Yahoo Autos Car seat test | Mazda CX-5 vs. Toyota RAV4 vs. Subaru Forester vs. Honda CR-V
Awhile back, I wrote up a child car seat test comparing the Subaru Forester with the Honda CR-V Hybrid. In that test, I still only had one child, and thus one car seat. Though both cars fared well in the test, I found the CR-V to have a slight edge over the Forester, mostly because I liked its ability to hide the lower anchors in a more visually appealing way without sacrificing accessibility. But that was also before I noticed an oddity about the center top tether in the Honda (more on that in a bit).
Now, however, I have two kids. My now 6-year-old son, Wollie, still uses a forward-facing Britax high-back booster seat. My 1.5-year-old daughter, Lola, however, rides in a rear-facing child seat. While smaller and lighter — and thus easier to maneuver through an open car door — it takes up more fore/aft space in the row. Recently, I also had back-to-back loans of two direct competitors to the vehicles I compared in the first test. As such, it seemed appropriate to perform a comparison of the Mazda CX-5 and Toyota RAV4, while keeping in mind some of the lessons learned when testing the Honda CR-V and Subaru Forester.
Left: Mazda CX-5; Right: Toyota RAV4
In both the CX-5 and RAV4, putting Lola behind me would mean I’d had to move the driver’s seat forward more than I’d like, so I simply put the front-facing chair behind me, and put the rear-facing seat behind the usually empty passenger seat. Interestingly enough, though the RAV4’s rear seating area is actually smaller, and thus my son’s face was closer to my shoulders, he enjoyed similar legroom in each vehicle. The front seatbacks in the Toyota have a sharp inward curve that carves out what extra space it can for an adult’s needs — or a child’s dangling legs.
Clockwise from top left: Mazda CX-5; Toyota RAV4; Subaru Forester; Honda CR-V
On the passenger side in front of the rear-facing seat, the Mazda had the advantage over the Toyota. The top of that car seat lines up with the top of the seatback, where it couldn’t take advantage of the RAV4 seat’s curve. You would think, then, that a front passenger would enjoy more legroom in the CX-5 than the RAV4 if sitting in front of a rear-facing seat, but the more upright posture of the RAV4’s front seating position and the shape of the dash mean that you’re more likely to be bumping your knees against the Mazda’s glove box. This surprised me. As for the Subaru Forester and Honda CR-V, room wasn’t an issue for a passenger in front of a forward-facing seat.
So, to summarize, in terms of space for child seats I’d put the Subaru Forester and Honda CR-V at the top, followed by the Toyota RAV4 and Mazda CX-5.
