TACOMA VS RAV4? (Off road)

This thread idea started off as a joke however, look at the price of the TRD Off Road RAV4! The RAV4 now competes with the 4Runner and Tacoma. Toyota is really going all in on Ryan Millen’s rally cred.

 

I had a 2008 rav4 limited, it was a great little suv that did well in the snow... but the thing was a go kart compared to my tacoma. I would love to get a new rav4 for the wife though, and a trd off road version would be great!

 

Got the wife a 2018 RAV4, great on the road, great in the snow, ok on dirt roads, not a Tacoma or 4Runner

 

The Rav4 has a uni-body (no frame rails) and plastic aerodynamic plates underneath. Nothing under that to slide on.

 

Spray a lil Pam on that underbelly and that shit'll skid on snow like nobody's bidness.

I'm in this boat right here today. Wife's got a 06 4banger AWD rav owned since new. This truck has 250K kms (buck fifty or more miles) and has original exhaust (leak for last 2 yrs but not getting worse) original suspension, orig calipers etc. It owes us nothing. Been baiting the wife to get her a new one...newp. Likes hers, don't want a new one. So, about to project up all 4 corners suspension, brakes and exhaust next week. Prolly close to 25 hundy when done. Mainly because the rest of the buggy is awesome...drivetrain is zero issues. Its nimble AF in 6in of any snow with dedicated snows and better than Taco...north of 6" is Taco time.

Apparently you just can't get rid of these things...they kinda just keep on going

 

Had a new Rav 4 as a rental in NM a few weeks back. Was impressed at how far they have come. When I hear Rav 4 I still picture a Gen 1. Respectable vehicle now.

 

Anyone interested in the Rav4, read this post carefully. You will notice that I have (unfortunately) participated in this thread (1st post #64). It's very long but still continues to this day.

https://www.rav4world.com/threads/rear-driveline-disconnect-reconnect-noise.296069/

 

Though it’s not the TRDOR, I’d opt for a Rav4 hybrid in the future as a family car. Standard AWD, bulletproof Toyota hybrid system, and folks reporting around 50mpg. It’ll be able to take us most places we need to get. I’d never get it as a dedicated offroad vehicle though.

 

My wife's 19 Limited 2WD is getting close to 40 highway (gas model). And lees than $30 to fill it up. Display shows ~400 miles on a full tank.

 

Got my wife a 19 hybrid a couple months ago, could not be happier with it. Great little SUV. Took it down a steep gravel road and through a field and she about had a heart attack, you could hear every single weed scrape along that underside. But it handled mild off-road just fine.

 

I can speak with AUTHORITY on the Rav4. Traded my 07 V6 Limited with 197,000 miles for my '19 TRD-OR. My Rav4 had north of 40,000 towing miles on it (3000 lb boat). Talk about rear end squat, lol! Funny as it may have looked, that little truck could pull pretty damn well and was easy as hell to drop the boat into that lake with.

No major issues but the rear diff was about done and dealer wanted $2200 for the job (local mechanics would not do it). Many of the Rav4s of that generation also developed the cam pin "death rattle" on cold start up. Its pure metal-on-metal and I was concerned about catastrophic failure.

Very sad day when I traded it in and wish I'd kept it. A beast in the snow and snappy as hell. A truly unique Toyota vehicle.

 

New RAV4 trail has torque vectoring. Meaning front and rear locking axles. They perform very well offroad, we've even lifted a couple at my work.

That said, all these little CUV's still don't compare to a real offroading vehicle.

2 speed transfer case. 4LO is critical to torque and keeping temps down on the clutch or torque converter.

Frames. You don't want to bash the unibody too many times in a CUV. I've tottered over many ridges on my frame that would ruin a RAV4.

 

Took a long time to convince my wife to test drive Toyota. ( she likes her challenger) she drove the rav and a chr. She was disappointed with both of them and ended up buying a 4runner

 

The 2020 off road RAV4 has A/T snow rated tires so it’s even better in the snow/dirt now. $40k though...

 

$40k though? That's in low end TRD Off Road Tacoma territory and into some 4Runner options.

 

Toyota seems to actually update the RAV4 to stay competitive compared to the Tacoma and 4Runner. The new Tacoma driver power seat should be expected not celebrated.

 

Seems like that is one of the first things the Toyota rally team did to the RAV4 to transition it into a rally machine outside of the stock setup.

 

Toyota has to, especially with how hot the crossover segment is. They aren’t going to develop the Tacoma to compete when they’re selling them like hot cakes. As for the 4Runner, Toyota knows that it’s one of a kind for the market. Sales are still doing well, with minimal development needed. Once another credible BOF midsize SUV hits the market, they’ll update it.

 

If they would upgrade the 4Runner and Tacoma they cut into the GM twins and Jeep sales. Ford would definitely feel it with the lack of effort they put into making the Ranger competitive and it would suffocate the Bronco from the start. Just seems like a win/win to upgrade them and hurt the competition. Toyota is doing awesome now but they are risking letting the competition back into the market if they get lazy.