2010 Car Comparison: Honda Accord Crosstour v Subaru Outback v Toyota Venza

Vehicles like the 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour, 2010 Subaru Outback, and 2010 Toyota Venza used to be called station wagons. After all, they’re based on sedans, essentially adding an elongated roof to create an enclosed cargo area where the trunk would otherwise be.

But now, wagons like this are “crossover sport-utility vehicles.” That’s understandable. Station wagons smack of the Seventies, and crossovers are siphoning buyers away from traditional truck-based SUVs because they handle and ride more like cars. They also get better fuel economy and most owners of old-school SUVs found they never used their vehicle’s high ground clearance and heavy-duty towing capabilities. Plus, as the crossover tag suggests, 21st century station wagons like the Accord Crosstour, Outback, and Venza do a great combining the refinement of cars with the higher seating position and all-wheel-drive (AWD) capabilities of an SUV.

The Subaru Outback was the industry’s first crossover when it was introduced in 1995 as a wagon version of the Subaru Legacy sedan. Subaru was struggling at the time and couldn’t afford to develop a bona fide SUV. The Outback had modestly elevated ground clearance and SUV-like styling cues. Critics were cool, but the Outback fast became Subaru’s top seller. It entered its fourth design generation for model-year 2009 with a major revamp that included a new chassis and powertrains. Today’s version is the most station-wagonlike crossover in this trio.

The Honda Accord Crosstour and Toyota Venza were both introduced for model-year 2010 and go farther than Outback in terms of styling differences that set them apart from their Honda Accord and Toyota Camry sedan counterparts.

The 2010 Honda Accord Crosstour’s overall design is sleeker than that of most crossovers, adopting the so-called four-door coupe look pioneered in this segment by the BMW X6, and more recently, the BMW 5-Series Gran Turismo,

The 2010 Toyota Venza isn’t quite as curvaceous as the Accord Crosstour but it is more aggressive-looking than the Camry sedan.