Recent Articles
Popular Makes
Body Types
2021 Toyota RAV4 vs. 2021 Ford Bronco Sport
2021 Ford Bronco Sport ・ Photo by Brady Holt
Many compact crossovers look and feel like cars, just with more cargo room and higher seating positions. But two popular models have found success by combining more traditional SUV styling and capability with the car-like driving experience of a typical crossover: the best-selling 2021 Toyota RAV4 and the all-new 2021 Ford Bronco Sport.
But if you’re interested in this niche, which one is for you? We tested both models — on the pavement, as most buyers will use them — so we could compare them across eight categories and name an overall winner. Keep reading to learn which one might be the better fit for your life.
Pricing and Features
The 2021 Toyota RAV4 starts at $26,250, undercutting the 2021 Ford Bronco Sport’s base price of $26,820. But there are some important differences for many buyers. First, the base Bronco Sport has all-wheel drive, while the RAV4 charges $1,400 extra to upgrade from its standard front-wheel drive. But on the other hand, some dealers sell the hotly demanded Bronco Sport for closer to its sticker price than the more widely available RAV4, so you’ll want to get online price quotes for both vehicles if you’re not sure.
Other factors are a wash in our books. Both vehicles come standard with useful safety and infotainment features, but alternate which ones are standard versus optional. The RAV4 is the only one of the two to offer a power liftgate, while on the Bronco Sport has genuine leather upholstery instead of leatherette. Only the RAV4 offers a panoramic sunroof, but the Bronco Sport includes a conventional one for less money than the RAV4 does. Overall, we’re going to count this category as a tie; you can break it based on what you hear from your local Toyota and Ford dealers.
Tie
Photo by Brady Holt
Exterior Design
This is the category where many folks will already be tempted to make up their minds about which vehicle they want. We’re calling it a tie because we won’t make this choice for you.
The Bronco Sport is an upright box that borrows design cues from the larger Ford Bronco SUV, itself inspired by the 1960s Bronco. The Bronco Sport is not merely retro, but also timelessly rugged with straight lines and a subtle hump on the roof — like some older Land Rovers — where it rises higher above rear passengers’ heads. In profile and from the rear, it’s less about reliving the distant past than about the simple, utilitarian vibe of recent-past SUVs. In contrast, the RAV4 is more aggressive, with squinty headlights, flared fenders, and lots of detail. It’s also a purposeful, tough look that some folks will prefer to the Bronco Sport, which could be considered plain from the rear end.
Tie
Photo by Brady Holt
Interior Space
Both the RAV4 and Bronco Sport have relatively rugged interiors by crossover standards. They have conventional dashboards with touchscreen infotainment systems sprouting from the top and easy-to-use buttons and knobs all around. But they’re finished with sturdy rubber trim rather than materials that would suggest high-end luxury or cutting-edge technology.
There are some slight differences. The Bronco Sport has a standard 8-inch touchscreen, while base RAV4s have a 7-inch unit (which can upgrade to 8 inches). The Ford also has a flashy digital instrument cluster. But we’ll give the narrow win to the RAV4 because it has more cabin storage space and bigger cupholders.
Photo by Brady Holt
Interior Comfort
The RAV4 is about 8 inches longer than the Bronco Sport, and you feel this extra size in the cabin — especially in the backseat, where the Toyota lets adults stretch out comfortably while the Ford has little extra knee space in the back.
In the front seats, the difference is more subjective. The RAV4’s seats feel wider and flatter, while the Bronco Sport’s are more supportive but have less room to spread out. While you may prefer the Ford’s approach, the RAV4 wins this category for its inarguable advantage in the backseat.
Photo by Brady Holt
Cargo and Utility
The bigger RAV4 also has more cargo room than the Bronco Sport. The Ford has pretty generous cargo space for its size, thanks to its high roof and boxy shape, but the Toyota still beats it for overall volume.
By the numbers, the RAV4 has 37.6 cubic feet of cargo space behind its rear seat — among the best of any compact crossover — and a less-remarkable 69.8 cubic feet with its rear seat folded down. The Bronco Sport has 32.5 cubic feet behind the rear seat and 65.4 cubic feet with the rear seat folded. In terms of cargo convenience, only the RAV4 offers a power rear liftgate, but only the Bronco Sport lets you flip up the rear windshield glass to quickly grab small items or stick something long out the back. The base RAV4’s 1,500-pound towing capacity and the RAV4 Hybrid’s 1,750-pound rating trail the base Bronco Sport, which manages 2,000 pounds. But Toyota cements its win in this category with the highest maximum towing capacity: 3,500 pounds on the RAV4 Adventure and TRD Off-Road trim levels, compared with 2,200 pounds for the mightiest Bronco Sport.
Photo by Brady Holt
Driving Impressions
The RAV4 is generally agreeable to drive, with a comfortable ride, decent steering responses, and a generous 203 horsepower from its 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine. However, we preferred driving the Bronco Sport.
The Ford’s standard 181-horsepower 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine trails the RAV4’s on paper, but we found it quicker and quieter than the big Toyota four-cylinder. Plus, Ford lets you upgrade to a 250-horsepower turbo four on certain trim levels. The Bronco Sport also has sharper steering and handling than the RAV4 without riding any less comfortably. We didn’t test the vehicles off-road, but both should trump most other crossovers — especially if you pick their respective extra-rugged trim levels. In everyday conditions, the quicker, quieter, and more agile Bronco Sport is our easy favorite.
Ford Bronco Sport
Photo by Brady Holt
Fuel Economy
The Bronco Sport’s peppy engines and boxy styling do little for its EPA fuel economy ratings, which are mediocre for a compact crossover. The three-cylinder engine averages 26 mpg in mixed driving while the four-cylinder manages just 23 mpg, both with all-wheel drive as standard equipment.
The RAV4 gets up to 30 mpg in mixed driving with its base engine and either front-wheel or all-wheel drive, though ratings drop as low as 28 mpg in some trim levels. Still, that’s enough to beat every Bronco Sport — even before you consider the extra-thrifty RAV4 Hybrid and RAV4 Prime gas-electric models, which each top 40 mpg. The Prime also manages an EPA-estimated 42 miles of all-electric driving if you plug it into the wall. We did beat EPA estimates to average 30 mpg in our three-cylinder Bronco Sport test vehicle, but that’s not enough to counteract the RAV4’s wide-ranging efficiency advantage.
Photo by Brady Holt
Safety
The RAV4 earned a Top Safety Pick designation from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and a top five-star overall rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It also has standard safety features that include automatic emergency braking and lane-keeping steering assistance.
For all that, the Bronco Sport is even more impressive. It has all the same safety features, plus a blind-spot monitoring system that costs extra on the Toyota. And it scores even higher in IIHS testing, managing a Top Safety Pick+ mark due to superior headlight performance. While NHTSA hasn’t yet tested the model, the mechanically related Ford Escape had slightly better frontal-impact protection than the RAV4.
Ford Bronco Sport
Photo by Brady Holt
Final Thoughts
We enjoyed our time testing the new 2021 Ford Bronco Sport. Under its utilitarian styling and off-road capability, it’s comfortable and even fun to drive on a daily basis. It’s loaded with features and has a well-finished, technologically up-to-date interior. And in our experience, it’s more economical than the EPA ratings might suggest, too.
Still, the 2021 Toyota RAV4 is a more well-rounded vehicle. It has a bigger back seat, more space for cargo and small items, and greater towing capacity. You can get it with extra-efficient hybrid powertrains, and you can save money by choosing front-wheel drive if you don’t need extra capability. We don’t love the RAV4’s noisy base engine, and its handling isn’t as sharp as the Bronco Sport’s. While some buyers will prefer the Bronco Sport’s advantages to the RAV4’s, the Toyota fits a broader variety of needs.
Toyota RAV4
Photo by Brady Holt