I posted the bulk of this in another thread but mostly it belongs here. We just brought home a 2024 rav4 hybrid (AWD) for my wife. It is far more impressive as a DD than it should be. It handles wonderfully - instant power, and is decently calm at putting the power down until you really dig the foot in and then it’s a little rowdy under the hood. The battery can handle straights at 40 mph or more for a bit … which is pretty wild. Handles great, reasonably quiet. Seats are good. As a drivers car, it actually has some fun in it. Manual shift mode is useful, though it does not sing a sweet song at 3000 rpm. AWD has a little bias to the rear off the line, as my wife actually spun the inside rear on takeoff this morning. I like that. Rear propulsion seems largely applied at launch and doesn’t seem to participate much over 20. That said, I wrangled it around in the rain yesterday and you wouldn’t be aware that it tapers down, as the driver’s perception is that it is eager to go. Brake pedal is decent and only has a vague perception of yesteryear’s hybrid springiness. Suspension eats potholes while keeping the playful willingness of down to clown.
Front to rear balance feels good - nimble enough. For a smaller SUV, I find it engaging in scooting around tight streets and turns, and reasonably effortless on hill climbs. I suspect the hybrid portion adds a good bit to this experience. Spring and dampening rates are well-tuned for both comfort and handling.
The vehicle electronics seem to have some unpredictable patterns in the tug of war between wireless CarPlay and non-CarPlay modes. In addition, my wife gets confused with the depth of controls. And, CarPlay brightness at night seems obscenely bright. We are looking for additional controls here; it’s already on “auto” with the fine-tuning down all the way. We may just need to change the overall dash brightness down more.
Why is there no tach?!? I know it doesn’t make sense for the target buyer. It still makes sense to me. No tach or option to go on display. You get needles for fuel and “power/eco/off” but the speedo is a digital somewhat blurry-needled display. The lack of a tach could be enough to put this vehicle on hold for one of my own. Maybe that seems petty, but remove the tach and it becomes an appliance to me.
Drawbacks - I *really* like this little SUV. No question I would enjoy commuting in it. However if it were mine and we sold the truck, a utility trailer would be a requirement. But towing is limited to 1750 pounds, and from what I’ve read, that’s a legitimate number for folks who have tried and validate that as a legitimate number. The suspension is Camry-grade and is well-tuned for passengers, but there’s a fastly- approachable limit for cargo heft and tongue weight. While it’s down to clown on pavement, this is not a vehicle with any ruggedness at all off pavement, and even in sand. I’d be afraid to climb a curb and trundle across a rough field, something I do on occasion. The unibody frame rails are thin, and the stamped suspension parts look well-suited for carrying people but not for banging a curb with a trailer attached.
Looking beneath it, there’s a lot of equipment mounted underneath that is protected only by plastic guards. That was a little surprising for me. Now granted, it’s thick, robust plastic, and it forms a very smooth plane nose-to-tail, buts it’s still plastic. The fuel tank, as small as it is, looks like an afterthought; it’s attached with what is almost described as glorified zip ties. The rear drive motor is above a plastic cover, but there is very exposed vacuum line. Don’t drive this over brush in a field, it won’t go well. I’d be hesitant to try to skate it over thick snow, even.
My wife is the perfect driver for this car, because she will carry herself, friends, groceries and sometimes suitcases. But for someone considering getting out of a truck, and a bare minimum I’ll need a flatbed trailer and would really prefer enclosed, and an enclosed trailer eats half of the towing capacity. I suppose I could consider a non-hybrid for myself, which doubles tow capability, at the expense of daily mpg.
Either way, for a daily runabout, it’s a great vehicle. And while FWD I generally find depressing, this one is tossable enough that I don’t really miss the purity of RWD. For what it is, I’ll call it 8.5 of 10 stars.
Front to rear balance feels good - nimble enough. For a smaller SUV, I find it engaging in scooting around tight streets and turns, and reasonably effortless on hill climbs. I suspect the hybrid portion adds a good bit to this experience. Spring and dampening rates are well-tuned for both comfort and handling.
The vehicle electronics seem to have some unpredictable patterns in the tug of war between wireless CarPlay and non-CarPlay modes. In addition, my wife gets confused with the depth of controls. And, CarPlay brightness at night seems obscenely bright. We are looking for additional controls here; it’s already on “auto” with the fine-tuning down all the way. We may just need to change the overall dash brightness down more.
Why is there no tach?!? I know it doesn’t make sense for the target buyer. It still makes sense to me. No tach or option to go on display. You get needles for fuel and “power/eco/off” but the speedo is a digital somewhat blurry-needled display. The lack of a tach could be enough to put this vehicle on hold for one of my own. Maybe that seems petty, but remove the tach and it becomes an appliance to me.
Drawbacks - I *really* like this little SUV. No question I would enjoy commuting in it. However if it were mine and we sold the truck, a utility trailer would be a requirement. But towing is limited to 1750 pounds, and from what I’ve read, that’s a legitimate number for folks who have tried and validate that as a legitimate number. The suspension is Camry-grade and is well-tuned for passengers, but there’s a fastly- approachable limit for cargo heft and tongue weight. While it’s down to clown on pavement, this is not a vehicle with any ruggedness at all off pavement, and even in sand. I’d be afraid to climb a curb and trundle across a rough field, something I do on occasion. The unibody frame rails are thin, and the stamped suspension parts look well-suited for carrying people but not for banging a curb with a trailer attached.
Looking beneath it, there’s a lot of equipment mounted underneath that is protected only by plastic guards. That was a little surprising for me. Now granted, it’s thick, robust plastic, and it forms a very smooth plane nose-to-tail, buts it’s still plastic. The fuel tank, as small as it is, looks like an afterthought; it’s attached with what is almost described as glorified zip ties. The rear drive motor is above a plastic cover, but there is very exposed vacuum line. Don’t drive this over brush in a field, it won’t go well. I’d be hesitant to try to skate it over thick snow, even.
My wife is the perfect driver for this car, because she will carry herself, friends, groceries and sometimes suitcases. But for someone considering getting out of a truck, and a bare minimum I’ll need a flatbed trailer and would really prefer enclosed, and an enclosed trailer eats half of the towing capacity. I suppose I could consider a non-hybrid for myself, which doubles tow capability, at the expense of daily mpg.
Either way, for a daily runabout, it’s a great vehicle. And while FWD I generally find depressing, this one is tossable enough that I don’t really miss the purity of RWD. For what it is, I’ll call it 8.5 of 10 stars.
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