Subaru Forester vs. Toyota RAV4 vs. Honda CR-V: Which Compact SUV Handles a Montrose Winter?

Every October, the same conversation happens on our lot. Someone's lease is up, they've narrowed it to three compact SUVs, and they want to know which one gets them up their driveway in February. It's a fair question, and the honest answer changed this year. Two of these three are not the vehicles they were twelve months ago.

Here's how the 2026 Subaru Forester, Toyota RAV4, and Honda CR-V actually compare for driving around Montrose, the Uncompahgre Valley, and the passes beyond.

Which of these SUVs actually comes with all-wheel drive?

Only the Forester. Subaru Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive is included at no extra cost on every 2026 Forester trim, from Base through Touring and including Wilderness.

The other two are front-wheel-drive vehicles with all-wheel drive available:

• 2026 Toyota RAV4: the hybrid is sold in front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, and the entry LE and SE grades start as front-drive. Only the plug-in hybrid comes with AWD standard.
• 2026 Honda CR-V: front-wheel drive is standard on the LX, EX, EX-L, Sport Hybrid and Sport-L Hybrid. AWD is standard only on the TrailSport Hybrid and Sport Touring Hybrid, the two most expensive trims in the lineup.

That distinction matters more than it sounds. It isn't only about whether the vehicle can be had with AWD. It's about what happens on a used lot in four years, when a one-owner CR-V shows up at a good price and turns out to be front-drive.

A second difference is mechanical. Subaru's system keeps the rear wheels mechanically driven at all times and varies how much torque goes back there. The CVT models run a 60/40 front-to-rear default. Toyota's hybrid AWD uses a separate electric motor on the rear axle with no driveshaft connecting it to the front, and Honda's Real Time AWD uses a clutch pack that sends torque rearward when the system predicts you'll need it. Worth knowing if you like to compare specs: Honda does not publish a maximum rear-torque percentage for the CR-V, so there is no official Honda number to set beside Subaru's 60/40 baseline. Any percentage you see quoted for a CR-V is a third-party estimate.

We'll be straight with you: both of those rival systems are good, and both are quicker to react than the old "slip-then-grip" criticism suggests. Honda's system pre-loads torque to the rear before the front wheels break traction. Toyota's electric rear motor engages in milliseconds. In an inch of snow on North Townsend, all three will get you moving. The Subaru's advantage shows up in sustained low-traction driving: a long unplowed climb, a washboard dirt road, a corner where grip disappears halfway through. You can't get the engagement decision wrong.

Does the 2026 Toyota RAV4 still come with a gas engine?

No. For a Montrose shopper, this matters because it affects the price of getting all-wheel drive. Subaru still sells you a 2.5-liter gas Forester with AWD included from $29,995, or a hybrid if you want one. Toyota no longer gives you that choice.

The RAV4 was fully redesigned for 2026 and is now hybrid-only. The conventional gas-only RAV4 is no longer in the lineup. Every 2026 RAV4 is either a hybrid or a plug-in hybrid.

Give Toyota the win it earned: the fuel economy that comes with that decision is excellent, with an EPA-estimated up to 43 mpg combined on the AWD LE and SE, with all-wheel-drive combined figures ranging from 38 to 43 depending on grade. Nothing Subaru sells in this class matches it.

But look at what it costs you at the front of the lineup. The cheapest RAV4 you can buy is a hybrid; the cheapest all-wheel-drive RAV4 costs more than that again, and you climb that ladder before you have bought a single inch of ground clearance. On the Forester, all-wheel drive is not a step on the ladder. It is the floor.

How much ground clearance do you actually need here?

More than you need in Denver. The Forester is the only one of these three that gives you the clearance and the all-wheel drive in the same breath, on the cheapest trim on the lot.

Starting MSRP excludes destination charges and reflects manufacturer figures at the time of writing; confirm current pricing with Flower Subaru. MPG figures are EPA estimates and vary with driving conditions, elevation, and load.

Eight-tenths of an inch sounds like nothing until you're straddling a frozen rut on a county road in March. The Forester's 8.7 inches beats both rivals in standard form, and the Forester Wilderness pushes to 9.3 inches with all-terrain tires, a full-size spare and a 3,500-pound tow rating.

The towing row rewards a close read, because the headline RAV4 number is not the number most shoppers get. Toyota rates the RAV4 at 3,500 pounds only on the AWD HEV XLE, Woodland, SE, XSE, and Limited, and the AWD PHEV SE, XSE, and Woodland. Every front-wheel-drive model and the LE AWD tows 1,750 pounds. So the entry RAV4 that a payment-driven shopper actually ends up in tows half what a Forester Wilderness does. The CR-V tows 1,000 pounds as a hybrid, which is most of the CR-V lineup.

Which one loses the least power at 5,800 feet?

Subaru's answer to that question is on our lot, and it is the Forester Hybrid: 194 horsepower with an electric side that does not derate at all, because motors make torque from current rather than air. If altitude is the thing you are worried about, that is the Forester to drive.

We will not pretend the gas Forester escapes it. Thin air costs a naturally aspirated engine about 3% of its output for every 1,000 feet of elevation, which puts the 2.5-liter's 180 rated horsepower nearer 149 at Montrose altitude. That is a rule-of-thumb estimate, not a Subaru specification. The CR-V's turbocharger recovers much of that loss by raising boost as ambient pressure falls, and it is a genuinely well-suited engine for elevation.

What the turbo does not do is put all-wheel drive under the CR-V that carries it, or add ride height, or give you a terrain system. The CR-V has no X-MODE equivalent at any price. The Forester Hybrid answers altitude without asking you to give any of that up, and that's why we steer altitude-anxious buyers up-model rather than across the street. We take that argument apart properly, hybrid by hybrid and climb by climb, in our Forester Hybrid vs. RAV4 Hybrid comparison.

Which should you actually buy?

The Forester, for most people who live here. It is the only one of the three where all-wheel drive, 8.7 inches of ground clearance, and X-MODE all arrive on the cheapest trim, and those are the three specs that decide a Montrose February. Here is how we would think about the other two:

• The Forester: if you want all-wheel drive without shopping for it by trim, you drive unpaved or unplowed roads regularly, or you want X-MODE and 9.3 inches of clearance in the Wilderness. It is the most capable of the three in the conditions this country actually produces, and it is capable that way in base trim, not just in the configuration a salesperson steers you toward.
• If fuel cost is the only thing that matters to you, the RAV4 wins that number. An EPA-estimated 43 mpg combined on the AWD LE and SE beats anything Subaru currently offers in this class, and we are not going to argue with the sticker. What it costs you: the AWD LE tows 1,750 pounds against the Forester Wilderness's 3,500, you get 8.1 inches of clearance instead of 8.7, and you have to shop for the all-wheel drive by grade. The LE and SE start as front-drive cars, so the cheapest RAV4 on the lot is the wrong one for your driveway. Over a five-year hold, the mpg gap is real money; so is the February you spend in a front-drive crossover you did not realize you bought.
• If maximum cargo volume is the only thing that matters to you, the CR-V wins that number. At 39.3 cubic feet behind the rear seats, it leads the group, and its turbo engine handles elevation well. What it costs you: front-wheel drive is standard on five of the seven trims, so AWD means climbing to a TrailSport Hybrid or Sport Touring Hybrid or paying for the option; there is no terrain system at all, only drive modes; and the hybrid tows 1,000 pounds. You are buying cubic feet at the price of the drivetrain.

Put plainly: two of these three ask you to buy your way up to all-wheel drive, and one includes it on every trim it sells. In a county where October through May is the long half of the year, that is not a tiebreaker. It is the whole argument.

Before you weigh any of that, though: the rubber you put on whichever one you choose will change your February more than the drivetrain underneath it does. That is true, and it is why we would rather sell you a Forester and a set of winter tires than a trim upgrade you did not need. Our Subaru vs. Toyota vs. Honda AWD explainer walks through why.