Off-Road-Ish: Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road vs. Mazda CX-50 Turbo Premium Plus Comparison

Our long-term CX-50 squares-off with the RAV4 to see which is better for the off-road lifestyle.


As the sun rises over snow-peaked mountains, the view gives you chills. You can see for miles around, and it's just so beautiful. You spot an eagle gliding calmly overhead and look at your hiking buddy—they glance back, knowingly. This is why it's important to experience life out in the wilderness. But there's one problem: You're not on that mountain, you're slumped on a couch watching an energy drink ad on TV. Still, maybe those 30 seconds inspire you to get outdoors a few times a year.


Do so, and you'll likely need a more capable vehicle. You're not made of money, however, so one SUV's gotta do it all—one practical vehicle to sit in traffic, absorb potholes, and, of course, project an outdoorsy image for the 95 percent of the time spent on-road. What you crave is something like the 2022 Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road, or our long-term 2023 Mazda CX-50 Turbo Premium Plus. Yes, that's a mouthful, but these two SUVs are good for the buyer who doesn't want to go full Braptor. They want a good all-arounder that's a little more off-road capable, or at least looks it. We drove both SUVs on- and off-road to get a better feel for which fulfills that mission better. What we found was a much closer finish than we ever expected.


Meet Our Dueling SUVs
Right out of the box, the Toyota RAV4 looks like it's ready for an adventure. It's a quality we've appreciated since the current generation arrived for the 2019 model year, yet it hasn't changed much since then aside from updated infotainment tech. With more than a dozen trims available across three powertrains, we picked the TRD Off-Road for this matchup. More than just a badge-and-trim job, the RAV4 TRD Off-Road has a torque-vectoring AWD system that can direct torque to individual rear wheels if necessary. All-terrain tires are part of the package, too, as is special suspension tuning. What doesn't change is ground clearance, which is the same 8.6 inches you'll find on the XLE Premium, Adventure, and Limited trims.

Power comes from a 203-hp, naturally aspirated 2.5-liter inline-four putting out 184 lb-ft of torque. Not bad, but no match for our other competitor, the new 2023 Mazda CX-50. Mazda just doesn't come to mind when we think of SUVs with an off-road style, but that's precisely why the CX-50 exists. If the Zircon Sand Metallic example you see here looks familiar, it's because this is our yearlong test SUV, the same model we've spent many months and thousands of miles driving. The 2.5-liter turbocharged inline-four in our 2023 CX-50 Turbo Premium Plus is good for 227 hp and 310 lb-ft on regular gas, or 256 hp and 320 lb-ft on 93-octane fuel (we ran it on regular for this test). A less-powerful base engine is also available, with 187 hp and 186 lb-ft, and we've found it feels similar to our turbocharged model in nearly every way except for its merely adequate amount of power.

Don't judge the CX-50 by its lower profile and good looks: This SUV is designed to go farther off-road than any other Mazda around today. Standard AWD and an off-road mode help, and ground clearance matches the Toyota at 8.6 inches. Maybe you're wondering where the new 219-hp RAV4 Hybrid Woodland Edition is—that variant adds functional and visual off-road appeal, but lacks a power liftgate, and the ground clearance of our two players.


Role Reversal
Out on the road, things didn't work out the way we thought. The Mazda's six-speed automatic provided smoother shifts around town than the Toyota's eight-speed. At wide-open throttle, however, the Mazda doesn't make the most of its turbocharged advantage; the transmission delivers agonizingly slow shifts on the way up freeway onramps. That's not a huge issue for the Mazda, which in any case has more refined engine tuning that knows when to shut up and stay in the background, but also understands when we want to hear its sporty snarl.


With the RAV4, sadly, it's the same old story. If this comparison's "off-road-ish" angle isn't a priority, consider a RAV4 Hybrid model to keep the 2.5-liter engine hushed more often—the hybrid isn't just about the added power, driving range, and efficiency, though those things are cool, too. Non-hybrid RAV4 engines are simply too loud and unrefined, even during normal driving. This shouldn't prevent anyone from buying one, but pair that disadvantage with shift-shock around town and it doesn't show the RAV4 TRD Off-Road in the best light.

So the Toyota is less refined in some ways than the Mazda, but the two SUVs do return to form in other ways. We prefer the RAV4's lighter steering-weight as well as its suspension tuning.

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