Two of today’s most-popular family carriers are the Toyota Innova and the Honda CR-V. Despite belonging to different segments, they are often on the top of the list of Filipino car buyers looking for a capable vehicle.

Interested to find out which among these two best suits your family and you? Join us in this cross-segment sortie to find out.

Exterior

	Toyota Innova	Honda CR-V
Dimensions (L x W x H mm)	4,735 x 1,830 x 1,795	4,623 x 1,855 x (1,658, 1,668)
Wheelbase (mm)	2,750	2,268
Ground clearance (mm)	(167, 174)	(198, 208)

The Toyota Innova gains an obvious advantage over the Honda CR-V in terms of exterior dimensions. But, although Toyota’s MPV appears to be longer (with a longer wheelbase) and taller, the crossover from Honda offers a wide body and a higher ground clearance.

These variations have slight effects on both the Toyota Innova and Honda CR-V but they both have the same ride quality. On that note, we’re calling this round a tie.

Interior

Inside, the Toyota Innova comes with comfortable fabric seats, fabric door trims, and either a urethane or leather steering wheel. The instrument panel can be had with a DOT type or a 4.2-inch TFT multi-informational display while the infotainment system will either be a 2DIN radio or a seven-inch display audio, depending on the variant of course.

Meanwhile, the Honda CR-V is equipped with black leather seats across the board. The steering wheel, on the other hand, can either be urethane or leather while the shift knob can come wrapped in leather if you choose the range-topping model.

Honda packed the CR-V with a full-color TFT instrument cluster and either a five-inch display audio or a seven-inch infotainment system.

With better interior amenities, we give this round to the Honda CR-V.

Engine

Under the hood of the Toyota Innova is a 2.8-liter diesel mill that can be mated to either a five-speed manual or a six-speed automatic. The manual variants produce a maximum power output of around 168 horses while the automatic models put out three horses more.

The Honda CR-V can be had with either a 1.6-liter diesel engine or a 2.0-liter gasoline power plant. The diesel variants are mated to a nine-speed gearbox while the gasoline variant is married to a CVT.

Customers driving the diesel model get a respectable 118hp while those running on the 2.0-liter gasoline engine get 152 horses.

With a more powerful, capable engine, this round goes to the Toyota Innova.

Safety

Safety-wise, the Toyota Innova gets SRS airbags, a set of seatbelts, ABS with brake assist and EBD, vehicle stability control, and hill-start assist control. Higher variants get an immobilizer with a horn as well as a reverse camera and a clearance back sonar.

The Honda CR-V gets a lot more with its own suite of airbags and seatbelts, agile handling assist, a driver attention monitor, vehicle stability assist, ABS with EBD, an emergency stop signal, a lane watch camera, corner sensors, as well as a security alarm and an immobilizer.

Furthermore, Honda Sensing models get the benefit of having adaptive cruise control, low speed follow, a collision mitigation braking system, a lane keep assist system, road departure mitigation, forward collision warning, and lane departure warning.

With obviously better safety features, this round goes to the Honda CR-V.

Variants and pricing

Toyota Innova

Innova 2.8L J DSL MT – P1,186,000
Innova 2.8L E DSL MT – P1,285,000
Innova 2.8L E DSL AT – P1,355,000
Innova 2.8L G DSL MT – P1,537,000
Innova 2.8L G DSL AT – P1,607,000
Innova 2.8L V DSL AT – P1,754,000

Honda CR-V

CRV 2.0 S CVT – P1,678,000
S Diesel 9AT Honda SENSING – P1,888,000
SX Diesel 9AT AWD Honda SENSING – P2,158,000

Verdict

With better interior options and a broader range of safety features, the Honda CR-V comes as the better option between the two. Sure, it may come with a higher price tag but you can never put a price on safety, especially when you’re behind the wheel driving with your family.

Photos from Toyota and Innova

Also read: 

MPV matchup: Toyota Innova vs. Maxus G50

Innovative interiors: What’s inside the new Toyota Innova

Neri and Chito Miranda test-drive the all-new Innova