Chicago 2019: 2020 Toyota RAV4 TRD Off-Road

Uhhh WANT. I'd prefer more horsetorques but it is what it is. 

I want to like these, but they drive just so poorly.

I like the styling...maybe the next 4Runner will look like a larger version..the current 4Runner is so ugly.. 

  On 2/7/2019 at 8:25 PM, Robert Hall said:

I like the styling...maybe the next 4Runner will look like a larger version..the current 4Runner is so ugly.. 

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Agreed, this one is actually nice looking which is rare for Toyota and me.

I wish GM would plan stuff like this where they bring out a Z71 or SS set of all models at a show. GM needs to get their planning together to better maximize long term loyalty and sales by offering speed across the whole product line and then offer off road performance across their whole product line.

The one here, one there is just so tiring and not well planned.

What ever happened to GM Performance? ?

Toyota TRD is Killing them!

Experiencing major cognitive dissonance here, I'm not supposed to find RAV4's appealing, inside and out (in photos anyways).  That grey with the white roof, what the actual hell man.

  On 2/8/2019 at 1:15 AM, frogger said:

  That grey with the white roof, what the actual hell man.

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Retro touch referencing the old FJ Land Cruisers?   They often had white roofs (as did the FJ Cruiser). 

The classic -

*Buys off road model*

*Never takes it off road*

*Yeah it can do that but...kids...wife...husband...ALIENS*

And @frogger that cognitive dissonance. Are you sure you weren't visited by...

Well the TuRD model snatches the Adventure's man card, like all of a sudden the Adventure has turned a bit metro, with its cute orange interior trim.  The gray/white roof, dark trim and black wheels with slightly more aggressive tire, plus red interior accents transform it a bit.  The 4Runner is still their genuine off-road capable wagon, but this, for daily driving plus the occasional weekend play, might do it for a few folks.

Sorry, now that I've seen it, I cannot unsee... those cheeks!

I wonder how much they will charge for beefed up suspension, knobby tires (that will be crap on road) and some body cladding?  And who is going off roading in a RAV4?  But if they can sell a couple thousand of these option packages a month it is probably a pretty easy profit grab.

The 2.5 liter 4 in this makes 40 more horsepower than the 2.7 liter in the Tacoma.  Why isn’t this engine in the Tacoma?  Does Toyota not know what engines they have in house?

  On 2/8/2019 at 3:43 PM, smk4565 said:

The 2.5 liter 4 in this makes 40 more horsepower than the 2.7 liter in the Tacoma.  Why isn’t this engine in the Tacoma?  Does Toyota not know what engines they have in house?

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100% agreed. That 2.7 is like 20 years old at this point. It's such a worthless engine. 

  On 2/8/2019 at 3:43 PM, smk4565 said:

I wonder how much they will charge for beefed up suspension, knobby tires (that will be crap on road) and some body cladding?  And who is going off roading in a RAV4?  But if they can sell a couple thousand of these option packages a month it is probably a pretty easy profit grab.

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Because it is a TRD Off-Road and not a TRD Pro, it likely won't be too pricey. 

Personally, I would just want the rear to be able to be locked. I don't know how fancy this new AWD system is but I would just want it to not allow me to get stuck in snow because I wouldn't be off-roading it.

  On 2/8/2019 at 4:34 PM, ccap41 said:

Because it is a TRD Off-Road and not a TRD Pro, it likely won't be too pricey. 

Personally, I would just want the rear to be able to be locked. I don't know how fancy this new AWD system is but I would just want it to not allow me to get stuck in snow because I wouldn't be off-roading it.

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I wonder if any OEM will ever install electric lockers by default. I know electric hubs have become standard, but it seems having a beefy electric locker which has proven itself by the masses would be awesome so you can just flick a switch and lock up. I would love that.

  On 2/8/2019 at 4:41 PM, dfelt said:

I wonder if any OEM will ever install electric lockers by default. I know electric hubs have become standard, but it seems having a beefy electric locker which has proven itself by the masses would be awesome so you can just flick a switch and lock up. I would love that.

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Like what's in some trucks? Or do you mean on a transverse engine mounted AWD CUV? 

Locking hubs have been gone for a long time now. 

  On 2/8/2019 at 5:15 PM, ccap41 said:

Like what's in some trucks? Or do you mean on a transverse engine mounted AWD CUV? 

Locking hubs have been gone for a long time now. 

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I was thinking both, Electric locking Diff on trucks as well as AWD CUV / SUVs. 

It would be really nice and beneficial to folks that due use it allot especially in snow states or off road to have them as part of an off-road package.

  On 2/8/2019 at 6:46 PM, dfelt said:

I was thinking both, Electric locking Diff on trucks as well as AWD CUV / SUVs. 

It would be really nice and beneficial to folks that due use it allot especially in snow states or off road to have them as part of an off-road package.

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Electronic locking diffs on trucks is available on every truck outside of the Ridgeline, that I can think of. 

Jeep's system might be the only in a FWD-based CUV that can lock the rear end. 

Yeah, the Cherokee Trailhawk is the first CUV that I see that has a locking rear diff.

All of the others have various traction controlled systems for mimic 4-wheel drive. 

  On 2/8/2019 at 6:58 PM, ccap41 said:

Electronic locking diffs on trucks is available on every truck outside of the Ridgeline, that I can think of. 

Jeep's system might be the only in a FWD-based CUV that can lock the rear end. 

Yeah, the Cherokee Trailhawk is the first CUV that I see that has a locking rear diff.

All of the others have various traction controlled systems for mimic 4-wheel drive. 

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Thanks for the info, for some reason I thought that most posi lock diffs out there were a manual centrifugal force kind, not the electric switch where you can lock up the diff any time you wanted.

  On 2/8/2019 at 7:31 PM, dfelt said:

Thanks for the info, for some reason I thought that most posi lock diffs out there were a manual centrifugal force kind, not the electric switch where you can lock up the diff any time you wanted.

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Oh no, they've been electronic for quite a while now. The Hummer H2 had an electronic locking rear end when you selected 4L. 

  On 2/7/2019 at 8:17 PM, Drew Dowdell said:

I want to like these, but they drive just so poorly.

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Everyone says this, repeatedly, but doesn't seem to affect sales. I think the Hybrid is likely better (as in most Toyotas). Just a mix match of "meh", in your opinion?

They're everywhere. Goes to show, this size, this price, this look, this capability, etc. is far and away a better, more comfortable and functional daily for most people, than a cramped low sedan...even if the driving dynamics (interestingly) don't get fully baked.

I have a co-worker who was looking for a crossover and test drove like 5-6 of them.  Liked CX-5 the most but ended up buying RAV4 because he had Camry before and felt "safe" buying Toyota (even though his Camry had transmission problems)

I think a lot of people buy RAV4 only because of the badge, similar to many people who buy BMWs.

  On 2/10/2020 at 12:58 PM, ykX said:

I have a co-worker who was looking for a crossover and test drove like 5-6 of them.  Liked CX-5 the most but ended up buying RAV4 because he had Camry before and felt "safe" buying Toyota (even though his Camry had transmission problems)

I think a lot of people buy RAV4 only because of the badge, similar to many people who buy BMWs.

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Yeah, Toyota is the 'no-brainer' choice for many mainstream consumers.  I've worked with people that have only bought Toyota for decades.   My cousin Mike has only bought Toyotas the last 20+ years (but he worked for them for 20 years after retiring from the Navy, so he got discounts).   And it's generational, his 3 adult children drive Toyotas, and their adult children drive Toyotas...

Kind of like how in olden days there were Ford-only families or Chevy-only families. 

Toyota's most off-road capable SUVs (4Runner and Land Cruiser) are so old now and in need of an update.. 

  On 2/10/2020 at 12:58 PM, ykX said:

I have a co-worker who was looking for a crossover and test drove like 5-6 of them.  Liked CX-5 the most but ended up buying RAV4 because he had Camry before and felt "safe" buying Toyota (even though his Camry had transmission problems)

I think a lot of people buy RAV4 only because of the badge, similar to many people who buy BMWs.

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They do also offer a pretty good overall package for those who just want space, fuel economy, and a solid overall vehicle. There's absolutely nothing special about them(save for maybe the TRD) but there's also nothing glaringly wrong with them. 

  On 2/10/2020 at 3:15 PM, ccap41 said:

They do also offer a pretty good overall package for those who just want space, fuel economy, and a solid overall vehicle. There's absolutely nothing special about them(save for maybe the TRD) but there's also nothing glaringly wrong with them. 

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That's true.  But he obviously liked CX-5 much more, but went with a "safe" choice, at least in his perception.

  On 2/10/2020 at 3:39 PM, ykX said:

That's true.  But he obviously liked CX-5 much more, but went with a "safe" choice, at least in his perception.

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Might be a good move considering how little Mazda produces and the cash flow issues they seem to be having. I suspect in the next 10 years they either get bought or go away.

  On 2/10/2020 at 3:41 PM, dfelt said:

Might be a good move considering how little Mazda produces and the cash flow issues they seem to be having. I suspect in the next 10 years they either get bought or go away.

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Mazda never was a big company.  If you look 10 years back they sold in US almost 230k cars.  2014-2015 were best years for them with over 300k cars.  Last year they sold 279k cars. Globally they sell a decent amount of cars too, with last five years showing a healthy growth.  I don't think they go anywhere, the overall trend is still up.  

Personally, I have a lot of respect for Mazda, for such a small company they have more character and more interesting cars than Toyota and Honda combined.

  On 2/10/2020 at 4:17 PM, ykX said:

Mazda never was a big company.  If you look 10 years back they sold in US almost 230k cars.  2014-2015 were best years for them with over 300k cars.  Last year they sold 279k cars. Globally they sell a decent amount of cars too, with last five years showing a healthy growth.  I don't think they go anywhere, the overall trend is still up.  

Personally, I have a lot of respect for Mazda, for such a small company they have more character and more interesting cars than Toyota and Honda combined.

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True, all good points, I wonder how many auto's they moved when Ford was invested in them? I know they built many an auto for Ford. I know my 1993 Escort GT was a pocket rocket that would have lasted long time if not for the semi that totaled it and hurt my wife.

These were great little cars. I had the stick and could actually fit in this even as big as I am.

  On 2/8/2020 at 4:06 PM, caddycruiser said:

Everyone says this, repeatedly, but doesn't seem to affect sales. I think the Hybrid is likely better (as in most Toyotas). Just a mix match of "meh", in your opinion?

They're everywhere. Goes to show, this size, this price, this look, this capability, etc. is far and away a better, more comfortable and functional daily for most people, than a cramped low sedan...even if the driving dynamics (interestingly) don't get fully baked.

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Drove a 2019 RAV4 hybrid briefly last fall when my SO was looking for a new ride, it was definitely better than the regular model by quite a bit, though still a bit noisy.   I would have been okay with it as a daily driver due to the fuel economy and competence of it.  Quite spacious too compared to the CX5 which drove better, but still had a lot of understeer as well when driven a little hard IMO, just less than other CUVs.  She ended up with an Outback Limited 3.6R.