22/08/2008 08:59. Youre not going to find any barnburners with these two cars, which have similar performance with their four-cylinder engines. The Subaru does outdo the CR-V with an additional four horsepower and nine pounds-feet of torque, however.

Even though the Honda has less power, its only engine offering, a smoother five-speed automatic transmission, gives the CR-V more gears to choose from for passing power as compared to Subarus optional automatic in a four-speed unit.

Cars.com senior editor David Thomas and his wife had these compact SUVs on their hit list when shopping for a car, which is documented in the KickingTires blog series When an auto writer buys a car .

Thomas writes, These two cars were on my wife's purchasing list last year when we were looking for a new family car. You can... // Cars.com