2026 Toyota RAV4 v Hyundai Tucson v Subaru Forester comparison: Best hybrid family SUVs

This is the most important new-car comparison of 2026.

After seven years of its wildly popular predecessor, Toyota has treated the RAV4 – now Australia's top-selling SUV – to a new generation, using familiar underpinnings but all-new styling, a more modern cabin, upgraded technology and lower fuel consumption.

Prices have gone up, however, by up to $5930 – and it has lost power, as well as buttons, in the switch to the new model.

Has Toyota done enough to thrust the RAV4 back to the top of the hybrid medium SUV category, on balance of space, tech, features, comfort, performance, economy, handling and value?

Here it meets two of its stiffest and most compelling rivals: the Hyundai Tucson, a previous Drive Car of the Year Best Medium SUV category winner, and the Subaru Forester, a family favourite now available with Toyota-sourced hybrid tech.

Which is best? Read on to find out.

These three hybrid SUVs can have a blanket thrown over them in terms of pricing, costing similar amounts and giving mostly similar specifications.

However, there are important differences here.

Cheapest here (by a small margin) is the Subaru Forester Hybrid, which costs $55,990 plus on-road costs in its tippity-top trim level known as Touring AWD.

The Hyundai Tucson is also a range-topper in the Premium N Line trim, which comes with all-wheel drive. It's more expensive than the Forester at $59,850 plus on-road costs. Cheaper two-wheel-drive variants – with or without the N Line styling pack – are available further down the chain.

The Toyota RAV4 Cruiser is top-spec as far as hybrids go at $56,990 plus on-road costs, with a more expensive plug-in hybrid due to arrive in the coming months. Our test car is two-wheel drive, however, with all-wheel drive asking for an additional $3350.

In terms of standard equipment, a lot of stuff is shared here: heated and ventilated front seats with electric adjustment, dual-zone climate control, 12.3-inch digital instrument clusters and sunroofs. All have combinations of leather, synthetic leather and suede used on seats. The Tucson is the sportiest-looking with the N Line treatment, with contrast stitching and a more fetching interior design overall.

There are also dusk-sensing LED headlights for all three, along with auto high-beam and LED daytime running lights.

So, what's different? The RAV4 and Tucson get rear outboard heated seats, whereas the Forester does not. The RAV4 also gets a digital rear-view mirror, which the other two don't have.

And while all three have an infotainment display with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, digital radio and native navigation, it's the RAV4 that gets the largest screen at 12.9 inches. The Hyundai Tucson has a 12.3-inch screen that mirrors the digital cluster, while the Forester has a portrait-style setup that is 11.6 inches in size.

The Forester misses out on a head-up display on the windscreen, which is something that both the RAV4 and Tucson get.

For those who want the most bangin' sound system, it's the Forester with the 10-speaker Harman Kardon that reads the best on paper. The RAV4 has a nine-speaker JBL system, while eight Bose-branded speakers are found in the Tucson.

Most notably, though, the Subaru Forester is the only one here that misses out on a physical spare wheel as standard. Both the RAV4 and Tucson have a space-saving spare wheel, and the ability to squeeze a full-size spare into the boot. Lower trim levels of both vehicles also have a full-sizer as standard spare fare, but packaging problems for the Forester Hybrid mean it only has an inferior tyre repair kit.

The new RAV4 showcases a geometric and boxy interior design theme to go with the outside's new angles, and while it feels modern, it comes at the cost of some physical controls.

Front and centre is a 12.9-inch touchscreen paired with a 12.3-inch digital dash recessed behind the steering wheel, and both are clear, sharp and the touchscreen is fast. Hovering above is a fully digital rear-vision mirror, which is clear and bright, if a touch warped at the very edges.

Toyota kept the volume knob and quick-access buttons for temperature and demisters, but has moved the fan speed into the screen along with all other temp controls and the heated and ventilated seats. The replacement for these controls is... nothing. The dash now has an (admittedly useful) storage cubby underneath two wireless chargers, which are flanked by large button 'pods' that look like the big afterburner go-buttons in the cockpit of an aircraft game.

But instead of being useful, say for frequently used controls like fan speed, they are for toggling drive modes and the diff lock/stability control. It is a bizarre choice to make the traction-control button one of the most prominent things in a family SUV while hiding the climate settings on a screen.

The pods themselves and the dash console underneath in our test car felt a little flimsy too, and the shutlines of the different dash panels didn't quite meet up in a way we would expect of Toyota. With the price rise of this new RAV4 in mind, plus this being the top-of-the-line Cruiser, it felt a little underdone.

The colour palette is also rather conservative. While there is a good mix of soft-touch surfaces along with hard plastics, and the actual design is a bit edgy and futuristic, a splash of colour or a bit of flair would not go astray here.

The glovebox and centre console bin are quite big, though, and the latter has both dual openings for driver or passenger, plus can be removed and flipped over to be a shallow storage tray instead of a padded elbow rest; a good extra shelf for food or drink if you're stationary. It's a great idea, though its longevity and actual practical application for everyday take-aways is yet to be seen.

Seat comfort is a win too. There is plenty of room for taller drivers to stretch out, and you get electric adjustment and lumbar support along with front heated and vented seats, plus seat heating for the rear outboard occupants as well.

In the second row, it is more familiar RAV4, with the aforementioned seat heaters, USB-C ports for device charging, and centre-mounted air vents. Knee room is decent, about on par with the Forester, though there is a touch less here and in toe room than the Tucson.

The boot seems just as practical as the old one, with the floor sliding to two different heights over a space-saver spare and possible room for a full-sized wheel. In fact, one can be optioned on the GX.

For the most part, the new Toyota RAV4 is similar to the previous-generation model.

And that's a good thing. It's smooth and seamless, combining petrol and electric power in a way that doesn't interrupt the driving experience.

There's no getting around the fact that the new RAV4 doesn't have the same amount of grunt as the previous-generation model, and it falls behind the Tucson most noticeably for sprightliness.

Petrol power has been trimmed back here, but that gap has been closed somewhat by a more powerful electric motor.

Regenerative braking is smooth and easy, and the petrol engine chimes into and out of the equation without any fuss.

Performance is certainly adequate for most situations, even though the engine can end up sounding a bit thrashy when working hard. For the most part, this is only momentary when you're accelerating to merge or make a gap in traffic. For regular cruising, it's a pleasantly quiet hum.

Steering is a noticeable difference between the old and new RAV4. There's a bit more meat and heft in this new model compared to the effortlessly light and twirly outgoing car.

Steering feel is suitably calm off centre, not responding too quickly to inputs. But we noticed a much sharper response once the tiller is twisted as you're going through a corner. It's not twitchy, but feels quite pointed and responsive at times.

Ride quality from the RAV4 is a standout, which is something all of the judges agreed on after back-to-back testing the three cars. All are quite good in isolation, but the Toyota manages to harness an extra level of compliance and absorption. It's not to the detriment of comfort or body control, but this is a car that feels quite at home on rough, pock-marked and potholed roads.

Consider the fact that this is in a RAV4 Cruiser with big 20-inch wheels, and that is an impressive feat. We'd wager a lower trim level RAV4 on smaller alloys would be better again.

The most annoying element we found with the Toyota RAV4 was the driver monitoring technology, which can be a bit overzealous at times with its incriminations of the driver.

The Tucson has arguably the best all-round interior of the three, further lifted by the N Line pack's suede seat inserts and red contrast stitching.

The centrepiece is its curved twin 12.3-inch panoramic display, which neatly houses the driver gauges and the infotainment system in one sleek unit focused on the person behind the wheel. The system is high-resolution and snappy, and while it might not be Tesla fast, it is easily one of the better setups in a mainstream car.

Hyundai resisted the urge to bury every single function in a digital menu, so you still get tactile dials for infotainment volume and temperature controls. The latter is a proper physical unit that sits underneath the centre screen in the dash, and feels much more intuitive to use than what you find in some rivals.

The fan speed buttons, which are touchscreen controls, are still a little small, meaning adjusting on the fly over bumpy roads may have fumbling fingers turning on the heated steering wheel instead. But at least they don't require digging through a submenu to access.

Moving the gear selector to a stalk on the steering column opens up the real estate in the centre console, though we have always found it a bit clunky to use. However, it does become more familiar over time. Still, it allows for a two-tiered floating shelf that is big enough to stack driver and passenger paraphernalia. It will fit tablets as well as phones, which is also handy with the twin USB-C chargers and a 12V socket sitting at the head of the lower shelf.

On the upper console, the wireless phone charger's location is a bit of a miss, as direct sunlight from the panoramic roof or the windscreeen will further heat up a charging device.

The storage continues with well-sized door pockets and a decent centre armrest bin. Everything feels solid and well built, with the N Line package bringing a nice mix of soft-touch materials and suede that contrasts with the hard plastics in the RAV4.

The back seat and boot are where the Tucson really shows off its size. It is the largest car here dimensionally, and that pays off with some extra toe room and a touch more knee room. Passengers in the rear are treated to air vents, a pair of USB-C ports, and even heated outboard seats to match the fronts' heated and vented pews.

There is a panoramic sunroof that lets in a lot of light, and a clever little switch that allows rear passengers or the driver to slide the front passenger seat forward to ease egress.

The boot is cavernous at 582L, with quick-release levers that fold the 60:40 rear split seats down from the boot to open up a massive 1903L of cargo space. The boot floor, which has two levels of height, also hides a space-saver spare, and appears to have room for a full-size spare if you want the assurance of five real wheels (the non-hybrid Tucson and Tucson Elite have this as standard).

The Tucson differs slightly from the other two hybrid SUVs in this comparison. Whereas Subaru borrows a version of Toyota's hybrid setup with a CVT automatic transmission, the Tucson employs a six-speed automatic transmission, with an electric motor wedged in between it and the turbocharged 1.6-litre petrol engine.

The Tucson is the punchiest hybrid SUV here, with the combined outputs of 172kW and 367Nm. The driving experience is different through the gearbox, as the revs rise and fall through the smooth, steady gear changes. Rather than leaning on electric grunt initially to increase speed, the Tucson is a little closer to what you would expect from a regular petrol car: drop a gear or two, get the revs up, and then you start surging forward.

Where the Toyota and Suburu can make driveline noises under certain throttle loads, this powertrain in the Tucson drones the least while working hard.

Going for a lower-capacity turbocharged engine pays dividends here as well, with the healthier midrange torque allowing for a smooth drive. It does a bit more of the heavy lifting here, kicking into action sooner and more often than the other two hybrid SUVs.

The driving experience here is otherwise very well mannered. Whereas the RAV4 has the edge of ride quality, while the Forester might have a sweeter and more nuanced chassis, the Tucson strikes a fine middle ground between the two. Ride quality is good, handling plenty good enough for the requirements, and it's generally quite an effortless car to live with.

Going into sport mode changes the nature of the vehicle through gear shifting noticably, and allows the driver to change gears through the paddle shifters. When in other modes, these flappy paddles instead increase and decrease the intensity of regenerative braking. It's a system that works well, and something that can help trim back fuel consumption around the suburbs.

The Forester interior stays true to the Subaru formula of prioritising a clear view of the world. The massive glasshouse windows provide a truly airy and spacious aspect, and the stadium seating in the back ensures even shorter passengers have a great view.

However, if you are the type of driver who likes to sit low and hunkered down in the cabin, you might find the front electric seats a bit frustrating because they stay quite high even at their lowest setting.

The 11.6-inch portrait screen is a focal point that comes with some clear trade-offs, particularly in this company. While it is big, the resolution feels a bit behind the times, and the response speed is slow enough to be noticeable when you are trying to move through menus.

The graphics for the climate controls have a retro feel, and when you are using phone mirroring or utilising navigation, you lose about half the screen to other displays. The top of the screen has a widget display that can be customised, but the actual widgets, such as the car's angle or throttle percentages, are nowhere near as useful as a larger map while driving.

Subaru has kept things simple by retaining physical buttons for the temperature, demisters and volume. Having these real tactile controls is a massive win for usability on the road, even if the overall tech feels a bit older than its rivals here.

Fortunately, the digital driver cluster behind the wheel is colorful and sharp, and can pull your map up directly so you don't actually have to interact with the slower and smaller main screen map.

The centre console is a bit more traditional, with a standard gear lever that unfortunately leaves you with smaller storage bins and an east-west wireless charging pad that can be quite finicky. If your phone slides even slightly during a turn, the charging often cuts out entirely.

The materials inside are a mix of practical and slightly eclectic. There is an interesting hexagon pattern on the dash, though it is paired with some fake wood trim that feels dated, and some of the plastics and piano black around the shifter and centre console were already scratched up in our 8000km-old test car.

The dash also offers one USB-A and USB-C port, and an old-school headphone jack for the passenger as a bit of a retro touch. It is a functional, honest space that feels built for people who value visibility and easy buttons over a high-tech lounge, because the high-tech isn't quite there on that slow portrait screen.

The second row is again lightened up significantly by those large windows, and toe and knee room are on par with the RAV4 if not the Tucson. For a top-shelf model, the two blanked-out buttons on the back of the centre console are a mystery, hinting that other markets get something our top-shelf car does not – like rear seat heaters. Which the other two include.

However the boot is the biggest letdown. While the other two vehicles have room for even a full-sized spare and come with a space-saver, the Forester's boot underfloor is entirely consumed by the battery. The others manage to fit their drive architecture under the boot and place the battery elsewhere, so why not the Forester? Plus, the boot is also the smallest at 484L.

Sitting in the driver's seat of the Forester brings one clear impression: this is the most SUV-like of all three in this comparison. It feels taller, with more height to the seating position and a higher-riding nature. The cabin feels taller as well, with more vertical glass to gaze through.

Adopting proven Toyota hybrid technology for the Forester is a smart move, most obviously in the running costs department. But thankfully, the driving experience doesn't take a backward step here. Those elements of a low-slung boxer engine and permanent drive to all four wheels gives the Subaru a confident and fun driving feeling from the behind the wheel, making it the most enjoyable of these three to run through the corners.

Steering is natural-feeling and responsive, and the chassis provides the most engagement out of the trio. Although, back-to-back testing showed that on country roads with rough and pock-marked finishes, the Forester was the most prone to jiggling about, not settling and absorbing as well as the other two.

And while Subaru makes a lot of noise about the increased off-road bandwidth of the Forester in comparison to other medium SUVs, this high-riding nature helps in the concrete jungle as well. More suspension travel takes on speed bumps and driveway joins like nobody's business, and gives the driver a welcome sense of confidence they aren't going to bottom out.

Unsurprisingly, the hybrid powertrain setup here blends electric and petrol power smoothly and with little complaint, reverting back to EV mode quite often in an effort to conserve fuel. Initial take off feels confident with electric-only power, and the boxer engine chimes in nicely to take over when loads increase.

While not as loud or noticable as the Toyota, this Subaru does give a bit of thrashiness through the powertrain when working hard. But mostly, revs are kept low as the engine plugs away in the midrange.

The Hyundai Tucson and Subaru Forester are straightforward as far as safety ratings are concerned, both carrying five-star ANCAP scores.

The Tucson's rating carries a 2021 date stamp, assessed under less stringent criteria in place when this generation of the SUV launched that year, while the Forester's score is newer, tested under just-superseded 2023–25 protocols.

The RAV4 was meant to arrive in Australian showrooms in late 2025, and complete its ANCAP safety assessment before the end of the year, but delays attributed to quality control pushed it into 2026.

As a result, it needs to be assessed under even tougher 2026 safety standards – and Toyota seemingly isn't confident it can get five stars in the RAV4's current form, so it has announced "passive and active" safety upgrades due in the second half of 2026.

Few details of what those will entail have been revealed, but Toyota has confirmed there will not be changes to the vehicle's crash structure, and the changes not be retrofitted to RAV4 built between now and when the upgrades arrive.

Those vehicles will be sold as "unrated" in the meantime, though Toyota claims they are the "safest RAV4[s] ever". For more details on the why, when and how of the safety upgrade, read our news story here.

All three cars are well equipped in terms of crash-avoidance technology, fitted with: autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian/cyclist/intersection detection, lane-keep assist, lane-centring assist, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, speed sign recognition, door exit warning, and driver attention monitoring.

All three come with front, rear, side and 360-degree cameras, plus front and rear parking sensors, with the Hyundai adding clever auto parking technology allowing owners to stand beside the car, and move it into or out of a perpendicular space from the key fob.

The Toyota brings front cross-traffic alert to the table, while the Subaru includes an airbag in the front passenger seat cushion, to join the eight also standard in the other cars (dual frontal, front-side, front and rear curtain, driver's knee, front-centre).

On the road, the Toyota's safety systems are the most intuitive. Adaptive cruise control is smoothly calibrated, as are the lane-keeping and lane-centring systems, while the parking cameras are acceptable, but not particularly high resolution.

The only black mark is the driver attention monitor, which is overzealous, even compared to the eager technology in the Subaru and Hyundai.

It doesn't take much of a glance away from the road – whether that's interacting with the fiddly on-screen climate controls, or checking cross-streets at a junction – for the tech to chime in and tell you to pay attention.

The lane-keeping assist is most insistent in the Hyundai – though it can be turned off from the steering wheel – followed by the Subaru, which is not as smooth as the Toyota in the tuning of this system, but also isn't so intrusive as to drive you mad.

Also a source of irritation is the Tucson's speed-sign recognition, which beeps when it exceeds the limit it has detected – even if it has misread the sign – and while it can be turned off by holding the mute button on the steering wheel, it reactivates every time the car is started.

The RAV4 is the best in terms of petrol consumption, but its 95RON requirement brings it a touch closer to the others in the real world, given its more expensive fuel.

Premium 95 is consistently pricier, often around 20 cents more per litre. Our test figures would mean 100km in the RAV4 on 95RON at its current (April 2026) price average of $2.19 will cost $9.86, while 91RON fuel at $2.03 would see the Forester clock $13 for 100km, and the Tucson $13.20.

Filling a tank in the RAV4 would cost $120.45, the Tucson $105.56, and the Forester with its larger tank would be $127.89.

By the numbers, the RAV4 claims a measly 4.5 litres per 100 kilometres versus the Tucson's 5.3L/100km and the Forester's 6.2L/100km, but our test saw one car with more mixed results.

Our last test with the front-drive Tucson Elite N Line saw a 5.6L/100km consumption figure, but this test with all three cars driven on the same roads with swapping drivers clicked a full 1.2L/100km more than its claim of 5.3L/100km.

Both the RAV4 and the Forester were close to their claims at 0.1L and 0.2L more, respectively, on test.

All three contenders come with a five-year/unlimited-kilometre base warranty for the vehicle, though they differ in the other terms of their assurance periods.

Hyundai will extend the vehicle warranty to seven years if you exclusively service within its dealer network, while Toyota will boost coverage of the engine and driveline to the same period if the car is service on time, and passes annual checks.

A similar program is available for the RAV4's high-voltage battery, which sees coverage boosted from five to 10 years when checked annually at a Toyota dealer. It goes without a kilometre limit, unlike the others' eight-year/160,000km battery warranties.

Services are set 12 months apart for all three, but expect to hit the distance intervals before the timed ones, and it is the Hyundai dealer you'll be seeing most with a shorter 10,000km interval against 15,000km for the RAV4 and Forester.

As is the norm for a Toyota, it is the cheapest car to service, quoting $1625 over five years/75,000km.

That's up from $1350 in the previous RAV4 Hybrid, but still cheaper than the Tucson's $2072 and Forester's $2299.04.

A year of comprehensive insurance coverage with a leading provider is quoted at $1516 for the RAV4, $1636 for the Tucson and $1433 for the Forester, based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

The verdict in this comparison was a surprisingly close call.

Less so was the third-place finisher, the Subaru Forester.

Consider it the least impressive of three great family SUVs: it is roomy, easy to drive, well suited to families, and the cheapest vehicle on test, but it is not as spacious, well equipped, perky or graced with the most modern technology of these vehicles.

You might've expected the Toyota RAV4 to run away with a victory. New for 2026, it looks sharper, the technology is a massive step up, it was the most fuel-efficient car by a wide margin, and it's the cheapest to service.

Mix that with a reasonably roomy cabin, thoughtful storage, a comfortable ride, easy-going demeanour, and the reputation of the Toyota badge, and the new RAV4 deserves to be on the shopping lists of Australian family-car buyers.

However, the Hyundai Tucson pulls noticeably ahead of the RAV4 in space, equipment, luxury and ease of use, without sacrificing much in technology, value for money and comfort.

The roomiest cabin, bright screens, well-appointed finishes, a big boot, intuitive controls, a punchy yet still reasonably frugal hybrid system that can accept the cheapest unleaded fuel, and a good balance between comfort and handling, help it pull ahead in this test.

A new-generation Tucson is due next year to take these attributes to the next level, but the fact this five-year-old model is competitive with Toyota's box-fresh RAV4 is testament to the updates Hyundai has made to its top seller in recent years.

All three of these SUVs are great choices that deserve your consideration, but it's the Hyundai Tucson we'd recommend test-driving first.

Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner

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