was hard to miss the 2023 Acura Integra Prototype that debuted last year in its Yellow Pearl paint job. That prototype is now going into production—and being revealed soon in salable form— though it might not get that striking yellow color as an option immediately, according to alleged leaked details on the IntegraTalk forums.Details gathered from screenshots of a dealer ordering guide—if accurate—may reveal the upcoming Integra's trim and specifications ahead of orders opening later this week, on March 10. Here's what the forum-leaked order guide shows:The 2023 Integra will come in base, A-Spec, and A-Spec Tech trim levels, with a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) listed as standard and a six-speed manual option only listed as available for the top-of-the-line A-Spec Tech trim, according to the screenshots. It doesn't appear that the company's available 10-speed automatic transmission will be an option on launch, either.The CVT is here because in all likelihood it's the very same transmission utilized in the mechanically related Honda Civic. It's even paired with the Honda's same 1.5-liter turbocharged I-4 engine. Power figures for the new Integra have yet to be announced, but we anticipate an output of at least around 200 horsepower, meaning the Acura will use the the 200-ish hp version of the 1.5-liter turbo four used by the sportier Civic Si.The forum posts also offer a look at the upcoming Integra's paint options, and sadly there doesn't appear to be any yellow option (yet), despite the Integra prototype debuting in a bright yellow color. The paint options that are listed include Platinum White, Lunar Silver, Performance Red, Liquid Carbon, Majestic Black, and Apex Blue.We may just be looking at partial information and there could be more options at launch, or it's plausible that Acura is holding back the yellow for an upcoming Integra Type S model that surely will follow the regular-grade version. The company recently trademarked the name and has been Type S'ing numerous nameplates in its lineup, including the TLX sedan, MDX SUV, and NSX supercar.If this order guide is accurate, you can't quite order the car that Acura debuted in prototype guise last year. You can order something close, in another color. Oh, and you will also have to upgrade to the highest available trim level if do not want the CVT.That may not be what Acura fans had hoped for—a second coming of the brands' premium sport compact formula distinct from a regular Honda—but at the end of the day, there's still a new turbocharged, manual-transmission Integra just around the corner that isn't a crossover or an EV. Maybe that's something. We'll be able to confirm full details on the Integra's available options when ordering begins March 10.