Talking Cars 508: Are Off-Road Trims for SUVs Worth the Extra Money?

Plus, do roof rails hurt fuel economy?

By Consumer Reports

May 27, 2026

Main theme: The podcast panel discusses our recent evaluation of popular rugged SUV trims, sometimes called “soft-roader” SUVs—including the Ford Explorer Tremor, Honda Passport TrailSport, Subaru Forester Wilderness, Toyota RAV4 Woodland, and more—to see whether they add real capability or mostly rugged styling.

Audience question: We answer a viewer’s question about whether roof crossbars hurt fuel economy on SUVs like the Toyota RAV4 Prime.

Talking Cars 508 panel discusses soft-roader SUVs — “Talking Cars” panelists (from left): Alex Knizek, Ryan Pszczolkowski, and Avri Wyshogrod.

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