First things first, you’re absolutely right. A website about tv lamps shouldn’t be writing about cars. The problem is that we were looking around at the usual sites we read car news on and didn’t see this story so we had to give Autoblog and Jalopnik a gentle nudge and hope they pick up on this and issue their own standpoint.
See, the conversation begins when you take a family which may have one or two children, or a couple who find themselves going out frequently or anyone who needs more storage than a car and less than a mini-van. This put them into the category of looking for a CUV (Crossover Utility Vehicle). For those who aren’t completely familiar with what a CUV is, it’s essentially a SUV (think Ford Explorer) built on a car’s frame. This allows it sit lower, and get slightly better mileage. Having it sit lower on the road helps address the major issue people have with SUVs; rolling over in the car if you take a sharp turn and give it a look and feel of an oversize hatchback (ex. Lexus RX-series) or station wagon.
If you don’t want to spend more than $30-$35k, you’re most likely considering the options from Honda or Ford. This is our personal opinion from what we’ve seen on the road driving around but there are other options from GM, Chevy, Saturn, Buick, VW, Audi, BMW, and others. When it comes down to it the Honda CR-V and the Ford Edge are among the ones which stick out the most at this pricepoint. The people who would usually consider these cars or the Toyota RAV4 now have something else to consider; the Toyota Venza.
Toyota makes playing it safe a lifestyle and every part of the Venza appears to come from that tradition. With sizing larger than a Camry wagon, and longer than the Corolla based Matrix the styling on the Venza won’t have other companies running out to copy it but it does stand out from the other options available. The biggest difference between the Venza and the rest of the pack appears to be the available 2WD 4-cylinder option. This helps it get an EPA rates 21/29 MPG in the city and highway respectively. To be able to get almost 30MPG in a car which is 180+ in. long is incredible especially without it being a hybrid.
With gas under $2.00 for the forseeable future, hundreds of thousands of people will have to make a decision if having extra cargo space is worth the lower performance. Since the Venza is just now starting to get pushed by Toyota, expect other sites to put these cars against each other in a CUV deathmatch which will probably leave them underwhelmed but still compelled to give the Venza points for being the latest out and not completely blowing it.
[Source: Toyota Venza Product Page]
[Source: Honda CR-V Product Page]
[Source: Ford Edge Product Page]
[Source: Honda SUV Forum]
Other Must-Read Articles
