Ok, I have a rental/loaner 2011 RAV4 I4 AWD while the Camry is getting new tires. [Who buys gold colored vehicles in the first place? No wonder it’s a loaner.] My first impressions, based upon a few miles of city and a few miles of highway:
Not bad. It might be a bit wobbly around town, but I’m coming from a low slung VW which I put on stiffer shocks long ago. Slot car this is not. I did not notice any sort of wobbly on the highway, but it’s clearly not something to be driven in anger (or for fun). I did notice sitting up much higher. Seems quite good for running about town, but I’m not sure I’d call it a great highway hauler. [I’m not sure what “sport” is supposed to mean in “SUV”. I’ve long called my VW an EUV, for Economical Utility Vehicle. Yes, I’m an odd person.] I’m not sure what the complaints are about “dated interior”, but I rarely test drive anything. Didn’t feel bad for the 30min of driving I did, controls about where you’d expect, etc.
The I4 is quite adequate. Any complaints that I read about lack of power must arise from expecting it to never need a downshift once up to speed—I’m sure the V6 downshifts just as much, since it has overdrive whereas the I4 does not, and the same final drive ratio (so it must be loafing most of the time). However, coming from stickshift, it’s clear that, in order to get maximum fuel economy, I would need to use the cruise control heavily—years of stickshift driving has left me the bad habit of “pulsing” the throttle. Works just fine if you have a clutch. In this though the torque convertor is constantly unlocking when I do that.
Although the 4spd auto is “ancient”, I found it decent in its gear selection ability. Yes, it basically needed to downshift for any throttle adjustment, but since it can’t read my mind, I can’t fault it for not picking the right gear ahead of my wanting it. Spirited driving is going to find it necessary to use the manual mode on the automatic, which is well situated and easy to use (no need for flappy paddles); but clearly any sort of spirited driving is going to require lots of rev’s. This vehicle is more of a sedate driver, and if driven sedately not bad.
One thing I will mention: I did not find it to have a hair-trigger throttle. My 2.5L I4 (same I4) Camry does; it likes to rev right up with the slightest provocation. I suspect it has the same throttle programming as the automatics, as I suspect the programming really expects the loading of the torque convertor. Yes, the throttle comes on quick, but it’s much smoother than our stickshift Camry. I have read the older V6 RAV4’s do have a touchy throttle—but then I’ve read that after 2010 or so they might have reprogrammed it. I had no problems driving around in a parking lot despite wearing boots. Perhaps the V6 will be a complete different beast. I hope not.
Of course I found faults. Come on Toyota! Auto up/down on the driver’s window—but not the other three? What foolishness is that? Perhaps it’s fixed on 2012’s or something. Moving on, the rear flip down center console does not sit flat. Not unless if you pull out the center headrest—looks odd, probably not that big of a deal. The seats IMO do not fold flat. “Flat enough” and “flat” are two different things. And you must remove the headrests, or they strike the front seats, unless if those are cranked all the way forward. [Kudos though for headrests that come out easily, regardless of position; and for adjustable seatbacks. I’m really nitpicking here.] The driver’s seat does have more lumbar support than our Camry; but that’s not saying much. Exterior temp display is nice; but what about average mpg display? But the worst bit: what is up with the doors? I thought all Toyota doors just closed with the church-mouse “click” with the slightest swing of the door. These practically needed to be slammed. Very stiff doors, needing to be swung hard. Maybe it’s just because it had all of 2kmiles on the odometer?
I had my wife come down and look at it, and she was of the opinion that you’d never be able to put three booster seats across the back. Not only that, but she pointed out that the middle seat seatbelt is oddly put. The third row appears to be required if one wants to move three small children. Yes, access to the rear would be bad, but as long as they are old enough to buckle in—and not too old to have issues climbing back there—the third row might be necessary. Yes, you lose the cubby holes in the trunk; but I’ve found I can’t really use the cubby holes due to all the other junk normally sitting on top of the trunk anyhow.
Overall, not bad. I don’t think I’d want to trade out of my VW for the I4, I’m not sure it was that good. If I were to wreck the Jetta though it’s definitely high on the list as a compromise vehicle (albeit V6 powered most likely).
