2021 Ford Bronco Sport vs Toyota RAV4

The Ford Bronco Sport is the baby of the Bronco family. It is a two-row SUV that seats five people with comfortable seating and plenty of head and legroom up front. It features an off-road feel, with chunky and rugged styling, standard cloth upholstery and manually adjustable front seats. Leather upholstery, heated and power adjustable front seats, and a heated steering wheel are available. It features 32.5 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats and 65.2 cubic feet with the seats folded down; the rear window can also be opened independently of the liftgate for easily loading small items. It comes in five trim levels: base, Big Bend, Outer Banks, Badlands, and First Edition and has a starting price of $22,850 for its base trim and ranges to $38,500 for the First Edition.

The Toyota RAV4 seats up to five people with comfortable seating and ample front and rear legroom, even for tall passengers. It offers quality cabin materials with a modern design, cloth upholstery, a six-way manually adjustable driver’s seat, and a four-way manually adjustable passenger seat. You can upgrade to additional features, including an eight-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, synthetic leather upholstery, a heated steering wheel, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel. The RAV4 gets 37.6 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seat and 69.8 cubic feet with its back seats folded down. It comes in six trims: LE, XLE, XLE Premium, Adventure, Limited, and TRD Off-Road model. Pricing starts at $26,150 for the LE trim and ranges to $35,880 for the TRD Off-Road trim.

The Bronco Sport has a good list of standard advanced safety features including a rearview camera, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, forward-collision warning, pedestrian detection, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning, lane keep assist, and automatic high-beam headlights. There are also a few available advanced safety features that include rear parking sensors, a forward-view camera system, adaptive cruise control, and road sign recognition. It features a standard easy-to-use infotainment system that includes an 8-inch touch screen, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, a six-speaker stereo, Bluetooth, and four USB ports. An available 10-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system, satellite radio, HD Radio, wireless device charging, and two additional USB ports, as well as a 120-volt household-style power outlet are options.

Standard safety features on all RAV4 models feature a rearview camera and Toyota Safety Sense 2.0 bundle of technologies. Included in this bundle are pre-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, pedestrian detection, and lane departure warning. Additional standard advanced safety features include adaptive cruise control, automatic high-beam headlights, and road sign recognition. Available advanced safety features include surround-view parking camera system, front and rear parking sensors, blind spot monitoring, rain-sensing windshield wipers and rear cross-traffic alert. An easy-to-use 7-inch touch-screen infotainment system comes standard with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Amazon Alexa integration, a Wi-Fi hotspot, Satellite radio, a USB port, Bluetooth and voice recognition are also standard. You can upgrade to an 8-inch screen, four additional USB ports, an 11-speaker JBL premium stereo, and navigation. Other available features include a 7-inch digital instrument cluster, proximity keyless entry, and push-button start.

The Bronco Sport delivers solid off-road abilities with composed ride and handling for its on-road performance. It offers two turbocharged engines: a 1-5-liter turbocharged three-cylinder with 181 horsepower and 190 pound-feet of torque for its base engine and an available 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with 250 horsepower and 277 pound-feet of torque. Both are paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission and come with all-wheel drive. The suspension helps it go over large bumps and dips comfortably; and it's all-wheel drive system, plus 8.8 inches of ground clearance allow it to cross some of the roughest terrain. It can tow up to 2,000 pounds with its standard configuration. Estimated fuel economy is 25/28 mpg in the city and on the highway with its three-cylinder engine and 21/26 mpg city/highway with its four-cylinder engine.

The Toyota RAV4 comes standard with a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine that produces 203 hp and 184 pound-feet of torque and comes with an eight-speed automatic transmission. This transmission delivers a well-balanced handling with smooth and timely shifts, and the engine supplies plenty of power and gets up to highway speeds with little effort. Front-wheel drive is standard, with two optional all-wheel-drive systems. Its base engine provides the RAV4 with the ability to tow 1,500 lbs. Its estimated fuel economy is 28/35 mpg in the city and on the highway.