Sporty small SUV hybrid (non-plugin)?

I learned the Mazda CX-50 hybrid uses the older style NiMH battery, so somewhat less performance/mileage than the Lithium battery in newer Toyota RAV4. Review 2026 Mazda CX-50 Hybrid Review, Pricing, and Specs

Toyota has many of experience with the NiMH battery - this is what was in the Prius for decades.

My 2016 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid is still running great - it's turning 10.
 
The wife has a 2017 Toyota RAV 4 Hybrid. Averages 33 mpg. She bought it brand new. It has 173K on it, and we've never had any problems with it outside of routine maintenance
 
I don't know about sporty, but I like my 2018 Lexus Nx Hybrid. I keep looking at developments but haven't been impressed enough to replace it. I have 40K on it and it is very comfortable. I'm watching for useful advances in the driver's assistance tech before I make my next (and probably final) purchase.
 
I am looking for the plug-ins in the same description as the OP. The 54 miles of range would do 90% of all driving for us.
I liked everything about the 2019 Rav4 we test drove, except the personal fit of the seats and that is subjective. The tech was good.
 
I want a plug in hybrid AWD van. Really bad. It would be my dream vehicle.
 
Texas Proud said:
That is a false analysis... see my post about the fallacy of mpge...

My EV driving for our PHEV came out to the exact same cost as gas before the war.. IOW, I got the same mpg cost wise as gas, 35 mpg... electricity costs more for the same amount of energy...

Now that gas has gone up my 'gas' mpge cost is the same as 50+ mpg...
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That's unusual...running on electricity is typically far less than running on gasoline.

Electricity's running cost is less than 1/3 that of gasoline here since it only costs ~$0.10/kWh.
 
mystang52 said:
OP asked about sporty-driving cars. Everyone's interpretation is different, but before I bought my first SUV I found all of the Japanese brands to be the opposite of sporty. I'm on my 2nd Audi Q5 (ICE). DW has Lexus RX, and I hate driving that thing.
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Why do you hate driving the Lexus RX350?
 
ncbill said:
That's unusual...running on electricity is typically far less than running on gasoline.

Electricity's running cost is less than 1/3 that of gasoline here since it only costs ~$0.10/kWh.
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Our PHEV gets 35 mpg when using gas... electricity is between 14 and 15 cents per kwh..

We use 110 to charge which has about a 20% overhead to charge, so putting in 80 kwh is 100 out the plug..

We get 2.7 to 2.8 miles per kwh... so going 35 miles cost me with overhead around 16 kwh... so 16 X .15 is $2.40... gas used to cost that around here...
 
Why I skipped the hybrid. Our last 2 vehicles are not from Toyota.

I’m retired and only drive about 6,000 miles a year, so my annual fuel costs are already pretty low. At that mileage, it would take many years to recover the extra upfront cost of a hybrid through gas savings alone.

I also plan to keep the vehicle for 10 years. For long-term ownership, reliability matters more to me than maximizing fuel economy. Toyota is the only manufacturer I've fully trusted for a decade of ownership and the only one that offers 10-year hybrid warranty support.

But I stopped buying used vehicles more than 30 years ago.
If a hybrid system or battery fails outside warranty, repairs can easily cost $5K–$8K, which can wipe out much of the financial advantage of owning the hybrid in the first place. Even with a used Toyota, I’d hesitate to buy a 10-year-old hybrid because of the uncertainty around long-term battery life and replacement costs.

On top of that, the extra $4K–$5K I don’t spend upfront gets invested instead. Over 10 years, that money could more than double invested my way, which further tilts the math toward a conventional gas vehicle.

I prefer to keep things simple: lower upfront cost, fewer long-term concerns, and more money left invested.
 
FD1000 said:
Why I skipped the hybrid. Our last 2 vehicles are not from Toyota.

I’m retired and only drive about 6,000 miles a year, so my annual fuel costs are already pretty low. At that mileage, it would take many years to recover the extra upfront cost of a hybrid through gas savings alone.
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I kind of figure the same. I'm holding off buying anything new anytime soon because my car only has 60,000 miles, and I don't drive much (even less than you), and I'm cutting back even more with $5 gas. I test drove my friend's new Nissan Rogue recently, and I thought my 20 year old Camry felt a lot more comfortable when I got back in it.
 
mystang52 said:
OP asked about sporty-driving cars. Everyone's interpretation is different, but before I bought my first SUV I found all of the Japanese brands to be the opposite of sporty. I'm on my 2nd Audi Q5 (ICE). DW has Lexus RX, and I hate driving that thing.
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I agree with Mystang. Most of the vehicles mentioned including the Toyotas, Lexus', Hyundais, Kias and especially the Fords would be tough to describe as "sporty" or "fun to drive". And stay far away from the Nissan Rouges which still have worst in class CVT's for reliability. The Mazdas are as close to sporty as you can get in a Japanese vehicle. If you really want fun to drive, and can appreciate the difference, its tough to beat in a small SUV, the BMW X1 or similar Audi both of which would be worth checking out.
 
I recently had a 2025 Audi Q3 as a rental and was pleasantly surprised. It's almost on the small side but interior room for front passengers is excellent (I'm 6'4) and cargo room is good overall.

Good handling, it's quick (not fast, but quick/nimble) and has available AWD. It's a Haldex-based AWD unit so you get a transverse front engine with front wheel drive until slip is detected and then it sends some power to the rear. Different from the more performant, always-engaged Torsen units that some of the bigger Audis have, with a center differential, but the Haldex-based unit is one of the best in its class. It feels more Audi than Volkswagen.

If I wanted to go bigger but spend about the same, I'd look at the new VW Tiguan.

If I wanted to go bigger and spend a little more, I'd definitely look at the Q5.
 
mystang52 said:
No doubt about it, it's a quality and reliable car. But for me, it drives like a "fluffy" boat. Keeping in mind this thread, it's not fun or sporty to drive.
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Yes, I've heard this about Lexus, and not just the RX350.

But, really, are any SUV's fun to drive when compared with a sports car? Sure, a BMW SUV is going to be more exciting to drive than a Lexus SUV, but if you're looking for a truly fun vehicle to drive you're in the wrong vehicle category.
 
Qs Laptop said:
Yes, I've heard this about Lexus, and not just the RX350.

But, really, are any SUV's fun to drive when compared with a sports car? Sure, a BMW SUV is going to be more exciting to drive than a Lexus SUV, but if you're looking for a truly fun vehicle to drive you're in the wrong vehicle category.
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I'd still be driving a sports car if only.......I could get out of one! Gravity makes it easy to enter, but it just got to be a chore trying to exit. Sporty SUV is, by force, the best alternative!
 
Ayup. The BMW 328wagon with sport suspension sits in the garage for 6 months and then rarely sees the road. Spend far more on insurance and tags than premium gas with that one.
 
Soon, you guys will start talking about motorcycles, which are way more fun.
 
G-Money said:
I recently had a 2025 Audi Q3 as a rental and was pleasantly surprised. It's almost on the small side but interior room for front passengers is excellent (I'm 6'4) and cargo room is good overall.

Good handling, it's quick (not fast, but quick/nimble) and has available AWD. It's a Haldex-based AWD unit so you get a transverse front engine with front wheel drive until slip is detected and then it sends some power to the rear. Different from the more performant, always-engaged Torsen units that some of the bigger Audis have, with a center differential, but the Haldex-based unit is one of the best in its class. It feels more Audi than Volkswagen.

If I wanted to go bigger but spend about the same, I'd look at the new VW Tiguan.

If I wanted to go bigger and spend a little more, I'd definitely look at the Q5.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the perspective. I'm looking at trading in my 2018 A4 for a Q5 or similar. I really like the A4 around town but whenever I drive more than an hour or so it becomes uncomfortable due to age issues (sciatica). Also on crowded, truck-filled highways the sedan eye level is not as good as upright SUV-style. I don't like driving it to our summer house 2.5+ hours away.

So I've been considering a Q5 with the remodeled 2025s now on clearance. I drove a Q3 that was a loaner to my sister when her car was in the shop and felt like it was a big downgrade from the A4 in fit and finish. It felt more rattly and plasticky. I understand that the performance on any of the regular Qs will be lower than the sedans. Though, DS bought a used SQ5 which is cool vehicle but impossible to find used or new around here.

I'll look into the Tiguan, having just seen their commercial (over and over again on the same show on HBO Max :confused:).
 
Looking at Lexus only.. the hybrid costs about $1500 to $2000 more...

Gas savings for 6000 miles is about 84 gallons a year.. you can make the cost up in less than 10 years...

The batteries seem to be good for many more years than 10...
 
Texas Proud said:
Looking at Lexus only.. the hybrid costs about $1500 to $2000 more...

Gas savings for 6000 miles is about 84 gallons a year.. you can make the cost up in less than 10 years...

The batteries seem to be good for many more years than 10...
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What about 15 to 20 years? My current car is already almost 20 years.
 
EastWest Gal said:
If you go from 40 mpg to 70+ mpg (depending on how far you usually drive the car), you're saving over 1000 gallons of gas every 100K miles. Many Toyotas go 200K miles over the life of the car. That's 2000 x $4 or $8000. Plus 2000 gallons less fuel burnt up into CO2. The globe can benefit from less burning of fossil fuels, as will your grandkids.
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hmm. wonder how they generate that electricity?
 
Well, for quick, fast, comfortable and nimble in an SUV, it's tough to beat the BMW X5 40i (although not exactly small) with the phenomenal turbocharged straight 6 or the BMW X5 50i (now the M60i) with the incredible twin turbo V8. Sub 4 second 0-60 times and still getting 25 MPG highway mileage with the V8 while riding in luxurious comfort isn't too bad. And for the Consumer Reports disciples on here, who would have ever though Consumer Reports would actually recommend the X5 as reliable, but they do. Too large? The X3 or X1 may foot the bill.
 
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From the perspective of a lifelong Wisconsin driver, I would say that all-wheel drive is WAAAY oversold. FWD with a good set of winter tires will get you around safely just fine. In fact, when I had to drive a lot on snowy roads, the cars I saw in the ditch most often were SUVs.
Of course, some people prefer driving on stilts for the sake of visibility. You get that advantage in an SUV, but there goes your handling.
If I were shopping for a new car, I'd give a long look at the Mazda 3 with manual transmission (yes, you can get one). I'd buy a spare set of wheels and have my winter tires ready to go when it's time to make the swap. Quebec and BC require drivers to install winter tires seasonally. Some people may consider that nanny-state interference, but it shows in the highway fatality rate -- Canada's per mile is half that of the US. Even in the provinces without winter-tire laws, 80% of drivers use them, according to the Tire and Rubber Association of Canada.
 
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