60-second summary
What is it?
The new Toyota RAV4 is the fifth-generation model of Toyota’s mid-sized SUV, mostly bought as a hybrid
Key features
Hybrid drivetrain
Complete redesign outside and in
Strong safety package
Our view
The new Toyota RAV4 combines both the latest hybrid powertrain and the updating opportunities provided by an all-new platform to produce a compelling package.
Its on-road performance is highly competent, and the economy and emissions will be particularly appealing to those coming out of diesel vehicles.
Similar cars
Nissan Qashqai, Honda CR-V, Volkswagen Tiguan, Ford Kuga
Full review
Introduction
We know that SUVs are all the rage and the broadest choice of all is in the ‘largish’ segment, known as the D-segment in motor industry parlance. Here you can pay anything from £20,000 to £42,000 for your muscled-up wheels.
Problem is, much of the choice on offer uses diesel engines, and now no-one wants diesels. The petrol options are often high-power models, with the mpg and emissions pain that results. But there is an alternative…
The Toyota RAV4 has been around since 1992, and for a long time like those rivals offered plenty of diesel powertrains – in 2015, for example, 88% of RAV4s sold were oil burners.
In the following year, however, Toyota extended its petrol-electric hybrid drivetrain, made famous by the Prius, to the RAV4, and more than half of them sold in 2016 were hybrids. Last year it was up to 91%…
Now there’s an all-new fifth-generation RAV4. It’s built on the TNGA (Toyota New Global Architecture) platform, and that means a distinctly different, much sleeker look and more space inside, a lower centre of gravity and a much more rigid shell for better handling. It comes with more tech and more safety.
But the headline? You can only buy the RAV4 as a hybrid.
Buying and owning a Toyota RAV4
While two-wheel-drive cars now dominate the SUV market, all-wheel drive is still more popular in the plus £30,000 segment that the RAV4 sits in – not for charging off into a field or a snowdrift, but for adding an extra sense of security on rain-soaked or icy winter days.
The new RAV4 offers both front (FWD) and all-wheel (AWD) drive in its powertrains, though it’s predicted more than two-thirds of buyers will opt for traction on all corners. The base Icon grade, which costs from £29,635 and is only available in FWD, is expected to attract just 5% of buyers.
Notable amongst the standard specification are LED headlamps, parking sensors and a rear-view camera. This is viewed through the eight-inch screen of Toyota’s Touch 2 infotainment system, again standard across the range, as is a seven-inch digital display screen ahead of the driver.
Top marks, however, to the Toyota Safety Sense package. This second-generation suite of driver aids includes autonomous emergency braking which now will also detect pedestrians at night and cyclists during the day, an intelligent adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning and traffic sign recognition. And every RAV4 gets this package.
The new RAV4 hasn’t been Euro NCAP crash-tested yet but it’s hard to see it getting anything other than a top five-star rating, as its predecessor did in 2013.
It costs £1,555 to move up to the Design trim, expected to be the most popular model, and another £2,240 to have a Design in 4WD. The extras include alloy wheels an inch bigger, keyless entry, a powered tailgate and front parking sensors.
There’s a distinct choice of range toppers – the luxury-pitched Excel or the Dynamic with its styling add-ons. Excel buyers do get a fair amount of extra tech for their extra £2,240, including two driver aids not in the standard safety package, a blind-spot monitor and rear cross-traffic alert.
Continued on next page: Interior, drive experience and our verdict
