Tacoma for high elevation rockies?

What exact aspect almost killed you in the snow? A lot of people get AWD for snow not realizing that all cars already have 4 wheel braking lol.
If you hit some black ice (I'm still not 100% sure it exists, I can always tell.... So far...), then you'll want AWD, if your going sideways in ice or snow, then you should already be in 4wd and AWD won't be any better. More powered tires really only helps you go forward, with the caveat that if your drive wheels only hit ice, those are going to slide. And having 4 wheels slide is a lot more controllable than 2.

Its a really cool car. Much better than the escape I was thinking of replacing it with. But I'm tall and apparently weirdly proportioned. I have to keep moving my legs around on long trips and absolutely can't stand center consoles with hard pointy bits right by my knee. The rav was fine for that, but just very cramped compared to the Tacoma, which is cramped compared to the 4runner. Haven't sat in a new generation outback, can't say. But I suggest you just eat a couple hundred bucks and rent your top 2 vehicles from a dealer and do a 4+ hour road trip. That's how I learned the model 3 (while absolutely being the best vehicle I've ever driven) was not for me. A few hundred is cheap insurance for not liking your car in a year.

As far as capability in snow, it's down to your ground clearance and quality of tires. I went some crazy places in my Jetta front wheel drive that my 4wd expedition couldn't, it was down to the traction control and tires. But all of these new vehicles have traction control now.

This is the truth. I've driven 2 different models of Rav4 and they've were wildly different. Haven't tried the hybrid, wasn't out yet. Can't remember if I liked the Offroad or if I drove a limited instead. They were all really a sidenote since I wanted something that could tow 3500#.