I feel like I'm the lone defender of the turbo 4 lol. But I've been in several rentals the past few months due to work travel out of country and also because my CTS blew a timing chain and was in the shop for weeks. So I had the "enjoyment" of driving some rentals with 4-bangers in them. And every rental had me appreciating the XT5 turbo 4 more and more.
Jeep Cherokee:
No power when you need it. Not the best fuel economy either for a 4-cyl. Not much to say, fairly non-descript and not fun to drive. Is a big meh.
VW Tiguan:
The engine was very underpowered. Passing on the highway was not fun and needed a good run up to the car you're passing to get momentum. I will say the ride of the vehicle was decent and the AWD is quite good. But the engine, blah, passing is a problem.
Audi Q5:
I think, but not 100%, it had the same 4-cyl as the Tiguan. Sure felt like it. I give the Q5 credit in terms of handling/suspension and AWD control. I went through a hairy snow storm in this on the highway and it performed quite well. But again, engine-wise it left me wanting a lot more.
Honda CRV:
Lord help me. I don't care what people say about Honda reliability blah blah blah. I really disliked this SUV in every way. The rear view camera looked like a 2001 4mp camera. The infotainment also looked 10 years old at best. The interior is a festival of hard plastic. And the engine, my goodness... I don't know how anyone can live with this type of engine. There is zero power. And I mean zero. In Eco-Mode the thrashy engine screams while you feel like you can run faster than it's accelerating. Impossible to use Eco-mode on highway to pass. And with Eco-mode off it's barely better, and I still don't suggest passing on a busy 2-lane highway with this vehicle. Wait for the passing lanes to come otherwise your life is in jeopardy. And both the Honda and Jeep have small tanks, so although they have decent mileage you have to fill up all the time still. So annoying. In my XT5 I can do about 800km on the highway without filling up. I was on empty after 500km in the CRV.
Every time I drove these, then jumped in my wife's XT5 which is bigger than all of the above I felt a sense of calm and re-assurance that the XT5 turbo 4 is sooooo much better than any of these. It has so much more pep around the city and on the highway I never feel like I can't pass. So although most would only go with the 6-cyl in the XT5, which is a solid choice for sure, rest assured that compared to any of the above SUV's in the same segment the XT5 by far outperforms them in terms of engine performance. I also greatly appreciate the size of the tank in the XT5 so I can stop less often to fill up.
And to all those CRV owners, why.... why are you driving that SUV? Terrible little vehicle.
Jeep Cherokee:
No power when you need it. Not the best fuel economy either for a 4-cyl. Not much to say, fairly non-descript and not fun to drive. Is a big meh.
VW Tiguan:
The engine was very underpowered. Passing on the highway was not fun and needed a good run up to the car you're passing to get momentum. I will say the ride of the vehicle was decent and the AWD is quite good. But the engine, blah, passing is a problem.
Audi Q5:
I think, but not 100%, it had the same 4-cyl as the Tiguan. Sure felt like it. I give the Q5 credit in terms of handling/suspension and AWD control. I went through a hairy snow storm in this on the highway and it performed quite well. But again, engine-wise it left me wanting a lot more.
Honda CRV:
Lord help me. I don't care what people say about Honda reliability blah blah blah. I really disliked this SUV in every way. The rear view camera looked like a 2001 4mp camera. The infotainment also looked 10 years old at best. The interior is a festival of hard plastic. And the engine, my goodness... I don't know how anyone can live with this type of engine. There is zero power. And I mean zero. In Eco-Mode the thrashy engine screams while you feel like you can run faster than it's accelerating. Impossible to use Eco-mode on highway to pass. And with Eco-mode off it's barely better, and I still don't suggest passing on a busy 2-lane highway with this vehicle. Wait for the passing lanes to come otherwise your life is in jeopardy. And both the Honda and Jeep have small tanks, so although they have decent mileage you have to fill up all the time still. So annoying. In my XT5 I can do about 800km on the highway without filling up. I was on empty after 500km in the CRV.
Every time I drove these, then jumped in my wife's XT5 which is bigger than all of the above I felt a sense of calm and re-assurance that the XT5 turbo 4 is sooooo much better than any of these. It has so much more pep around the city and on the highway I never feel like I can't pass. So although most would only go with the 6-cyl in the XT5, which is a solid choice for sure, rest assured that compared to any of the above SUV's in the same segment the XT5 by far outperforms them in terms of engine performance. I also greatly appreciate the size of the tank in the XT5 so I can stop less often to fill up.
And to all those CRV owners, why.... why are you driving that SUV? Terrible little vehicle.
