Top-5 Subcompact SUVs // Our top picks for 2023

welcome to the motor mouth YouTube channel I'm Andrea I'm Zach and we are going through our top five subcompact crossovers or SUVs for the 2023 model year you want to stick around once we get past number one we're going to do some honorable mentions some vehicles that didn't make the list but are worth looking at let's get into it number five the Kia seltos the celtos has two power train options the base engine is a two liter four-cylinder with a CVT 146 horsepower and 132 pound-feet of torque there's also a 1.6 liter turbocharged four-cylinder with a seven-speed automatic transmission 175 horsepower and 195 pound-feet of torque front wheel drive and all-wheel drive options are available on the base engine all-wheel drive for the turbo for 2024 the celtos turbo gets a power bump to 195 horsepower 20 horsepower more so this is what's classified as the subcompact class but people who are shopping in the subcompact class often are shopping because they're less expensive than the compact vehicles but they still want space and that's one of the great attributes of this Kia celtos is even though it's in the subcompact class it's big it's an affordable option even with that turbo engine and if you get the pop trim with so many wonderful features from ventilated front seats heated rear seats it is just still one of the best in the top five that we're going to be going through for price point it's just a lot of value so you get a lot of value you get a big vehicle you get an available second engine Choice the turbo 1.6 is very good and one of the things you want to think about so if you're somebody that is interested in this vehicle the base engines 2-liter with a continuously variable transmission if you jump up to the 1.6 turbo then you get what's called a dual clutch automatic transmission it's more engaging it's fun it's actually quick on the highway it's the one I would choose but it all comes down to price point there's only one issue with the turbo powertrain is that it's only available on the top Trim in Canada in the U.S you can get it on two trims which is kind of a nice option I also really like the seating position in the celtos you sit up up and over the dash I think that a lot of petite women would really enjoy the seating position but if you're a very tall person you might find that there's not enough Headroom for you all right it's not perfect it looks good on the inside when you get in and you touch and you interact with the dash keep in mind these are less expensive Vehicles compared to the compact class there's some hard plastic there's some piano black in there it kind of comes with the territory I gotta say at the LA Auto Show we saw the 2024 model and it has the same screen that type of look that you see in the Sportage and the new Nero I think that it looks really sharp and I'm excited that it seems a little bit more integrated technology wise than the screen that sits above the dash we'll start with pricing we'll do Canada first and then we'll move on to the U.S the base model starts at just over 23 and a half thousand dollars and the top SX Turbo is just over 30 three and a half thousand dollars in the U.S the base model starts at just over twenty two and a half thousand dollars and the top SX Turbo is just over twenty eight thousand dollars here's the fuel economy for the base two liter engine 8.8 liters per hundred kilometers in the city 7.6 on the highway has 27 miles per gallon City 31 miles per gallon highway if you opt for the 1.6 turbo the fuel economy is 9.4 liters per hundred kilometer City 7.9 on the highway that's 25 miles per gallon City 30 miles per gallon highway Kia offers a great warranty of five years or a hundred thousand kilometers sixty Thousand Miles once again stick around after we hit number one we're going to do some honorable mentions up next is number four it's the Volkswagen Taos it has a 1.5 liter turbocharged four-cylinder with 158 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque front wheel drive models have an 8-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive models a seven-speed dual clutch transmission so number five was the celtos number four is the Volkswagen Taos and they have actually some similarities uh the first thing is this is a big vehicle it's the biggest of the bunch right it has a lot of room same thing so for people who want to save money but still move their family around with some comfort this is an option instead of having to go up and buying the more expensive and larger Tiguan and then remember Andrea we talked about the Kia having a a turbo engine this comes standard with a turbo engine yeah I just want to get back into the space a little bit that the rear leg room I was really shocked when I got into the Taos how spacious it really is I mean you'll be able to put car seats in there no problem at all and then of course the cargo capacity and then the Comfort level I found that the seats were really comfortable the visibility it was a very open cabin so I think for this class A vehicle well some people are not huge fans of Volkswagen you cannot beat it for space in this subcompact category so there you go that's why it made our list it's big it's got a lot of room you don't have to go up to a compact SUV you can get by with this come standard with a turbocharged engine and you can get the dual clutch it makes it more fun to drive and the reason is because Volkswagen got rid of the golf car and they got rid of the golf station wagon and this replaced it it still kind of has a little bit of that golf vibe to it and there aren't a lot of vehicles in this class that come with a panoramic sunroof some don't get features like ventilated front seats so it's nice to have some of these options and you also get Wireless Apple carplay and Android auto all right not perfect either um the interior is similar to those previous Volkswagen models so the dash layout is similar to what you got in the old golf that'll make Volkswagen fans feel very at home it's still the same setup though it's not exactly the best materials on the inside and there's a lot of hesitancy from people around the Volkswagen brand the Dual clutch transmission can also be a bit jerky people who go and take this for a test driver a little bit shocked they're expecting more of a smoother ride but trust me you can Master it it actually is really engaging and dynamic to drive so if you're somebody that likes that European fun little hatchback kind of feel that they used to have in the Gulf that's what you get with this you get the the snappy dual clutch transmission the turbocharged engine great driving Dynamics it's everything that Volkswagen stands for is still in this car the top trim is also quite pricey compared to others in this class in Canada the base model starts at just under 20 seven thousand dollars and the most expensive model is thirty seven and a half thousand dollars in the United States the base model is twenty four thousand dollars and the most expensive model is thirty four and a half thousand dollars here's the fuel economy nine point five liters per hundred kilometers in the city 7.4 on the highway that's 25 miles per gallon City 32 miles per gallon highway Volkswagen offers a great warranty of four years or 80 000 kilometers 50 000 miles what do you think number one is going to be make sure you stick around for that and our honorable mentions number three goes to the north of the Border Mazda South of the Border Mazda cx-30 this video is brought to you by carcass Canada get the Dealer's cost list of rebates plus discounted interest rates use the promo code motor mouth to become an expert member and get extra searches the link is in the description below it has three powertrain options a two liter four-cylinder with a six-speed automatic transmission 155 horsepower and 150 pound-feet of torque in the U.S this engine is no longer available the second option is a 2.5 liter four-cylinder with 187 horsepower and 186 pound-feet of torque there is a turbocharged variant of this Engine with 256 horsepower and 320 pound-feet of torque on premium fuel if you use regular fuel you'll get a little less power 227 horsepower and 310 pound-feet of torque the cx-30 is standard all-wheel drive so the cx-30 isn't the biggest we talked about the other ones being very big that's not the case with this this one is targeted at somebody who likes to drive and likes the Dynamics and the feel the steering the brake the cornering all of that this is what Andrea gets into and that's where this vehicle shines plus you've got options with engines well what's surprising is whether you get the non-turbo or the turbo the 2.5 liter the power is great on both of them I sometimes wonder if I don't know if I even really need to pay the extra money for the turbocharged engine I like the way that this handles it's Dynamic it's engaging oh it's incredible in the city but excellent on the highway plenty of power it's super fun and they do a great job of insulating the cabin from the outside road noise and wind noise it feels upscale and that parlays into the interior and this is a area where this company does an excellent job their Interiors might not look fancy but when you get in and touch them and feel them they have first-rate materials yeah the top trim with the Napa leather is really beautiful there isn't a ton of hard plastic lots of soft materials so I really think that this is a very Upscale Interior especially for this category all right so this vehicle really is perfect if you're say you're a young couple you're just starting out and you want a fun little crossover vehicle but no kids yet or maybe your kids have left the nest in your empty nesters this is a perfect vehicle I wouldn't recommend it for anybody that has car seats and little kids the back seat is just way too small too small cargo area is too small even Headroom in the back seat you might find kind of challenging so definitely a single person or a couple where you don't have a load of passengers in the vehicle it's a special use case this vehicle right and it's also maybe a great second vehicle in the family Maybe we have a bigger vehicle this is kind of your run around do errands kind of car would be perfect for that I really believe in this subcompact class that the cx-30 is one of the best if not the best handling vehicle the cx-30 in Canada starts at just over twenty six thousand dollars on the most expensive turbo engine is the GT and it starts at just under thirty eight thousand dollars in the United States the base model is 22 and a half thousand dollars and the most expensive turbo model is just under thirty five thousand dollars the non-turbo engine gets 9.9 liters per hundred kilometers in the city 7.7 on the highway that's 24 miles per gallon City 31 miles per gallon highway the 2.5 T gets 10.5 liters per hundred kilometers in the city 7.9 on the highway that's 22 miles per gallon City 30 miles per gallon highway Mazda offers a warranty of three years there's sixty thousand kilometers 36 000 miles we're one away from the number one pick and by the way it's a repeat from last year it's a little tease for you Andrea uh well you might have given it away no I didn't even have to have watched the last video but what's number two number two is the Toyota Corolla cross it has two power train options a two liter four-cylinder engine matched to a CVT 169 horsepower and 150 pound-feet of torque front wheel drive and all-wheel drive options are available a new hybrid powertrain is available for 2023 it's a two liter four-cylinder and three electric motors 194 combined horsepower and standard all-wheel drive so this is genius from Toyota what's the best selling car in the world of all time the Corolla so you've got a nameplate that everybody knows and then you make it into a crossover it's a Corolla cross genius right and uh it's a Toyota and that's probably the number one attribute for this vehicle and now they're coming out with a hybrid which has great combined horsepower it really is a fabulous option for families okay so the positives are Toyota knows how to make a car right it's functional Toyota does that exceptionally well it's going to be rely bowl is going to have great resale value and all those sorts of things but then when you dig in a little bit deeper they actually did a good job I found the dash was very pleasant and the amount of space you get is really quite good yeah it's quite an open cabin it's easy to get in and out of the vehicle it doesn't feel too high yet you still have a nice seating position in the vehicle it's comfortable it's spacious the rear seat is very good and then cargo capacity in this class is excellent so when you look at the dash it isn't the Showbiz interior it is a classic Toyota it's functional first and they do that exceptionally well we were impressed with the materials they used in it it actually was nicer than I expected for a Toyota so that part they've got nailed down and there's also some different color options to the interior which I think is nice especially in this class instead of just going with black but the interior is Bland there is no doubt about it it's not as exciting as some of the Korean models but it's practical okay so the negatives really come down to the noise level on the highway we drove this on the highway quite extensively and we noted that it really was quite noisy so this is a classic case of an urban city run around perfect for that the hybrid is going to be better but the gas model is noisy on the highway yeah and we drove it in Quebec and the roads are not of the best quality there and so it really stood out for us I'm sure if we were in Vancouver it wouldn't have seemed as loud but you really got to look into this depending on where you live and the type of road conditions that you deal with daily another selling feature for this vehicle is the price it starts at just under twenty five thousand dollars and the most expensive all-wheel drive is just under thirty four thousand dollars in Canada in the United States the base model starts at just over twenty three thousand dollars and the most expensive all-wheel drive model is just 28 and a half thousand dollars at the time of recording this video hybrid pricing has not been announced the two liter four-cylinder engine gets 8.1 liters per hundred kilometers in the city 7.4 on the highway that's 29 miles per gallon City 32 miles per gallon highway the hybrid gets 6.4 liters per 100 kilometers combined that's 37 miles per gallon combined Toyota offers a warranty of three years or 60 000 kilometers 36 000 miles number one this was our number one pick last year and it's still equally as good this year it's the Subaru Crosstrek there are three powertrain options the base engine is a two liter four-cylinder matched to a CVT 152 horsepower and 145 pound-feet of torque the second option is a more powerful 2.5 liter four-cylinder it has 182 horsepower and 176 pound-feet of torque standard all-wheel drive the plug-in hybrid has a 2-liter four-cylinder with an electric motor a combined 148 horsepower and 27 kilometers 17 miles of EV range so why is this our number one pick well there's a bunch of factors that come into play Andrea just mentioned three powertrain options when you combine the functionality of the Crosstrek with what Subaru charges for it it's really a home run and it's a nice sized vehicle so I particularly like about this vehicle is you get the extra ground clear insurance for places like Canada and Northern us where you get a lot of snow and the doors and the functionality the Subaru excels at this stuff well I like that it comes standard with all-wheel drive there's a manual transmission option not just on the base trim but a variety of trims for you to choose from the tech is quite good it's easy to use and then I just think that the cabin is spacious and comfortable it is actually a fairly quiet cabin you get it on the highway and you accelerate quickly especially with the 2.5 liter engine and it still remains quite quiet yeah it's quite polished feeling as well now there is a cap of people so you can get the manual transmission but the automatic is a continuously variable transmission it's not everybody's cup of tea but here's our advice if you're shopping for this Crosstrek really do consider the 2.5 liter engine that really in our opinion should be the base engine it makes the vehicle much easier to live with every day it gets around some of the cvtiness I think it really is the one to buy and while you can get the phev in more places in the U.S it's available in Canada in Quebec so let's get into the negatives the base engine is quite slow because of the CVT it gets louder on the highway it's not my favorite I would definitely recommend the more powerful 2.5 liter so one of the selling features of the Subaru Crosstrek is it's a bit of a tweener it's in the subcompact class but it's a little bit longer than many of its competitors and you get excellent front and second row legroom however the cargo area isn't the biggest right yeah you're lacking some cargo space so check that out if you're going with a subcompact class vehicle you know and you have to put a stroller back there for example just make sure it fits or you could do what we did we bought the car and then we bought the stroller and we made sure the Stroller Fit here's the pricing in Canada the base engine base model starts at just under 25 000 if you want to get the two and a half liter that starts at thirty one and a half thousand dollars and the hybrid limited availability in Canada is just over forty four thousand dollars in the U.S the two liter four-cylinder starts at twenty three and a half thousand dollars the two and a half liter starts at just under twenty eight thousand dollars and the hybrid is just under thirty seven thousand dollars here's the fuel economy the two liter four-cylinder gets 8.5 liters per hundred kilometers in the city seven liters per hundred kilometers on the highway that's 28 miles per gallon City 33 miles per gallon highway the 2.5 liter gets 8.8 liters per hundred kilometer City seven liters on the highway that's 27 miles per gallon City 34 miles per gallon highway the plug-in hybrid gets a combined 2.6 liters equivalent per 100 kilometers that's 90 miles per gallon equivalent when the battery is depleted it gets 6.7 liters per hundred kilometers that's 35 miles per gallon Subaru offers a warranty of three years or 60 000 kilometers 36 000 miles so will Subaru Crosstrek be a the repeat next year will it be a dynasty we'll have to wait and see so what do you think of that list five to number one right below which one would you pick right now honorable mention well you might be a little bit surprised that the Honda HRV gets an honorable mention only and didn't make our list well here's why although it's a spacious and comfortable crossover and much improved than the previous model it's much too expensive in Canada you will pay between over fourteen hundred to five thousand dollars Canadian extra for the base all-wheel drive model compared to its competitors the top trim is also high in Canada at over thirty seven thousand dollars and its missing features like a power driver seat ventilated front seats a panoramic sunroof and a rear seat armrest which many other competitors have pricing in the U.S is more reasonable although you will pay a premium for a Honda fuel economy is just okay considering it's a brand new vehicle for Honda next is the Hyundai Kona it's also a great option it handles especially well if you get the turbo model it's a lot of fun but it's small and lacks cargo space the base engine is kind kind of underwhelming and feels underpowered and finally the Kia Niro we really enjoyed the redesign narrow with three electrified powertrain options not only is it spacious but comfortable the only big negative for many is that there is no all-wheel drive option so those three honorable mentions they're fine Vehicles there's nothing wrong with them they just didn't make it in the list for several reasons the main one with Honda great design for the new product way too expensive cone is too small and the Nero no all-wheel drive but you have to decide if that's important to you for sure and that is our list type of way let us know what you think tell us what your number one pick is and make sure you subscribe we put out a lot of unique content each week and hit that notification Bell and also follow us at motor mouth underscore Andrea we put out a lot of content each week and give you a sneak peek of what's coming up on the channel we'll see you in the next one this video is brought to you by carcass Canada get the Dealer's cost list of rebates plus discounted interest rates use the promo code motor mouth to become an expert member and get extra searches the link is in the description below

Channel: Motormouth

Views: 216,180

Keywords: 2023 Kia Seltos, 2023 VW Taos, 2023 Volkswagen taos, 2023 mazda CX-30, 2023 Toyota Corolla Cross, 2023 Subaru Crosstrek, Subaru Crosstreck, zack spencer, Andrea Spencer, zack spencer's wife, couple car review, motormouth

Id: nzkKnkllTpg

Length: 22min 25sec (1345 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 30 2022