Category: Small 4x4s 
Price Range: £19,015 to £25,315
Excellent quality, great diesel, car-like driving dynamics, Toyota reliability.
Petrol engine not powerful enough, some versions expensive, now five-door only, no joie de vivre.
The RAV4 has become all sensible and grown-up. It's a great car, but where's the fun gone?
It's easy to forget you're driving a 4x4 when punting the RAV4 around town it feels very much like a compact MPV, with light controls and great all-round visibility. It's pretty easy to park, too, with a tight turning circle of 10.2m (better than most small 4x4s) and even, in some models, a rear-view reversing camera.
You sit high up maybe too high for some - and the seating position is good for most, but taller drivers may struggle to get comfortable. Ride is good, even when running unladen something that couldn't be said for the old model. Body roll is noticeable, as expected of a small 4x4, but you never feel that the RAV4 is out of its depth on a twisty stretch of road.
Only when you venture out onto the open road does the RAV4's 1465-1595kg kerb weight (depending on engine) become noticeable long motorway inclines will have you reaching for the gear stick to change down. The gear stick does have some way to move between gears, but is easy to use with little vibration.
The RAV4 isn't designed for all-out mud-plugging, but does have an Active Torque Control 4WD system which splits the power to the front and rear wheels in any mix from 55:45 (F:R) for maximum traction when moving from standstill and tackling tricky terrain, to 100:0 (front-wheel drive only) for improved economy when driving along the motorway. You can lock the ratio in a 55:45 split when off-roading, up to speeds of 25mph. On XT4 models and above, the 4WD system is combined with Vehicle Stability Control Plus (VSC+) to help control the RAV4 in the event of a skid.
Three engines are offered, one 2.0-litre VVT-i petrol with 150bhp and two 2.2-litre D-4D diesels with 134 or 175bhp. As is increasingly the case with many cars, the diesels are the ones to go for, mainly because of the extra mid-range torque (pulling power) on tap.
The 134bhp 2.2-litre diesel is the pick of the trio, offering a 0-62mph time of 10.5secs and a top speed of 112mph. These figures only tell half the story though, as with 229lb-ft of torque available from 2000rpm to 2800rpm, there's enough poke to overtake dawdling traffic with ease. A high-performance 175bhp version of the 2.2-litre diesel is available only in the top-spec T180, which has 295lb-ft of torque available from 2000 to 2600rpm making for a 0-62mph time of 9.3secs and a 124mph top speed.
The 2.0-litre 150bhp petrol, fitted with the standard five-speed manual gearbox, endows the RAV4 with a 0-62mph time of 10.6secs and a top speed of 115mph. A four-speed automatic is offered, which knocks the 0-62mph time down to 12secs and the top speed to 109mph. However, with just 143lb-ft of torque available at 4000rpm, you have to work the engine hard to make the best progress. When testing the petrol engine up a long slight motorway incline, the RAV4 struggled to keep to 70mph with only two people and limited luggage onboard. With a family of five plus a bootful of luggage, it would struggle further.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Toyota RAV4
wrote on 18 03 2008
wrote on 16 03 2007
wrote on 10 12 2006