**The Great Debate: All-Wheel Drive vs Winter Tires**

As we dive into the world of cars, one question often arises: what's better for winter driving - all-wheel drive or winter tires? The answer, it turns out, is not a simple one. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, and understanding these nuances can help you make an informed decision when shopping for a new car.

Firstly, let's talk about the benefits of all-wheel drive. According to Dr. Izaak Proctor, Consumer Reports' automotive engineer, "All-wheel drive does not help with braking and cornering, but it does help with starting up traction, like climbing a hill." This means that if you live in an area with steep hills or frequent snowfall, all-wheel drive can be a huge advantage. However, this comes at a cost - switching between winter tires and regular tires twice a year can be a hassle. "It's a pain to do it," Dr. Proctor admits. "You have to put on the snow tires in the spring and fall, or in areas where it gets warm and snowy, you have to switch back and forth."

This trade-off is something that many car owners are willing to make, especially if they live in an area with consistent winter weather. For example, in states like Vermont, it's common for people to put on snow tires as soon as the temperature drops below freezing. In contrast, areas like the Mid-Atlantic region may not see enough snow to warrant the hassle of switching between seasons twice a year.

**A Crossover Conundrum**

One car that poses a particular challenge is the Subaru Impreza hatchback, which was recently redesigned for 2017. According to Dr. Proctor, the new Subarus are "huge steps" over their predecessors, but they still lack one key feature: all-wheel drive as standard equipment. This means that if you want to take advantage of the added traction and control of all-wheel drive, you'll have to opt for a higher trim level or do without it altogether.

Meanwhile, the Mazda 3 hatchback has taken a different approach. With its Grand Touring trim, the Mazda offers a more upscale interior experience, complete with leather touches and soft-touch door materials. While this may not be enough to sway some buyers, others will appreciate the extra attention to detail. "It's really it's pretty close," Dr. Proctor says of the Mazda 3 versus the Subaru Impreza. "If any of that trickles down to the next generation of Mazdas, we can expect it to be even better."

**Refinement and Interior Space**

When it comes to refinement and interior space, both cars have their strengths and weaknesses. The new Subaru Impreza is quieter than the Mazda 3, making it a more comfortable ride for passengers. Additionally, the Subaru's hatchback design provides more cargo space and better visibility, particularly when compared to the Mazda.

On the other hand, the Mazda 3's interior is more upscale and refined, with features like lumbar support and soft-touch materials. While the Subarus may not have the same level of luxury, their boxier design and increased utility make them a practical choice for those who prioritize space over style.

**The Verdict**

Ultimately, whether all-wheel drive or winter tires are right for you depends on your specific needs and driving habits. If you live in an area with steep hills or frequent snowfall, all-wheel drive may be the way to go. However, if you're willing to make a seasonal swap between winter tires and regular tires, that can also be a viable option.

As always, it's essential to test drive both cars and get a feel for their strengths and weaknesses. With so many factors at play, there's no one-size-fits-all answer - but with the right information and research, you'll be well-equipped to make an informed decision about which car is best for you.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwe talked about the cx-5 the compass and the clarity plus we interviewer question next on talking cars hi everyone and welcome to another episode of talking cars with consumer reports I'm John mundo I'm Jennifer stock Berger I'm Gabe Shannara and we've got a couple interesting cars to talk about real popular small SUVs that people have been asking and asking and asking about when's the cx-5 going to be taught that one's the Mazda cx-5 going to be in your test what we finally have one we bought a touring Edition Dave tell us a little bit about the model we bought and what we think of it so far okay so yeah we bought a cx-5 and true I mean generates a lot of interest out there and we got touring which is a mid trim with some option with the optional package that makes it very close to a Grand Touring it's a $29,000 and change it gives you a power seats sunroof all the desirable features you'd want in this class and so far it's pretty impressive I think I haven't heard any staff member who doesn't like the car yeah it's a it's always been kind of a fun to drive a little small SUV only this time around it kind of kept the front fun to drive pretty much but it's much quieter it rides more comfortably I mean the suspension balance here is just optimal in terms of ride comfort and handling agility it's it's almost a more mature car than the previous generation because it kept the good and added better right right yeah I agree yes it's it's it's nice inside it's certainly luxury like you know if you get a Grand Touring which we borrowed and some of our video footage has the Grand Touring when we borrow from Mazda it's almost like a competitor for a luxury small SUV but you're getting a conventional vehicle and you're getting a little bigger bigger one but there's one feature it's really important as far as Consumer Reports looks at some safety features with the cx-5 right and that is the addition of the slow speed automatic emergency braking right will be standard done on the 17 forward so that's very important that gets some points in our test gave also mentioned the blanks flash warning or the tauren gets the blind spot warning in this car you do get that slopey rear visibility concern you know it's not that great so that's very helpful as well so you get both of those things and that works in conjunction with a cross traffic alert which works very well in this core all right so that's what glue traffic coming across it takes a look forward to see if something's going to be coming at a perpendicular right behind you exactly right I'm sorry yeah yeah when backing out of a driveway right somebody's coming and you can't see it whether you're backing out from traffic or even if you're just backing like senator the drive leg it's a it's a I've had enough time to drive it's really fun it's certainly a little quieter it's still have some a bit of noise you know it's not they haven't made it super hushed in and got away from what the Mazda DNA if you will what makes people enjoy a sporty driving experience but they haven't given anything up there but it just now seems like fully fleshed out yeah other the luggage area seems a lot more mature I mean not only because of the quietness but also because of the interior interior comes across is much more premium than before there are nice stitches nice chrome bits to give it a little bit of a class so I wouldn't say that might compete with a BMW x3 or an Audi q5 all of a sudden but compared to a Acura RDX or I'd like to say NX in terms of driving experience I don't think you're giving up much there right I think the rides improved too you know we had complained before of kind of a choppy harsh ride and I think it's still not plush or anything like that but it's but they've smooth that out as well everything that we kind of said we didn't like they think of addressed in this version and one one big thing a monitor that they've done would cross their line no gimmicks really there you're not getting and I'm not going to hybrid a gimmick in a battery but they're not doing anything extra than having it conventionally powered so it is a regular gas engine a six-speed automatic transmission not some you know moat multi speed direct shift gearbox sequential gearbox it's just a straightforward the 2.5 liter 4 cylinder of unreason and horsepower six-speed automatic and regular fuel right you know you don't have to get premium fuel they broke don't don't fix it it's good so they kept the good exactly yeah so yeah let me elaborate on that a little bit unlike some competitor like a Ford Escape which gives you a small turbo engine and other competitors that give you some with bank transmissions this one is totally conventional and it feels normal it feels responsive and yet it's a fuel-efficient yes so the other before we get off the cx-5 too I want to talk about the styling because certainly when I had it it draws attention people look twice asked me what do you drive and engage them you know when he's at the Trader Joe's it's bringing people in because I think it looks really good you won't see that in our scores but I think it looks really really good well you know talking about scoring it hasn't had a problem getting up the miles it's alright 2,000 miles I've only had it for a few weeks so we're going to see textures off exactly were going to see test results or se into testing soon you know and you'll see more information on consumerreports.org so speaking of styling there's another small TV that we just added to our fleet and it's a 2017 Jeep Compass but consumers need to be a little careful because there's actually they're actually - 2017 Jeep Compass is out there right what do you what can you tell us about those two cars right so it's kind of an odd sale thing they didn't create a pre 17 compass and a 17 compass or a classic and a not classic but there's actually two 2017 jeep compasses on the lot I don't know if you recall the older ones kind of more edgy there's some harsher lines the newer one the one we've just done and we haven't had it that long it's definitely the better car like the cx-5 they've addressed some of the things that we didn't care for in the first compass it's quieter certainly the interiors been brought up it drives a little better doesn't feel like it's working as hard so when you're out there you know be cognizant that there's - there you may even be tempted there the dealer may be tempting you with discounts on the old 17 compass obvious generation right the previous generation we would certainly recommend that the new 17 is the fair car right the old one was at the bottom of our ratings the G comp is in the Jeep Patriot so they were they just didn't perform ploys they're an old Chrysler product it's just a different era but Chrysler has seen from customer feedback from sales and even though it's sold well it still just wasn't really well-received vehicle owner satisfaction our survey for example well Gabe tell us what you think about the new one so yeah I mean the Jeep brand is such a beloved brand and I mean people have so much affection for the brand and so the new compass is going to design to look like a baby grand cherokee and it plugs a gap between the small renegade and the cherokee it's kind of based on the renegade a little bit but elongated and and such and have the same powertrain it's you know it's a jeep so people are going to buy it because they love the brand whether or not it's going to be competitive enough in a class that has something like the mazda cx5 on the CRV Subaru Forester remains to be seen it's a tough class I mean so the Jeep we have 2.4 liter four-cylinder it has a cleaned up for a smoother version a 9 speed automatic though I drove it a couple times and found when it's cold there's still some hardships a couple bumps on up shifts so that's been a troublesome transmission for Fiat Chrysler in a number their products getting better but still not on par with some of the smoothest ones out there one thing I found it has the ups up level 7-inch UConnect screen so that you can excrete is the the infotainment system and the base 1 2 5 inch wand is at a 7 point still a little small I agree I still had trouble it in the fact that it's too small to see but finding what you need you know everything shrinks so finding what you need particularly while you're driving it becomes more difficult right on the screen angry but but in you know the positives reduce very comfortable see yeah it's it's a solid player in the field it's just a very competitive field out there and you can't just come with solid you can't necessarily come with song obviously remains to be seen with our testing but you know you have to really come with a solid product to be to even be considered the last Jeep Cherokee Jeep Compass was not the new ones a lot better also in addition to that crazy confusion with the 2017 I mean they should have called the new one 2017 half which it has maintained even but anyway there it seems to be a little bit of an over up price positioning and depending on various options between the renegade compass and the Cherokee so I think that they might have to make some adjustments here and also safety wise we just talked about the Mazda comes with those standard low speed you can't even get that until you move up to a much higher level limited limited get a small SUV for you know thirty five thousand dollars rights already a questionable proposition there's not the built in reliability there so so Jeep doesn't have that you know the compass certainly wasn't that one of the higher in terms of reliability either in the past hopefully this one's better but again there's so much to change you know that first year but there's some work in there liability side as well right so we're just starting with that one it just came out with putting some miles on if we optimistic is that the third vehicle amount talked about which is totally unique California owners or residents consumers may may see it on the road not many the Honda clarity is a right is a model line in the Honda lineup and we have driven one of the first one the first day other the fcv which is a fuel cell vehicle and gave being the lead on on alternative fuels I mean I can't I can't go in that my depth on and tell us about it it's powered by hydrogen and why is it in California first of all okay so a fuel cell vehicle is basically an electric car that has a power plant on board making the electricity on boards rather than relying on a big battery to haul around so in California is much more advanced in terms of infrastructure refueling infrastructure so in the LA metro area and San Francisco Bay Area there are more there's a more dense cluster of refueling stations so honda is offering the clarity for 369 a month lease and so it'll probably come to the northeast at some point but we're really behind on hydrogen infrastructure here yeah it's kind of a chicken and egg situation you know they're not going to say oh we're going to sell in the northeast when no one can get it in fact for us it's a difficult proposition to to fill it five miles to get it filled right from right it's a drive to a private to a commercial commercial selling make an appointment yeah but there are plans going to Honda to have to roll it out Jen what do you think of it as far as driving it and then interior you know the experience it certainly doesn't like a science experiment like some the past ones yeah and I certainly say I am a fan of the electric vehicle so I really like driving and I like driving them RI I like driving the clarity I find that sort of right the Toyota Mirai which is the other fuel cell vehicle that we've evaluated but I really like the quiet I find it very calming I know that sounds may be silly but I do and it's certainly peppy enough a lot of the electric stuff that we used to complain about the the whiny noise and the regenerative braking that's all seems to be gone right the problems are like pulsar almost felt like that you're pushing a hockey puck against the brake rotors right I didn't put you back at you that that doesn't exist anymore so regardless of how it's powered it's got all the benefits and some of the disadvantages of electric in that you hear some other noises there's new noises that go with the electric but they're not obtrusive my complaints about the clarity would be Honda isms not clarity isms so the shifter I go it's got that push button goofy shifter right so toggle the reverse yeah push point push for you to drive and park and I push button start don't care for that still some you know controls wise it's got the screen but you still got to go through a lot of steps to do some pretty common things like tune the radio but those are Honda things those aren't clarity things though so I enjoyed driving with clarity nice aspect of it the Honda sensing safety system standard like all of them so you're getting forward collision warning automatic emergency braking you're not getting a blind-spot warning system that's a traditional one you're getting Honda lanewatch which is a camera right side right side you know you turn on your signal the directional to the right make a right turn it shows you an image on the screen so that's going to be standard on them fortunately Honda is moving away from that as evidenced by the Honda CRV right now has a traditional blind pot that covers both sides so that so some of their newer ones are you could tell this has developed a little you know in the past when they were still enamored with that system it's going to be on the the other two versions it's coming faul the battery electric which is the leaf the full battery version and there's a plug-in hybrid that will also be available the key difference battery electric California and Oregon sales only but the plug-in hybrid is going to be full 50 state so that's the version we're going to buy yeah that's the version we'll buy because it has a the most mass-market appeal and you don't have to really compromise anything you can have to plan anything you have 42 miles of electric only range with the plug-in until it refers to a hybrid system and relying on the gas engine you can you can go and fuel it just like any other car the pure electric however I'm a little disappointed that it only has an 80 mile range which nowadays is really on the short side yeah certainly I mean at 300 something a month you know you're looking at it it's not Tesla level Tesla Model S sedan for example levels of performance but it's much lower it's very low it's much closer to a nice olive oil and shorter than a leaf mmm true so now we're going to move on to some questions from viewers and submitting them via YouTube the first is you keep saying rented quote-unquote when referring to press cars why do you rent them aren't they meant to be for you to test and we're unique in that we actually buy and rent cars but we only test ones that we buy and Gabe can you give us a little better so for all formal testing and the ratings and everything that's empirical such as a fuel economy and braking distances we only rely on our the cars we actually bought we like our independence we like no strings attached we like to have the same product that any other consumer would buy there are some cases though where we would borrow a car and we pay for that loan so that's why we can't interchange the words borrow and rent and and whatnot but those would be for the purpose of you know the car is now on sale yet we want to have some initial content on the car and it's no substitute for the full road test we're going to rely on car that we actually bought right so the clarity for example that's a car that we've rented right let's the conference in the safe five we bought those you know you know one other thing to think of it a lot of the press cars also tend to be very high level high spec cars they may be a thirty twenty even ten percent market share they're the mainline version they don't put in they want they put in their press League the really nice ones so we actually end up buying the one that the mass-market will buy like that you're talking about and it's more reflective of what what the average consumer is getting so that's we do we rent a car to get the experience in it but we buy the test car that we're going to put the raw data against you are and also lets us check out one little thing so I recall we you know we were testing the Lincoln Continental there was this other seat version we just borrowed or rented another Lincoln so we could just evaluate that seat so there's some small aspects that that rented car let you get that you don't get in the car with that we actually purchase exactly exactly question here what are you talking about all-wheel drive like that for from a previous episode see ours always been bullish on the idea that all-wheel drive is for winter driving at least essentially only a marketing gimmick and what really makes a difference is putting on snow tires I would agree so so yes snow tires or winter tires more correctly winter tires are the biggest bang for your buck certainly we are huge fans of if you have to be out in winter drying I will say though that there are people myself included who actually need all-wheel drive so you my drive ways is one of these you come out and you go I cannot physically get up it without an all-wheel drive car so I will actually pick and choose from here depending on what the weather's doing in the winter so I think there there are many people that have to be out in those winter conditions have to be out in those slippery conditions I think of nurses and firemen and you know but that don't get a snow day and yes doc traction $4 no winter tires are big big gain but if you have to have all-wheel drive it absolutely is an advantage for getting up and going traction in winter weather so I do think it's popular and we're seeing it more and more in even sedan vehicles with all-wheel drive doesn't have to be in right luxury sedans don't like the rigor to have it as a scenario feature I want a brand a gay because when I first started here Gabe made a joke about me I had an Audi a4 a Quattro so it's an all-wheel drive one and I put snows on it and Gabe said let's like wearing a belt with suspenders always some things that are going to come back and haunt you right yeah you know so I want I want games take on this so yeah so oil drive doesn't help you in terms of braking and cornering and for that you're going to be a much better shape with winter tires as Jen said all-wheel drive however it does help you in which start up traction like you will need to climb a hill it'll help you and L so it has to be acknowledged that it's a huge pain to do it this swap twice a year you know what's in the spring once in the fall between regular tires the old seasons and in winter tires especially if you're an area where you get a little bit of snow and then it warms up know maybe mid-atlantic state complexion you're in Vermont you put them on your on snows all season and you're done but you know when it gets really warm and the snow tires aren't a liability but they wear quicker yeah they're little squish here you know so you want to take the snow tires off to make them last longer put on your regulars then you get back into this switching so that's why we talked about it particularly with the with relation with the near key enduro and that looks like a crossover but doesn't have all wheel drive some people are going to find that as a problem yeah and what to Gabe's point that all-wheel drive does you nothing if you have no grip there so you have to have both so it is it is insulting suspenders it's belt and I don't know what else yeah gartner sir I don't know but they both work a final question which is a more upscale interior and drives better okay we're we talked about the cars it is more refined a Mazda 3 hatchback or a subaru impreza hatchback a good question the current current Subaru Impreza is a huge step over at the old 120 now just what I'm saying is fall yes the redesign 2017 if you get a high high trim one it's it's pretty pretty nice inside if you get the premium it's pretty run-of-the-mill the interior is pretty basic Mazda may appear a little more upscale you can get I think you can get lumbar support the judgment in the Mazda that you can't in the subaru impreza so it's it's really it's pretty close I'd suggest the person goes out and sees what really appeals to in the interior of both I think the Grand Touring of the Mazda 3 just had that has just a little bit more to it a little regenerative claw if you will it just has those leather those leather touches it has the soft touch door materials just a little bit more than the top trim limited with the with the Subarus Jen do you have a thought on this yeah I think I would agree with both of you that that the matzoh has an edge in terms of interior and and if this is any leader that if any of that trickles down to the Mazda 3 that the next one will will be there even that much better yes but to continue the answer here in terms of refinement the the new the new Subaru Impreza is quieter than the Mazda 3 so in terms of refinement you have an edge there yeah and I think the the styling of the Subaru is a little more upright and you have just a little bit more space utility wise hatchback to hatchback Maz is definitely swoop here you know with not numbers to numbers of you know them down the millimeters or whatever but you're going to see a little more usable space in the Subaru they just tend to have that as a there's almost a brand attribute a little more boxy a little roomier a little bigger in the in the card where better visibility to Santa super better visibility because of that yes well that's going to wrap it up for this episode of talking cars with Consumer Reports as always you can check the show notes below for more information on the car as we discussed and thanks for watching and see you next time youwe talked about the cx-5 the compass and the clarity plus we interviewer question next on talking cars hi everyone and welcome to another episode of talking cars with consumer reports I'm John mundo I'm Jennifer stock Berger I'm Gabe Shannara and we've got a couple interesting cars to talk about real popular small SUVs that people have been asking and asking and asking about when's the cx-5 going to be taught that one's the Mazda cx-5 going to be in your test what we finally have one we bought a touring Edition Dave tell us a little bit about the model we bought and what we think of it so far okay so yeah we bought a cx-5 and true I mean generates a lot of interest out there and we got touring which is a mid trim with some option with the optional package that makes it very close to a Grand Touring it's a $29,000 and change it gives you a power seats sunroof all the desirable features you'd want in this class and so far it's pretty impressive I think I haven't heard any staff member who doesn't like the car yeah it's a it's always been kind of a fun to drive a little small SUV only this time around it kind of kept the front fun to drive pretty much but it's much quieter it rides more comfortably I mean the suspension balance here is just optimal in terms of ride comfort and handling agility it's it's almost a more mature car than the previous generation because it kept the good and added better right right yeah I agree yes it's it's it's nice inside it's certainly luxury like you know if you get a Grand Touring which we borrowed and some of our video footage has the Grand Touring when we borrow from Mazda it's almost like a competitor for a luxury small SUV but you're getting a conventional vehicle and you're getting a little bigger bigger one but there's one feature it's really important as far as Consumer Reports looks at some safety features with the cx-5 right and that is the addition of the slow speed automatic emergency braking right will be standard done on the 17 forward so that's very important that gets some points in our test gave also mentioned the blanks flash warning or the tauren gets the blind spot warning in this car you do get that slopey rear visibility concern you know it's not that great so that's very helpful as well so you get both of those things and that works in conjunction with a cross traffic alert which works very well in this core all right so that's what glue traffic coming across it takes a look forward to see if something's going to be coming at a perpendicular right behind you exactly right I'm sorry yeah yeah when backing out of a driveway right somebody's coming and you can't see it whether you're backing out from traffic or even if you're just backing like senator the drive leg it's a it's a I've had enough time to drive it's really fun it's certainly a little quieter it's still have some a bit of noise you know it's not they haven't made it super hushed in and got away from what the Mazda DNA if you will what makes people enjoy a sporty driving experience but they haven't given anything up there but it just now seems like fully fleshed out yeah other the luggage area seems a lot more mature I mean not only because of the quietness but also because of the interior interior comes across is much more premium than before there are nice stitches nice chrome bits to give it a little bit of a class so I wouldn't say that might compete with a BMW x3 or an Audi q5 all of a sudden but compared to a Acura RDX or I'd like to say NX in terms of driving experience I don't think you're giving up much there right I think the rides improved too you know we had complained before of kind of a choppy harsh ride and I think it's still not plush or anything like that but it's but they've smooth that out as well everything that we kind of said we didn't like they think of addressed in this version and one one big thing a monitor that they've done would cross their line no gimmicks really there you're not getting and I'm not going to hybrid a gimmick in a battery but they're not doing anything extra than having it conventionally powered so it is a regular gas engine a six-speed automatic transmission not some you know moat multi speed direct shift gearbox sequential gearbox it's just a straightforward the 2.5 liter 4 cylinder of unreason and horsepower six-speed automatic and regular fuel right you know you don't have to get premium fuel they broke don't don't fix it it's good so they kept the good exactly yeah so yeah let me elaborate on that a little bit unlike some competitor like a Ford Escape which gives you a small turbo engine and other competitors that give you some with bank transmissions this one is totally conventional and it feels normal it feels responsive and yet it's a fuel-efficient yes so the other before we get off the cx-5 too I want to talk about the styling because certainly when I had it it draws attention people look twice asked me what do you drive and engage them you know when he's at the Trader Joe's it's bringing people in because I think it looks really good you won't see that in our scores but I think it looks really really good well you know talking about scoring it hasn't had a problem getting up the miles it's alright 2,000 miles I've only had it for a few weeks so we're going to see textures off exactly were going to see test results or se into testing soon you know and you'll see more information on consumerreports.org so speaking of styling there's another small TV that we just added to our fleet and it's a 2017 Jeep Compass but consumers need to be a little careful because there's actually they're actually - 2017 Jeep Compass is out there right what do you what can you tell us about those two cars right so it's kind of an odd sale thing they didn't create a pre 17 compass and a 17 compass or a classic and a not classic but there's actually two 2017 jeep compasses on the lot I don't know if you recall the older ones kind of more edgy there's some harsher lines the newer one the one we've just done and we haven't had it that long it's definitely the better car like the cx-5 they've addressed some of the things that we didn't care for in the first compass it's quieter certainly the interiors been brought up it drives a little better doesn't feel like it's working as hard so when you're out there you know be cognizant that there's - there you may even be tempted there the dealer may be tempting you with discounts on the old 17 compass obvious generation right the previous generation we would certainly recommend that the new 17 is the fair car right the old one was at the bottom of our ratings the G comp is in the Jeep Patriot so they were they just didn't perform ploys they're an old Chrysler product it's just a different era but Chrysler has seen from customer feedback from sales and even though it's sold well it still just wasn't really well-received vehicle owner satisfaction our survey for example well Gabe tell us what you think about the new one so yeah I mean the Jeep brand is such a beloved brand and I mean people have so much affection for the brand and so the new compass is going to design to look like a baby grand cherokee and it plugs a gap between the small renegade and the cherokee it's kind of based on the renegade a little bit but elongated and and such and have the same powertrain it's you know it's a jeep so people are going to buy it because they love the brand whether or not it's going to be competitive enough in a class that has something like the mazda cx5 on the CRV Subaru Forester remains to be seen it's a tough class I mean so the Jeep we have 2.4 liter four-cylinder it has a cleaned up for a smoother version a 9 speed automatic though I drove it a couple times and found when it's cold there's still some hardships a couple bumps on up shifts so that's been a troublesome transmission for Fiat Chrysler in a number their products getting better but still not on par with some of the smoothest ones out there one thing I found it has the ups up level 7-inch UConnect screen so that you can excrete is the the infotainment system and the base 1 2 5 inch wand is at a 7 point still a little small I agree I still had trouble it in the fact that it's too small to see but finding what you need you know everything shrinks so finding what you need particularly while you're driving it becomes more difficult right on the screen angry but but in you know the positives reduce very comfortable see yeah it's it's a solid player in the field it's just a very competitive field out there and you can't just come with solid you can't necessarily come with song obviously remains to be seen with our testing but you know you have to really come with a solid product to be to even be considered the last Jeep Cherokee Jeep Compass was not the new ones a lot better also in addition to that crazy confusion with the 2017 I mean they should have called the new one 2017 half which it has maintained even but anyway there it seems to be a little bit of an over up price positioning and depending on various options between the renegade compass and the Cherokee so I think that they might have to make some adjustments here and also safety wise we just talked about the Mazda comes with those standard low speed you can't even get that until you move up to a much higher level limited limited get a small SUV for you know thirty five thousand dollars rights already a questionable proposition there's not the built in reliability there so so Jeep doesn't have that you know the compass certainly wasn't that one of the higher in terms of reliability either in the past hopefully this one's better but again there's so much to change you know that first year but there's some work in there liability side as well right so we're just starting with that one it just came out with putting some miles on if we optimistic is that the third vehicle amount talked about which is totally unique California owners or residents consumers may may see it on the road not many the Honda clarity is a right is a model line in the Honda lineup and we have driven one of the first one the first day other the fcv which is a fuel cell vehicle and gave being the lead on on alternative fuels I mean I can't I can't go in that my depth on and tell us about it it's powered by hydrogen and why is it in California first of all okay so a fuel cell vehicle is basically an electric car that has a power plant on board making the electricity on boards rather than relying on a big battery to haul around so in California is much more advanced in terms of infrastructure refueling infrastructure so in the LA metro area and San Francisco Bay Area there are more there's a more dense cluster of refueling stations so honda is offering the clarity for 369 a month lease and so it'll probably come to the northeast at some point but we're really behind on hydrogen infrastructure here yeah it's kind of a chicken and egg situation you know they're not going to say oh we're going to sell in the northeast when no one can get it in fact for us it's a difficult proposition to to fill it five miles to get it filled right from right it's a drive to a private to a commercial commercial selling make an appointment yeah but there are plans going to Honda to have to roll it out Jen what do you think of it as far as driving it and then interior you know the experience it certainly doesn't like a science experiment like some the past ones yeah and I certainly say I am a fan of the electric vehicle so I really like driving and I like driving them RI I like driving the clarity I find that sort of right the Toyota Mirai which is the other fuel cell vehicle that we've evaluated but I really like the quiet I find it very calming I know that sounds may be silly but I do and it's certainly peppy enough a lot of the electric stuff that we used to complain about the the whiny noise and the regenerative braking that's all seems to be gone right the problems are like pulsar almost felt like that you're pushing a hockey puck against the brake rotors right I didn't put you back at you that that doesn't exist anymore so regardless of how it's powered it's got all the benefits and some of the disadvantages of electric in that you hear some other noises there's new noises that go with the electric but they're not obtrusive my complaints about the clarity would be Honda isms not clarity isms so the shifter I go it's got that push button goofy shifter right so toggle the reverse yeah push point push for you to drive and park and I push button start don't care for that still some you know controls wise it's got the screen but you still got to go through a lot of steps to do some pretty common things like tune the radio but those are Honda things those aren't clarity things though so I enjoyed driving with clarity nice aspect of it the Honda sensing safety system standard like all of them so you're getting forward collision warning automatic emergency braking you're not getting a blind-spot warning system that's a traditional one you're getting Honda lanewatch which is a camera right side right side you know you turn on your signal the directional to the right make a right turn it shows you an image on the screen so that's going to be standard on them fortunately Honda is moving away from that as evidenced by the Honda CRV right now has a traditional blind pot that covers both sides so that so some of their newer ones are you could tell this has developed a little you know in the past when they were still enamored with that system it's going to be on the the other two versions it's coming faul the battery electric which is the leaf the full battery version and there's a plug-in hybrid that will also be available the key difference battery electric California and Oregon sales only but the plug-in hybrid is going to be full 50 state so that's the version we're going to buy yeah that's the version we'll buy because it has a the most mass-market appeal and you don't have to really compromise anything you can have to plan anything you have 42 miles of electric only range with the plug-in until it refers to a hybrid system and relying on the gas engine you can you can go and fuel it just like any other car the pure electric however I'm a little disappointed that it only has an 80 mile range which nowadays is really on the short side yeah certainly I mean at 300 something a month you know you're looking at it it's not Tesla level Tesla Model S sedan for example levels of performance but it's much lower it's very low it's much closer to a nice olive oil and shorter than a leaf mmm true so now we're going to move on to some questions from viewers and submitting them via YouTube the first is you keep saying rented quote-unquote when referring to press cars why do you rent them aren't they meant to be for you to test and we're unique in that we actually buy and rent cars but we only test ones that we buy and Gabe can you give us a little better so for all formal testing and the ratings and everything that's empirical such as a fuel economy and braking distances we only rely on our the cars we actually bought we like our independence we like no strings attached we like to have the same product that any other consumer would buy there are some cases though where we would borrow a car and we pay for that loan so that's why we can't interchange the words borrow and rent and and whatnot but those would be for the purpose of you know the car is now on sale yet we want to have some initial content on the car and it's no substitute for the full road test we're going to rely on car that we actually bought right so the clarity for example that's a car that we've rented right let's the conference in the safe five we bought those you know you know one other thing to think of it a lot of the press cars also tend to be very high level high spec cars they may be a thirty twenty even ten percent market share they're the mainline version they don't put in they want they put in their press League the really nice ones so we actually end up buying the one that the mass-market will buy like that you're talking about and it's more reflective of what what the average consumer is getting so that's we do we rent a car to get the experience in it but we buy the test car that we're going to put the raw data against you are and also lets us check out one little thing so I recall we you know we were testing the Lincoln Continental there was this other seat version we just borrowed or rented another Lincoln so we could just evaluate that seat so there's some small aspects that that rented car let you get that you don't get in the car with that we actually purchase exactly exactly question here what are you talking about all-wheel drive like that for from a previous episode see ours always been bullish on the idea that all-wheel drive is for winter driving at least essentially only a marketing gimmick and what really makes a difference is putting on snow tires I would agree so so yes snow tires or winter tires more correctly winter tires are the biggest bang for your buck certainly we are huge fans of if you have to be out in winter drying I will say though that there are people myself included who actually need all-wheel drive so you my drive ways is one of these you come out and you go I cannot physically get up it without an all-wheel drive car so I will actually pick and choose from here depending on what the weather's doing in the winter so I think there there are many people that have to be out in those winter conditions have to be out in those slippery conditions I think of nurses and firemen and you know but that don't get a snow day and yes doc traction $4 no winter tires are big big gain but if you have to have all-wheel drive it absolutely is an advantage for getting up and going traction in winter weather so I do think it's popular and we're seeing it more and more in even sedan vehicles with all-wheel drive doesn't have to be in right luxury sedans don't like the rigor to have it as a scenario feature I want a brand a gay because when I first started here Gabe made a joke about me I had an Audi a4 a Quattro so it's an all-wheel drive one and I put snows on it and Gabe said let's like wearing a belt with suspenders always some things that are going to come back and haunt you right yeah you know so I want I want games take on this so yeah so oil drive doesn't help you in terms of braking and cornering and for that you're going to be a much better shape with winter tires as Jen said all-wheel drive however it does help you in which start up traction like you will need to climb a hill it'll help you and L so it has to be acknowledged that it's a huge pain to do it this swap twice a year you know what's in the spring once in the fall between regular tires the old seasons and in winter tires especially if you're an area where you get a little bit of snow and then it warms up know maybe mid-atlantic state complexion you're in Vermont you put them on your on snows all season and you're done but you know when it gets really warm and the snow tires aren't a liability but they wear quicker yeah they're little squish here you know so you want to take the snow tires off to make them last longer put on your regulars then you get back into this switching so that's why we talked about it particularly with the with relation with the near key enduro and that looks like a crossover but doesn't have all wheel drive some people are going to find that as a problem yeah and what to Gabe's point that all-wheel drive does you nothing if you have no grip there so you have to have both so it is it is insulting suspenders it's belt and I don't know what else yeah gartner sir I don't know but they both work a final question which is a more upscale interior and drives better okay we're we talked about the cars it is more refined a Mazda 3 hatchback or a subaru impreza hatchback a good question the current current Subaru Impreza is a huge step over at the old 120 now just what I'm saying is fall yes the redesign 2017 if you get a high high trim one it's it's pretty pretty nice inside if you get the premium it's pretty run-of-the-mill the interior is pretty basic Mazda may appear a little more upscale you can get I think you can get lumbar support the judgment in the Mazda that you can't in the subaru impreza so it's it's really it's pretty close I'd suggest the person goes out and sees what really appeals to in the interior of both I think the Grand Touring of the Mazda 3 just had that has just a little bit more to it a little regenerative claw if you will it just has those leather those leather touches it has the soft touch door materials just a little bit more than the top trim limited with the with the Subarus Jen do you have a thought on this yeah I think I would agree with both of you that that the matzoh has an edge in terms of interior and and if this is any leader that if any of that trickles down to the Mazda 3 that the next one will will be there even that much better yes but to continue the answer here in terms of refinement the the new the new Subaru Impreza is quieter than the Mazda 3 so in terms of refinement you have an edge there yeah and I think the the styling of the Subaru is a little more upright and you have just a little bit more space utility wise hatchback to hatchback Maz is definitely swoop here you know with not numbers to numbers of you know them down the millimeters or whatever but you're going to see a little more usable space in the Subaru they just tend to have that as a there's almost a brand attribute a little more boxy a little roomier a little bigger in the in the card where better visibility to Santa super better visibility because of that yes well that's going to wrap it up for this episode of talking cars with Consumer Reports as always you can check the show notes below for more information on the car as we discussed and thanks for watching and see you next time you\n"